if you would join me in your Bibles in 1st John and chapter 5 1st John in chapter 5 we're kind of working our way this month through some some questions about how do we know certain things and that's quite some foundational things if you will. How do we know there is a God? We've talked about that. How do we know his word is true? We've talked about that and now we've come to something I think is the next step if you will of being super simple. How do I know that I'm saved? How do I know that? There is a whole field of study called epistemology, which is about the theory of knowledge, how we know things. I think, therefore, I am. I think that's one theory. That's not so good today because I'm not so sure people are thinking right today. They're not always what they are, they think they are. But how do we know? There's empirical knowledge from observation, we've studied it, it's been recorded, etc. There's personal knowledge, things you've experienced. You can see pictures of a calm ocean and see how smooth it is. You can hear, read, whatever, testimonies of those who've been on the ocean when it's calm and smooth, but it's another thing to be on the ocean in the middle, and it's like glass. I can only describe it, but that doesn't do it justice. It's like the ocean. If you never actually have been to the ocean, there's something about standing on the shore and looking out, and those waves crashing in. There's just something about that. Growing up in Michigan, we'd be at the edge of the lake, but even that's not the same as the ocean. There's something different there. So there's kind of personal experience type knowledge. And then there's what I say, intuitive. You know, I got a gut feeling about that. And sometimes that's good, and sometimes that's just last night's dinner. You know, it may not be true. It's a bit more subjective, isn't it? Is that how it is with salvation? Is it just how you feel? Because if it's just how you feel, sometimes you don't feel very saved. I won't put that on you, but for me sometimes that's how that is. It's like I don't feel safe. I don't know what the emotion is or the sensation is supposed to be, but it's not quite... Something's not right. You know, have you ever watched any of those videos about stolen valor? Where You know, some guy at the mall, he's standing there and he's got a dress uniform on and, you know, he's got ribbons up and down both sides and all kinds of patches and you're like, if you're not careful, you're like, man, that guy's a real hero. No, he's probably not a hero. He's probably just stolen all that stuff or bought it on Amazon. When we were headed down to see Bridget's nephew graduate from the Sergeant Major Academy, So it was going to be at whatever that fort was in Texas. I don't remember now the name of the fort. But I thought, you know what, because I've got, you know, my military ribbons in a miniature size for wearing on your civilian clothes for certain settings. So I thought that would be appropriate to do that in that kind of a setting. And I got to look at it and I thought, wait a minute, something don't look right. In, before, when I was in the Army Reserve, and we got activated for Desert Storm, we had to go over to, wow, Rennell, that's been so long ago, I've like totally forgot. Wherever that was over in Washington, it rained cats and dogs every day. Yeah, Fort Lewis, so we're over there and we had to qualify with our M16s and they said, I don't even know who they was, but they said that I had qualified as a marksman. Oh, that's cool. They never officially gave any recognition of that, they just said that, oh yeah, you qualified, okay, great. So later on, I thought, well if I did then I should put the ribbon on there. Which I totally blew, messed it up because in the army you don't get a ribbon. For a marksman, being a marksman, it's like a dangly metal thingy. But by then, I had transferred back to the Navy, praise the Lord. I'm like the guy in the Old Testament who had escaped from the army. That was my attitude. I'm not bashing the army. But anyway, so I found this ribbon, this marksman ribbon, and I put it with my, whatever you call that. But then I got to think about that. Wait a minute. I didn't qualify as a marksman in the Navy. The only weapon I ever shot in the Navy, ever, was a 1911 chambered for a 22 round in boot camp. And the drill, you know, the guy hands you this weapon, he says, point down range, pull that trigger five times, boom, boom, boom. I didn't even know there was a target down there. Next. That's it. I never shot anything else in my life, you know. So I get to looking at my ribbons. Here we are. We're headed down. This is a big deal. I mean, these are like all the brass and, you know. And I get to looking at my miniature ribbons. I'm like, you liar. You have stolen valor on there. You don't deserve that ribbon. That's a Navy ribbon, and you did that in the Army, you think. I had to take it off, but it was at the bottom end. It was like, well, now it's all messed up. I had to get a commemorative ribbon so at least the hole was filled in. Now, nobody probably would have