to the book of 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5, as we finish this marvelous book, although it is one of the most difficult books I've ever tried to outline, as far as because the three main themes that he has, of course, the things that he weaves through almost every paragraph, or he does in every paragraph, is that Jesus is Lord. He's God. And of course, that's our theological underpinnings. If Jesus isn't Lord, then we don't have salvation. And he wants to, he calls anybody who says that Jesus isn't Lord, what does he call him? A liar. And he uses that verse several, he uses that term several times. And then of course, he talks about the moral, And that is the moral course, and that is the idea of if Jesus is Lord, then we must obey him. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And he uses the term again, he that keepeth not his commandments, or he who assumes that you don't have to keep his commandments. He is a what? A liar, and the truth is not in it. And then we have the social. We know that he's passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brethren abideth in death. In other words, you don't have a good spiritual life if you don't have a good fellowship with believers. And so at least we try to get along. And that's one of the big problems of a church today. If the church can be destroyed, it will be because the hatred, the bitterness, bitter ending and strife, as James calls it. And when there's bitter ending and strife, there's confusion and every evil work. This wisdom is not from above, but it's earthly, sensual, demonic. So can demons get into a church? So we see that, and you and I, if you've been around long enough, know that he can, and we hear about it all the time. But so we see that those are the three ideas, that Jesus is Lord. There's no way to salvation except through the Lord Jesus Christ. And if he is Lord, then he is to be obeyed. And if he's to be obeyed, then we are also to love our brother. And that's part of the, that's the first commandment, or one of the original commandments he gives us, isn't it? That we love one another. By this, the world may know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another. So we see that now he ties it all together and we come to chapter, now we come to the end. And like John wrote the book of John, he told them what he wrote. or what he was going to write. And then at the end, he tells them what he wrote. And then at the end, he tells them, you know, why he wrote it. In chapter 20, we see that where he says, these things I've written to you, or he actually says, and these things, I'm sorry. He says, but these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have a life through his name. And that's the gospel of John. That's the evangelistic thrust. That's the reason we love it, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And so his whole purpose was to begin with the Jesus of God. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we behold his glory, full of grace and truth. And so he said, I wrote these things that you may have eternal life, that you may know him as your savior. Now, and then the epistle of John, we see in verse 13, that he tells us again, that these things I've written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God, so you have believed on his name, John chapter 20, that you may know that you have eternal life. And that word no is used 40 times or around 40 times in this epistle. So we'll begin picking up now as he finishes up his epilogue. Actually, he's gone through this and he's woven these truths over and over again through these five chapters. But now we kind of have an epilogue and he throws several things in there at the very end. And so we'll begin reading in verse 11. And this is the testimony. This is the revelation we talked about. This is what God says. This is the testimony that God has given us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He who has the son has life. He does not have the son of God does not have life. These things I've written to you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the son of God. Now, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. If anyone sees his brother sinning, a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask and he will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I do not say that you should pray about it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. We know that whosoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God. in eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Father, we pray as we come before this portion of scripture. We thank you for the understanding that the whole world is in darkness even until now. And that you've given us the understanding that we're the called out ones. We're the ones who know that truth from error because you are the truth. We thank you that you are our Father and that we can call you Father. We thank you that we can come through you through the shed blood of your son, Jesus Christ. Now as we come before you, Lord, we bring our petitions. We know that you hear us. We know that you care. We know, Lord, that your name is at stake. And so you're more concerned about what we do than we are ourselves. So, Lord, as we take your name with us, how we pray that it will be exalted by our actions, by our attitudes, by our decisions. Lord, that others will see and fear and shall trust in you. Oh, Lord, we pray for your power to flow through us, for you to take your word and manifest it in