1 JOHN 2:3-11 PROFESSION VERIFICATION2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 John 2:3-11 Profession Verification

As we begin looking at the word this morning, I want to begin by asking you to consider this thought, to consider this question. The question is, are you delusional? Are you delusional? Raise your hand. No, I'm just kidding. Are you delusional? Yes.

Are you self-deceived? And as I think about that, I consider something you're probably very familiar with. I think it's a good picture for us to examine what God wants to speak to us today. And that is the person who shows up before the judges on American Idol. Now, you're familiar with the clips, I'm sure. You're familiar with those types of things. And you understand that the screeners...

let the best and the worst through, right? They let the best through, of course, because that's part of the program, but they let the worst through for our amusement so we can laugh at their expense. They're the ones who are convinced they can sing, but, you know, the judges have to break that delusion that they're in and try to bring them back into reality and make it clear to them that not really they can't sing at all.

In the same way, you and I can be caught up in a delusion where we are convinced that we are one way, that we are convinced that we're where we need to be when the reality is far from the truth. Think about what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7.

In Matthew 7, verses 21-23, Jesus says, Here's what Jesus said. There's some people who are delusional, who say, Lord, Lord,

But in reality, they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. There are some who will think that they are right with God. There are some who will have the claim of Christianity, but the reality will not match and they will not enter in to eternity with God. He goes on in Matthew 7 verse 22 to say, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Here's what Jesus says. Consider this very carefully because this is what we're dealing with today. Jesus says, not everyone who claims that Jesus is Lord, not everyone who makes that profession will enter into eternity with God. That there are those who will stand before God one day and they'll say, Lord, Lord, Lord,

We did all these things in your name. We did all these things for you and on your behalf. And Jesus says, I will say to them, depart from me because I never knew you. They were delusional. They were deceived. They were convinced that they were in the right place, the place that they needed to be. But in that day, reality will be shown. That is not the time to find out about your eternal condition.

That's not the time that you want to find out whether or not you have the hope of eternity with God. John is telling us we can have that hope right now. We can verify the professions that we make right now. One day we will stand before the judge. And if we're delusional, he will bring us back into reality and show us the truth. What do you want God to say when you stand before him? Depart from me, I never knew you.

or well done, my good and faithful servants. We need to check our hearts today. That's what John is writing about.

He's giving us the opportunity to verify the claims that we make, the professions that we make. And there's three claims here that John deals with. There's actually more throughout the book that he'll be dealing with. But this morning, we're looking at three different claims, three different professions, and then how we can verify whether or not those claims that we make are true.

They all deal with the same thing. They are expressed in different ways, but they're really dealing with genuine faith in Jesus Christ and if we are really walking with God or not. And so this morning, I want to encourage you to not be delusional, but to really consider the words that John is sharing with us and to verify the claims that you make with the reality of how you live.

The first claim we look at today is the claim to know God. We see this in verse 3, 4, and 5. It says in verse 3, Now by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Verse 4, He who says, I know him, and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

And so we're dealing with the claim, the one who says, I know God. And right off the bat, John gives us the how to know that we know God. He says, by this we know that we know Him. And this is something that we should treasure and value. This is something that is incredible, that God would give us the opportunity to know that we know Him.

You know, we can be self-deceived. We can be delusional. We can be confused and think that we are in a place that really we are not in. And so God gives us the opportunity to make sure that we are not that way, but to know that we know Him.

To make sure that it's not just something that we made up, not just emotions that we're feeling, not just a phase that we're going through, but there's a reality to knowing God and it manifests itself, it demonstrates itself, John says, by whether or not we keep His commandments. He's going to be giving us several things throughout the book about how we can know what we know and how we can know the state that we're in.

Here as we talk about knowing Him, we can know whether or not we actually know Him by examining whether or not we keep His commandments. We have the opportunity right now to know that we will spend eternity with God. We talk about hope a lot as Christians, but we don't use the word hope in the sense of wishful thinking as we often use it in our normal speaking.

Hope is a confident expectation. It's something that we know. It's something that we're guaranteed of. It's something that will take place. It just has not taken place yet. And so as we look forward to eternity, we have that hope. Not wishful thinking, but that confident expectation of spending eternity with God. He gives us the opportunity to have that hope, that confidence, that assurance to know that we know Him.

