WEBVTT 00:00.471 --> 00:09.577 [SPEAKER_00]: that you have eternal life, and this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 00:10.837 --> 00:16.841 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 00:18.342 --> 00:24.946 [SPEAKER_00]: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life. 00:29.039 --> 00:32.521 [SPEAKER_00]: There is sin that leads to death, and I do not say that one should pray for that. 00:33.342 --> 00:37.944 [SPEAKER_00]: All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death, verse 18. 00:39.065 --> 00:46.950 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him. 00:47.850 --> 00:52.453 [SPEAKER_00]: We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 00:53.430 --> 01:03.975 [SPEAKER_00]: And 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. 01:04.655 --> 01:10.738 [SPEAKER_00]: He is the true God and eternal life, little children, keep yourselves from idols. 01:12.104 --> 01:17.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it doesn't sound like an odd string of verses to just rattle off at the end of the book. 01:18.533 --> 01:22.379 [SPEAKER_00]: Like they sound pretty disjointed like, wait, what was that? 01:22.579 --> 01:23.641 [SPEAKER_00]: What did you just say? 01:23.961 --> 01:25.003 [SPEAKER_00]: Excuse me, come again. 01:25.023 --> 01:26.866 [SPEAKER_00]: And why is that connected here? 01:26.886 --> 01:27.967 [SPEAKER_00]: And what's going on here? 01:29.343 --> 01:35.528 [SPEAKER_00]: is brought about a number of just different conclusions on why John packages it in this way. 01:35.548 --> 01:41.292 [SPEAKER_00]: But I think as I read it, they're best summarized as this kind of idea of final words. 01:41.353 --> 01:45.276 [SPEAKER_00]: John is giving these final words of exhortation to this church. 01:46.029 --> 01:47.750 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this is natural for us. 01:47.770 --> 01:53.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Any time we're watching a movie and we know that a character is probably gonna die or even they're just gonna leave. 01:53.714 --> 01:55.776 [SPEAKER_00]: We just like lean in because we're waiting. 01:55.956 --> 02:00.159 [SPEAKER_00]: We're waiting to hear what they have to say for their final words. 02:00.759 --> 02:06.163 [SPEAKER_00]: You only have one shot to leave a lasting memory in someone's mind, I wanna make it count. 02:06.483 --> 02:11.547 [SPEAKER_00]: So you're gonna be careful with those last words and I think that's kind of what we're getting here. 02:12.925 --> 02:20.753 [SPEAKER_00]: What John centers this collection of final words on is the fruit or the byproduct of biblical belief. 02:21.274 --> 02:24.617 [SPEAKER_00]: Biblical belief, that is my title tonight. 02:24.657 --> 02:28.481 [SPEAKER_00]: And those words are chosen carefully to communicate two different things. 02:29.742 --> 02:35.128 [SPEAKER_00]: The first one is that this knowledge must be grounded in scripture. 02:36.162 --> 02:44.223 [SPEAKER_00]: Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how sincerely you believe something if that thing is not true. 02:44.943 --> 02:46.544 [SPEAKER_00]: You're just sincerely wrong. 02:46.784 --> 02:48.304 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the bottom line. 02:50.584 --> 02:52.885 [SPEAKER_00]: It must align with what God says. 02:53.765 --> 02:58.686 [SPEAKER_00]: And the second word belief is meant to point to something that is deeper than just knowledge. 02:59.646 --> 03:03.627 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a active trustee and active reliance. 03:07.370 --> 03:11.475 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a transformative trusting or it is no trusting at all. 03:13.338 --> 03:18.924 [SPEAKER_00]: So what happens when you have this solid foundation and you genuinely trust in it? 03:19.625 --> 03:23.891 [SPEAKER_00]: Number one, it builds assurance, it builds assurance. 03:25.977 --> 03:34.860 [SPEAKER_00]: This is so clear throughout this book and you probably have noticed this through the sermons that we've gone through that this idea is just everywhere in the book of first John. 03:34.880 --> 03:39.342 [SPEAKER_00]: But here John lays it out so obviously a blind person to see it. 03:39.382 --> 03:42.003 [SPEAKER_00]: He opens this section very clearly. 