other people's lives and use it. Lord, we think of our loved ones, those who are lost, those who are confused and hurt. Oh, may they see the truth of the word of God. May they find rest in Jesus Christ. As we come before you, Lord, we pray that you would open our minds in these short moments that we have. Lord, clear away any confusion, any worries, any doubts. And oh, Lord, may you reveal to us your special truths this morning. For we pray in Jesus Christ's precious name, amen. Now we see that there are certain certainties, eight different times the Lord uses in these last verses, actually nine different times if you count verse 13. It kind of forms an epilogue and you see that he enters some things that he hasn't talked about before in the rest of the chapters. But we see now that he says, we know, we know. So as a Christian, there's certain things that I can know. He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. We've stressed that several times. That is either you're saved or you're not. All one syllable words that first graders could understand that we see in verses 11 and 12. But so he says, this is what the whole reason I'm writing, that you may know that you have everlasting life. That is what, notice he says, he begins in verse 11, he says, this is the testimony. This is the revelation. This is what God has said. Back on Wednesday night, we looked at Psalm 138. It says that the Lord has magnified his name, his word above his name. Now it doesn't mean that his name is above everything, but he is saying you could trust him because of his word. Folks, if God is saying, this is my word, don't call me a liar. And so it's so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word. And this is the testimony of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Now, if you know that you have eternal life, then you're proud of it, but you're not proud of it. What I mean, I'm glad to be called a child of God. Aren't you? We sang this morning, oh, it is wonderful to be a Christian. Isn't that a good thing to be able to do and to sing it with pride? But at the same time, I realized I didn't do anything for it, that I don't deserve it. I'm so glad that Jesus loves me, amen? And that he did it all, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. In fact, the more, the longer I am a Christian, the more I learn about God, the more I realize what a sinner I am and was. Do you? So there's always that, yes, I'm glad I'm saved, but I'm so glad that God loved me enough to save me. Just a sinner like me. And so I cannot say to the world, I'm better than you are. I can tell you if I follow the Lord, my culture, as they call it today, is gonna be a better culture than the world's culture. It's gonna be a way of happiness. It's gonna be a way of strength. It's gonna keep me out of a lot of trouble. If I follow God's law, As he tells us, you know, that's part of it. It's because if he's my Lord, he's going to lead me in the paths of righteousness. And God's leadership is always good, isn't it? No good thing will he withhold from them who walk uprightly. So we can wrap all those things up. And so, yes, I can know I'm saved. It's not a matter of proud that I'm better than an unsaved person, but I don't have to go around wondering or saying, I hope I'm saved. Or I'm, you know, I'm just, my good is outweighing my bad. That's all heresy. I don't even know how bad I am. So I don't know how good I have to be. It's all because Jesus paid it all. And so I can't point to my life and say, you need to be a Christian like me. No, I say, you need to be a Christian because Jesus loves you. And so it is that it's a humility and yet a joy to know that I know, and that I hope that you know, that you know, that you know that you're a child of God. Christianity is the only relationship, I don't want to call it a religion, but if it is a religion, it's the only religion in the world that gives you a concrete, a concrete confidence that you know that you have eternal life. Everything else you have to work for, you have to do this, you have to please some God and he's shifting all over the place. But you can know the Lord Jesus Christ and you can know that you have eternal life. Do you have it this morning? I hope you could say amen. If you can't say amen this morning, can you say, I know that I'm a Christian. Can you shake your head? I mean, some people are a little, we don't have a lot of ameners here today or whatever. Maybe we need to start us an amen corner up here. Get Al and Dominic up here and let them know. But I've been in some churches like that. I don't want it, but you know, it's kind of, but there again. we can know that we have eternal life. And I hope you do. I hope everyone listening to me this morning know that you have eternal life. If you don't, then let us tell you how. And that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it. Let us know. I am washed by the blood of the Lamb. And as a result, not by works of righteousness, which I've done, but according to his mercy, he saved me. And I have a great God, don't you? And this is the testimony. This is something he says, I won't lie to you. I'm telling you the truth. If you believe in me, you will have eternal life. So I've got it, folks. I hope you do too. And so we can know that we have eternal life. As a result of that, we see in the next thing, the certainty of prayer. As a result of going to the Lord or knowing him and that we are children of his, we see that notice he says in verse 14, that we have confidence that we, this is a confidence that we have what? In him. not in myself, but I have confidence in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Now, this is a very interesting passage, because some people take this and like they do much of these last verses of 1 John, and they will make all kind of contortions out of it. We'll look at a couple more in a moment. But you'll have those, name it and claim it. God says if you ask for it, then you could demand it from God because he, that's not what God says. There's a little phrase in there, according to his will. Now next week we're gonna start just a study on the phrases of the Lord's Prayer. And what does he say in the Lord's Prayer? Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth before it is in heaven. Before I get to anything about give me this bread or give me this day. I, Lord, want God's will in my life. Submission. So Lord, when I come to you in prayer, I wanna submit myself to you, realizing that you are everything and I'm nothing more than a servant. Now I do have some petitions, Lord, but you already know them ahead of time. We're gonna be looking at Psalm 139 this coming Wednesday night. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. I mean, There's not a word in my tongue, but thou knowest it altogether. I can't even, Lord, you know every word I've ever said. You know every thought. You even know my daydreams. So how can I pray to you? How can I hide anything from you? If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there you shall find me. So I can't hide from you. Jonah tried that, didn't he? And he couldn't find you. And so the first thing is, when I come to an almighty God, He already knows more about me. He knows my needs better than I do. But the one of the things that really has blessed my heart is, you know, most of us at certain times in our lives, we feel like we've been excluded, especially if you're a Christian. You don't feel, you don't part of here and you don't belong here. You feel like an outcast or whatever, especially with your family or whatever. But the Bible tells us in Romans 5, I love this passage. When I found this, it just really has been one of the comforts of my soul ever since. It says, therefore, having been justified by faith, I've been saved just as I have never sinned. I've been saved. I've been a child of God. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm no longer his enemy. But notice he says, through whom we also have access. That's the word that really hit me. I have access to God the Father. I think about everyone wants to have access. Everybody wants to belong to something. But I belong to the family of God. In fact, in Ephesians chapter one, it says, I've been accepted into the beloved. Have you? I've been accepted into the family of God. So I have access to the throne of grace. I can go directly to the God, to the Lord in prayer. We sang that song this morning. God loves me. And the King of heaven looks down upon me and cares for my soul. I have access to God. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine. There's no good thing you will withhold from those who will love him and walk uprightly. I have access to God. And as a result of that, I can know that he hears my every word and cares for my every need. Isn't that great? I have access to God. Now it's one thing to have access to some important people. And it's nice to know that you're, and I just mentioned my pastor knowing a very famous person. Well, they were roommates in college, whatever. But that's one thing to know people. A lot of people like to drop names. Like someone said, I was talking to Bobby Kennedy and John F. Kennedy one day, as well as Lyndon Johnson, and we just all had a good time. You know what we talked about? Name dropping. I just don't like people to drop names. People like to drop names because they want to think they're important. Well, I can drop a name, folks, that makes me very important. The Lord Jesus Christ. Boy, that makes me accepted, doesn't it? It makes me important. I'm a child of God. I can go directly to the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And he hears me. And he cares for me. I have access. And not only that, but that word it says, we have access by this faith into this grace in which we stand. And the terminology there is that we have standing. Not only do I have a pass to heaven to talk to the almighty God, but I have standing. I can come and go as I please. And he invites me to do it. He says, come to me and pray without ceasing. Does he not? He tells me, I invite you to come and talk with me. In fact, I record your prayers in heaven. I got them in a little bottle, if you read Revelation. The prayers of the saints. I think your prayers are precious. I love you. Boy, isn't that a great God? We know this. Now, the good thing about it is that since I go to him and ask his will to be done, he already knows what I want. And many times the way that God changes, you know, people, prayer changes things. I found that many times God changes me more than he does the situation. But the one thing he does is all of a sudden he opens your eyes. And I'm so glad that some of the petitions that I asked the Lord for, he said, no. Well, there's a couple of them, boy, they'd have been a doozy. I mean, I'm so glad that God said no, but I could have confidence that he knows what's best in my life. Well, why should I pray? Because he already knows because he tells me to. And the one thing, can it change heaven and earth? We see it in the Bible, yes. If