Well last week as we have been moving through the Gospel of John, we found ourselves in John chapter 3, perhaps one of the most well-known passages in all of scripture. John chapter 3 verse 16 finds itself certainly in this chapter, the statement where Jesus says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. And we began to look into this passage last week considering the dialogue that transpires between Jesus and this man by the name of Nicodemus. When Jesus tells Nicodemus in a rather startling fashion to this religious self-righteous leader, Nicodemus you must be born again. And we looked at the things that are recorded there in verses 1 through 21 and we saw the necessity of new birth. We saw some of the nature of new birth and some of the other realities that Jesus communicated concerning the need for every person to be born again. We saw that it doesn't matter how externally religious a person may be. It doesn't matter what kind of ancestry they come from. None of that matters as it relates to a person entering into the kingdom of God. The only means by which a person can both see and enter the kingdom of God is through this matter of new birth. and all that that entails. And I want to just read the text in John chapter 3 once again to refresh our memories. And then we're going to be jumping over to the book of 1 John to consider what does new birth look like? How do you know whether or not you have been born again? And what does it mean to be born again? What does it look like? That's what the book of 1 John answers for us. But to put it in its full context, I want to remind us of what transpires here in John chapter 3 with Jesus and Nicodemus. So we'll start at verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you have come from God as a teacher for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. And Jesus answered and said to him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus said to him, Well, how can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he? And Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus said to Jesus, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said to him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. Now, as Jesus makes that statement at the very end of this narrative, that those who practice the truth come to the light, and the light, of course, being a metaphor for Christ himself, that those who practice the truth come to the light so that their deeds, referring to their life and what is expressed from their life by terms of how they walk and the deeds that they perform, that those deeds would be manifested as having been wrought in God. which is another way of saying having been born in God or born from God. And so he is speaking about that which reflects the reality of new birth. And it's in that context that I want us again to now spring over to the book of 1 John. Because what 1 John does and what the apostle John, who wrote the book of 1 John through the inspiration of God as he did the gospel of John, speaks to the matter of what new birth looks like and what types of deeds are evident in the life of a person who has been born again. Now, if you have been around River City Grace for any period of time, you know that a few years ago we took quite some time to preach through the book of 1 John. And I had intended last week at the end of the message, I told you that we were going to look into 1 John to consider the fullness of what God has revealed there related to the fruit of new birth. After I had made that statement and was planning on doing that, I was looking back through my notes this week and looking back over the past few months and realized that I preached a very similar message to what I'm going to preach this morning last July, on the weekend of July 4th. So if you were here that Sunday morning, This might seem pretty familiar to you, OK? You might hear some of the very same kinds of things that I said on that Sunday morning. I had forgotten that I had done that. But as the week unfolded for me, as I shared with you going back to Wisconsin and all, this is the Lord's sovereignty. And so I'm coming and bringing this message, even though for some of you, you've heard it again. Obviously, the Lord wants you to hear it again, OK? as he wants me to hear it again as well. But I'm coming in the spirit of what Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 1 when he's talking to the believers in that letter. And he says, I know that you know these things, but I want to stir you up by way of reminder. And I find myself constantly going back to these truths of new birth and the fruit of new birth and the wonderful blessing and privilege and responsibility of what it means to be born again. That's really the heart of Christianity. That's the heart of what it means to know Jesus Christ. And when we studied through and preached through this book of 1 John a few years ago, it gripped me, and it continues to grip me, just the reality of what it means to be born again. in its full biblical sense. So perhaps the Lord, more than anything, knows that I need to hear these things again and be reminded of these truths. But in that spirit, we want to consider this letter. Now, if you go over to 1 John 5, just briefly in verse 13, John lets us know why he's written this letter. when he says in 1 John 5 verse 13, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. And he's speaking here of the matter of assurance. There were some false teachers that had arisen in the church to which John is writing believers who had disrupted