They're on top of it. I didn't switch this yet. I wanted to... remind you about the opportunity to give a testimony via video. We'd like to include a few of those. And the thing is, is if I don't have it recorded by lunch tomorrow, then I won't have, we won't be able to do it because I've got to have time to edit and put it together and get it, get it produced for Sunday night. So after church tonight, if you would like to record a testimony, something for Pastor Derek, Miss Christina, the kids, a little message, Maybe Ms. Renshaw wants to record a message. That would be a real surprise to them, I'm sure. What's she on there for? But we could get that recorded. Obviously, you'll have opportunities Sunday night in church to give it publicly and before everybody. But if you would like to get it out of the way or do it when there's less of a crowd watching, although some people don't like cameras, I understand. So we can try and do that after church tonight or in the morning. But after lunch tomorrow, we won't be able to do any more of those. Just so you know. Would you turn your Bibles tonight to the book of 1st John, all the way down the end of the New Testament. 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Jude and Revelation. The book of 1st John. We're going to begin a Bible study. I told you that we were going to, once we completed the how-to's, I felt like we were kind of at the end of that. And so the next time we come together, we will begin to just do a Bible study. And I asked, would anybody have a particular Bible chapter or book that they really enjoy or that they would like to see studied out? This was the only one that anybody asked about. You know, this was one that somebody said, hey, I've always enjoyed this book and would love to hear you teach through the book of 1st, 2nd and 3rd John. And so these are some fun passages of scripture. These are very powerful truths and looking forward to just kind of going verse by verse. Pastor Derek today said, Are you going to try and do it one chapter a week and you haven't done in eight weeks? I said, oh, no, there's too much stuff in here to try and do one chapter a week. I said, I don't know. We'll kind of just go verse by verse and see what we get done. I don't have a time frame or agenda at this point to try and accomplish it. But just by way of introduction tonight is what we're going to try and basically this evening just kind of introduce the study and dive into it a little bit, kind of bring our hearts and minds this direction. And I would encourage you over the next few weeks as we're studying these, you know, we're in the book of 1 John right now. Then we'll get to 2nd John and 3rd John. But as we do that, I would encourage you, as much as your schedule will allow you to, read through this book. And just get it in your heart and mind. You know, repetition is the key to learning. And often, we say you get the most out of that which you put the most in. And so I think if you, I don't want to mess up your reading schedule for your devotion and your quiet time. And if you're on a schedule and want to read through the Bible in a year and that kind of stuff, I don't want to mess that up. But if you have a time that you're just going to be reading some or you say, well, I'm going to read for a few minutes. then I would include this, try and read through these, get it in your heart and mind over the next coming weeks, and it'll be a blessing to you. By way of introduction, let's just read the first four verses of 1 John tonight, and we're gonna look at a few of these thoughts here, and as we introduce this book and these epistles to you. He says here, that which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have held of the word of life. For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you the eternal life, which was with the father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. I'm going to ask the Lord to walk through this with us here as we begin with a word of prayer. Lord, I come to you tonight and Lord, we're grateful for the opportunity this evening that's ours to have in our hands a copy of the Word of God. We get to study and work through a passage of scripture together, we get to ask questions and we get to spend as much time in the word of God as we would like to. Lord, we, I think sometimes forget how blessed we are to have a copy of your word. Much of the world would long to have a copy of the word of God in their language. Some places that have it aren't free to study it. because of the persecution that's prevalent. Lord, we don't want to take for granted. We don't want to just think, oh, here's another time of looking at Scripture. But God, we're truly blessed. to be able to study your word. And I pray God tonight that you would bring these thoughts to our hearts and minds and allow us to truly value the truths that are shared through the scripture this evening. And this study, as we go verse by verse through these writings of John, Lord, I pray that you would use them in our hearts and strengthen us as believers and challenge us. And we'll ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, although these are very small books in the grand scheme of things, they're very powerful truths that are for us as believers today. I would like to begin this evening and look at the author, the writer, just to remind you of who he is. And I think this is pretty well known. Don't need to spend a lot of time here, but I