03:42.443 --> 03:50.946 [SPEAKER_00]: I write these things to you who believe in Jesus that you may know that you have eternal life. 03:56.642 --> 04:04.906 [SPEAKER_00]: And there are many religious systems and even including the Roman Catholic Church that gets uncomfortable with a statement like this. 04:06.047 --> 04:08.608 [SPEAKER_00]: And their argument would go something along the lines of this. 04:09.909 --> 04:12.230 [SPEAKER_00]: It follows much of human experience. 04:13.651 --> 04:23.276 [SPEAKER_00]: If you aren't required to try in school, but instead you're just given an automatic passing grade, then you're not going to study hard and you're not going to learn anything. 04:24.548 --> 04:36.395 [SPEAKER_00]: or another scenario might be, you know, if you didn't actually have to earn the starting spot on the team, then everyone, all of the players in the team would not perform as well because they don't have any competition. 04:37.516 --> 04:49.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe some of you guys are getting jobs now and you imagine this world of what if whether or not you got paid was regardless, completely regardless of whether or not you actually did me work, right? 04:49.984 --> 04:52.626 [SPEAKER_00]: The end result of that product or service 04:54.422 --> 04:55.383 [SPEAKER_00]: horrible, right? 04:55.423 --> 04:57.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Because there's no motivation, there's no incentive. 04:59.385 --> 05:06.769 [SPEAKER_00]: And even though they may not identify it as such at the end of the day, this system is a fear driven system. 05:07.349 --> 05:08.910 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me explain what I mean. 05:10.231 --> 05:20.597 [SPEAKER_00]: You fear a consequence, like not getting starting job, not making the paycheck, but not passing the class, and therefore you're going to work hard to avoid it. 05:22.934 --> 05:30.339 [SPEAKER_00]: But this is built on a hidden assumption that unless you have a threat hanging over someone's head, they won't be motivated to do it. 05:33.821 --> 05:47.211 [SPEAKER_00]: For Roman Catholics in particular, they fear that someone having total confidence in their salvation and where they're gonna end up is gonna lead to people living like Helians, not even concerned about what God's word says. 05:47.251 --> 05:50.293 [SPEAKER_00]: And I can understand that fear and that hesitation. 05:51.507 --> 06:01.812 [SPEAKER_00]: because it's natural and earthly things, but it demonstrates a weak understanding of how powerful God is in salvation. 06:04.333 --> 06:12.237 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep a finger in first John, we're gonna come back here, but flip back several books to Romans, Romans chapter six. 06:15.179 --> 06:17.740 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is talking through this very thing. 06:17.780 --> 06:19.421 [SPEAKER_00]: He raises the same objection 06:22.725 --> 06:27.687 [SPEAKER_00]: Chapter 5, He argues that our sin in a way shows God's grace off. 06:30.108 --> 06:41.151 [SPEAKER_00]: If God says us completely, and He wipes our slate clean when we trust in Him, the more sin that we have, well, the more God's grace is displayed, right? 06:41.732 --> 06:43.692 [SPEAKER_00]: So I should just keep on sinning. 06:44.432 --> 06:51.175 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the proposition in Roman 6 verse 1, and Paul explains why that's not true. 06:52.243 --> 06:57.425 [SPEAKER_00]: He clarifies the right response in verse 16, so Romans 6, verse 16, I'm gonna read it. 06:58.665 --> 07:17.733 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul says, do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either there's two options of sin, you're either a slave of sin which leads to death, or you're a slave of obedience which leads to righteousness for 17. 07:19.071 --> 07:36.141 [SPEAKER_00]: but thanks be to God, that you, Christian, who are once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin, have now become slaves of righteousness. 07:37.224 --> 07:38.985 [SPEAKER_00]: this is what people miss. 07:39.666 --> 07:53.796 [SPEAKER_00]: When God saves us, He doesn't only forgive our debt and cleanse our past sins, but He actually does something inside of our heart to change it, to desire, to follow after Him. 07:55.197 --> 07:57.478 [SPEAKER_00]: He gives us a new nature. 