And the determining evidence is whether or not we keep His commandments. How do you know if you know God? John says, look at your life. Do you follow His commandments?

The past couple of days I was able to attend a conference over in Costa Mesa and they had several different speakers out, they were all phenomenal, but one guy in particular really kind of stood out and something he shared really ministered and was profound in regard to what we're looking at this morning in 1 John chapter 2. His name was Ergen Kainer, I'm not sure that I'm pronouncing it right, but he was a Muslim

And he immigrated here with his family. He was just a child. His family moved here with the intent, with the purpose of being missionaries, Muslim missionaries to the United States. And so their purpose in coming here was to make converts, to get people to convert to Islam.

And as he came here, he grew up here, he was about 17 or 18 years old, raised with this culture, raised with this intention, and then he has an encounter with Jesus Christ and he gets saved.

And God transforms his life and he has a radical testimony, just really incredible. The things that he was sharing, I'm not going to go into that. But as part of his culture and upbringing and background, he was sharing with us the reality that for a Muslim, they do not have the hope of eternity, the confidence of eternity. They do not have the guarantee of heaven.

He quoted from the Quran, he quoted actually another portion as well where Muhammad was saying that he did not have the guarantee of heaven. And so he shared, you know, as a Muslim, he was like, well, if Muhammad doesn't have the guarantee of heaven, how can I do better than him? He went on to share, the only people within the Islamic faith that have that hope, that guarantee of eternity, of heaven,

are those who die in jihad. Those who die in a declared holy war. Those are the only ones in all the Islamic faith that have the hope, the promise. It's false promise, we know. But from their perspective, that's the only group that has that hope. Those who die in battle or those who sacrifice themselves. Those are the only ones who have the guarantee. It's not like that for us as believers in Jesus Christ.

This is something that should cause us to rejoice. You don't have to do some radical event or some radical activity. You don't have to die for the faith in order to have the hope of eternity. John says, we can know right now that we know Him. Every believer, every Christian has the opportunity to know Him.

and have the hope, the confidence, the guarantee of eternity with God. From the greatest Christian to the least Christian. Whatever criteria you want to use, that's beside the point, determining who's great and who's least. Every Christian, every believer, has the opportunity to know that they know God. Not just hope, not just wishful thinking, but to know it. To have that confidence, to have that assurance, that guarantee.

By this we know that we know him, John says. And what's the criteria? If we keep his commandments. Now John is not saying that you keep his commandments in order to be saved. We need to make that very clear. This is not about works. It's not about legalism. He's not saying, you know that you're saved because you're so good and you keep all the commandments. No, what he's saying is,

You know that you're saved because saved people keep the commandments. It's not that you keep the commandments in order to be saved. It's that you keep the commandments because you are saved. It's not in order to obtain, but it's because of who you are in Christ. Let me give you an example. Me, I consider myself, and it's okay if you call me that too, I consider myself a geek.

And I consider myself a geek because I really enjoy technology. It's something I am... Well...

I'm very excited about, and I keep up with it, and I pay attention to, and I try out the new technologies. I do the early adoption routes as often as I can and as much as I can afford it. I like that stuff. And I listen. I spend time listening to shows and keeping up with the news and finding out what's coming next. And I spend time continually listening.

Looking at, researching, understanding, learning about technology. Now, I don't do that in order to be a geek. I do that because I am a geek. See, now you get it, right? In the same way, we don't keep the commandments in order to be saved. We keep the commandments because that's who we are in Christ. Because that's the nature that we've been given. We're new creations in Christ Jesus. The old is gone, behold, all things become new.

And as we walk with Him, part of our nature is to follow God and to seek to please Him and to be obedient to Him. Not in order to be saved, but because of what God has done in us. God transforms us and He writes His word upon our hearts. So we obey Him because we have His nature. You see, it's part of the new covenant.

Remember back in Jeremiah, God promised that there would be a new covenant. The old covenant was the law. It was coming to God based on these rituals and the sacrifices and things that God had set in place. They were temporary until the new covenant could be established. The new covenant that Jesus said was by His own blood. His body was broken. His blood was shed. He paid the price for our sin upon the cross so that now we have access to God

We have relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. And God explained that this new covenant, part of it was that he would put his law in our minds and write his law upon our hearts. The author of Hebrews quotes this as well in Hebrews 8.10 and says, This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people.