known, but I knew. It's like something isn't right. So I want us to think about your salvation. In no way do I want to implant doubt in anybody's mind. That is a horrible thing to struggle with, doubt, especially doubt about your salvation. I don't know if you have struggled with that, but I can tell you in my life there's times I have struggled with that, struggled with doubt. I wasn't sure, I just, I was sort of left wondering. I knew my testimony when I was a kid, four years old, and you've heard it before. In junior church, lesson was on hell, and I got saved later on in the week because something happened with my brother, but I never told anybody. And shortly after that, we moved. So then, you know, that's a vulnerable time. When somebody gets saved, shortly after the time of their salvation is a very vulnerable time concerning their Christian growth. If there's a break in those who are influencing them, and now they've moved or whatever's happened, that those people aren't there, there's not that same influence to help them take those next steps. and that can lead to a chronic problem of doubt. Struggling. Not everybody has those kinds of things, but some people do. I don't want to raise hands, but I know some folks have struggled with that. And that can come up even later on in life after you've been saved a long, long time. I'll just be real transparent. When I was in Illinois pastoring, I mean I'm pastoring a church, and that didn't end well in that particular setting. And I have sometimes to others explained that was kind of like my seminary program. There were a lot of lessons I learned there that you cannot get out of a book. But I In reference to this morning's topic, I will tell you that that was so discouraging, I began to not just doubt my call to the ministry, but I began to doubt my own salvation. This is a serious issue. And I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to plant. That happens sometimes. You hear a message and some guy saying, if you don't do this, then you must not be saved. And that's not what I want to do this morning. at all. But we do need to have confidence in Christ. That is important, vitally important. We don't want to be wavering like the waves of the sea, tossed here and there. And when we're tossed, especially about our salvation, you can make no forward progress for Christ. If you're doubting your own salvation, how could God use you to influence another for the Lord when you're not even sure if you belong to the Lord in the first place? That's pretty serious, isn't it? Yeah. Everybody here has, at one point or another, to some degree or another, struggled with something that had a grip on them. Could be the biggies, you know, drinking, smoking, chewing, going with the girls who are doing blah, blah, blah, whatever, however that kind of rhyme kind of comes out. And that sounds trite because it is trite. Though those are real problems, people struggle with real addictions that are tangible. But the biggest things we struggle with are fear, bitterness, disappointment, depression feelings of abandonment it's all the stuff the world says is mental illness which I'm not discounting the medical field I'm just saying every issues the root is always spiritual it always go back to the inner man while we may need short-term help to get out of the hole If you're stuck in a hole, let's make it real literal. You're in a hole 10 feet deep. An actual hole. You're at the bottom of the hole. You fell down the well, the old-fashioned well. There you are. And the only way you're going to get out is if somebody puts a ladder down there, or a rope, or something. Right? I mean, you need real help to get out of that hole. But after you're out of the hole, are you gonna walk around carrying an extension ladder? No, because now I don't need it. I did need it, but I don't need it now. So we may need some help to get out of a hole, but that's short-term help. I need long-term help, and that's God. The Lord is what I need. And again, I'm not discounting all lots of things. People can deal with things. And the farther we get away from the Garden of Eden, the more corrupted and distorted our physical beings become. Okay? So that has its own kind of aspect. This is not an anti-medical-help message. That's not my point, okay? I'm just saying everybody needs spiritual help. Everybody does. We need God to help us. And if you're a Bible believer or claim to be a Bible believer, you need to have settled in your mind, you know you're saved. That's really important. Really important. 1 John. Say, Pastor, that was really a weird introduction. You know, there's a lot of people, if I can go back to my introduction, there's a lot of people walking around with spiritual stolen valor. They look like it, but something isn't right. Something isn't right. If you put on your grandpa's spiritual uniform, that's still your grandpa's spiritual uniform, it's not yours. You understand what I'm saying? If you put on the pastor's spiritual uniform, that's the pastor's spiritual uniform, it's not yours. Okay? You have to know that you are saved. And that's important. Okay? Or you will be crippled. And I'm not saying you're not, I'm just saying if you don't know for sure, you're hampered, you're crippled, you're limited. because you can't get past that point. So this is a very important issue. 