Good evening, everyone. It is good to be together once again. And I hope we don't take for granted these opportunities that we have to come together. Many churches are still not gathering together. And so we should count ourselves blessed that we are able to do so. So tonight we are continuing in our study of 1 John, looking specifically at verses 12 through 17. And as we begin our study, I think it's beneficial for us to briefly review John's goals for writing this letter. And reviewing these goals will help us to keep the wider context of the letter in mind. This wider context that we will then be able to think about how the passage we will study tonight fits all together. And one of the letter's goals was to refute false teaching, which had begun to infiltrate the church at that time. And this false teaching had two components. The first component denied the humanity of Christ. This component asserted that Jesus' body was not a real body, but that Jesus was simply a spirit. And the second component was very much in line with a preeminent Greek philosopher of the day, Plato. who asserted that flesh was inherently evil and that the spirit was good. And so this false teaching, which is also called Gnosticism, affected the lives of many people who contended that the body should either undergo great sort of sacrifices, great sort of extreme forms of self-denial, while others indulged in sin since they believe that what one did in one's body had no effect on what one's spiritual life's condition was. And so in Chapter 1, and then going all the way through Chapter 2, verse 11, John combats this false teaching by laying out doctrinal imperatives, which included a number of things that we've seen thus far, and I'll run through them very quickly. One, that we must have a right view of who Jesus is. That Jesus was fully man and fully God. That has to be a core belief if you are a Christian. That we have to hold to the gospel as it was proclaimed and taught by the apostles. These men who Christ appointed as the messengers and the teachers of his early church were to be followed. Their teaching was to be obeyed. The fellowship that the Christian enters into with God and other Christians only continues as we walk in the light of God's word. And as we walk in the light, our sin is exposed. And as we confess our sins, we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Another doctrinal truth that has been laid out is that Jesus, who is the righteous one, is our advocate before the Father when we do sin. And that Jesus has satisfied, or that word propitiated, the wrath of God against our sin. And then, as we saw last week, we are to obey the command of loving our brothers. That is another evidence, or another truth, that we must embrace as Christians. And so, in laying out these truths, John does not mince words. There's no gray area that one can find in these first verses of the letter, this first chapter and the part of the second chapter that we've studied. He's provided a clear picture of those who are of the truth and those who are liars. He's provided a clear picture of those who walk in darkness, which represents evil, and those who walk in the light, which represents all that is godly and good. And these pictures provide tests for us to determine how authentic our faith is. That it's simply not a matter of us professing the name of Christ, but actually living out his teachings. And so in addition to seeking to refute false teaching, John also seeks, in this letter, to encourage genuine believers in Christ. And we see both purposes of this letter stated in 1 John 5.13, where we read, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life. He wants us to know that we have, right now, eternal life in Christ. He wants us also to understand that we are eternally secure, and that we can rest our very souls in the salvation that Christ provides. And he also wants genuine believers to be assured of their salvation by inoculating them from false teaching. And in today's passage, we see elements of both of these goals, in that we will see words of encouragement to genuine believers, and we'll also see another imperative which can be used to test how authentic our faith in Christ truly is. And so with that, Let us read our passage tonight. I'll actually begin in verse 7 so that we get the full context, and then we will begin our study from there. Let us stand in honor of God's Word. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His namesake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Please be seated. and let us pray and ask for God's help. Heavenly Father, we do thank you that we who are not deserving of your love, are not deserving of your mercy, have been redeemed. We thank you, Father, that you have given us your word, and you have given us your spirit to understand your word. So we pray, Father, that in these few minutes that we study your word tonight, that You would do a great work in our hearts by applying the Word to our lives, by convicting us of our sins, and conforming us to the image of our Lord and Savior. And would You also be merciful to those who may not know You, that You would bring them out of their death and trespasses and sins, and bring them into life in Christ this night by Your Word. We do pray all these things in Jesus' name, Amen. So we will study tonight's text under the following headings. First, who Christians are, which we will see in verses 12 through 14, and what Christians are not to love. So let's first look at who Christians are in verses 12 through 14. As we concluded last week's passage on loving the brethren and as we read tonight, John says, whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. And whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. John is writing to a church. These are strong words, and as we