want you to know that it is not John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. It's not the son of Zachariah and Elizabeth. That's not who the author is. This is John the Apostle. This is John, the youngest son of Zebedee and Salome. It is the youngest son of them. This is the younger brother of James. We know that because he was called by Christ, that he was a fisherman before he became a fisher of men. And I want you to know that I have seen it in the years of time of ministry that often God will find somebody that's busy, somebody that's serving, somebody that's active, somebody that's doing something, and call them to do more. That's just the way God works. He's not, very rarely do you find God, and I'm not saying it never happens, because I've seen God take somebody from the world that was lost and undone, and right away, God calls them, God saves them, God calls them, God anoints them, and they are off and running. And I've seen that happen, but more often than not, God takes somebody that is serving, that's active, that's participating, that's doing what they know they're supposed to do today, and calls them to further service. I think about this man, John, his personality, what he was like as we read these passages of scripture, the book of John, and these officials, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and I think that I'm a little bit more like John than I would be like some of the other apostles. I think about Peter. You know, Peter was the first one to speak up. Peter was the first one to jump into the fray. That's not really me. I'm more kind of, I sit back and I don't know, it's just not my personality. I'm not gonna be the one that's gonna jump up first. I'm not gonna be the one that's gonna speak up and I'm not gonna raise my voice and make it heard over everybody else. I have a tendency to sit in the back and kind of be quiet. I think as you read John, you see the depth of the thought that he shares. And you can see he's very contemplative. He's put a lot of thought and insight into the truths that he's sharing and the depth of his love and the passion that he has for Christ comes through in his writings. And that's exciting that we're gonna get to study and see these passions as we look here at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. But of course, he is also the author of the Gospel of John. And he's also the author of one other book in our New Testament, which is what? Revelation. That book of Revelation, Werner Wiersbe takes these three different areas of John's writings and kind of gives some, I don't know if you'd call them kind of focuses of each of these writings. And it's kind of neat to see, Wiersbe said that the gospel of John emphasizes salvation, where the epistle of John, these first, second, third John, emphasizes sanctification. And the revelation of John emphasizes glorification. And when you think about those different passages of scripture, this is very true. He says that the gospel of John is a look at past history. The epistle of John is a look at your present experience. And the revelation of John is a look at our future hope. God has used one man to give us a lot of truth. He said that the gospel of John looks at Christ who died for us. The epistles of John looks at Christ who lives for us. And the revelation of John looks at Christ who's coming for us, amen? We could just have an invitation right now. I mean, he goes on, he says that the gospel of John is the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. The epistle of John is the word made real in the heart of the believer. And the revelation of John is the word in us. Very powerful truths that this one author God used to share. We know that this author, he was part of the inner circle. Who were the other two members of the inner circle, just to get some engagement here? James and? Peter, Peter, John's one of them, yeah. So you have Peter, James, and John in a sailboat. So you have the inner circle, these that for one reason or another were always seem to be right next to Christ. They were drawn with him and were close to him and desired to be there and they often found themselves right next to Christ and walking with him and talking with him and in prayer with him. They wanted to be with Christ every chance they could get. He was called by Christ the beloved disciple, the beloved disciple. Four times in John, he identifies himself, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as that disciple whom Jesus loved. I have those passages written down here, but four times, that disciple whom Jesus loved. What an amazing thing to consider and think about that Jesus, God, recognized this about John. Out of the 12, he said that disciple whom Jesus loved, Jesus loved him. Actually, John, in its original language, means whom Jehovah loves, whom Jehovah loves. This John we know sat next to Christ at the Last Supper. There's many other things that we could see about him and his desire to be with Christ, but we see his character. He was very ambitious. In Mark chapter 10, verse 35 and 37, And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, what would ye that I should do for you? Then said unto him, grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand and the other on thy left hand. Now, the disciples here often, and I've heard it preached many times, and I'm sure you have as well, are given a bad rap for asking this question, right? You've heard that preached? How many