1 John chapter 5, let's start at verse one. It's not a long, well, I say it's not long, but anyways, verse one. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one, and there are three that bear witness in the earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood. These three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness, now, do we receive the witness of men? So-and-so says such and such, and we're like, yeah, I believe that because so-and-so said so. Right? You're getting a lot of that, all of us are getting a lot of that right now, because you get it, all those ads in the mail for this candidate and that candidate. You get it on the radio, you get it in the newspaper, you get it in the, you know, whatever kind of form of media you get, you're getting the witness of men. And they're banking that you'll take their witness as truth, because they want you to vote for them. But John says, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself, meaning it resides within. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son. this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son he that has the son has life and he that has not the Son of God has not life these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know and that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, We know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. If any man see his brother's sin is sin, which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. You say, well, that last statement seems like a tack-on. But it's not, actually. Because if we subtly are pulled into worshiping something, and by worship, I'm not talking about raising your hands. I'm not talking about singing a song. I'm not talking about attending a church service. I'm talking about living your life. That's really what worship is, living your life in recognition of who God is and what He's done for you. That's what worship is, okay? Our private worship, the private living of our lives for the glory of God is what validates our corporate worship collectively together. If we're living for the devil out there, then what we do in here is not worship. Okay, that's what he's talking about. We need to be careful that this wicked old world we talked about in Sunday school, this evil, this present evil world, that's how Paul describes it in Galatians chapter one, it's in the present, it's the nasty now and now. Now it's not new, it's always been around, and it's always nasty, meaning it stinks, spiritually, morally, civilly, whatever. It's offensive, it's oppressive, and it's harmful. That's this present evil world. It will cause you to be polluted. Again, borrowing from Sunday School, Lot, it says in Peter, that this just man, calling Lot a just man, a redeemed man, which he doesn't behave that way, he vexed his righteous soul. His soul does not seem righteous based upon what he did. But his soul was righteous based upon who God is, not what Lot did. But he was vexed. Why? Because, to borrow John's words, he had given himself to idols. Now, whether he actually had a statue in his house or his idolatry was one of rebellion against his uncle Abraham and therefore working to become prosperous and a recognized, admired leader of the community of Sodom, which, that really isn't a claim to fame. It's a claim to infame or infamous or whatever, okay? Evilness. But if you go back in Genesis and you read the story of Lot, you find Lot was a man who wavered like the waves of the sea. He was not a stable man. He was this way, that way, this way, that way, this way, that way. Did some horrible, wicked things. Because he wasn't grounded. even though he was redeemed, there was a problem. Verse 13, one more time. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. Father, would you help us in the moments that we spend? I pray you might give me clarity of thought and speech of a topic that is quite important for each and every one of your children. Would you help us, please? Give me the right words, I pray. Working hearts in Jesus' name, amen. I haven't kept a tally, but I would say every time I have or probably just about every time. For instance, if I'm, say, going door to door, inviting folks to church, okay? And trying to share the gospel. I'm inviting them to church. Yes, I always try to make sure I get the invitation in, even if it's just leaving a track, a gospel track for the church. But my desire is to talk about the Lord at the door. don't always get there, but if that door stays open long enough so that I can ask a question such as, do you know for sure you're gonna go to heaven? I haven't kept a tally, but I would say almost everybody says something to the effect of, you can't know that. You can't know that. Isn't that something? And many times, they're not really very concerned. You know, they're pretty concerned about paying their taxes, usually. You know, April 