You see, what God does as part of this new covenant, as we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and receive what He did for us upon the cross, is He transforms us. And He writes His word upon our hearts. And so it's a joy to follow Him, to obey Him. It's part of who we are as believers in Jesus Christ. And therefore it's a criteria for determining whether or not we know God. He who says, I know Him. Verse 4 says,

and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. So the one who makes the claim to know God, but does not keep His commandments, is lying. Their nature is betraying them. They're not walking that transformed life. The word or the law is not written on their hearts and put in their minds.

as demonstrated by the way that they're living and not keeping His commands. And so to make the claim, I know God, but to live in disobedience to God is to prove that claim false. That profession is not reality. Instead, it's a delusion. Do you disobey God? Do you walk contrary to His word, to His commands? As we've seen before, and again I'll remind you today, we're not talking about perfection here.

This is not saying if you ever disobey, if you ever sin, then you're not saved. That's not what John is saying. We're talking about a lifestyle. And so if it's your lifestyle, if it's your normal routine, if it's your habit to disobey God, John says, you don't know God. That's the proof. The way that you're living your life demonstrates that you do not know Him. And if you say that you know Him,

but continue to disobey Him, He says, you're a liar and the truth is not in you. We can claim to know God, but just because we claim it doesn't mean that it's true. Anyone can make that claim, as I'm sure you're well aware. In fact, many people do make the claim, but disprove the claim by the way that they live.

I stumbled across this article where a person, well, let me just read the title to you. He says, why do people who openly claim to be Christian steal from me? And so he writes this based upon this question. People, he says, who are openly claiming to be Christian and yet they've stolen from him. And he says, first, there was my born again accountant with the picture of Jesus on his desk.

Now, I don't know if this person's claims are true or whatever, but we can agree, we can understand that this happens. And so he says, I had a born-again accountant. This accountant said, hey, I'm born again. He had a picture of Jesus on his desk. By all appearances, he looks like, yeah, he must be a believer. He must be a good guy. But he's not.

He says, well, he embezzled from me. He stole from me. He goes on to say, then there was the church-going mortgage broker who always talked about his Bible study group. He took my money but never produced the mortgage. So here's this other guy making promises, talking about Bible studies, but then never following through, taking the money and running. He says, then there was the evangelical mechanic who charged me for things that he never even fixed.

Have you met that mechanic? He concludes his thoughts. He concludes the article saying, honestly, I think I'm going to seek out atheists and pagans to do business with from now on. Because there's many who make the claim. Just as Jesus said, there's many who say, Lord, Lord, but they won't enter into the kingdom of God. There's many who make the claim, but just because they claim to be Christian, just because they claim to know God, doesn't mean that it's true. The reality is,

is demonstrated or it's revealed by the way that they live. Reality for us is demonstrated by the way that we live. Now, some who claim to be Christian but are not are simply doing it in order to deceive. But many who are claiming to be Christian, who are claiming to know God but do not, are just simply self-deceived. And that's why John is giving us this

verification, this validation that we can verify that those professions that we make, that the claims that we make are indeed genuine. How do you know that you're not one of those who say, Lord, Lord, but will not enter into the kingdom of God? How do you know that you're not one of those who say, I know God, but... Well, in reality, you don't. John says, you can look at your life and see, do I keep the commandments?

If I don't keep the commandments and I claim to know God, I'm a liar, John says. The truth is not in me. The evidence, the verification is in the lifestyle that we live. You claim to know God, but do you live in disobedience? Jesus himself said in John 14, 15, If you love me, keep my commandments. Do you love God? Great. Do you keep his commandments? That's the evidence of your love for Jesus. If you live in disobedience,

It reveals, it betrays that really you don't love Jesus. If you love me, Jesus, keep my commandments. Verse 5. He says, Again, he gives us the clarity. He cuts through all of the facades, all of the illusions that we put up, the masks that we wear. He says, look,