combine them with the other strong words that we've already talked about in the letter thus far, when we get to verses 12 through 14, we should recognize we've made a transition of sorts. We've made a transition from this imperative tone that John has been using to one of reassurance. And in these verses, verses 12 through 14, which are structured as a poem, John's personal address of the congregation who's receiving this letter is seen in the added emphasis of each line starting with this phrase, I'm writing to you, or I write to you. It's as if John is somehow in his mind's eye thinking of these believers that he has perhaps met and knows very well, and he's wanting them to know that he is speaking to them as he writes these words. And as he addresses each of these groups, many of the doctrinal truths that he's already laid out in the letter thus far will be used to describe each group that he speaks to. And so in verse 12 we read, I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. This term, little children, should sound familiar to us because John used that very same term and the same Greek word in verse 1 of chapter 2 where he says, my little children, I'm 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. And he will use this term, little children, five more times in the letter. Chapter 2, verse 28. Chapter 3, verses 7 and 18. Chapter 4, verse 4. And chapter 5, verse 21. And in the New Testament, this Greek word is a term of endearment that teachers often use as they address their disciples. In fact, Jesus used this very same term when he spoke to his disciples on the night of the Last Supper, where he said in John 13, 33, little children, yet a little while I am with you, you will seek me. And just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you where I'm going, you cannot come. And these were distressing words to his disciples, but he's seeking to comfort them with this term, little children. And because of this, I believe that John is addressing these words to everyone in the church. This is not to a select few, but everyone in the church, as this older apostle addresses this congregation as their spiritual father. And notice the first characteristic that John assigns to the whole group, that their sins are forgiven for His namesake. The New American Standard Bible says, on account of His name. So this brings us to our first question of the evening. What are some possible reasons that in verse 12 the characteristics of sins being forgiven for his name's sake is the first Christian characteristic that John highlights? And then I noted, consider how sin is discussed from 1 John 1-1 through John 2-11. What are some possible reasons? Why do you think he would highlight this at the beginning of his addressing these groups? Yes, Francis. Okay, say that one more time. Okay, so he said this because of what he had said previously and also what he was about to say to them later on in the letter. Anyone else? Yes, Terry. Okay, so we've seen, even as Terry noted in chapter one, verse nine, that forgiveness of sin is a very important topic that John has already addressed. Anyone else? Yes, Pastor John. It's such a basic understanding for a new Christian, and it's probably for most people, when they become a Christian, of the first thing that they really begin to grasp is their sense of forgiveness. Yes. The forgiveness of sin, and I'm repeating for the sake of those on the live stream, the forgiveness of sin is one of the first truths that people who are regenerated by the Holy Spirit grasp a hold to in the truth that they understand. Anyone else? Yes, Jose. Possibly. I mean, it's possible that there was some false teaching, as I had mentioned before. There was this belief that what one did in one's body did not affect one's spiritual life, so it's possible that it was an effort to refute that part of the false teaching that was infiltrating the church. Yes, Kate? Forgiveness of sin is for God's glory, and it's centered upon Christ. Without For His Namesake, there is no forgiveness. Without Christ, there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of Christ's blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Anyone else? Forgiveness of sin by a holy God is man's greatest need. Above all other things, we need to have our sins forgiven. And John has spent a great deal of time in chapter 1 and thus far in chapter 2 talking about the ways that sin can present itself in the life. It can come out in not loving our brother. It can come out in us saying that we walk in the light and yet we are not doing so. It can come out in ways of us saying that we have no sin, which is a very grave sin. And forgiveness only comes by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this has been shown in chapter 1, verse 7, that Jesus' blood cleanses us from sin. In verses 8 and 10, where we forgo forgiveness if we do not admit that we have sinned. As Terry said in chapter 1, verse 9. And then in 2.1, John says that when we do sin, so there's an acknowledgment that sin is something that the Christian is always dealing with. And because of that, God addressed man's greatest need by sending Christ, who satisfied God's wrath. We see that in chapter 2, verse 2. All who are in the family of God are a forgiven people. And that is an assurance that false religions do not and cannot give to their followers. You talk to any Muslim, you talk to any Roman Catholic, they cannot tell you that they are assured that their sins are forgiven. The Christian can. And no matter whether those sins are big quote-unquote or small quote-unquote, the Christian sins, past, present, and future, are all forgiven and all on account of Christ's name. And this truth of our justification, our being declared not guilty before God, is the first phase of our salvation. And it's true of every