This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. Well, let's take our Bibles and turn to 1 John 3. We'll get back to the book of Genesis next, Lord's Day. 1 John 3. We'll begin with verse four. This is God's holy and inspired word. Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins. No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God. nor the one who does not love his brother." This is the Word of the Lord. Well, we looked at this text last week in relation to Christmas, and I didn't want to leave it because there's still more to the question of why the Son of God appeared that we can draw out from the text. And as I was going through this passage this week and meditating on this text and studying this text, it made me realize that we are so frequently focused on our own little worlds and our own lives that we actually rarely ever put ourselves into this big sweeping biblical perspective. I mean, don't you think that this is really a big picture reality? You have the children of God and the children of the devil. And that's ultimate reality. And everybody in this room fits into only one of two of those categories. It's not like there's a different category. It's not like you've got the children of God and the children of the devil and Democrats. It's not like you have the children of God and the children of the devil and some other innocuous group that somehow falls in between. It's not true. This is ultimate reality. Everybody in this room is either a child of God, and by the way, you don't come into this world simply born as a child of God. You're either a child of God or you are a child of the devil. That's big picture reality. And yet it's so easy for us to get caught up in our lives and caught up in the stuff that we do and our day in, day out stuff that we forget that that is the ultimate reality and that's the most important thing that we can reckon with. Who are we? Who are we related to? Who's our father? Now, I noted last week that 1 John 3.8, for this reason, the Son of God appeared so that he would destroy the works of the devil, that this is what we call an epitomizing text. That is, it's a text that succinctly captures a big picture truth. So when the Bible says, for this reason, for this purpose, the Son of God appeared, we're supposed to say, wow, that's a big, big statement. Let's pay attention to what the Bible has to say about why the Son of God appeared. And this text actually states for us one of the primary purposes of the incarnation. Really, nothing more big picture than that. And so last week, we looked at the fact the Son of God appeared. And the word appear, John loves this word, means to manifest or to reveal, and so the word has reference in this case to the incarnation. And of course, when we say incarnation, what we're saying, do this as quickly as possible, we're saying that the second person of the Godhead, Jesus Christ, the eternal son, at a point in time, came into this world was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, and it is this eternal Son who is fully God, and He becomes fully man. So the Word that was with God and is God is the Word that became flesh. That's what we mean by incarnation. Fully human in every way like we are, with one grand exception, without sin. And so, the incarnation is the appearance, it's the manifestation, the revelation of the Son of God. And then we said, why He appeared? The Son of God appeared, entered into this world to destroy something. He certainly came into the world to build something, but He also came into the world to destroy something, and that destruction mission was, of course, the works of the devil. And we expanded on that last week, and let me just say that the immediate context of 1 John 3, 4-10 focuses us clearly on what the primary works of the devil are, and that is sin. Alright? The primary works of the devil, of course, is sin. Now, How does Jesus' coming destroy the works of the devil? And we did two things last week, and we gave the first answer being this. The appearing of the Son of God destroys the works of the devil because the coming of the Son of God is the revelation of the love of God. All right, so chapter four and verse nine, we read, by this, the love of God, and here's our word again, was manifested or appeared in us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And so, obviously sin is the work of the devil and sin is a very serious problem because sin does in us what it also did in our first parents and that is sin drives us away from God. When we sin, we don't have the tendency to run to God for grace and mercy and forgiveness. Sin actually causes us, like Adam and Eve, to run away from God, and sin also distorts my view of God. Sin can make me either think on the one hand that God is some implacable tyrant who is never ever pleased and is just waiting to drop the hammer on me, or I can have a distorted view of God that says, God is just so indulgent, I like to sin, God likes to forgive, great relationship. but sin distorts our view of God. So when God sends his son into the world, it is a revelation of God himself. It's a revelation of God's heart. And so God's love is demonstrated through the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the love of God is manifested to us, something marvelous happens. And that is that Satan's grip on us through sin begins to loosen. Why? Because the light is now beginning to shine into our darkness. Truth is beginning to be revealed in the midst of