of you have heard that? Like, what in the world? They just want to be lifted up. They just want to have the position of prominence. But you also could look at it from the aspect that they just wanted to be close to the master. They just wanted to be at his feet. They just wanted to be closest to him. Of all the places that we could be, God, we wanna be right next to you. That's where we wanna be, and I would say that's a pretty high ambition. He was pretty ambitious. Out of all those people that are gonna be in heaven, Lord, boy, we would love to be right next to you. Pretty ambitious goal and desire to just desire to be right next to Christ. In Mark chapter three, verse number 17, and James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, and he surnamed them Berjones, which is the sons of thunder. Again, looking at the idea of his ambition, his energy, this word means commotion. The son of thunder means thunderings. John was passionate about getting the gospel out. He was passionate about sharing the truth of the love of Jesus Christ with the world around him. His passion was driven by the compassion that he had in his heart, a compassion like Christ had. In John chapter 19 verse 26 and 27, he says, when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, He saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then he saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her into his own home. From that hour, Christ looked down at him and said, Hey, notice her. And from that moment, he said, I'll take care of her. I'm gonna bring her into my home. I'm gonna care for her. The compassion that he had when he was pointed by Christ towards his mother. The heartbeat of John can be seen in all of these writings. The love, the love he had for God. But what he says is that the love that I have for God is a love that's available to everyone. It should be a part of every believer's life. He describes and he talks about the fellowship that he enjoyed, and if any of the disciples enjoyed a close fellowship with a master, it was John. But he says, this fellowship that I have with Christ, it is available to you all. We can all enjoy this kind of fellowship. So we see this, the author, John, and then we see tonight the album The book here, 1 John, J. Vernon McGee gives us an outline. He broke the 1 John up like this. He said, God is light. That is seen in chapter one through chapter two and verse number two. God is love is seen in chapter two, verse number three through chapter four and verse number 21. and God is life, chapter five, verses one through 21. So you could break up the book of 1 John in those three categories as J. Vernon McGee did, God is light, God is love, and God is life. Ryan Worsby breaks it up like this. He says in chapters one and two, you have the test for fellowship. A true test of fellowship. Do you truly have fellowship with the Father? And then he says, but fellowship is only possible through sonship. And chapters three, four, and five deal with sonship. Are you really a son of God? Because only through being a son of God can you have true fellowship with the Father. He said that 1 John is built around the repetition of the three main themes. The three main themes in these books is light versus darkness, love versus hatred, and truth versus error. Now, if you just took those couple of outlines, those couple of thoughts, J. Vernon McGee's thoughts on light, love, and life, We're in Wirzbe's thoughts on the fact that we're dealing with fellowship and sonship, contrasted between light and darkness, love and hatred, truth and error. And then as you hopefully in the next few weeks begin to read through this, look for those things, look for those contrasts, look where he's talking about light and contrast it with darkness. Look where he is talking there about love and it's contrasted with hatred and truth as it's contrasted with error. and you'll be doing your own Bible study just one verse at a time as you see those truths come out as you're reading it. There's some outlines there, then what was the occasion for writing this book? Now we are gonna jump around a little bit in 1 John here as we see the five purposes for writing this book. So first of all, we see the first purpose in 1 John 1 and verse number three. Why don't you look at 1 John 1 and verse number three and tell me why he wrote the book. See if you can come up with the, it's right in the verse there. What was the purpose? That ye may have fellowship. Yes, that's what he says. So he's writing this book. He says, here, first of all, I'm writing this to you that you might have fellowship. If there's anybody that had a close walk with the master, if there's anybody that had fellowship with Christ, it was John. And he says, hey, I'm writing this down so you too can have some fellowship with the master. You can know that kind of joy. Biblical fellowship is rooted in a right relationship with the father. Then I want you to see in verse number four, he gives us the second reason, so you look at it and you tell me what is the second reason. That your joy may be full. You know, beloved, joy is a result of right fellowship. Joy is a result of right fellowship with the Father and right fellowship with fellow believers brings joy to the Christian life. The Christian life should be typified by joy. We ought to have joy in our heart. We ought to have joy unspeakable and full of glory. It ought to be part of the Christian's life. Oh, I know we