Christian, no matter how old or how young they are in the Lord. I often think of the thief on the cross, when people try to come and talk about the need for works to get forgiveness. He could do nothing. He was on death's door, and yet what did Christ say to him? Today you will be with me in paradise. His sins were forgiven before he died. And what a glorious truth it is that Christ is paid for every one of the sins of each one of his people. Do you think about that? Every single sin that we have ever committed and that we will ever commit was paid for on the cross. Amazing love. And so this first term, little children, the truth that they are forgiven people is addressed to everyone in the congregation. At the beginning of verse 13, and then at the beginning of verse 14, John addresses a group he refers to as fathers. It's not clear if these are biological fathers or spiritual fathers within the church, but John indicates that he is writing to this group because they know him who is from the beginning. And some might say that John is simply indicating that this group knows God, when he says that you know him who is from the beginning. However, this is not the first time that John has used this form of the phrase, him who is from the beginning. In 1 John 1, we read, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. And similarly, in verses one and two of the Gospel of John, we read, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. In both instances that I just read, John specifically is referring to Jesus Christ, not to God the Father, not to the Triune God. He's specifically referring to Christ. And so John encourages these fathers by declaring that they truly know Christ. And to know means to have a very keen knowledge of something or someone. The same term is used in reference to the intimacy of a husband and his wife. And certainly within the household of God, there are mature Christians who have walked with Christ, who have known Him many years, who have known Him through trials, through afflictions, and who can pass on what they have learned during their walk with Christ to others who are either chronologically or spiritually younger than themselves. And so John is speaking to these, encouraging them that they are genuine believers. And I also thought about this as I was reading John's words, and this is only conjecture on my part. Could it also be that there were believers in this church to whom John is writing who actually knew Jesus Christ? Scholars indicate and believe that John was in his 80s when he wrote this letter. And remember also that Christ had many disciples that followed him, that he showed himself to over 500 disciples when he was resurrected. So could it be that John is writing to some who knew Christ, who saw the resurrected Christ, and is encouraging them to hold fast to what they know is true? So as we move on to verse 13, we also read that John addresses young men in verses 13 and the end of verse 14. The young men's overcoming the evil one is indicated twice. But in verse 14, we are given the reasons for the young men's overcoming the evil one. Young men are said to be strong, and the Word of God abides in them. And indeed, Christians are able to overcome the evil one only because the Word of God abides in them. And as a result, they are being made strong. This truth is clearly indicated in Ephesians 6.1 and 6.17. And finally, John addresses the children in verse 13c. This is a different Greek word for children than the Greek word that was used for little children in verse 12. And this word is typically used for infants or very young children. And John states that he writes to this group because they know the father. when we are born again, in addition to knowing that our sins are forgiven, we also come to know that we are being brought into the body of Christ. We are being brought into, adopted into the family of God. And when a child is adopted into a family, they are given the family name. They are made a legal part of that family. But beyond a name, the newborn Christian is given the very Spirit of God. 2 Peter 1, verse 4. When these truths are effectively applied to our souls by the Spirit of God, we are made sons and daughters of the Most High. And we aren't simply given a name that identifies us with that family. We are given a new nature. We're given a new heart. We are given and a new outlook on our sin and the need for forgiveness from God. And so as we consider this first section as a whole, we are shown that all of who Christians are is the result of God's work. God provided the atonement for the forgiveness of our sins. God caused those who know Christ to come into fellowship with Christ. And God is the one who enables his people to overcome the evil one by applying his word to their lives by his spirit. And all of God's work in the life of the Christian is by God's grace. This is not something that we earned, but by anything that we did, or anything that we are doing, or anything that we will do. All that we are doing in the life of Christ that has been planted in us, the life of Christ that we are walking out, is empowered by the Spirit of God. And the proper and appropriate response to the gift of salvation is love for God, shown in the Christian's obedience to God. Remember the words of Christ in John 14, 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And as we move into the second part of our passage, we are given an imperative, telling us what Christians are not to love if we truly love God. And so we will now move to the second part of our outline. Up to this point in John's letter, there have been many inferred commands. For example, 1 John 1, verses 6 and 7 say this, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. The inferred command, meaning the command that we understand as we read these verses is, do not walk in darkness. Darkness represents evil. Instead, walk in the light. Walk according to God's truth. First John 1, 8 and 9, we read, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. The inferred command, do not say that you have no sin. Because you make God a liar. And you indicate that you are a liar. Instead, confess your sins. That's the inferred command. And then one more example. 