07:57.498 --> 08:02.282 [SPEAKER_00]: And this new nature is one as an internal bend towards obeying 08:03.840 --> 08:13.170 [SPEAKER_00]: Christians have become obedient from the heart, which means we don't require this external fear of judgment or threatening in order to do the right thing. 08:13.230 --> 08:19.557 [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually something that begins to naturally well up within us from the work of the Holy Spirit. 08:20.318 --> 08:22.220 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you an illustration and we'll keep moving. 08:22.580 --> 08:24.282 [SPEAKER_00]: Does anyone have a dog at home? 08:25.373 --> 08:26.073 [SPEAKER_00]: about half of you. 08:26.193 --> 08:26.473 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. 08:26.594 --> 08:29.615 [SPEAKER_00]: I had a dog growing up when we got her as a puppy. 08:29.915 --> 08:32.376 [SPEAKER_00]: She was like so rambunctious. 08:32.396 --> 08:33.637 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, every puppy is, right? 08:33.657 --> 08:35.337 [SPEAKER_00]: They're just running circles around. 08:35.357 --> 08:36.678 [SPEAKER_00]: You need time to take them for a walk. 08:36.698 --> 08:41.200 [SPEAKER_00]: They're just like bolting across the neighborhood, if they get out and can be bad. 08:42.160 --> 08:47.083 [SPEAKER_00]: So we would take our dog on a walk and after you get home, it's not like you like having hard work out. 08:47.103 --> 08:50.424 [SPEAKER_00]: You just holding onto the leash like the whole time. 08:51.505 --> 08:51.985 [SPEAKER_00]: But it was funny 08:56.290 --> 09:16.600 [SPEAKER_00]: sure she probably lost some energy so maybe this contributed but she also grew to love and trust and want to be with her owners right and so then when we would go out for a walk we would put this little like rope leash on her we go outside and we just dropped a leash on the ground and she was just walk with us the whole time. 09:17.688 --> 09:21.211 [SPEAKER_00]: You see, that's similar to kind of what happens to a Christian. 09:21.251 --> 09:24.334 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, we don't need this external restraint. 09:24.914 --> 09:33.261 [SPEAKER_00]: Though that that can be good, we don't have to have this thing in order to walk with God because we have that internally through the Holy Spirit. 09:35.843 --> 09:41.308 [SPEAKER_00]: This is why when John writes, saying, Christian, I want you to have full assurance. 09:42.610 --> 09:47.811 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't have any reservations that this is gonna plunge the church into ruin. 09:47.851 --> 09:54.432 [SPEAKER_00]: And now they're just gonna live like the world because now they've got a free ticket to heaven and they can do whatever they want. 09:54.492 --> 09:55.772 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't believe that. 09:57.453 --> 10:09.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Because he trusts that those who have a heart that has been changed by God experience this internal change from the spirit that warns against sin and encourages obedience and righteousness. 10:13.045 --> 10:33.001 [SPEAKER_00]: if you have that impulse that you keep sinning but you hate that you keep sinning that you want to obey God better but you just keep struggling and it just seems like every day you realize more and more ways that I'm not obeying God and that bothers you. 10:34.762 --> 10:36.924 [SPEAKER_00]: If you are longing for God to do more 10:43.087 --> 10:50.294 [SPEAKER_00]: There are markers that God has worked in you and changed your heart which should naturally lead us to assurance. 10:53.397 --> 10:55.940 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's the second thing that we see biblical belief does. 10:56.000 --> 11:01.966 [SPEAKER_00]: Number two, it boldens prayer, it boldens prayer. 