face challenges. I know we have burdens, but there ought to be something that dwells down in the heart of a believer that we just have the joy of the Lord. Amen. So we ought to have. And he says, hey, I'm writing this down so that your joy may be full. But you take it all in context and you see that we're dealing with A, joy's only full when you have a right fellowship. Beloved, when one's joy is not full, there's a problem. There's a problem. You could take those contrasts that we mentioned earlier and find out what's in your life that's blocking the joy, light versus darkness. Love versus hatred, truth versus error. What is there in your life that's stopping or blocking the joy? Because our joy is to be full. Then I want you to see in chapter two in verse number one, we see another direct reason given for why he wrote this for us. You look at it and tell me what it is. That you sin not. Well, that's a pretty tall order, that you sin not. I mean, he says, my little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteousness. Hey, he says, the goal is that we would sin not. But if you sin, remember you got a father. Remember you got an advocate, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who goes before the Father for you, carries your transgression when you come to him and ask him forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But he says the goal is that you sin not. So we wanna try and sin less and less, amen? I had a conversation not too many months ago with somebody in the foyer here about sinless perfection. and they were of the mind that you could be sinless. And I said, man, you're better than me. I said, I can't, I just can't. I mean, I think about as good as I might try and be, and I'm still a sinner, and I don't know. I mean, I think, you know, his question, he says, well, what do you do with the pastures that says be perfect? I said, well, the Bible, when it's talking about perfect, the idea is being complete, the idea is being mature. and that you work towards sinning less and less. But until we get to heaven, I don't think anybody's ever gonna be perfect. Only Jesus Christ is the only one that lived a perfect, sinless life, amen? But we ought to be striving to sin less and less. We learn in these passages about the penalty of sin and that the power that sin has, but that we've been freed from it through Jesus Christ. And then I want you to see, look in chapter five, you guys recognize this one. Chapter five, verse number 13. This verse, many of you could quote it, you don't have to turn there. So what is another reason why he tells us here that he wrote this book? that ye may know. You're in the right verse, but that ye may know. So he wrote it, again, that word that is there in each of these verses. He says, hey, I wrote this down so you could know that you have eternal life. so that you could know Jesus is your Lord and Savior. And I tell people when I'm dealing with somebody for salvation, I says, hey, you know, GPS has ruined my illustration. But I used to say, you know, pre-GPS days that, hey, Rand McNally could write in the front of his map book that I wrote this down so you could know how to get to Texas. I always use Texas because that's where I live. I don't know, when you're talking, whatever's in your mind, I could pick any spot. One time I was witnessing somebody and they said, well, I already know how to get to Texas. I said, well, that's not really the point. I said, let's pick somewhere you don't know how to get to. The idea is that the book was written so you could know and that's what God did here. He gave this to us and had John pin this. Why? So that you could know that you have eternal life, amen? You know what's amazing, beloved, is that men today do not like men that know, or women, that know the truth. They don't like it. Anybody will hear you, they'll listen to you, as long as what you're presenting is only an option. Sadly, much of the preaching from the pulpits today is even being presented in an apologetic manner in the idea that here is something for you to consider or think about as a possibility. What I'm saying is you just say today that Jesus is the only way. He is the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. People don't like the unchanging truth. Here is the truth. This is what the Bible says. This is the line. This is what God stated as the fact. But people don't like that today. You know why? Because as long as you just present it as an option, that leaves room for them to think and believe whatever they want in their mind. Whatever they want to think of. Whatever idea that they have. But see, when you present it as the truth of the word of God, as an unchanging biblical principle, then what we think has to change, right? And people don't like that. But he says, here, I wrote this down so you could know. I mean, I've stood at the door and stood at the truck stop and stood on the ski slope and talking to people about Jesus Christ. And I've had him tell me, you can't know that. You can't know. Nobody can know. I said, well, God said you can know. God said you can know it. And I know as much as I know I'm standing on a carpet and a platform right here that I'm on my way to heaven. I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt without any question. Why? Not because of anything that I've done, anything I've achieved, anything I've received, but because of what Jesus Christ did for me. I haven't earned any of it, but I know it