1 John 2, 4 and 5, 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, in him truly the love of God is perfected. The inferred command, keep the commands of God. In verse 15, we encounter the first direct command of the letter when we read, do not love the world or the things in the world. King James Version translates it, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. No inference, direct command, do not love the world. We're told that the one who loves the world does not have the love of the Father in him, meaning that loving the world and the love of God and the love for God cannot coexist within the same human heart. Love for the world and love for God are totally incompatible. in order to understand what it is that the Christian is being told not to love. We must know what it is that he's referring to when he says, the world. And so the reference to the world here is not the heavens and the earth that God created out of nothing, which we see in Acts 17, 24. Nor is the world referring to mankind, which we see in John 3.16. No, the world that John refers to here is the system of the unregenerate world. These are the rules, the practices of the unsaved world. Sometimes you'll hear people talk about the world of politics, or the world of sports, or the world of something, and when you hear that, you understand that there are certain rules that apply. There are certain things that happen within this realm that everyone who operates within that realm understand are part of the rules of how you conduct yourself and how you live. The world that John is referring to here was described this way in the reformed expository commentary by Douglas Sean O'Donnell when he defined it this way. The world in this passage means the world that has abandoned its creator and lives apart from his rule. It is the godless world that is totally at variance with God and his will. Quite simply, the world means worldliness. And quite sadly, it means the typical kind of life that is being lived by the average person today. We want to understand what the world is and what worldliness is. We simply need to look at the average person and how they live. It's okay to lie. It's okay to cheat. It's okay, in instances, to do things that are totally opposite from what God says we should do. It is this system that the Christian is told not to love. Last week's study, we were exhorted to love the brother. And this exhortation reminded me of a good definition of love that Vodie Bachum provides in his book, Family Driven Faith. Define love in this way, it's an act of the will, so it's choice, accompanied, not led, by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object. And as we see later on in 1 John, in chapter 3, when we were told to love the brethren in chapter 2, we're then told how to go about doing that in chapter 3. Well, in the same way, love for the world will also lead to action. In verse 16, we see all that the world is made up of and what the love of the world feeds. In verse 16, we read that all that is in the world amounts to the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride of life. In the King James Version, desires is translated as lusts, and the Greek word can also mean a craving for or a longing for that which is forbidden. So it brings us to our next question. How would you define the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life, and what are examples of each of these from the Bible? So how would you go about defining the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life, and what examples of each of these can we see or do we see in the Bible? Yes, Gabriel. The disciples of the flesh is what we go, what we want, instead of what God said. One of the examples that we can see in the Bible is when Samson, he decided to be married to a thirsty woman, and God told him he couldn't do that. That was the disciple's desire, and then he went against that. So the desires of the flesh, you said, were desires that cause us to do things that are opposite of what God says. You said one example of this was Samson, who was guided by his flesh into marrying a Philistine, something that he was prohibited from doing. Yes, Frances. All right. Mm-hmm. So the desires of the eyes is looking with longing on something that is not ours. And it is covetousness. And an example of that is, in fact, David, when he looked upon Bathsheba, who was not his wife. And we know where that led to. Yes, Terry? You have Eve covering all three of them. You have Eve covering all three of them. And how do we do that? Or how does she do that? I don't know why she wants him to be like God. How much do you respect him? Yes, Eve is an example of all three. We actually read in Genesis 3, 6 that when Eve looked at the tree, she saw that the fruit was good for food. We know that God told them not to eat of that tree, that they could eat of every other tree, but that it was good for food. God was not against food. He told them not to eat of that tree. It says that the fruit was a delight to the eyes, and that she desired, or that it was desired because it would make one wise. Pride of life. Others. Yes, Jerry. Right, so we see a list of those in Galatians chapter 5. When we think about the desires of the flesh, it more broadly means our bodies. It's turning that which God has provided for our bodies and making it something that He never intended for it to be made. The desire for food turns