15th. It's the 14th. As long as you get it in the post office, so it's post-dated on the 14th, you're good, okay? Don't want to pay early. But that's pretty temporary, isn't it? or getting ready for the retirement, or making it to work on time Monday morning, or the dentist appointment, or whatever. We got all kinds of stuff in our life that requires us giving attention and being prompt and judicious in completing it, whatever it may be. And then we come to something that's eternal. And basically, this is going to sound crude, but that's the world for you. Their opinion is, it's just a crapshoot. It's just a roll of the dice. I hope I get the good numbers. And I don't roll up, you know, snake eyes or whatever. Really? You're going to treat your eternity like a giant casino? and you just hope you get the good one. You're just gonna spin the wheel and hope it pops up or you get the three cherries or whatever the thing is. Really? That doesn't make much sense, does it? No, no, you can't know that. And I usually respond with this verse. And that is, yes, you can. You can know that. You can know you're going to heaven. Now, I will hasten right away and say, not because you deserve it, because nobody does. Nobody deserves to go to heaven. Heaven is a holy place. It is the home of God. He is sinless and righteous and holy. and we are not. Are we? No, we are not. We're sinful. We're not perfect. Are we? No. Nobody in this room, apart from the Lord, who is with us this morning, but apart from him, nobody in this room is a sinless person. Not one. Would you agree with me? Okay. Now, have you met somebody who thinks they are? Which is evidence that they are not. Right? Or you could ask their husband or their wife or their kids. or their parents, or their friends at school, or their non-friends at school, whatever the case may be, and say, oh no, that guy ain't perfect. No, no, she ain't perfect, because she's blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right? Yeah. And so it's easy to just say, you know what, I'm just going to take a wait-and-see attitude. And I don't know if that's because of the promotion of atheism or a godless attitude, because if there is no God, then who cares about heaven? Right? Who cares? If when you die, it's done, and you just get stuck in the dirt, and it's over, then all of this stuff about heaven and sin and the Savior is really just religious fluff. Maybe it's your flavor, or maybe it's not my flavor. I mean, that's kind of the attitude. But as we've seen the last few weeks, it's only logical that there is a God. Everything didn't come from nothing. There had to be a God. Now, I may be incorrect in my conclusions about who that God is, but the fact that there has to be a God is quite logical. And when we look at all the evidence, it becomes quite obvious then that If there is a God, a supreme, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, and all the rest of those big fancy words, there can only be one of those, there can't be more than one. There can only be one. And if He is, who his creation displays him to be, then he is creative, and he is kind, and he is loving, and he is providing. The rain falls on the just and the... unjust he feeds all the cattle all the wild beasts of the forest are his and he provides for them and just a just a cursory study of how all the intricate interdependencies within creation nature the flowers the bees how about the fig wasp you wouldn't even have figs if it wasn't for the fig wasp And that's just an amazing as well as a very creepy story, okay? But the fact that it all kind of weaves together is evidence of an amazing God filled with wisdom and knowledge and all of those things, which means he's revealed himself. And we talked about that last Sunday. His word is true. So, okay, so rather than repeat all those sermons in a nutshell, let's just start on that assumption. There is a God. That is true. He has revealed himself, not just in creation, but in his revelation, his written revelation, and it is true. Okay? Well, then, his written revelation says, I can know. I can know that I will go to heaven. Now, here's what I... I also know I don't deserve to go. "'cause there's none righteous, no, not one. "'All live sin to come short of the glory of God.'" So, everybody in this room, if not today, last week, at some point, you violated God's holiness. I did. I'm not bragging about it. I'm just... I also am a sinner saved by grace. And I have to go and ask Him to forgive me. So I know I don't deserve to go. I didn't deserve Jesus Christ, who came down and gave his precious blood upon the cross of Calvary and died in my place. I didn't deserve that at all. But he loved me that much and did that for me. And he did that for you. And that's a wonderful thing, which means I can know then not because of me, but because of him, who he is, and what he says. Notice, please, go to chapter one here in 1 John. And John says, In verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So somebody who says that they are not a sinner is an unredeemed person. Do you see that? Say amen, say yes, say something. Okay, that's