By this we know that we are in Him. Here's how we can tell. Here's how we know. Here's how we can have that confidence, that assurance. Whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. Do you keep the word of God? If you claim to know Jesus, but do not keep His commandments, you're a liar. But if you keep His word, if you're obedient to Him, if your lifestyle is that of obedience and that of walking with God,

He says, truly the love of God is perfected in you. There has been a transformation. There is a work of God going on. You really do know Him because you're walking according to His ways. It's the proof that you know God. Again, not that we are perfect, but that there has been a transformation. We are a new creation. Our lifestyle demonstrates it as we live in obedience to God. Jesus said this as well in John 14, again, verse 23 and 24 says,

Jesus says, Jesus explains there's this relationship that exists between loving Jesus and keeping His words.

If you love Jesus, you keep his words. If you don't love Jesus, you don't keep his words. If you keep his words, you love him. If you don't keep his words, you don't love him. And so it's the verification for us. We can look at our lives. We can consider. We can evaluate. And we can say, yes, God has done a work in my life. I know that I know him because look at what he's done in me. The second claim that John deals with is the claim to abide in God or abide in Jesus. Verse 6 says,

He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. So the claim is, I abide in God. The proof, the verification, is if we walk just as Jesus walked. Again, these claims are pointing to the same end. A genuine, a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

They're intertwined in that way. The claims, the proofs, they work together. They're intertwined. They are all speaking about the same thing, but just expressed in slightly different ways. Those who know God abide in Him. And you can't have one without the other. Those who abide in God know Him. And so the claim to know God, the claim to abide in God are in reality one and the same. But again, it's just different expressions of the same thing.

To abide means to live in or to continue in or to dwell in. So those who abide in Jesus, those who profess to continue in Him or to live in Him, to dwell in Him, those who profess to have life in Him, those who claim to be His disciples, John says, their claim will be verified, will be validated by whether or not they walk as Jesus walked.

Remember, Jesus commanded us to abide in him. So this is something we are called to do. We're called to abide in Jesus. It's a command. Jesus said, abide in me in John 15, 4, and I in you. And he gives the example of the branch that abides in the vine. And if the branch abides in the vine, it produces much fruit.

But if the branch doesn't abide in the vine, well, it can't produce fruit. It's cast away. If it's unplugged from the tree, if it's unplugged from the vine, it will not survive. It will not live. It will not produce fruit. In the same way, those of us who say, I abide in Jesus. I'm plugged in. I'm attached. I'm part of the tree. I'm attached to the vine. Those of us who make that claim

can verify, can validate that claim by looking at our lives and determining whether or not we walk with or walk as Jesus walked. Do you walk like Jesus? Do you have His characteristics? Do you have His nature? Do you follow His example? You remember Jesus in John chapter 13? He did that incredible act of humility in washing the disciples' feet. It's incredible because Jesus Christ is God. And yet He humbled Himself first

To serve, to take the form of a bondservant, the lowest of the bondservants, to go around and wash the disciples' feet there at the Last Supper. He concluded that saying, I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Do you walk as Jesus walked? Do you follow His example? He gave Himself as an example for us. He set the example. He gave us the model that we can follow after Him.

And those who abide in Jesus will walk like He walked. Do you have that humility? Do you have that heart to serve others around you, to minister to them and to meet their needs? Do you walk like Jesus walked? Do you have the compassion like Jesus had? Do you have the faith that Jesus had? We are to be like Jesus, to take on His characteristics. Because the point is that as we walk with Him, we become more like Him. We partake of His nature.

As Romans says, that we're conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We become more and more like Jesus. Now, we do need to understand that it is progressive. So, it's not that, you know, you give your heart to the Lord and then you wake up the next day and your whole life is exactly like Jesus. No, there is a radical transformation that takes place because now there's life where there previously was none. But then as we grow,

Those other areas that were not impacted, those other areas that we've not yet surrendered, God begins to work in them and reveal them to us and deal with our hearts. And we've learned to surrender them to Him and He helps us, He transforms us. It's a progression that takes place as we grow in our relationship with Him. Similar to what God did with the nation of Israel. As they were going into the Promised Land,

God told them, He gave them a great promise. Wherever you put the sole of your foot, I'm going to give you that land. Great promise. They were to walk by faith. And God would do miraculously. What great victories. Joshua leads them into the promised land. They go around. They fight some major battles. They have victory. And then they begin to populate the land and go to claim the inheritance and take possession of the land that had been given to each tribe.