my people called by my name shall humble themselves, if they will, can God change things? He can, but it's up to his will. But first of all, I turn from my wicked ways and humble myself before him and say, Lord, thy will be done. Amen? None of this, Lord, I demand this from you because you promised it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you better back up and realize who you're talking to. Name and claim it, brother. No, you're coming before an almighty God and you don't lead him around, he leads you around. And when you got the cart before the horse, things get pretty complicated pretty quickly. And so there we can know that as we go to the Lord, we have access to him. And we have a loving father who knows more about the situation and more about our abilities to meet that situation than we know ourselves. But we have a God who loves us. And we know in verse 15, we know that he hears us. And that is why in Hebrews 4.16, we love that verse. Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace. Boldly? Yes, I've got a God who knows everything about me. And yet I can still come boldly before him. Boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Aren't you glad you have a God like that? That I can go directly to the Lord and I'm a priest before the Lord. What I mean by that, the priesthood of the believer, I don't need a priest. I don't need some church with a screen in it to confess my sins. I have an advocate with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ. I can go to the very courtrooms of heaven directly to the Lord in prayer. So we know that we have eternal life. We know that we have communication with the life giver, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see that we can know that. Now, this is the part that really is hard to outline. I was reading some other person the other day, and I kind of appreciated him. He said, first, John is so hard to outline. Yes, it is, because he weaves these things together, and then he'll throw something in there that you can't put in the outline. I mean, it's just so hard. But here's a situation that has caused a lot of concern. That's verse 16. If anyone sees his brother sin, which is that does not lead to death, he will ask and he will give him life for those who commit sin, not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. Oh, my. Now, what are the sins? What is the sin that leads to death? Well, Adam ate an apple and he died. You think about it. There's a way that seems right in a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death. So all sin leads to death. For as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, and women, for all have sinned. And so yes, there's sin leads to death. But of course we know that what is he talking about here as far as their sins not leading to death and sins that do lead to death? Well, what is death? Is he talking about here? Is he talking about physical death? We have to be very careful with that because notice he says there's a sin that leads to death but we don't pray for it. Be very careful. Lord, that person, I don't like him, kill him. I mean, that's not what you want to do. Or even judge them. There was a lady that fell into sin. I knew the situation and she was very vulnerable. Her husband treated her like dirt. And she met a very prominent man in town and he seduced her. And she was under such shame that she would hardly ever go back to church. because it just shattered her life. And there was a lady in the church one time, I remember just hearing her and I cringed. Good lady, but this is just, the lady I'm talking about passed away within five years after she fell into sin. And one of the ladies said, you know, maybe the Lord took her because of her sin. Two years later, less than two years later, that same lady who said that to me died from the same cancer. So, you know, that's one of the things, Lord, we don't pray and we don't even, I'm not going to be, like how many times you've heard me say, I will not be judged. God says he will be judged. I will not say that person's in hell. I'll let God do that. Now I can say on the basis of their testimony, You know, they look like they've gone to hell. But I cut short of saying that person's gonna die. You know, if you do that, the Lord's gonna strike you down. You ever heard that? All those different terms. Well, we don't know what they are. The Catholic Church has come up with those who are pretty good. And some of them, you know, then you have the mortal sins and the venal sins and one that'll kill you. Well, if you read through those mortal sins, the Pope should have been dead 50 years ago. You know, he should have been struck in death. That guy's pretty, well, I won't get into that. But there again, you know, we're all sinners. And so I don't know what a mortal sin is. I can tell you some things in my experience though. And that is, just think of some of the things in scripture. The Bible tells us about the way of Cain in Jude 11. Now, what was the way of Cain? The Bible tells us that after God had dealt with him face to face and had given him instructions, showed him mercy and everything, that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. We never see him return. After God had done all this for him and even forgiven him for murder, he went out from the presence of the Lord and did just the opposite of what God told him to do. God says, you're going to be a vagabond on the earth. First thing he did was build a city. Just the opposite of everything that God told him to