11:05.260 --> 11:25.068 [SPEAKER_00]: When I preached on the end of First John 3, it was a similar theme that came up, and you may have remembered that I asked this question, and if you had a guarantee, 100% guarantee that God would give you anything you wanted, so long as you asked him every day, what would you ask for? 11:27.168 --> 11:28.349 [SPEAKER_00]: What comes to mind? 11:28.409 --> 11:33.711 [SPEAKER_00]: What is the thing that you're like, well, if I automatically could get it, and this is what I would pray for. 11:36.317 --> 11:56.438 [SPEAKER_00]: I like this question because it challenges our assumptions of prayer, because even for the people who may have grown up in the church, a lot of us still have this nagging suspicion in the back of our mind that prayer that we have these nagging beliefs about prayer that are just not biblical. 11:57.984 --> 12:03.007 [SPEAKER_00]: I think the most natural doubt for someone to believe is that prayer doesn't actually really do anything. 12:03.627 --> 12:10.532 [SPEAKER_00]: God's just going to do whatever he wants, and I can offer these prayers, but it's probably won't actually change anything. 12:11.812 --> 12:20.718 [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe some people think, okay, yeah, I believe that God really could do something about it, but I just don't think he's interested in doing anything for me. 12:29.686 --> 12:33.168 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some people believe that God can and does change things in prayer. 12:33.988 --> 12:37.189 [SPEAKER_00]: But when he does it, he comes from a cold heart. 12:37.930 --> 12:41.291 [SPEAKER_00]: And he's not actually all that interested in giving you something. 12:41.331 --> 12:43.212 [SPEAKER_00]: He just wants you to be quiet. 12:43.312 --> 12:45.153 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, he just throws something at you. 12:47.634 --> 13:08.101 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, all of these are wrong perspectives on prayer and John lays out this progression that's very similar to what he already shared in chapter 3 verse 14 chapter 5 says This is the confidence or assurance that we have toward him That is when we have assurance this is what it does. 13:08.181 --> 13:12.322 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what assurance produces in us This is what it looks like 13:13.665 --> 13:18.649 [SPEAKER_00]: that we ask things, anything, according to his will, and he hears us. 13:20.050 --> 13:27.235 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests that we ask of him. 13:28.516 --> 13:33.800 [SPEAKER_00]: If you have confidence that you belong to God, that's the first idea that we talked about. 13:34.341 --> 13:37.003 [SPEAKER_00]: It is going to lead you to ask things of him. 13:38.519 --> 13:41.460 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what Paul argues in Romans 832. 13:41.980 --> 13:54.605 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, if God has graciously given us His Son, if God has already given the biggest possible thing that He could give, how will He not also with him graciously give us all things? 13:55.825 --> 14:03.708 [SPEAKER_00]: What He's saying is, if God has already done everything, why would He not be willing to do a little thing on top of that? 14:07.617 --> 14:16.821 [SPEAKER_00]: God has saved you, and you can have full confidence that when you ask for things from him, he will give them without hesitation if they are in your best interest. 14:18.782 --> 14:21.583 [SPEAKER_00]: John communicates his confidence in verse 15. 14:21.623 --> 14:26.765 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, if God hears, we know that we have, did you notice that? 14:26.805 --> 14:28.546 [SPEAKER_00]: That is present tense. 14:30.227 --> 14:33.528 [SPEAKER_00]: We already have the requests that we ask of him. 14:35.624 --> 14:40.166 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very different posture than we often have when we come to prayer. 14:43.828 --> 14:49.411 [SPEAKER_00]: Tim Keller summarizes it this way saying in prayer, God will either give us what we ask for. 14:51.372 --> 14:56.555 [SPEAKER_00]: Or he will give us what we would have asked for if we knew everything that he knows. 14:58.696 --> 15:01.998 [SPEAKER_00]: Either we're going to get the thing that we are asking and pleading God for. 15:03.002 --> 15:16.825 [SPEAKER_00]: or God might overrule us because he knows better than us and he's thinking in our best interest even when it might feel like he's not and therefore if we had the same knowledge that God has now we would have asked for that instead. 