our believing lies. And Satan's work, of course, of darkness and deception begins to fade. And so John tells us I'm writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. How does the appearing of Jesus destroy the works of the devil? Well, he's the revelation of the love of God. But there's more, there has to be more, because simply revealing the love of God to us doesn't take care of our fundamental problem. I can believe that God loves me, and I can even have a somewhat accurate view of who He is, and an accurate view of what it means for Him to love me, but unless God does something else, the works of the devil will never ultimately be destroyed. And so, in the incarnation, the Son of God destroys the works of the devil by making an end to our sin. And this is good news. So we read 1 John 4, 9, now look at verse 10. In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So the love of God is manifested most clearly in the fact that he gives up his son as a propitiation for our sins. So how does this work? The incarnation, Jesus coming into this world, becoming 100% human, the incarnation enables him to actually come and to die for our sins and to be raised to life again. And through that death and resurrection, we see the total annihilation of Satan's works. The biggest death blow Satan has ever experienced actually will not be when he's cast into the lake of fire. The biggest death blow Satan has ever experienced was when Jesus Christ made an end to our sin on the cross and was raised up from the dead imperishable. That was the biggest death blow to Satan. And so Jesus takes away the wrath that we deserve. That's the idea of propitiation. He actually, he takes the wrath that my sin deserves, your sin deserves, and in taking that wrath, the wrath of God is exhausted, spent on him, and now how much is left for me? How much is left for you? And the answer is none. Absolutely none. There's not one single solitary drop of divine wrath left because Jesus Christ has made an end to all our sin through his propitiation on the cross. And so if he takes away wrath, he takes away the punishment. And if there's no punishment because it's been exhausted on the cross, what leverage does the devil have in your life? And the answer is none. Satan uses our sins to condemn us. He tells us things like you're no good, God can never love you, you're too bad, you're too ugly, you are condemned, you're damned, you have no hope, you're a very bad person, and Jesus, by coming into this world, makes an end to our sin and takes away Satan's argument. If he says you're too bad, what do you say? Well, I may be too bad, but I have a Savior who became all of my badness on the cross. If he says, you're condemned, you say, impossible, Jesus has already been condemned in my place. And so there is no fear because there's no punishment and there's no punishment because there is no more sin. So here it is, Jesus destroys Satan's works by what he does for us on the cross, all right? Now what does the world turn on? Prepositions. So, remember he destroys Satan's works by what he does, here's preposition, for us, right? Now, that was all review, now we start today's sermon. Now, the Son of God makes us new so that sin doesn't reign over us. Okay, so how does the son of God destroy the works of the devil? Well, in one sense, he destroys the works of the devil by what he does for us, but he also destroys the works of the devil by what he does in us. Okay, so Jesus appears and he's gonna destroy the works of the devil and how does he do that? He does it by doing something in us so that sin does not reign over us. Now this is good news, but I will tell you, you have to now put on Your thinking cap. So Mrs. Sullivan used to tell us, my sixth grade teacher and my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, she was from New Hampshire. She was awful. Possibly demon possessed. But she'd say to us in her New Hampshire accent, all right class, it's time to put on your thinking caps. Now, look at 1 John chapter three. Look at verse six. No one who abides in him sins. No one who sins has seen him or know him. Wow. Look at verse nine, just for good measure. No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now, these are our texts this morning, okay? What I wanna show you first is that sin is not only something that Jesus made propitiation for so that we're not condemned, but I also wanna show you that sin is something which Jesus conquered in us. so that Jesus not only justifies us through his blood, but he also transforms us by his power. All right? So, understand this. Jesus justifies us by his blood. We're declared righteous through the blood of Jesus. That is good news. That's the gospel. That's glorious. But Jesus not only justifies us by his blood, he also transforms us. Look at verse seven real quickly, please. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. So there's justification, that's the basis for God accepting you. It's legal, it's forensic, it's based on the blood and righteousness of Jesus, it's what he's done for you, but there's also something which he does in you. Now, that something that he does in us is, We're born of God, his seed abides in us, he abides in us, we abide in him, and John says that in that new relationship, we're said not to sin. Now, my daughter made us watch the Despicable Me movies. And I loved them, I thought they were great. And I love the minions. And as you read 1 John 3, 4, 6, 9 in particular, you wanna do like that one little minion does and go, what? What are you talking about? They don't sin. I know I sin. What are you amenin' about? You better be amenin' for yourself. Hey, I know I sin. And you know what? I know that you sin. Okay? I know that Dave sins. Okay? I see Dave sin all the time. Okay? I mean, I know these things. And so, just look at it again, okay? Verse six, no one who abides in Him sins. No one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Verse nine, no one who is born of God, now let me just tell you, the New American Standard throws the word practice in there, okay? Just read this, no one who's born of God sins. Because the seed abides in him, he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now, let me just make a couple of things clear that should already be clear to you, all right? First, whatever John means, whatever he means, he cannot mean something that contradicts himself from what he said back in chapter one. So look at chapter one. Verse six. If we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from, from what? From all sin. Now notice this, if we say that we have no sin, we're deceiving ourselves the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he's faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us now I'm going to assume very, very clearly that John didn't think in chapter one that we still sin and then by the time he gets to chapter three, thinks, okay, well, you're sanctified enough and now we don't sin anymore. I don't think John's contradicting himself. So he says in chapter one, if you say that you don't have any sin, congratulations. What does he say? Liar. Liar. Truth isn't in you. He says it again, but then he says it in a way that's even more forceful. And if you say you haven't sinned, guess what? You make him a liar. Why would we make him a liar? Because he said we have sinned. and the truth isn't in us. So whatever John means in 1 John 3, 6, and 9, I take it to mean that he cannot be contradicting himself of what he says in chapter one. All right, fair enough, right? Now, whatever John means, he must mean that the child of God, the one who's born of God, has a radically different relationship with sin now than before they were born of God. All right? So all I'm saying is, whatever John means, and we haven't fleshed out the detail yet, but whatever John means, he's at least saying this. As a child of God, one born of God, you have a radically different relationship with sin than before you were born of God. All right? So what in the world does this mean? And let me just say, look at that, the Madraso girls are here. Hello. You guys back for good? Okay. You better pay attention to this sermon, all right? Now, the typical answer to what John means often focuses on the present tense of the verbs. All right? So, for instance, John Piper, whom I greatly admire and respect, is a proponent of this perspective. He says, The Greek verb commit sin or sin in verse nine implies continuous action. Could well be translated, no one who's born of God is content to keep sinning. For God's seed abides in him and he cannot be content to keep sinning because he's born of God. And in fact, many of our translations actually try to convey that this is how we should read it when they throw the word practice in there. No one who practices sin has been born of God. New American Standard does it. Virtually all English translations to one degree or another try to do that. But here's the thing, and this is where you need to tighten up your thinking cap. It is very, very unlikely that the tense can actually bear the weight of that translation. And the reason is, is because sin in the present is used in other passages in 1 John, and the idea most certainly is not the idea of continuous sin. And so it may be that Piper and others who argue for the present tense meaning continuous sin are actually over reading the tense. Now let me just ask, is it true that no one who continually practices sin has been born of God? And the answer is, of course that's true because the apostle Paul says something very similar on a number of occasions that those who practice such things after a list of sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. All right, so I think that the idea of making it the present tense, continually practicing, that that's theologically true, but that's not, I don't think that that's not what John is emphasizing or what he's getting at. So, who is not able to sin? On the text, two things. Those who are born of God, and those in whom his seed abides. All right? Those are the answers to who is not able to sin, so pay close attention. What does it mean, first of all, to be born of God? Well, to be born of God, God is eternal, To be born of God is to actually now have eternal life. God is righteous. And to be born of God is to live righteously. Look at the last verse of chapter two. 229. If you know that he is righteous, You know that everyone also who practices righteousness has been born of Him. Okay? So what is it to be born of God? Well, it's to have eternal life, but it's also to live righteously because God is righteous, but God is also love. To be born of God is to love God and to love our brother. So John says in 1 John 4 7, beloved, let us love one another for love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So what does it mean to be born of God? It's to have eternal life because God is eternal. It's to live righteously because God is righteous. It is to love God and to