to be true because of the promise of the word of God. Yeah. Then I want you to see the fifth one, the last one. Look in chapter two and verse number 26. I put this one last because it's a little bit longer thought, even though we're backing up in the order of the book here. This one's maybe not as straightforward, but he says here, these things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. So what we're dealing with here is that there was some false doctrine, there was some seducing spirits, there was some ideas entering the church, coming into the believers there that were not correct. And he says, hey, I'm writing this to try and correct something that has grabbed a hold of your attention, something that has seduced you, something that has somehow captured your heart and your imagination, and it's pulling you away from the truth of Jesus Christ. and who he is. It's amazing. First of all, the truth that they lost was the splendor of the word had faded. You see, this was written somewhere around 180, give or take a few years. If you have a study Bible, it probably gives you a date there somewhere close to that. And so 100 years had passed. We're talking about second and maybe in some situations even third generation Christians. People that had been in the church for a while. People that grew up and this is all they ever knew. And can I tell you that the thrill, the excitement, the joy of knowing Jesus Christ was fading. It was waning. The splendor of the Word had faded. The excitement of the privilege of reading the Word of God, and as I pondered this today and thought about it, and this is where, even in my opening prayer, because today the Lord just reminded me of the joy that we have to be able to study the Word of God. But we have it all the time, and we put it under our arm, and we carry it in our house, and we've got copies everywhere, and we've got them on our phones and our devices, and it's here all the time. And so we take completely for granted that we get the joy and the privilege of studying the very Word of God. It's lost its splendor. It's lost its joy. Oh, we're doing another Bible study, okay. Much like any other service. But what a privilege is ours to get into the Scriptures to see God's Word and to see how they apply to our lives. We can't let the splendor fade. It's got to be precious to us. It's got to be something that's real and powerful. This Word of God changes lives. We, you know, we love to sing and I enjoy songs, but the priority at Hunt Valley Baptist Church is not on the singing. It's on the preaching of the Word, the Word of God. That's why, beloved, soup kitchens don't change the world. We need somebody to feed the poor, but that's not the message of the book. We need preaching, the preaching of the Word of God that changes lives. The splendor was being lost. William Barclay described it as a great falling away. He says, in the first days of Christianity, there was glory and there was a splendor, but now Christianity had become a thing of habit and tradition and half-hearted nominal faith. I remind you that Christ told us that this would happen. He said in Matthew 24, 12, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Beloved, if we're not careful, if you don't guard against it, the splendor is going to fade. The joy of the transforming power of the word of God in your heart and life is going to fade. I have seen people come in through the back doors of the church, really just a product of the world. They came through the doors and didn't know anything about the Bible, and God saved their soul, and they followed the Lord and believers' baptism, and their life was transformed, and their family was changed, and their marriage was restored, and their home began to grow and prosper under the blessing of God and His provision, and they're changed, and they come into church, and all of a sudden, they start looking a little bit more like a Christian and a lot less like the world. And then they get into the Word of God and they begin growing and they begin sharing truth with other people and being used to be a witness. And they say, hey, how can I help out at church? And they begin to serve at church. And then they come. And one day we say, boy, would you be willing to serve as an usher? Oh, what? Oh, me, an usher? Oh, I couldn't usher a church. I'm not worthy to usher a church. I don't deserve such a high calling as that. Why would you ask me? And I say, you're saved on your way to heaven. You love Jesus, amen? And they say, yeah. And I say, well, wonderful. You're faithful to God's house. You're here. You're part of the church family. We would love to have you as part of the usher team. And oh, they're so humbled by the privilege of serving to usher. Then they get to participate in some other ministries. But given enough time, All that's old hat. All that is just normal life. There is no joy anymore. There is no thrill anymore. There is no splendor anymore. It's all gone. It's a duty. I wish I didn't have to serve tonight. Really just wanna sit tonight. Don't feel like doing this or doing that. The splendor fades, Christian. if we don't guard against it. Can I ask you, have you lost the wonder of it all? Not only had the splendor faded, but I want you to know that the seduction of the world had found its way into the church. The seduction of the world, and we're gonna get into these passages and see these things as we walk through in the coming weeks, but I want you to