the faith of genuine believers. And these false teachers had eventually left those believers and gone and pursued their own things, but they were teaching things that were not true. and they were disrupting the faith of genuine believers. And so John is writing this letter primarily to give assurance to those who are genuinely born again, that they might know with absolute solid conviction that they possess eternal life. And isn't it true that that is the ultimate issue that all of us need to face and consider? Do you possess eternal life? Have you been born of God? That is the question for all eternity. Because when you and I stand at the threshold of death, and none of us, of course, know when that's going to be. It may be through natural causes, so to speak. It may be something sudden and unanticipated, but it's a reality that we're all going to face. And at that moment, the question of do you possess eternal life in Jesus Christ is going to be paramount and is going to be critical. And so John writes this letter to encourage believers in the possession of and in the assurance of having eternal life. And throughout his letter, he speaks of three different tests by which a believer may know that they possess eternal life and that they might be assured that they in fact have been born of God. Now John writes in an interesting style. His thinking is not necessarily linear, say, as the Apostle Paul is. The Apostle Paul, throughout his letters, writes in a very linear, logical sort of fashion. In other words, one thought builds upon another thought and his argument moves along that way. John's style is somewhat different. He writes in somewhat more of a circular fashion. meaning that he flows from thought to thought and he'll address one thought and then he'll go to another thought and then another thought and then he'll kind of come back to this thought and he kind of moves in that way. It's been described, his letter has been described as sort of a spiral as he continues to address these three different tests that give evidence of genuine salvation and of genuinely being born of God. And I like to think of it as what I call the rope of assurance. A rope is made up of three strands, and there's three different strands of truth, three different tests that John weaves together that, when taken together and understood together, provide a strong rope of assurance for believers. So that's what we want to look at this morning is three different tests or three different evidences or fruits of new birth that John speaks of throughout this letter. So we're going to be moving our way and sort of bouncing around all over within this little letter as we work through these three different tests this morning. I want us to begin by seeing just before we address the first test how John sets this up at the very beginning of his letter in chapter 1 verses 1 to 4. where he provides for us the foundation of assurance, as well as the purpose of the assurance that he seeks to give to believers. He says in chapter one, verse one, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes and what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life and the life was manifested. And we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was manifested to us. And what we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write so that our joy may be made complete. John is reflecting upon the truth that he is writing as an eyewitness to the life and to the work and to the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what he has empirically observed and seen and tasted and touched and beheld, he is communicating the same to those to whom he is writing. And it reminds us that that is the basis of faith. That is the basis of our hope, is the fact that Jesus Christ took on human flesh and became a man. And people walked with Him, and talked with Him, and observed Him, and saw His life, and listened to His teaching, and witnessed His resurrection following His death. And the basis of our faith is based upon those eyewitnesses whom God had ordained and who have now recorded in the New Testament that which is necessary for us in knowing Him. So we see the foundation of assurance is the reality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ and his life and his teaching and his death and his resurrection that was witnessed by those who saw him. And John says, I love what he says in verse four, these things we write so that our joy may be made complete. And that could also very legitimately be translated to say so that your joy may be made complete. There is a reality of joy. There is a reality of hope and confidence and joy that comes from the assurance of knowing that you, in fact, have been born again. And so he wants believers to experience that joy and confidence and assurance based upon the reality of God's work in Christ. So three tests, three fruits of new birth. What does it look like? Number one, the first test that John provides is the test of righteousness. The test of righteousness, or we could also say the test of obedience to God, which ultimately produces that righteousness. And this test is summarized over in chapter five, verse 18. And I should say that at the end of chapter five, at the end of the book, John makes three different summary statements, which I believe summarize these three different tests. And the first of those is identified in verse 18 of chapter five. When John says, we know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him. And he is speaking in a summarized fashion of this fruit of