do. Is Cain in heaven today? I'll let God judge. But there again, it doesn't sound like it. Then you think about another one, there are several others, but you think about Ephraim. Now Ephraim was the name, it was the main tribe of Northern Israel, the Northern 10 tribes. But many times in scripture, it's called Ephraim because they're the main tribe. And like Judah, it was Judah and Benjamin and others, but you had the divisions of the tribes there, the two nations there when they split. But the prophet said, Hosea said, Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone. God was through dealing with Ephraim and with northern Israel. He had sent them Elijah. He had sent them Elisha. He had sent them Amos and others. And they had preached and preached and preached to him. And they turned to idols and God said, let him alone. Folks, that's what I'm afraid. You know, we have heard the gospel over and over again, to whom much is given, much is required. And I hope God does not say to our country, let him alone. God has shed his grace on us, hasn't he? I hope he doesn't say, let him alone. Ephraim as a nation was a walking dead man. And then we think of another where in Romans chapter one. And three different times, it tells us that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful, but God gave them up twice and gave them over. But the one verse in verse 28, he says, even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased or reprobate mind, as the King James says, to do the things which are not fitting. So God gave them up. God gave them over. God said, okay, you want to go that route? You knew me, but you have left me. Therefore, go ahead. And not only that, but I'll let you be consumed with your own lusts. And you'll be doing the things you want that you're you'll be a slave to the very things that you desire. But I'm not going to be around. Now, like I said, my experience has been, I used to think of deathbed professions, but I can think of two people now in my ministry. Now, I think of one lady, praise the Lord. Somebody had called me at midnight one time and asked me to go visit some people, a lady because she was on her deathbed. I didn't even, I hardly even knew the lady, but I was close by and so I went and it was a sweet time with her and she was ready to accept the Lord as her savior. She didn't know she was going to be dying the next day. But at the same time, we prayed and it was really a sweet time with her. And I left and the next thing I know, she had died and everybody was so glad I was a hero because I'd led her to the Lord. It was something, I just did what God wanted me to do. It was nothing that I did. If she was saved, it was God did it. But then I've been by the deathbeds of others that they've heard the gospel over and over again. I think I can name a couple, I almost did right then, but I won't. And please, pastor, pray for my husband. And so I'm praying with him and I'm saying, don't you want to come to know? Oh no, pastor, I'll be all right, I'll be all right. And they die. And they never accept the Lord. Don't count on deathbed professions because God may have already forgiven or already given up on you a long time ago. Now, what I mean by that is we sing that song, someday you'll hear God's final call. His final call might not be at death. It might be where God says, okay, you want to go that route? Go ahead. I'll give you free reign, do what you want to do, but you will suffer the consequences. I don't know what that is. And I can't tell you that so-and-so that used to come to Calvary Baptist Church 30 years ago, and they say they got saved in this church and hasn't lived for the Lord for the last 30 years, and they call me and they ask me, I can't tell you whether they're saved or not. And I can't tell you whether God's given up on them as a Christian or not. I don't see a lot of Ananias and Sapphires around. I don't have that power. Man, can you imagine if I had that power, that if you did something that God didn't, or that you were lying to the Lord, that I could pronounce judgment, you'd drop dead, right? I don't want that power. And by the way, Peter only had it for a short time. But there again, I don't want that. And I don't know who it is. So do I pray for that person, which I think, you know, they are so far cold and why don't, yes. I don't know what a mortal sin is, but God does. God is the one who says that he will let them alone, not me. And so there are sins that lead to death. I don't know what they are. I can look back on my life and I can tell you, the Lord, in my early ministry, or in my early life as a teenager, when I was really getting settled in my life, He was telling me, either you serve me now or you never will. I mean, it was an ultimatum for me. I don't know if you've had that experience or whatever, but I did. I wonder what God would have done as I look back on my life. And as you get older, I saw something the other day. He said, I got mad at a guy that was in front of me. He was slow and didn't get everything done. And I was just losing my patience. I was in line in back of him. And then I went home and realized that he and I graduated together. So it's one of those things where you get older and everybody looks older, but wait a minute. But there again is, what have you done with your life? And is God still, and you say, well, wait a minute, Pastor, I may have committed the sin, the impartable sin. Maybe God's already given up on me. You know, have I come, have I blasphemed the Holy Spirit? You know, which