know there was no implication in the book here of persecution. there was a problem adopting the philosophies of men. One commentator wrote this. He said, the trouble which was faced by John in 1 John, that he seeks to combat did not come from men out trying to destroy the Christian faith, but from men who thought they were improving it. It came from men whose aim was to make Christianity intellectually respectable. You see, they were adopting the philosophies of men. To put that paragraph in modern terms, what you see churches, pastors, and ministries doing today, they're trying to make the church culturally relevant. That is the catchphrase today. Are you culturally relevant? They're basically saying any old-fashioned church is of no value today because you're not culturally relevant. This is exactly what John was battling way back then. He says, oh, they were trying to make Christianity intellectually respectable. Now you know from our study, I think it was the book of Galatians, but the idea of Gnosticism, the philosophy that was there and that Greek influence and how they loved philosophy, how they loved the intellectual aspects of life and contemplating and valued deep thought, rich thought. And so they were taking the simplicity of the gospel in Jesus Christ and trying to make it culturally relevant by leaning towards Gnosticism. Now Gnosticism is a belief that only the spirit is good. That all matter, all matter like this pulpit is evil. Our physical bodies are evil. Everything in this world is evil and only the spirit is good. And when you take that to its nth degree, they would teach that inside of man, there is a spirit that is good. And our goal and effort in life is to free or release that spirit. But man itself is evil because everything is evil. But they go beyond that and say that the only way you can release that spirit is through special knowledge. You see, you need special insight. And that can only be given to you by somebody who's a true practicing Gnostic. So they're kind of putting boundaries on what you can do spiritually without them. But there's only one mediator between God and men. There's nobody here that has a corner on Jesus Christ. Nobody here that has a corner on the Spirit of God and His power and His working. Anybody here can be more spiritual and more powerful with God than anybody else if we want to follow what the Bible says to get there. We don't need somebody to impart a measure, you know, I come down and lay hands on you so that you can have the power of God. No, you can have the power of God if you follow God. The greater problem with this whole ritual and this Gnostic movement is that all matter is evil, and they say God cannot touch evil, so they would deny that Christ was the Son of God. Because Christ can't touch evil, man's physical body is evil, all things in earth are evil, and so therefore he could not have been Christ. Look in chapter two, in verse number 22. He says there, chapter two, verse 22, he said, who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is an antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. You see, there was the problem. The full fruition of this Gnostic belief was that they were denying that Jesus was the Christ. And he said, who's a liar? Anybody that tells you that Jesus wasn't the Son of God. And I'll just tell you today, anybody that tells you that Jesus is not the Son of God, the Savior sent to save men from their sin, they're a liar. You need to get back to the Bible. It doesn't matter how many degrees they have behind their name. It doesn't matter how puffed up they are in their own knowledge or how smart. They may be able to argue you down into the ground, but you don't have to argue. You just hold this up. You may not even know every single verse to turn to, or you may not be able to point it to Him and say, well, this and this and this and this. You don't have to be able to argue it. You say, I believe the Word of God, and the Word of God says that he that knoweth the Son knoweth the Father, because the two are one, and He was Jesus Christ in the flesh. They're liars. Some would teach that He was God, but that he actually didn't have a physical body, that he just looked like a physical being. See, because he can't be a physical being and still practice Gnosticism, because everything physical is evil and God can't be a part of evil, so they would teach the other extremists, oh, well, it was God, but he was just a spirit that looked like man. But that's not what the Bible says. He was all God and he was all man. I read so much stuff on this idea of Gnostic belief, it's just, it's crazy how far down this path he goes. They teach that on the cross when he was dying and going through the pain and suffering to cover all of our sin, that Jesus wasn't actually there on the cross. That he was talking to John in a cave somewhere. Now this is not in the scripture. This is not in the Bible. And they have actually written down what Jesus said to John about like basically, don't worry about the guy on the cross and all that he's going through, because that's not me. I'm here with you. Why? Because he was a spirit. He couldn't be that flesh and being. But the Bible says he was tempted in all points like we are. If he wasn't actually a flesh and being, if he didn't know pain and heartache and suffering, he couldn't be tempted in all points like we are. So it's a false doctrine, it's a false teaching that is turning people away from