righteousness, this fruit of obedience that will be evident in the life of one who has been born of God, who has been born of God. Now the way that he establishes this test and the way that he brings this out is through a few different aspects of how a believer will exhibit this fruit that he speaks of throughout the letter. And that's what we want to look at within this first point. There's four different ways in which this fruit of righteousness is expressed in the life of a believer. and how they relate to God and how they grow in righteousness and in obedience to Him. So are you tracking with me? We're in the first test, the test of righteousness and obedience, and four different ways now in which this test is evidenced. First of all, a person who has been born again within this test of righteousness or this fruit of righteousness will have a regard for the holiness of God. They will have an increasing recognition of and regard for the holiness of God. In other words, they'll have a proper view of God. Go back to chapter one, verse five. John says this. In essence, when he says in verse five, this is the message that we have heard from him and announced to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Now, as he is reflecting on things that Jesus had said that John recorded in the gospel and using that metaphor of light, he's using that in a descriptive term to relate to the holiness of God. That he is bright, that he is pure, that he is brilliant in his holiness, which refers to his perfect character. Free from any moral stain or flaw, there is absolute holiness. And it's a categorical statement when John says, in him is no darkness at all. There is a brilliance, there is a brightness, there is a purity to the reality of who God is. And a person who has been born of God, the first way in which that's reflected regarding their growth in righteousness and their growth in obedience is they have an ever-increasing regard and recognition of the absolute holiness of God. And that in God being holy, he is the measure of what is right. He is the measure of righteousness. So a person is not measuring righteousness according to their own standard or according to other people's standards, but rather it's constantly measured against the brilliant holiness of God. It's interesting if you read in the Old Testament narratives in say, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, which recount the lives of the many kings of Israel and of Judah, every single one of them, the commentary that is given to them is that they either did right or they did evil in the sight of the Lord. And sadly, most of them did evil in the sight of the Lord. But there's a constant emphasis upon their life being measured against the sight of the Lord. What is right and wrong? What is right and evil in the sight of the Lord? And it's reflecting and illustrating the reality of God's holiness. So the first way in which the test of righteousness or the fruit of righteousness is evidenced is that a person has a growing recognition and regard for the absolute, unparalleled holiness of God in His purity and in His righteousness. A second way in which this fruit of righteousness is observed is that a person, in the same way that they grow in recognizing the holiness of God, will increasingly want to repent from the horror of sin. To repent from the horror of sin. So they have a proper view of God on the one hand, and because of that, they have an increasing proper view of their sin. Notice how John addresses this in chapter 1, verse 6 and following. In light of the fact that God is light and in him there's no darkness, there's absolute holiness, he says in 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 all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, 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. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. So when a person comes to faith in Christ, when they have experienced new birth and having been born of God, they have a deepening regard for the holiness of God. And in contrast to that, they have a deepening recognition of their own sin. And rather than denying the presence of sin, rather than saying that they don't have any sin, they learn to confess that sin to God and experience God's cleansing and experience God's forgiveness that is provided through the perfect substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. But a person who is growing in righteousness, who is giving evidence of that fruit of righteousness, is someone who is dealing with sin and recognizing sin. It doesn't mean that they're perfect. It doesn't mean that they've achieved perfect righteousness in our day-to-day experience, but it means that I'm recognizing it more and more. And the testimony of saints throughout the history of the church and the testimony of every born-again believer is that as we grow in our knowledge of God's holiness, we concurrently grow in the recognition of the depth of sin in our own hearts. And yet there's continual cleansing, there's continual growth and forgiveness and cleansing that occurs because of the blood of Christ being shed for us and His all-sufficient power to cleanse. You see, a person who is born again doesn't run from the acknowledgement of sin. Rather, they see it when God exposes it and they confess it and know His cleansing and continue to grow. So a person who is giving evidence of the fruit of righteousness has a deepening regard for the holiness of God, a deepening sense of repentance from the horror of sin. And then third, the third way in which