love our brother because God is love. What is it to be born of God? Well, God sent his son into the world and to be born of God is to believe in his son. So chapter five, Verse one, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever loves the father loves the child born of him. Verse four, for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? And so to be born of God is to believe in Christ, to love Christ. To be born of God then is to experience the power of God's spirit in transforming us as he makes us into his child. The new birth is an astonishing thing. It is an absolutely astonishing thing. One of the things that we've done for well over 100 years in churches, especially in America, is that we have minimized and reduced what it means to become a Christian. And typically what we've done is we've reduced it to some sort of mental or volitional act on our part so that we, quote, accept Christ or something like that. But you have to understand that the biblical perspective of becoming a Christian is this radical inward transformation that takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit in making us born again, born from above, or born of God. God. That is a radical transformation. When you've experienced that, you are not the same. Now, who is it that doesn't sin? The one that's been born of God and then the one in whose seed God's seed abides. Now, some have argued, of course, that God's seed is a reference to Christ. It's certainly possible. Others say the spirit. I think that the seed of God is actually his spirit in the new birth because the imagery is that in the new birth, what happens is God implants something in us, just like in a natural birth, male seed is implanted to create the pregnancy, to create new life. Well, in the spiritual realm, God does what? God implants his spirit within us to create the new life. And this, of course, has echoes going back to Ezekiel chapter 36, where God says that I'm going to put my spirit within you. Okay, and what does that mean? If he's gonna put his spirit within us, it means I'm gonna cause you then to walk in my statutes and to keep my ways. In other words, by the implantation of God's spirit, new life has been implanted, and because new life has been implanted, there are now new loves, there are now new desires, and there is now a new direction. That's what it is to be born of God. That's what it is to have God's spirit in us is I now have new loves. I look at the Lord Jesus Christ and I love Christ. If I'm born of God, I love Christ. I look at his word and if I'm born of God, I love the word of God. If I am born of God, I look at his people and I love his people. so that new loves, new desires. We all know what our old desires were like, and it's not like those old desires just dissipate and go on vacation somewhere. We still have those old desires, but we also have new desires, and those new desires are born of the Spirit, and those new desires are to know God, and to love people more, and to be obedient, and to walk in His ways, and in other words, There is a transformation so that the things that I used to love, I no longer love. I love new things. And the things that I used to live for, I don't live for those things anymore. I live for someone else. And it's not me. And what happens is, is that that new birth and the Spirit of God, the seed of God being implanted in me, gives my life a new direction. So, what are those who are born of God and have God's seed abiding in them not able to do? Well, it seems to our great fear that John is saying those who are born of God don't commit sin, but John's already ruled this out. So, If the key is not found in the use of the present tense, where is the key found? Well, I think, and I get this not from my own brain, but from Colin Cruz, who's a very fine New Testament scholar. He says, I think rightfully so, the key is in verse four. Everyone who sins practices, does, lawlessness. And sin is lawlessness. So the word, the Greek term anomia is without law. Now what's interesting is John talks about the commandments of God in 1st John, but he never talks about the law of God per se. When he uses the term anomia, lawless, he's talking about a certain category of sin, right? Now, follow me. Karen Jobes, New Testament scholar says, to be lawless does not simply mean to break the law. It means to disdain the very idea of a law to which one must submit. Anomia is therefore the rejection of God's authority and the exaltation of the autonomy of self. In other words, what she's saying is actually very simple. To be lawless is not just to commit a sin, break the law, it is actually an attitude of the heart that disdains the very idea that I need to submit to God and His authority. So anomia, lawlessness, is actually a rejection of that authority as I exalt my own autonomy over God. Our borough, says lawless points to a more diabolical and grave infraction there seems to be sufficient lexical warrant to posit the idea that by anomia, John has in mind transgression that's so weighty that the perpetrator's outside the pale of Christ's followers. Now, I don't have time to go into grammatical detail, but I think that the use of the articles in verse four in the Greek text actually support this reading. But just follow me. What I'm suggesting is that the sin that's mentioned in 1 John 3, 4 through 10, is not normal sinning. Now, normal sinning, yes. 1 John 5, 16 and 17, John says that there is sin not leading to death, and there is sin leading to death, right? So, what I'm saying is, is that what John's talking about in 1 John 3, 4 to 10, is not the sin that doesn't lead to death, but rather it is a more grave, aggravated, anti-authority infraction against God. Now, who was the first to sin like that? The text tells us. Who is the first person to sin like that? Well, Satan himself. Did you pick up in 3.8? The one who practices sin is of the devil. Why? For the devil has sinned from the beginning. So, who sins like anomia sinning? Well, the devil does. He actually exalted his autonomy over God and rebelled against God's authority in a way that brought tragic consequences to the entire cosmos. Now, who else sins like this? Look at verse 10. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. So who else sins in an anomia, a lawless way? Well, those who are of the devil. So Cain sinned that way, right? In fact, you could actually make a case that our first parents sinned that way. It's the seed of the serpent that sins in a lawless manner. In other words, fist raised up to God, absolute defiance, I'm going to rebel and I'm going to rebel willingly, I'm going to rebel and I'm going to rebel defiantly, and I'm going to rebel Because I believe that I'm more important than you So here's the question if that's true, I think it is There's a child of God sin Like that And I would say that John's answer is Absolutely not. Absolutely not. If you're born of God and God's seed abides in you, that very sense of lawlessness and rebellion against the authority of God has been subdued. It has been whooped. and it's been whooped by Jesus himself. And so the child of God does not sin like that. So the transformation of the new birth and the presence of the Holy Spirit make it possible for, or make it impossible, I should say, for a child of God to live like a child of the devil. Now I know how sermons like this go. You're sitting there and you're thinking, well, I once had a second cousin and he got saved when he was four at VBS. And he went on and he lived like the devil. And what are you saying? He's not saved. Duh. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, is that if you're born of God and God's spirit abides in you, you don't sin in the same way you used to sin when you were a child of the devil. What's so hard about that? and woe to those who actually turn around and teach people that you can be a child of God and live like a child of the devil. I think John actually addresses that. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. Why would John have to say let no one deceive you? Because there would be plenty of people who would say, you know what, it doesn't matter how you live just as long as you accepted Jesus into your heart. John says, don't let people deceive you with empty words. Don't let people deceive you with a shallow gospel. Don't let people deceive you with a lie. If you're not practicing righteousness as he's righteous, it's because you're not born of him. It's that simple. Now, what we do reveals who we are no matter what we say. Boy, strangely quiet. Let me just say it again for good measure, ruin your day. What we do reveals who we are no matter what we say. Someone who claims to be a child of God and lives like a child of the devil is simply deceiving himself. So, here's a question. If a child of God does not sin lawlessly, but still sins, what sin is not lawless sinning? You get the question, right? So if a child of God does not sin lawlessly, does not sin anomia, but still sins, what sin is not anomia? Actually, this is not that hard if you read 1 John in its entirety. What is not anomia sinning? First of all, sin that is confessed. Sin that's confessed. So you all know 1 John 1, 9, I recited at every Lord's Supper, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to, forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, all right? So, 1 John 2, 1 and 2, little children, I write these things to you that you may not sin, but if anyone sins, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, whose propitiation for our sins, not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. So listen very carefully. Confession, when I sin, when I sin and I go to God and I confess that sin, confession is a sign not of my rebellion, but of my submission to God's authority. Because when I go to God in confession of sin, I believe that the sin that I'm confessing is contrary to what God has made me and to who I am, and it needs to be confessed as sin. So, if lawless sinning is a defiant rebellion against God, where I exert my autonomy over God, confessing my sin is actually, in humility, submitting myself to agreeing with what God says about my sin, and confessing it as God sees it, and confessing it as something that needs to be forgiven, and confessing it as something that needs to be washed away. Not lawless sin, that's very awkward, isn't it? Not lawless sin, but you understand what I mean. Not lawless sin is also sin that is seen as an enemy and is fought against and is ultimately overcome by faith. Why do I think that? Well, because John says in 4.4, greater is he who's in you than he who is in the world. And who is it that overcomes the world? The one who believes in Jesus. How do we overcome the world? We overcome the world through our faith, okay? So a child of God is one It's not a sin-free person, because the person that says, I'm a child of God and I don't sin, is lying. But the child of God who commits sin and who acknowledges that