into gluttony, and self-control is not exercised. The desire for rest is turned into laziness. The desire for sexual intimacy is turned into sexual immorality, and can drive the person. Martin Luther defined the desires of the flesh this way, the lust of the flesh is that pleasure with which I desire to indulge my flesh, such as adultery, fornication, gluttony, ease, and sleep. In examples from the Bible, we can see we've mentioned Eve, we've mentioned Samson, we can mention David. Yes, Pastor Steve? Okay, I'll get to Ahab in a second, actually, in the next one. Even Noah, when he became drunk, desires of the flesh. Yes, God provided this for man, but he became drunk. See, the desires of the flesh, and Sodom and Gomorrah, and we know what end those cities came to. the desires of the eyes, covetousness, and we mentioned Eve already. We can think about Achan, who looked upon the things that were to be dedicated to the Lord, and what happened, Israel went down to defeat in that next battle. And I also had Ahab here for Naboth's vineyard. Ahab looked out his window or saw very close to his property this vineyard that this man had and wanted it. And when he went to the man and said, I want it, he said, no, this is part of my family. And what happened? Ahab became angry and eventually Jezebel had the man killed. Covetousness. Desires of the eyes. And pride of life. Seeking that which brings glory to man and not to God. Boasting about what one has achieved or can achieve. Believing that all that one has is the result of one's own efforts. Self-dependence. Self-reliance. Believing that we are wiser than God. Once again, we have Eve. We also have the Tower of Babel. What did the people say to themselves? Let us make a name for ourselves by building this tower to heaven. Another example, Nebuchadnezzar. He looks out his window and says, look at this great kingdom that I have built and what does God do? Sends him into madness and has him acting and living with animals. All of these put man and self on the throne of our heart. when God is the one who should be on the throne of our heart and every human heart. All of these are also contrary to how God would have us to live, and therefore, as the end of verse 16 says, these three, which make up all that is in the world, are not from the Father, but from the world. God will never share his glory with anyone. And so as we consider these three areas, and as we consider the command, do not love the world, what are some of the results of obeying or disobeying this command? What are some of the results of obeying this command? And what are some of the results of disobeying this command? Should we obey this command? What are the results? Yes, Francis. So if we disobey this command, and we sow to the flesh, word of God says we will reap corruption. We will reap death. Others, results of obeying, results of disobeying. Yes, Jose. Yes, we will become further sanctified by obeying this command. So there will be a break in fellowship with God as we disobey this command. Others? Yes, Frances. Okay. Right. When we obey this command, we will have joy in the Lord. And if we disobey, there will be no joy. Because we're walking outside of fellowship with God. Anyone else? So I have a few here. By obeying this command and not loving the world, you will have a higher view of God and a greater desire for Him. Psalm 27, verse 4 says, And obeying this command, we will increasingly walk in the Spirit, as we're commanded to do in Galatians 5, verse 16. have here that we will see this world as it truly is, transient, and we will have a more eternal perspective when it comes to viewing this world. 2 Corinthians 4.18. Romans 12.2 tells us, instead of being conformed to the world, we will be transformed by the renewal of our minds as we obey this command not to love the world. The truth of 2 Corinthians 3.18 will become more evident in our lives. It says this, "...and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." We become what we behold. We're beholding Christ. We're beholding God. We're being transformed as we behold His glory. If we are beholding death, we are beholding and gravitating to and holding on to the things of this world, we will become like that. Yes? Josiah answered the question about the benefits for obeying this. One who does the will of God abides forever. Yes, indeed. One who does the will of God abides forever, which we will look at in a minute. And then I thought of the chorus of that hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, which says, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the eyes of His glory and His grace. We behold Christ. We behold His beauty. All of the things of this world should fade away if we are truly beholding our Lord and Savior. But if we are disobeying this command, and in fact loving the world, essentially the opposite of all of the results of obedience. We will see. We will have a lower view of God and less of a desire for Him. We will increasingly walk in the flesh instead of the spirit. We will not see this world as it truly is. We will be conformed to the world. Also listed here, that we will become entangled in civilian pursuits. And this is from 2 Timothy 2, verse 4. I've been thinking about this even myself, given where we are right now in our country. As a soldier, if you think about this example, because Paul was talking about a soldier is mindful of the one who has appointed this soldier to be a part of their army. And this soldier is supposed to be out there carrying out the purpose or the will of the ones who sent them. But if that soldier gets involved in civilian pursuits, he's not going to fulfill his role. And so in this time, I have to ask myself, am I getting, or is my heart getting riled up by all of the debates and politics of the day? Am I more concerned about