this fruit is evidenced is in responding obediently to God's commands. In other words, there's a hunger to want to obey God, to want to submit to His will, trusting His goodness and trusting His wisdom. And we see this spoken of in chapter 2, verses 3 to 6, as well as in other places. Look at what John says there, chapter 2, verse 3. By this we know that we have come to know Him. See, here's how we can know that we've come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, I have come to know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. And by this we know that we are in him. The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. And when a person has been born again and has been reconciled to the living God of the universe, there is an eagerness to want to obey Him. And you see how this is all woven together as we grow in our knowledge of His holiness, as we grow in our recognition of our own sinfulness, there's a deepening desire to want to see that sinfulness cleansed and to see it removed and to grow in obedience to God. because we understand that God is good and wise and kind and faithful and that to not obey Him is the extreme act of folly because He's good. John speaks of this also in chapter 5 when he says in verses 1 through 4, Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. How do we find God's commandments? Do we find them as a burden? Do we find them as a joy and as a delight? Now, Scripture makes it very clear that because we live in our flesh and because we live in this fallen world, there's a battle that rages between what our flesh craves and what our flesh desires and what the Spirit of God within us craves and desires and yearns for. Paul speaks of that in Galatians chapter 5. But a person who has been born again is a person who, because the Spirit of God lives in them, is going to be striving after righteousness. And it means that there's going to be grief over sin and agony over sin and a longing for God to continue to enable us to grow in righteousness and a deepening recognition that God's commandments and God's will is not a burdensome thing, it's a joyous reality. Because again, He's good and He's wise and He's kind and He's faithful and He knows what is best. And so a person who is born again is someone who is going to be eager to respond obediently to God's command. Again, it doesn't mean that it's perfect, doesn't mean that we don't fail, doesn't mean that we don't stumble, doesn't mean that sin has been completely eradicated from our daily existence, but it means that we know we're in the battle and we're growing and we're responding in faith to what God has revealed. So we're going to regard the holiness of God, repent from the horror of sin, respond obediently to God's commands, and then a fourth way in which this fruit of righteousness is evidenced is a deepening recognition that growth is a process. That growth is a process. In other words, we're going to have an increasing proper view of spiritual growth and maturity. John speaks of this in chapter 2. verses 12 through 14 when he employs the idea of children and young men and old men as a metaphor for spiritual maturity. And he speaks of this in a repetitive way to emphasize the point and to encourage those who are growing in maturity and to spur on others who need to be growing in maturity. He says in verse 12 of chapter 2, I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake. That's usually the first step of spiritual growth when a person has been born again, of the joyful recognition that our sins have been forgiven, the debt has been canceled. But that's just the starting point. He says, verse 13, I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him who has been from the beginning. And I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the father. Verse 14, I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who has been from the beginning. And I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. Again, I believe he's speaking there of different steps or different movements in the process of maturity as he likens them to children, to young men, and to fathers. And as a person grows in spiritual maturity, as they continue to step through the process of sanctification, of growing in obedience to God and growing in being conformed to his righteousness, there's an ever deepening sense that this is all bound up in the knowledge of who God is. And that's why he says to fathers, to those who are on the tail end of maturity, so to speak, he says in verse 13, fathers, because you have known him who has been from the beginning. Those who are growing in maturity are those who are growing in the knowledge of God. And they rejoice in God's commandments and they rejoice in God's faithfulness because of the reality of who he is. And they recognize that growth is a process. So the fruit of righteousness, as John speaks of it, is expressed in the sense of having a deepening regard for the holiness of God, a growing sense of repentance from the horror and ugliness of sin, an eagerness and a persistence in responding obediently to God's commands, and a recognition that growth is a process. And all of this is a reflection of the fact that righteousness, obedience, is a fruit of having been born again. It's having been born again. Look at what he says down in verse 29 of chapter two. Verses 28 and 29 of chapter two. Now little children abide in him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of him. There's a direct statement, again affirming that righteousness, conformity to the perfect will of