Jesus says the impartable sin and all that. Have I done that? Folks, if you're worried about it, you haven't. Because God is still working. And God is still calling. And God is still dealing. Now, if you could laugh at it and say, don't bother me with that pastor, then I, there again, my judgment would say, okay, Lord, my prayer would be, Lord, maybe they're blind. Get ahold of them. And God does. But I'm not gonna say, okay, that person's a reprobate. I'll let God deal with that. But how long do I pray for them until they die? Don't you? Because I don't know. I don't know what a mortal sin and if I'm a venal sin or whatever else. I just know that God says that if you wanna go ahead and stay in your sin, you're gonna pay a price for it. And death is a separation from God. It's a lack of fellowship with God. And so there again, we can deal with that one quite a bit, can't we? But there again, don't get into this idea of us being able to say that somebody died because they committed a certain sin. But then very quickly, let's get back on subject here. He says there's a certain spiritual warfare going on, verse 18. We know that whosoever is born of God does not sin. Now we've seen that several times, that causes a lot of problems because we all sin. And of course, John opens up, he says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. If any man sins, he has an advocate with the father. So what John is doing is he's competing against those people, or he is really rebuking those people who say that Jesus isn't Lord, or if he is Lord, he was just spirit, or he didn't really come as a man. And he doesn't, and really he gives you grace, which is free. So that means that really you want to live your life to the fullest, live it with all the gusto you can or whatever. But God, he wants you to be happy. He wants you to be free. Well, that's true, but that's in his will, not yours. And so those, we call them libertines. You know, you don't really have to love. Grace is free. All you gotta do is name the name of the Lord Jesus and call yourself a Christian. You can live the way you want to. Did not the Lord say, there'll be many that will say the day that they call me by my name, yet I'm gonna say, depart from me for I never knew you. So these are the people he's talking about. He's saying those who, we know that as a sinner, as a Christian, I don't want to sin, but I'm a sinner. Now, if you have a preacher, you know people, and they're on television, radio all the time, that always telling you, you just love God. I tell you a man that I had to preach a message against him, but he's causing all kinds of problems. And I don't, you know, I don't normally name people, but one person, get mad at me, but if you're gonna listen to him, you need to check out certain things. And that's Joel Osteen. He's sending more people to hell than any other preacher in America right now, as far as I'm concerned. Be very careful with that man. Now, sorry, a lot of people, you just turned me off, I realize that. But he's a false prophet. So be very careful with a man like that. Because we'll just let go and let God. You have the great I am, and you are I am. And he's written a book on I am. Wait a minute. That's the name of God. I am that I am. And he's saying that I am within me. There's some weird stuff going on there, and it is totally anti-God. I am a person, but I cannot say I am that I am. That's God. So be very careful with him. And of course, if I am that I am, that means that God wants, that He wants me to be happy. So therefore I can go out and live the way I want to, bring all the sin that I want to, bring all the celebrities in that I want to, and just share that we all love Jesus. Well, if we love Jesus, we're gonna obey the Lord Jesus. Now, there again, get mad at me, but at the same time, I'm just saying, if you're gonna listen to him, just listen to see what he thinks of the Lord Jesus and how he exalts us, people, to be equal with God. We are not equal with God. So there again, he says, we know that, I can name a couple of others, but I've already probably got some people mad right now. He says, we know that we are born of God, we don't sin. Now, he said, we don't practice it. Folks, I don't want to sin, do you? But I'm a sinner, I'm a wicked person. But as a result of that, he says, we've been brutal and we keep ourself. I want to be away from Satan. I don't want to be around him. He's not my friend. Verse 19, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies in the sway of the wicked one. I have a different perspective. I realize that this whole world is not my own. I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue because this whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. The Satan is alive and well on planet Earth. Don't believe it and just go to Washington. You see a lot of Satan's work, can't you? Just listen to some of the political stuff going on today, or the entertainments. But folks, there's a separation between me and the world, and you too, I hope. I hope you can discern that because he tells us, we know that the Son of God has given us understanding. We know that there are people, and we can start spotting sin. And the more, that's the reason I say, don't take my word for it, certain things like this, but I wanna equip you with things to look for, because I want you to have understanding as I have understanding. But then again, I wanna get understanding from the word of God, don't you? But I understand why certain people act the way they do, because