sin, confesses that sin to God, also sees that sin as an enemy that needs to be overcome, because it's part of the world and the flesh and the devil attack on me, and so I'm not at home with it. it doesn't fit me anymore, it's like an old suit of clothes that's 10 times too big and I put it on and I know I don't belong there anymore and so I realize this is not what I am and so a child of God by John's very definition cannot give himself to reject God's authority, rebel against God's will and then sin without confession and repentance. A child of God by John's very definition, cannot give themselves to reject God's authority, rebel against God's will, and sin without confession and repentance. The very next passage of what we're gonna look at this afternoon, John says, don't love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father's not in them. For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts. But who lives forever? The one who does the will of the Father. I take that to mean a child of God says, not my will, but yours be done. My will needs to be in subjection to your will, and I dare not assert my will over your will. I want to do your will. Now, how does the Son of God's appearing destroy the works of the devil? First, the Son of God made an end to all my sin on the cross so the devil can no longer accuse me or discourage me with my sins. And to that, I say amen and amen, and I hope you believe it and live it and practice that. When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me all the sin within. What do we see? Upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. If I believe that, I don't give the devil leverage to accuse me or discourage me because of my sin. I say and I sing, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. Devil, you can rage all you want. Take it up with Jesus. He died for that sin. The son of God has also made me new. He's made me alive. He's made me live in the light. He's given me his spirit. And because of those realities, I've been born anew. I have his spirit. I live in the light. I walk in the light. That means that I no longer go about sinning in a lawless manner, an outright rebellious manner. My faith and the spirit living within me do not permit the outright tyranny and domination and victory of sin in my life, but the faith and the Spirit of God living in me secure the defeat of that sin. And so my faith and the Spirit living within me when I do sin, do not allow me to remain comfortable in that sin. Do not allow me to be, without conviction in that sin, but the Spirit of God and my faith point me to Jesus Christ and to confession for that sin. Here's the thing you have to understand. If you say that you're a child of God and there is sin in your life and there's sin in all of our life, the question is, what's my relationship with that sin? And if the Spirit of God is living in me, Guess what I will not be comfortable with? I may go back to the pig pen and try to eat pods that pigs won't even touch, but you know what? The Spirit of God is gonna say, you don't belong here. You don't belong here. Get up. Go back to your father's house. You don't belong here. But it's kind of nice. I mean, it smells different. And the Spirit of God is gonna say, no, you don't belong here. You have a different father. You're a different person. You're new. Get up and get going. The most miserable people on the planet are people that are trying to repress the Spirit's presence in their life, in the midst of their sinning. So here's what you need to know. Give up. You will not win. Resistance is futile. God loves you as his child too much to let you go running down the broad road that leads to destruction with all the rest of the devil's children. He loves you too much to let you do that. And you know what? He loves you enough to knock you on your keister to get your attention. And if you're stubborn, if, Being a parent gives so many theological illustrations. If you are like certain kids and you get knocked on your keister because you're going the wrong direction and you get up and you say, I'm gonna keep going. Just remember, God always has a bigger stick. So the Son of God came so that not only would all your sins be wiped away before the judgment bar of God, but so that he would have victory over sin in your life. It's actually God's will that you sin less. So what are those besetting sins, those pet sins, the sins we've grown comfortable with? Those are the sins that we need to say, you know what, the son of God came into this world to destroy that sin in my life. That's what he did. He came into the world to destroy that sin. And he's given me his spirit, he has made me born of God, his word abides in me, and he's given me faith. the victory will be mine. Because I am more than a conqueror through Him who loved us. Child of God, don't you dare give up fighting and confessing and repenting of your sins. Don't dare! Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Let's pray. Father, thank you for our conquering King, Jesus. Thank you that as the Lamb, He has overcome. He's not only overcome the penalty and judgment for our sin, but He's overcome the power of that sin. We pray that we'd embrace it and love that truth and live in it. Remind us of it. Lord, we have such short memories. Remind us, compel us, compel us to pick up the sword and fight on. Compel us to rest and trust in the one who's overcome. We ask this in his name, amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.