the simplicity of Jesus Christ and who he was. Taking Gnosticism to its nth degree, has one of two extremes. First is extreme asceticism. That is, the asceticism is the self-torture that you believe spirituality is achieved by even physically hurting yourself. by denying yourself, by crawling on your knees towards Mecca, or by, you know, just different ways of, you know, whipping yourself, and that somehow this brings about spiritualism and spirituality, and the more you do it, the more spiritual you are. Self-mortification, self-denial, that's asceticism. The other is self-indulgence. The other extreme, because they say, well, the body, It really doesn't matter. Everything on earth, everything physical is already evil anyway. Doesn't make any difference. And so you can satisfy every desire you want, every desire you have, you can do that. And it doesn't make any difference because it's all evil anyway. So they take it to the other extreme. So this is the seduction of the world that has found its way into the church that John is dealing with here. We're gonna see these as we go through these passages. As I wrap this up, I want you to see the aim tonight. Beloved, whether you're writing a letter, teaching a class, addressing a crowd, there is an aim. There is an objective you have. It could be something as simple as giving some announcements about Sunday night and our farewell to Pastor Derek and his family. Here's what's gonna happen. You wanna listen because you need to know what we're gonna do. It could be something very important, like, you know, I think they call it muster on a ship. When you're getting ready to go, they call you together and they say, hey, listen, if the ship starts going down, this right here is your lifeboat. This is where you're supposed to go. You know, it's pretty important that you get that information, but whatever I'm saying, whether you're writing a letter or whatever, you have something you want to communicate, and John has an aim, and his aim is seen in the focus of his message. John's focus we've already seen is on fellowship. John 1 verse number three, he says that you may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. Beloved, we should have fellowship with God and with other men. And I tell you tonight as a challenge to myself and to you, whomever you might be sitting under, that every message preached should have as its objective the underlining goal of bringing us into better fellowship with one another and the Father. That should be the goal. ultimately an underlining goal bringing us into better fellowship with one another and better fellowship with the Father. It should draw us closer to one another and closer to God. You see, this is the fulfillment of the law because the law has been brought down to two simple commandments. I was listening to a message this last week and it talked about the truth that In the Old Testament, there's a little over 600 laws that you could see and view. But God gave the law to his people, and he broke it down to 10. He said, here's the 10 laws. But then when Jesus came, he broke it down to two. And he said, all the law is contained in these two laws. And what are they? Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all the soul and the mind. And the second is like unto it, what is it? So you see the importance of that objective? The underlying objective of every message should have as a goal to point people to love one another better and to love God more. And Paul, or I knew I was gonna do that because there's so much in the New Testament written by Paul. This is not Paul, John. John is trying to communicate that to us. Every preacher of the gospel should have as his goal to lift up Jesus Christ and him crucified. It is man's sin that sent Christ to the cross and it's the father that raised him victorious over sin. And beloved, the result is what we see in verse number four. You know what, there's a time for godly sorrow. The Bible says that godly sorrow does what? Do you know the passage of scripture? Godly sorrow leadeth thee to repentance. So sometimes when we preach, there's some pretty pointed, there's some pretty straightforward addressing of sin. and it might bring about some sorrow, but the underlining objective is seen in verse number four, that your joy may be full. Godly sorrow leads us to repentance and through Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross, we're brought back into fellowship with the Father and back into fellowship with one another and our joy is full. That is the message, the aim, that John has for us. Would you stand to your feet with your heads bowed and your eyes closed? Lord, as we have a moment of invitation here, so powerful are the truths of your word and so, I guess, at hand they are that many times we take them for granted. But I pray, God, that we would truly value the message from your word tonight and realize the importance of the aim of this book to bring us into true fellowship with the Father and fellowship with one another that our joy may be full. And Lord, we pray that you would work as only you can in the hearts of your people, in Jesus' name, amen. It's a pianist's place. If God spoke to you, you come. Is your joy full? Do you have something in your heart or in your life that's hiding or keeping back the joy? Are you out of fellowship with the Father? Are you out of fellowship with a brother or sister in Christ? Do you have something there that needs to be dealt with?