God, is a fruit of having been born again. And I think the key here, the main thing to understand is that a person who has been born again is going to evidence a transformation of allegiance in their life. No longer living for themselves, but living for God. wanting to know His holiness, wanting to know His will, wanting to see sin continually put to death in their life as Paul speaks of it in Romans chapter 8 and other places. and constantly striving after and growing after that as they experience the cleansing work of the blood of Christ in their own lives. So that is the first test. John Piper has said, related to this, that the mark of the new creature in Christ is not a rosy self-concept. Rather, it is brokenness for remaining sin mingled with a joyful confidence in the super-abounding grace of God in Christ. That's it. A growing sense of brokenness for remaining sin in my life, but mingled with joyful confidence in the super abounding grace of God in Christ. Real growth in the righteousness of God as a result of having been born again. Well, hand in hand with that, and all three of these fruits have to be evidenced together because they're all reflective of the spirit of God, the new birth that occurs within us. But the second test flowing from and related to the test of righteousness or the fruit of righteousness is the fruit or the test of love. The fruit or the test of love. And this is understood in terms of love for God as well as love for others. And all of this reflects a new relationship to God and a new relationship to others. And it reflects, because of identification with God, a separation from the world. Notice how John speaks of this in chapter 5, verse 19, in a summary fashion, I believe. He doesn't use the word love here, but I believe this summarizes the essence of this fruit of new birth. He says in verse 19, we know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. You say, how does that relate to love? It's simply this, John makes a real clear dichotomy throughout this letter of a distinction between loving the world versus loving God and loving other people flowing from our love for God. And so when he says that we know that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, he's saying because of the fact that we've been born again and because we have this new relationship with God, there's a radical reorientation to this world And there's a separation from loving the world. And the implication of that is that there is new love for God and love for other people. And so the fruit of new birth, as it relates to this fruit of love, will be evidenced in a believer's increasing commitment to a few different aspects. And so once again, there's a few different ways in which this test of love or this fruit of love is revealed. First of all, a genuine believer giving evidence of having been born again and the fruit of this love will be eager to avoid the love of the world. Will be eager to avoid the love of the world. And see how John speaks of this now back in chapter two, verses 15 through 17. As he exhorts the, I mean, first Peter, that's not there. There we go, first John. 2 John 2, verses 15 to 17. Now here's the exhortation and the admonition. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. It's a pretty categorical statement, isn't it? For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. See, you and I and every person either loves God and flowing from that love for God genuinely loves other people or we love the world. It's either one or the other. And a person who has been born again, the first aspect of expressing genuine love for God and genuine love for other people is going to be an eagerness to avoid in their hearts loving the world. And John's very specific and very descriptive of what love for the world looks like and what it encompasses. He says in verse 16 there, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, that's the lust and the drive for what I can experience and feed my flesh with, and the lust of the eyes, that's the drive for what I can possess and what I can have by way of possessions. And then he says the boastful pride of life, that's the lust and the pride surrounding what I can accomplish. He says all of that is descriptive of the world as he speaks of it. And he says it's not from the Father, but it is from the world. So a person who gives evidence of having been born again and exhibiting a deepening love for God and a deepening love for others is someone who's going to be demonstrating an increasing detachment from the world. Understood as he describes it there in verse 16. A second way in which genuine love for God and for others is going to be expressed is by acting in love toward others. Acting in love toward others, both in word and in deed with pure God-honoring motives. John speaks of this in a number of places. Chapter 2, verses 7 through 11. And again, you notice here, as we go through this, how all of this is interwoven in these three different fruits of new birth that he speaks of. Chapter 2, verses 7 through 11, he says, Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, 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. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him. Again, he's speaking of the evidence of love for others if new life has genuinely occurred. He speaks of it in chapter 3, verses 10 through 18, and then also over in chapter 4, verses 7 and following. And let me read there, chapter four, verse seven. He says, Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this, the love of God was manifested in us that God sent his only begotten son into the world so that we might live through him. And in this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time, but if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his spirit. And we have seen and testify that the father has sent the son to be the savior of the world. A person can't say, in other words, what John is saying is a person can't say, I love God and I belong to God and I have fellowship with God if they don't really love other people and desire the ultimate welfare of other people, both in a temporal sense related to physical needs, but in even more eternal sense related to spiritual needs. And this is just another way of saying what Jesus spoke of as the greatest commandment, right? To love God with our heart and our soul and our mind and strength and to love others as ourselves. A person who has been born again is a person who is going to be growing in expressing that love to God and expressing that genuine love to other people. And that is reiterated, of course, throughout all of the New Testament and all of the commandments and illustrations and exhortations that are given regarding how brothers and sisters in Christ, in the family of God, are to grow in loving one another. being patient with one another, caring for one another, praying for one another, encouraging one another, admonishing one another, comforting one another, all of those aspects of love. Paul, of course, speaks of this in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 in very descriptive terms when he says, love is patient, love is kind, it doesn't envy, it doesn't boast, it is not proud. He goes on to describe the nature of genuine love. And again, we're not talking here about a mere sentimental, warm and fuzzy, ooey gooey kind of a thing. We're talking about a love that is rooted in the reality of God's holiness and of God's own love expressed in Christ. That's why John says there in chapter four that we love because he first loved us. Our love is but an expression of his love and a reflection of the reality of his love operating in our own lives. but it is active toward other people. So the fruit of love is seen in avoiding the love of the world. It's seen in active love toward other people. I believe another way in which this love for God and others is expressed is by approaching God confidently in prayer. That's the third way in which the fruit of love is evidenced, by approaching God confidently in prayer. John speaks of this in chapter 3, verses 19 through 22, but then also over in chapter 5, verses 14 through 17. And listen to this statement. He says in chapter 5, verse 14, this is the confidence which we have before Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have from Him. They say, how does this all relate to love? Well, look at what he goes on to say in verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death, and I do not say that he should make request for this. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. What he's talking about there is praying in an evangelistic way that God would grant forgiveness and that God would grant new life to people who are outside of Him, that they might experience His forgiveness. He's talking about evangelistic praying. A person who is born again, is growing in obedience to God, and is growing in love for God and love for others, is going to be somebody who has an ever-increasingly active prayer life, bringing the needs of other people before God, both believers and unbelievers, with the confidence that as we pray according to God's will, He hears us. as John speaks of here in chapter five, and as is spoken many other places in scripture. And Jesus himself had much to say about that, didn't he? A person who loves God, is growing in love with God and love for other people, recognizes that God alone is the source of provision for other people. And so their active love is expressed in part by approaching God confidently and praying, because they're securing God's love. and secure in his desire to respond to those prayers as he is directed according to his will. So that's how we see this fruit of love active, avoiding the love of the world, being active in love towards others born out of love for God, and being confident in approaching God in prayer and living before his throne of grace in that regard. And again, all of this love is a reflection of new birth. It's a fruit of new birth. In chapter three, verse 10, John says, by this is the children of God and the children of the devil, or he says, I'm sorry, by this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not born of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. And then we already read over in chapter four, verses seven and eight, that everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So how do you know if you've been born again? Do you love him? Do you seek him? Do you love other people? Are you growing in that love? And are you broken and grieved when you see evidence of a lack of love toward others? That's a fruit of new birth. It's an evidence of having been born again. So we see first of all the fruit of righteousness or obedience. We see second of all the fruit of love both for God and for others. And then third, the third test or the third fruit that John reveals is the fruit of faith. Or we could also say the fruit of truth. We might actually say the fruit of faith in the truth. How's that? The test of faith or the test of truth. And I believe, again, this is summarized in chapter 5, verse 20. John