But even though the major battles had already been done, there was more battles that needed to take place. There was more inhabitants of the land that were to be driven out. But God told them ahead of time, He says, "Look, I'm not going to drive them all out at once. I'm going to give you victory, you're going to inhabit the land, and then little by little, you're going to drive out the rest of the inhabitants." God didn't just clear out the whole land and then it was all empty.

No, He brought them in and then He gave them victory as they grew, as they walked with Him. In the same way for us. He gives us victory in Jesus Christ. We're forgiven. We have new life. We become a new creation. And yet there's parts of our lives that we still need to surrender to God. There's parts of our lives that God needs to work in. And those are areas that He will work in as we grow, as we walk with Him. And so there is a progression. We are to walk as Jesus walked. Again, not that we're perfect.

But that God's work is being accomplished in us. And that we're growing in our walking as He did. We're growing in our reflection of Jesus Christ to the world around us. Look at verse 7 and 8. He says,

Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

And so John, as he says, look, we're to walk as Jesus walked, he now goes on to say, this is not something new. This is not a new revelation that John is bringing. He's not saying, you've never heard this before. I have this brand new revelation and this is what God wants from you. He says, no, look, you've heard this from the beginning. This has been the message from the beginning. The gospel message, as it went out from the beginning, as you look at the book of Acts, what was it about?

It was about repentance. It was about turning from sin and turning towards God by faith in Jesus Christ. That was the message from the beginning. That's the command that we have today. It hasn't changed. We're to turn from sin. We're to turn from the things that are not of God. And we're to turn towards Jesus Christ. To walk as He walked. To follow His example. To follow the model that He has given to us.

And what is that model? Jesus said in John chapter 13, verse 34 and 35, a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. As I have loved you, Jesus says, you are also to love one another. He goes on to say, by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Jesus says, look, here's the

The verification that you're my disciples for the world, for everybody, including yourself. Here's how they will know. Here's how you will know that you are my disciples by your love for one another. Your love for one another, Jesus said, as I have loved you. You will know that you're my disciples by, well, how you follow my example, Jesus is saying.

And John says, look, this is not a new thing. This is not a new commandment. This isn't something, a brand new revelation. This is what you heard from the beginning, that you were to walk with Jesus, to walk like Jesus, to turn from the things that are not of God and to follow the things that are of God. It's a new commandment in the sense that it can be taking place in the new covenant. You see, this command to walk as Jesus walked

cannot be completed, it cannot be fulfilled outside of a transformation, outside of being born again. We can fake it for a little while, pretend to walk like Jesus and hide those areas where we don't, but that won't last very long. We can only walk like Him if we're born again, if we're filled with the Spirit, if we're walking in relationship with Him. That's the only way to walk like Jesus walked.

And that's something that takes place as part of the new covenant. And so it's a new command in the sense that it's a command that only can be fulfilled and that we can enjoy. It's something that we can participate in as part of the new covenant. It's a new command also because Jesus called it a new command. He says, the new commandment I give to you, you're to love one another as I have loved you. The same way that I am, you're to follow my example. You're to walk as I have walked. You and I,

because of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ, have a new nature, which enables us to obey this new command, to walk as he walked. And so you and I can claim to abide in God. The verification of that, the proof of that, is whether or not we walk like Jesus walked. The third claim that John deals with now is the claim to be in the light. And so we can claim to know God,

The proof of that claim in our lives is whether or not we keep His commands. We can claim to abide in Him and the proof of that in our lives is whether or not we walk as Jesus walked. And we can claim to be in the light. And the proof of that claim is whether or not we love one another. He says in verse 9, He who says, again here's the claim, He is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness forever.

Now when John's talking about brother, understand he's talking about fellow Christians, brother, sister in Christ. He says, Now again, you can see how all of these claims and the proofs of these claims are intertwined.

To know Him is to keep His word, to keep His commands. And what's His command? He said, a new command I give to you. As I have loved you, walk like He walked, love one another. And so the verification of this command, again, linked together with the previous as well, is that we love one another.