who's winning this argument, or who's winning that argument, and less concerned about eternal souls? Civilian pursuits. Things that will not last. By disobeying this command, we risk apostatizing, as we are told in Hebrews 6, verses 4-8. And, as verse 17 tells us, we disobey this command, we are holding on to something that is passing away. The world is passing away along with its desires. So if you're holding something in your hand, and all of a sudden it just turns to dust, that's what this world is. And after we're told the truth of what will become of the world, The passage ends with a promise that the one who does the will of God abides forever. This is the person who does the revealed will of God, the will of God that is shown to us in the word of God. However, we should also understand that in order to abide forever, one must do the will of God perfectly. God commands perfection. So to rightly understand this statement, we are to understand that yes, we are to do the will of God. We are to obey the commands of God. But ultimately, our acceptance as those who do the will of God is because we are the one who has done the will of God perfectly. We are in Christ. Doing the will of God on our part is not the reason for our salvation, but a result of our salvation. Our abiding forever is not because of what we do, but it's because God has caused us to repent and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who did the will of God. As Adam was the federal head of mankind, his disobedience and rebellion are our disobedience and rebellion, and his spiritual and physical deaths are the reason that all mankind is spiritually dead and will also suffer physical death until God comes and saves them. But Christ is the head of the Church. He is the head of His body. And His perfect obedience is made to be our obedience. And His eternal life is our eternal life. As 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20-22 state, But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, and at his coming, those who belong to Christ. So tonight, as we consider how our passage fits into the goals of this letter, the goals to encourage believers, To refute false teaching, we should consider the following points of application. First, we should thank God. That as God's people, our sins are forgiven. That we know Christ. That we have come into fellowship with Him. And that God enables us to overcome the evil one by applying His Word to our lives by His Spirit. We should renew our minds daily with the truths of the gospel so that we are not susceptible to believing false teaching. We must know what we believe and why we believe it. And if we do, we will not be susceptible to those who come preaching a false gospel. And we should also ask the Spirit to examine our lives for any areas where there is a love for the world. And then repent of those areas that are shown to us. Our cry should be that of the psalmist in Psalm 139, verses 23-24. Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous way in me. and lead me in the way everlasting. Are there any questions or any comments as we end our study this evening? Yes, Pastor Steve. Something that really struck me this time that had not struck me before as you were teaching this passage is how here in the first direct imperative, in the book is an imperative that regards what we do with our hearts. It's not essentially imperative about our outward behavior. It's do not love the world. Now, what we love is going to determine our behavior. But he commands the heart. And that's what we see in scripture is that God commands God commands the heart, and this first command is not, don't steal, don't do this outward action, it's do not love, which we do with our heart. We know that the heart is the command center of our lives. And the heart is something that the world does not want to deal with. When we talk to people, and often times, when we talk about the problems of the world, what's the first thing that man is typically wanting to do? Point the finger somewhere else. The Bible points the finger right here. It's our heart. And our hearts need to be made right before God. Yes, Francis? Why is it called the Pride of Life? I am not sure. I'd have to look that one up. But I think that even as I think back to our study of the Book of Genesis, we see that pride is one of the first things that pronounces itself in mankind. And we see that in the first murder, in wanting to have my sacrifice approved, and we see that also very early on with the Tower of Babel as we study it, but I can't say exactly why it's called Pride of Life. I'll have to maybe look that up a little more and get back to you on that one. Any other comments or questions? Yes, Megan. Okay. Okay. Okay, so when we're commanded not to love the world, we are not to act as the Gentiles, or those who are outside of the kingdom of God, who are alienated from God. Anyone else? Okay, well thank you for your participation tonight. Let us pray. Our God and Father, we do thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, that you have forgiven our sins. Thank you for Jesus. We thank you for being brought into life in him. Father, we do come and confess that there are times that we love this world more than we should, and we pray that tonight you would convict our hearts of those areas where we do have love for this world. Holy Spirit, come and give us a right view of this world, and give us a higher view of our Father. We pray that these truths would help us in these troubled times that we live in, that we as believers in you would shine as lights in the darkness, and that we would be protected from false teaching that is already here and more that may come. We pray that you would be glorified in us and through us. And we do pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.