15:19.466 --> 15:25.267 [SPEAKER_00]: God moves through prayer when God tells us to pray he's not doing so in vain. 15:26.107 --> 15:28.028 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a genuine offer. 15:29.391 --> 15:33.594 [SPEAKER_00]: When God tells us to ask, they are not empty, words, they are purposeful. 15:33.935 --> 15:40.040 [SPEAKER_00]: And God goes so far as to instruct us to believe that we have already received what we asked for. 15:41.861 --> 15:43.102 [SPEAKER_00]: That's how powerful God is. 15:46.004 --> 15:57.754 [SPEAKER_00]: I think sometimes he does this because the things that we just really long and search and hunt for are the most rewarding things when we get them. 15:58.990 --> 15:59.110 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 15:59.130 --> 16:06.335 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's the same thing in prayer when you are praying, praying, praying, praying for something to happen and then God answers you? 16:06.355 --> 16:08.157 [SPEAKER_00]: It's amazing. 16:08.357 --> 16:10.318 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, this is incredible. 16:10.378 --> 16:11.559 [SPEAKER_00]: God listened to me. 16:13.741 --> 16:17.384 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a sweetness in that reward as God gives it. 16:18.264 --> 16:23.008 [SPEAKER_00]: But some people throw up a prayer to God and they have zero expectations that he's actually going to do anything. 16:24.167 --> 16:28.049 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, I like to think, this is like ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, okay? 16:28.069 --> 16:29.710 [SPEAKER_00]: You just bring the doorbell and then you just run. 16:29.730 --> 16:31.531 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not expecting to receive anything. 16:31.551 --> 16:34.953 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not expecting to meet him or for him to meet you. 16:34.973 --> 16:41.336 [SPEAKER_00]: And there are some times where people who begin with that posture actually have their prayer answer. 16:41.376 --> 16:42.257 [SPEAKER_00]: God says, you know what? 16:42.337 --> 16:48.500 [SPEAKER_00]: Even though you are not approaching me rightly, I'm still getting it answered your prayer because that's how powerful I am. 16:50.523 --> 16:56.327 [SPEAKER_00]: But instead of stopping and praising the Lord with gratitude, they just respond, wow, that was convenient. 16:56.888 --> 16:58.569 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't believe that worked out for me. 16:59.730 --> 17:05.835 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, do you see how it would be so much better if we actually had to labor in prayer for these things? 17:06.855 --> 17:14.141 [SPEAKER_00]: So that when they come, we actually praise God for it and not just assume everything worked out by some random magical force. 17:17.374 --> 17:23.957 [SPEAKER_00]: People with this mentality are failing to see that they insult God by wanting nothing more than a change of their circumstances. 17:26.038 --> 17:31.421 [SPEAKER_00]: And they show that they possess no real confidence that he is merciful, gracious, or generous. 17:33.942 --> 17:38.444 [SPEAKER_00]: By their actions they are revealing that they don't really trust the God revealed in Scripture. 17:39.385 --> 17:41.746 [SPEAKER_00]: And instead we should stand at the door and knock. 17:42.848 --> 17:59.059 [SPEAKER_00]: and ask and request and plead and wait and trust in God's promises, calling them to mind often, pointing to verses like this, that remind us if we ask God hears us and if God hears us, he will give us according to our best interest. 18:01.581 --> 18:05.844 [SPEAKER_00]: And as we do that, he changes our heart to be more thankful and confident in Him. 18:12.252 --> 18:22.175 [SPEAKER_00]: And while there's an immediate application in this idea of praying, earnestly, for our needs, John actually goes in a different direction in this passage for this next point. 18:22.195 --> 18:33.719 [SPEAKER_00]: Number three, it brings protection, it brings protection, versus 16 through 19, bring up some 18:35.355 --> 18:43.503 [SPEAKER_00]: ideas that theologians have been debating the best and proper interpretation of four many centuries. 18:45.224 --> 18:47.887 [SPEAKER_00]: A full treatment of this would take more time than I can give tonight. 