they, their father is the devil. and the works of their father, they will do. They are an enemy of God because they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, they're good people. We love them. And God so loved them that he died for them just like he died for me. So I want to win them. But there's a difference between a safe person and an unsafe person, isn't there? There should be a difference between a church and a bar. Should there not be? There's an understanding there. that we have an understanding that this world is wicked. He says that we may know him who is true. Truth is reality. And we are in him who is true. And in his son, Jesus Christ, the more that we know about him, the more that he's gonna lead us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. This whole world is wicked place. But then very interesting, of course, he says that we have, the true God will give us eternal life. But then he ends, just throws us another curve. And he ends the chapter, ends the whole book. Little children, keep yourselves from idols, period, amen. Now, wait a minute, didn't he, why doesn't he explain that? Now he's gone through and talked about how that we can know, we can know, and yet keep yourself from idols. That tells us that we have a possibility of going into the sinfulness of idols, right? So that means that obviously we still can be sinners and still be children of God. And so, but he's saying, keep yourself from idols. What's an idol? And that is anything that will keep you to take the place of God. Back in Ephesians chapter one, it says covetousness, which is idolatry. So the things of this earth can be, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For the things that are in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are not of the Father, but of the world. And whosoever loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. First John chapter two. And so there again, he weaves this in. So he says, keep yourself from anything that would get in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then someone has said, abandoning reality. Truth is reality. I am the way, the truth. I am real. I'm the reality. I am the one who makes things real. All things were made by me and without me, nothing consists, the Lord Jesus says. But abandoning reality to embrace illusion. In other words, What did the devil tell Adam and Eve? If you eat of this, you'll become wise. Did they become wise? They became fools. And they died. And so we wanna keep ourselves from the illusions and delusions of this world. But what do we do? And if you wanna turn with me now, just over to the book of Jude, how do we approach this then? How do we approach sinners? The book of Jude, the last passage, it actually quotes the Old Testament, verse 24. Well, let's go back. to verse 22. It says, if some having compassion making the difference, we have compassion on others. But others, with fear and trembling, pulling them down out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. So we want to keep ourselves, as he says earlier, In the prior verse, keeping yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And we have compassion, making a difference, making a distinction. But others say by fear. So some people we have compassion with and we tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ and his love and his accepting mercy. And others we preach hellfire and brimstone to. You know, we see that with the Lord Jesus, didn't he? He knew how to be kind. He knew how to be gentle. But he also knew how to call them scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, didn't he? So we gotta learn when to do the right. There is the gospel of love. And there's also the gospel of fear. If you don't get saved, where are you going? Something good's gonna happen to you today. You're going to hell unless you get saved. So there again, he says, so we have that compassion. And as a result, he says, pulling some out of the fire, hating you with a buried garment. We don't want to get involved with their sin. We don't want to wear their clothes. We don't want to be identified with them as far as their sin. We want to save them out of their sin, do we not? Now unto him that is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless in the presence of the Lord Jesus, before his glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forevermore. Lord, King of my life, I crown thee now. Have dominion over it. Not only for now, but forever. But Lord, help me to have compassion on the lost. Help me to know how to talk to them. Help me to know when to be kind and gentle and present your love, and when to warn them about your wrath. Help me to love people as you love them. and care for them as you care for them. And the one thing I could pray as I come before you with my prayer list, I know that you're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And I know you hear my prayer. Isn't that a great God? So I'm having a compassion, making a difference. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. May we care for others. But Lord, may we care for your word. Keep us from sin. Keep us from idolatry. Keep the message clear and plain. The gospel of love, the king of love, my shepherd is. And yet, Lord, may we warn of the consequences. The sin unto death, the one sin that you will not pardon. the sin of rejecting you as God and Savior. Oh, Lord, may you snatch them from the burning. May we be your emissaries to a lost and dying world. Bless your people, we pray in Jesus' name.