what the Bible says. Now that's not the preacher speaking. That's what God says in his word. If you say that sin is a myth and there is no sin and I'm not a sinner and I've never done that, then you're not redeemed. You're not gonna go to heaven according to the Bible. It's just that simple. There are people who that's their opinion their opinion is that's all just a religious myth and that no I'm not a sinner sin does not exist and therefore They might even be nice people, but they're unredeemed people It says go down to verse 10 if we say that That we have not sinned. That's, wow. We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. That's pretty powerful, isn't it? That's very powerful. So if we're honest, And we look at our lives, we look in the mirror, and we see our face, and we know what goes on in our heads, and what goes on in our hearts. If we're honest, we have to say, we are sinners. That's what we are. That's my nature. But God's so amazing, he loved me and sent his son to die for me, so he gives me a new nature. Now, I would have loved it if he would have sucked out the old nature and just left the new nature. Anybody here since your salvation? You have never done anything wrong. Thank you, Cheryl. She almost started busting out and laughing right there. Because she's thinking about Kenny, actually. Yeah, we are fully aware of our issues, are we not? Yeah. So if I'm going to be honest, I say, well, I'm not saying that because I have sinned. And I'm so thankful for verse 9. which tells me then that having the confidence of my salvation does not mean that I am living a perfect sinless life. That's not what that means. It's not excusing sin, but it is confessing the truth. Yep, I don't deserve salvation. But we're not talking about whether or not we deserve it because Even if you died for your own sin, it wouldn't be enough because you've sinned against an eternal holy God. And so you'd have to pay for eternity. You'd never get it paid. It took a sinless sacrifice. That's why the Old Testament picture is always a lamb without spot and without blemish. There's not a one of us are without spot and without blemish. before or after salvation. Therefore, the sacrifice of ourself would not be sufficient. Okay? Let's move on. Chapter two. It says in verse three, and hereby we do know that we know him. See, in my life, I can tell you the times when I may be struggling to the point of doubting, it's because I've made some choices previous to that that are in violation of His truth. Big or small, a path of disobedience leads you to the destination of doubt. Hereby do we know that we know Him. How is it that I know that I know Him? If we keep His commandments. Obedience is not the path to salvation, it's the confirmation of salvation. It's why I obey. I don't obey to get saved, it's not my payment. It's my expression of gratitude. Is that clear? It says, hereby we do know that we know Him. When we are in doubt, there is a reason why we're doubting. And this could be it. I'm not saying it's the only thing I'm saying here is one of those paths One of those paths that leads you to doubt your salvation which will lead you to living a life Not in conformity to the Lord back in 2nd Peter when he talks about add to your faith virtue knowledge temperance He gives you that whole list It says and he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off Well, why would you lack them? Because you didn't add them Okay When somebody complains, man, it's not fair. I wish I had money like that guy over there. And I say to that person, well, maybe you should quit playing the Kino machine. Who's not adding to their savings? The guy playing the Kino machine. He's hoping to strike it rich so he can go buy a new pickup. And he's spending 200 bucks a month in the slot machine or whatever, OK? Or it doesn't have to be that. It could be smoking. Poke some things. I have no idea what a pack of cigarettes costs, but it's more money than I want to pay. It's more money than I want to just burn up in a smoke. You can't even cook a hot dog with that. Right? I mean, who wants a hot dog cooked over the smoke from burning cigarettes. That sounds disgusting. Doesn't it? Yeah. Well, I know those things aren't cheap. So if somebody has a, you know, is enslaved to smoking, how much money are they wasting? When they could have that for other needs. Or drinking or drugs or 1-900 numbers, websites, whatever. There's all kinds of stuff that draw us. It doesn't have to be smoking and drinking and drugs. There's a lot of things that will pull us in. And then we'll be like, Well, it's not fair. That person looks like their life is perfect. They have no problems. I can't live a Christian life like them. Well, you can't if you're doing that. Okay? So you've got to add to your faith. You have to do the adding. And so if I'm too busy doing things I should not be doing, that means I'm not adding what I ought to be adding to my faith. Which means I'm gonna end up like the guy who's lacking something and I'm blind. I cannot see afar off. And if you cannot see afar off, that you've been purged from your old sins, those have been purged, where will you end up? This is when you can respond. You'll end up back in those old sins, will you not? you will return to that so the way to not return the way to get victory over the sin in my life is to be adding to my faith that's going to help me go to chapter 3 Behold, verse 1, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God, therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Verse 16, go to verse 16 of this same chapter. Oops, I turned a page. Hereby perceive, another word for no, we, the love of God, because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Hmm. Go to chapter 4, verse 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Go to verse 13 of chapter 4. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." Now let's kind of tie all that together. Go to verse 7, okay? Verse 6. "'We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us.'" Hmm! Let me keep reading here. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and spirit of error Beloved let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God he that loveth not knoweth not God You see how powerful that is if you have a problem loving the brethren You have a problem knowing God That's almost on the same plane as if you have a problem recognizing you're a sinner, you have a problem recognizing whether or not you can even be saved. You see how important this is? If you have to know that you're His, there are evidences of this, there are marks of this, however you want to describe it, okay? in this was manifest the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him here in his love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation the payment for our sins beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another no man has seen God in any time if we love one another God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us hereby meaning By what He just said, this is how you know. Whoa. This is important stuff. Verse 13 of chapter 5. We have already read it a couple times. Now... I want us to understand some things. The confirmation of your salvation is not that you came to the altar covered with goosebumps. Now maybe you did that. But that's not it. Otherwise, everybody who came to the altar to get saved without goosebumps would have to conclude they're not saved. So it's not the goosebumps. It's not the sweating. We shared some of this, I think, last Sunday. It's not a smile on your face. It's not sweat running down the temples of your head. It's not white knuckles on the front of the pew in front of you. It's not those things. The confirmation of your salvation is expressed in three ways. Obviously, your relationship to the Word. Hereby do we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. That's the whole argument about sinning. He that sinneth, he that sinneth not. And we can get all confused. Oh, that sounds like a work salvation. You have to be perfect. That's not what John is telling us. What he's telling us is if you're okay with your sin, you're probably not okay with God. Simply put, if you can stay, in a chronic, habitual sinning lifestyle, behavior, attitude, whatever, and they don't bother you, something's wrong. Is that clear? Something's wrong. Now, again, I'm not saying you're not saved. What I am saying is something ain't right. Just like me with my silly little ribbons, just pulled my pocket handkerchief out, I had a ribbon on there that didn't belong to me. If you're okay with your sin and it doesn't convict you, it doesn't bother you, it doesn't make you feel guilty, at the very least, you may have a little spiritual stolen valor going on. At the very worst, You don't even belong to God. Somewhere in that spectrum. Secondly, the confirmation of your salvation, as we just read it there in chapter four, okay? Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. So the second very important thing, and it's stated in many ways throughout 1st John, but I'm just going to summarize it, is the confirmation of your salvation, of your knowing that you're saved, is your love of the brethren. What is your relationship to God's people? If you can't stand them and you're biting your tongue the whole time you're with them and you just endure it so you can get your nose counted, there is a problem there. I'm not saying that we have to show up at church and we're all lovey-dovey and hugging everybody. That would be creepy to me. To me, I'm not a huggy person. Very rarely do I hug people other than my own family. Other people, that's kind of their personality. They're like, they'll hug a bumblebee. I mean, you know, whatever. Right? Some people are like that. Okay, whatever. That's not me. I don't do that. So I'm not talking about some sort of put on. Sometimes God's people rub us the wrong way. Okay, you could say amen, because we all know that's true. We know that's true by biblical example. Paul and Barnabas had two part ways. For their testimony and for the sake of the ministry, they couldn't do ministry together anymore because their difference of opinion was so sharp rather than stay together and fight