says, we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ, and this is the true God and eternal life. And he speaks there of the confident assurance of coming into the knowledge of the one who is true. when a person has been born again, there is a radical realignment and an understanding with what is true and with what is false. And as John speaks of and reveals this fruit of faith in what is true, in the knowledge of the Son of God, He speaks, first of all, of truth that is to be believed and trusted, and second of all, of error that is to be recognized and avoided. So I wanna just look at those briefly. The truth that is to be believed and trusted, relating to the truth of Jesus Christ, and second of all, in contrast to that, the error that is to be recognized and avoided. So as truth is bound up in Jesus Christ, John makes this crystal clear throughout his letter. Truth that is to be believed and trusted in relating to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Person who is born again is gonna have an ever-increasing proper view of Jesus Christ. They're gonna understand that Jesus Christ is our advocate, as John speaks of in chapter two, verse one. They're going to understand increasingly that Jesus Christ is the one who through His blood provides the forgiveness and cleansing of sin, as He speaks of in chapter 1, verses 7 through 10. They're going to understand increasingly that Jesus Christ is our propitiation. That's a word we've seen a couple of times in chapter two, verse two, and also in chapter four, verse 10, and that refers to the fact that Christ is the sufficient substitute who died in our place, and in dying in our place, took the penalty that was meant for you and I, satisfying God's wrath towards sin. A person who is growing in the truth is going to grow in their recognition of Christ as our propitiation, as our substitute. They're going to grow in understanding that Jesus Christ is to be followed and imitated, as John speaks of in chapter 2, verse 6. They're going to grow in understanding that Jesus Christ is holy, as John says in chapter 3, verse 5, that He is completely without sin. They're going to grow in understanding that Jesus Christ has destroyed the work of the devil, as he says in chapter 3, verse 8. They're going to grow in understanding that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the eternal Son of God taking on human flesh, as he speaks of in chapter 4, verses 2 and 3. They're going to grow in understanding that Jesus Christ is the Savior, the one who delivers us from the wrath of God, chapter 4, verse 14. and that Jesus Christ is, of course, the Son of God. But the point here is that a person is increasingly passionate to want to grow in the knowledge of the Son of God as revealed in God's Word. They're going to be careful to not, in any way, distort that view or have wrong, erroneous ideas concerning Jesus Christ, but rather growing in the knowledge of Him through His Word. They're going to be passionate for that because they've been born again. And because they're going to have a deepening passion for truth that is to be believed and trusted upon, related to the Lord Jesus Christ as all that is revealed in God's word, they're going to be equally passionate to recognize and avoid error and recognize and avoid that which is false. cannot love the truth without having an equal hatred for what is false. Remember perhaps in the Psalm I read earlier today, in Psalm 139, as the writer reflects upon the greatness of God's knowledge and of His presence and of His grandeur and of His sovereignty, he has a corresponding hatred for those who oppose God. because he has such a zeal for God and a love for God. And notice how this need to identify and avoid error is spoken of in a couple of places in 1 John. And again, that's the very context in which John is writing because false teachers had arisen among the believers, as has always been the case and always will be the case until the Lord Jesus returns. Look at what he says in chapter 2, verse 18 and following. and how he gives insight as to how to discern error and understand who false teachers really are. He says in verse 18, children, it's the last hour. And just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it's the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know. And I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth. And now it gets very specific. Verse 22. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father. As for you, let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. He's very descriptive there about how to identify one who is teaching what is false. They present a false view of Jesus Christ. They deny that he is the Messiah, the promised one that God had promised for all eternity. And in denying the reality of who Jesus Christ is, they ultimately deny and distort the entire message of the gospel. And they have a wrong view of God, a wrong view of sin, a wrong view of Christ, and they just convolute the entire message. And they're false. He goes on to say over in chapter four, verses one through six, exhorting the believers to be discerning. He says, verse one, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist of which you have heard that is coming and now is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world. Therefore, they speak as from the world and the world listens to them. But we are from God and he who knows God listens to us. He who is not from God does not listen to us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. See, he speaks in very black and white