And he who makes the claim that he is in the light, but doesn't do that, but instead hates fellow Christians, he says that person is in darkness until now. Now we saw in chapter 1 of 1 John that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. And so if we are in darkness, we are not in God. Instead we're to walk in the light as he is in the light. There's this contrast that is taking place here, this contrast that John is saying,

Pointing out for us between light and darkness, love and hate. The word hate means to detest or despise or persecute. Or as we often refer to it, it can simply mean to love less. To not love the way that we ought to love. Light, darkness, love, hate. These two extremes, these two contrasts John gives to us as verification.

as a way of evaluating whether or not we are in the light. Look at verse 10 and 11. He says, As John continues on, he's dealing with these two extremes, these two ends of the spectrum.

Light, darkness. Is there any greater contrast? You can't have one and the other. It's one or the other. Love and hate. Opposite ends of the spectrum. We would probably say, well, what about the middle? What about that gray area in between? Is that the only options? I can love you or I can hate you. How come I can't in the middle you? You know, somewhere, I don't actually love you, but I don't really hate you. I'm just kind of somewhere in the middle.

But that's what John's saying. There's no middle ground. There is no middle ground. And we try to rationalize and think logically. How could there, how could that be? How could there not be a middle ground? Remember something that Jesus said? It's kind of the key to this. Jesus said, you're either for me or against me. You remember that? You're either for Jesus or you're against Jesus. You're not in the middle when it comes to Jesus. You're either for him or against him.

In the same way, you either love other Christians or you don't. You see, we love people not based on who they are, but we love them based on who He is. We love our fellow Christians, the fellow believers, not because of who they are. They might be jerks, but we love them because of who He is and they're in Him. That's part of His body. That's part of His bride. We love them because of Him, not because of who they are or what they've done,

but because of who they are in Christ. And we love Jesus and they're in Him, so we love them. And that's why you can't hate your brother or your sister and be in Jesus because they're in Jesus. If you hate them, you're hating part of Jesus. And you're either for Him or against Him. There's no middle ground.

It's a radical commitment that we make to the Lord when we follow Him. To say, I'm for Jesus. I'm walking with Him. I'm going to live my life for Him. My whole being is going to be devoted to Him. In the same way, this radical commitment extends to how we relate to fellow believers. If we're going to walk with Jesus and be in the light, it's going to be a radical commitment that I'm going to love other believers. I'm going to love those who are in Jesus.

Because they're part of Him. And I love them for who they are in Christ. Regardless of what they've done or how they've hurt me. Because we all sin and we all fall short. But Jesus took care of that at the cross. And He works all things together for good. And so there's no cause for me to hate, to despise, to detest, to persecute, or to love less than I ought to, fellow believers. Our love for others is based on who He is, not who they are.

I want to take a moment and consider what this love looks like. It's a portion I'm sure that you're familiar with, and yet it's a portion that we all need to be reminded of frequently. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the Apostle Paul describes for us this kind of love. He says, Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. Love is not puffed up. Love does not behave rudely. It does not seek its own.

It does not provoke. Love thinks no evil. It does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Does that describe the way that you relate to other believers? John says, we make the claim to be in the light. We make the claim to be a child of God. We make the claim

to know Him or to abide in Him. He says the verification of that profession is whether or not we love other believers. To love other believers in a different way than this is to not love them in the way that Jesus loved us. It's to be disobedient. It's to not walk as He walked. It's to hate our brethren. So how do you relate to others? Do you suffer long with other Christians and then are still kind?

Consider that. As we look at these things, it's a good evaluation. Where do I stand? Do you envy others? Their place in the body of Christ? The blessings that they receive? The opportunities that they get? Their standing in this area or that area? Do you envy? Or do you rejoice with those who rejoice within the body of Christ? Are you blessed when others are blessed? Do you get excited when others... God just radically meets their needs?