and be in conflict, they had to go separate directions. Now, it does seem that there was some healing in that relationship, maybe later on, but sometimes that is true, okay? I mean, I recognize we are not the only people in Laurel this morning who know the Lord as their personal savior. There's a lot of other churches in town And I have no doubt that some of those people are redeemed people. Do I wish they were independent Baptists? Of course. That's why I'm an independent Baptist, because I think that's important. But we're not some kind of Baptist Briders sort of weird thing. There are people in town who go to Lutheran churches, Methodist churches? Yeah, and they know the Lord. My brother-in-law, married to my sister, his name is Don, and we were in Desert Storm together. Don goes to a Catholic church, but he has a good testimony of salvation. Does that confuse me as a Baptist? Yes, it does. But I'm not the judge of his soul. Okay, that's up to the Lord. I don't have to judge his soul. So, sorry, I'm going around the horn here. But that second very important thing is, okay, so what is your relationship to the word? If you read the word of God, only so that you can say, yep, I read the word today. I don't have to feel guilty about not doing that. If you're not seeking out the truth of God's word to help you in your life, but you're seeking for answers somewhere else, there's a problem with that. If when you hear the word preached, taught, read to you, whatever, and you're like, I'm not doing that. There's a problem there, okay? Hereby do we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. So your relationship to the Word is vital. Your relationship to the brethren is vital. Again, I'm not saying that you gotta feel like you're bosom buddies and soul kindred spirits and all that kind of mush, okay? To everybody that comes to church. But there ought to be something like, these are God's people and I love God's people. I might hate them as well, but I love them. Thank you, at least one amen, somebody's gonna be honest. But they're God's people and I pray for them. I'm concerned about him. It's pretty tough to say you care and you're concerned if you're never with them. That's the whole point of going to church. Your relationship to the word, your relationship to his people, your relationship to his person. Several of the passages we read, we talk about him loving us and us loving him. here in the passage where it says, verse five and verse three, for this is the love of God. All three of these are bound in this one verse. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. If the things God says to you are always chafing you, and you feel restricted and you only tolerate it, you only do just, you know, would you say you have a problem with him? If our kids, if our kids always only do the bare minimum to escape whatever punishment you do in your house, Is their relationship with you as the parent, is that good? No. It's not good. And there may end up being a rift somewhere. That's why sometimes children and parents, they're estranged from each other. And that's grievous. That's sad, isn't it? Yeah, we know it's sad. So if that's true in our human relationships, certainly then I can't say that my relationship with him is right if I'm dismissive of the things he has said, if I'm dismissive of the others that he loves. In essence, I'm dismissive of him. All three of these lead you to the destination of doubt. Because if you love God, you love His word. If you love God, you love His people. If you love God, you want to be like Him. You want your character to be like His character. And when there's a divergence of that in some fashion, that's what leads us, then, to question. Now, the questioning itself, it's not a sin for you to question. In some fashion, it's quite healthy for you to examine. Doesn't Paul say, examine yourself and see that you be in the faith? We don't want to be walking around with stolen valor. Right? We want to know, yeah, I know God. I also know I'm not perfect. But I know He's gracious. And He's forgiving. And I'm so thankful for that. And that, because I know him, causes me to love his word. I don't have to understand it all. And I'm not excusing the fact that I don't perfectly follow it. I'm not excusing that. I'm recognizing my own limitations. I'm just saying I love his word. And I love his people. And I love him. Not because I feel something, but because I know something. Do you know you're going to go to heaven? Do you know that you're saved? Do you know it? No doubt. Now, that's an important thing for us, each and every one of us. Father, would you help us this morning? We've been so gracious to promise, provide, and secure our salvation through our Savior. And sometimes in the living of our lives, we can be distracted. And once we're distracted, after a while, if that stays there too long, we get to wondering and doubting, and God, would you help us? We know that you love us. We know that you loved us first because you sent Jesus to pay the price. And would you help us where we fall short? Would you work in hearts, please, this morning?