terms. There is truth in Jesus Christ to be believed and trusted in, and there is error that is to be identified and to be avoided in the many different ways in which distorted views and distorted philosophies regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ are propagated throughout the world. So a person who is born again is going to be a person who has an increasing evidence of the fruit of truth and faith in the truth that is in Jesus Christ and a zeal and an eagerness and a care and a passion to know Christ in truth and to avoid that which is error and to identify that which is erroneous concerning him. And so those are the tests. Those are the fruits of new life that John lays out and that God reveals for us. to give us tangible ways by which we can evaluate if we've been born again. Again, it doesn't mean that we are perfect, but is there a growing regard for the righteousness of God? A growing regard for growing in the knowledge of His holiness and growing in obedience to His will? Dealing with sin honestly and confidently before God because of the finished work of Christ on our behalf. Is there a growing love for Him and a growing love for others that is rooted in the truth of who He is? And is there a growing passion for the truth of God in Jesus Christ? All of these realities reflect a radical transformation that there's a new allegiance that we love God above all others. There's a new affection for Him. There's a new understanding of who He is. And a person who has been born again has a new heart that throbs and beats for the righteousness of God. They're a person who is like Jesus spoke of in Matthew chapter 5, someone who hungers and thirsts for God and for his righteousness. So is there evidence of new life? For every believer, these are words of great encouragement, words of great comfort, that however imperfect it may be, that there is the reality of the fact that God has caused you to be born again. And though your faith is not perfect, as mine is not perfect, there is yet the evidence that there is God at work. And for every person who doesn't have that evidence, there's cause for concern. And yet the invitation is always before you to repent and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that you might know the hope and the joy of having been born again. I've read this quote on numerous occasions, but I think it bears repeating again from Martin Lloyd-Jones. Again, just to be reminded of the joy and the wonder and the reality of new birth. He says this, let us never again think of the Christian as just someone who is trying to live a good life, trying to be a little bit better than somebody else, a person with a belief in doing certain things, going through certain forms and ceremonials, and keeping certain regulations dictated by the church. Christians do all that, but before all that is this vital fact that they are children of God. They have been born again from above, born of the Spirit. They've received something of the very nature and life of God Himself. They are transformed people, they are a new creation, and they are thus absolutely, essentially different from those who have not experienced that. That is the very basic thing which the New Testament everywhere emphasizes concerning the Christian. So the simple question, as always, have you experienced the new birth? If you have, it should generate an ever-deepening sense of wonder and awe and gratitude for God's sovereign, powerful, wonderful work in your life, to bring you to that place of faith and trust and confidence in Him and to realize that that is something that you could have never and that I could have never conjured up on our own. It's the sovereign work of God. and to grow in that grace, and to grow in that new life, to grow in righteousness, to grow in love, and to grow in truth. And if you have not experienced that, if you are honest with yourself before God, again, His invitation is to come to Him, believe, trust in Him, and receive what only He can give through His Son, Jesus Christ, in the forgiveness of sin, in the new life within Him that He offers. That is your only hope. Again, the question for the age is for every single one of us, do we possess eternal life? And is it evidenced in our life in the ways in which God's word speaks of it? Let's pray together. Father, even in reviewing these truths once again, It's like plunging into an ocean of wonder and amazement that no matter how frequently we may dive into the waters of your grace and of your love, we realize that there is infinitely more to explore and consider than we could ever grasp or imagine. We rejoice in the confidence that we are going to spend all eternity pondering and growing and considering the greatness of your love and mercy and life in Jesus Christ. And we're gonna spend all eternity singing praises to you because of the fact that you have cost us to be born again. Father, may there be no one this morning that would leave with any hint of a doubt about whether or not they possess eternal life. With any hint of a doubt about whether or not they've indeed been born of you. Father, may all who have grow in that grace. May they grow in maturity. May they grow in faith and trust and confidence and grow in the knowledge of your holiness and grow in gaining obedient victory over sin as you have provided and made every provision for us to do so in the righteousness of Christ. Lord, how we thank you for your abundant grace. May it be ever evident within us and among us for your glory. We ask all of these things and give you praise. Amen.