Or do you say, well, why didn't I get that? Do you love one another? Do you parade yourself? Kind of throw yourself in the face of others. Throw your blessings. Throw your obedience. Throw your devotional life or prayer life. Do you parade yourself in front of other believers? Look at who I am. Look at what I do. Look at what I get to do. Look what God's doing in me and He's not doing in you. Are you rude to other believers? Do you think evil?

of other believers. When you see another believer in something that they're participating in, what do you think about their motivations? Their reasons for doing that thing, whether it be good or bad in your estimation. Do you think evil of their hearts? Do you judge what can't be seen? Do you judge what their motivations are and think evil of them? And say, oh, that's because they have evil motivations. That's because their heart's not right. That's why they are doing whatever it is that they're doing.

Love thinks no evil. Do you bear all things when it comes to other believers and believe all things and hope all things and endure all things in your relationship with others in the body of Christ? John says, look, the one who claims to be in the light but hates fellow believers, that person is in darkness. Now God is light. And if we're in darkness, we don't have fellowship with God. We're to walk in the light as He is in the light.

Light and darkness don't coexist. Love and hate don't coexist. What Jesus called us to in walking with Him is a radical commitment. Make no mistake about it. He called us to deny ourself, take up the cross, and follow Him. It's a life that's sold out and surrendered to Him. In the same way, we're called to love one another with that absolute surrender. Sold out. A rock-solid, crazy commitment.

Loving those who don't deserve it. Just like Jesus loves us and we don't deserve it. We love them because of who He is, not because of who they are or what they've done. And so John gives us these claims, these verifications for our claims rather. We make these professions, we make these statements. I know God. I abide in God. I am in the light as He is in the light. But the question is, do our lives match God's?

the claims that we make. Do our lives demonstrate that that claim is valid, that it's genuine? The proof is the way that we live. Now, this is not written and I'm not sharing this with you so that we can all, you know, walk away wondering, man, I don't even know if I'm saved anymore. I don't even know. I fall short. I mess up. I blow it in these areas. That's not the intention of John's writing and that's not the intention of my sharing this with you today. If you are delusional...

If you are deceived and you claim to be a Christian and you walk in disobedience, then you need to wake up. Or otherwise, you'll stand before the judge and you'll look as foolish as those people on American Idol who realized then they can't sing. You'll stand before God and God will say, you don't know me. Depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew you. Jesus said many will be in that condition. And so if you're delusional, if you're self-deceived, you need to wake up.

Don't excuse your lifestyle thinking it's okay. Don't excuse your lifestyle thinking you have special circumstances and that's why your disobedience is allowable and okay and tolerable. No, take John's word seriously and pay attention. Make sure that you are not a liar. But on the other side, listen.

If you're walking with God, if God's doing a work in your heart and you see growth and you see that God is transforming you and there's areas that, yes, you lack and you fall short, but God is working, this is so that you can know that you know Him. To know that you know Him is not based on your perfection, but based on His work in your life. Is your lifestyle filled with obedience to God? Because that's who you are. Has your relationship changed?

With sin changed. So that at one time you loved it, you rejoiced in it, you planned it, but now things are different. And although, yes, you sin, but you hate it, you avoid it, you pray to God about it, you battle it, you fight it, you don't rejoice in the sins that you used to partake of, you don't boast in those things, but those things, when your relationship is changed, you begin to see them as God sees them. You love one another. Those things are evidences. Evidences.

They're the proof that you really know Him. And so it's intended that, yes, if you're delusional, you need to wake up. But if God is doing a work in you, you don't have to walk around feeling like, ah, there's maybe a chance I'm not saved. No, you have the confidence that you can know that you know God and that you have the hope of eternity. And we can see, we can have that confidence by looking at these areas of our lives and checking out, do they match the claim?

Do they match what we say? I'm going to invite the worship team to come up and lead us in the last song. And as they do, I would ask that you would take this time to allow God to examine your heart. And maybe you're blind. Maybe you're realizing you've been deluded and deceived. Take this time. If you fail the test, understand that it's not by works. It doesn't mean that you have to work really hard and do some elaborate deed.

This morning we just need to come to Jesus by faith. Receiving His completed work upon the cross. Surrendering ourselves to Him. Committing to Him. Turning to Him. Drawing near to Him. That's what we need. So I encourage you to take this time to examine yourself. Allow God to speak to you. Allow God to remove the blinders if they need to be removed. And if not, then rejoice in the comfort knowing that you know Him.

that you have the hope of eternity with him. Let's worship the Lord together.