18:47.927 --> 18:50.649 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to try and give an overview, but still accurate. 18:50.789 --> 18:51.590 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's my goal. 18:53.872 --> 18:57.836 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably all of you know that the Bible was not originally written in English. 18:58.722 --> 19:05.327 [SPEAKER_00]: But what you may not have also known is that there were not originally chapter divisions and verses in the Bible. 19:06.007 --> 19:07.368 [SPEAKER_00]: Those were added later. 19:08.589 --> 19:14.433 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I have a picture back there of a slide of a little scripture. 19:14.513 --> 19:17.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, yeah, yeah, this is called P66. 19:17.375 --> 19:21.498 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a original manuscript of the Gospel of John, okay? 19:21.958 --> 19:22.599 [SPEAKER_00]: You can see. 19:23.858 --> 19:25.499 [SPEAKER_00]: That's like incoherent, right? 19:26.460 --> 19:28.381 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're thinking, man, that's great to me. 19:28.581 --> 19:29.002 [SPEAKER_00]: You're right. 19:29.042 --> 19:36.147 [SPEAKER_00]: It actually is Greek, but even for me, like I know a little bit about Greek, I can't read that, like note not a chance. 19:36.447 --> 19:37.107 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you put it down. 19:37.768 --> 19:45.313 [SPEAKER_00]: So there is this flow, though, in the original manuscript, they just go from one line to the next to the next, to the next to the next. 19:46.074 --> 19:50.057 [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes I get lost on us when we have these different verses or divisions, 19:51.077 --> 19:54.801 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's helpful for us to be reminded that all of this is very interconnected. 19:55.321 --> 20:00.145 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a clear flow of argument and thought that is happening all throughout Scripture. 20:01.727 --> 20:08.513 [SPEAKER_00]: And John just got done talking about the confidence that we have in prayer and then immediately he starts talking about this brother. 20:10.222 --> 20:12.964 [SPEAKER_00]: the situation that a brother is in sin. 20:13.644 --> 20:21.270 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that should lead us to connect these two things together that when we see a brother or a sister who is in sin, we should pray for and confront them. 20:24.172 --> 20:25.233 [SPEAKER_00]: But what is this talking? 20:26.614 --> 20:35.040 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 16 and 17, that sin doesn't lead to death, versus sin that does lead to death, like, what is going on here? 20:37.323 --> 20:41.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 17 makes clear that all wrongdoing is sin, or put another way. 20:42.004 --> 20:52.766 [SPEAKER_00]: All sin is wrong, but there is a way in which some people who commit sin don't receive the penalty for that sin. 20:54.466 --> 20:56.386 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you guess how that is? 20:58.026 --> 21:00.307 [SPEAKER_00]: It's for those who put their faith in Jesus. 21:01.447 --> 21:03.867 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus pays for the penalty, 21:07.991 --> 21:15.454 [SPEAKER_00]: And because of that person, that Christian will not experience the death that would naturally come as a consequence for their sin. 21:17.635 --> 21:18.835 [SPEAKER_00]: But this doesn't fully explain it. 21:18.855 --> 21:29.500 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't fully explain the passage, because John says, if someone sees a brother committing a sin that doesn't lead to death, he should pray for him, and God will give him life. 21:30.553 --> 21:32.435 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, God will keep him from eternal death. 21:33.135 --> 21:37.959 [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, he says, you should not pray for a sin that leads to death. 21:37.979 --> 21:41.141 [SPEAKER_00]: Like John, what do you want is going on here, okay? 21:42.462 --> 21:45.905 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're reading this, a little confused, you're not the only one, okay? 21:48.547 --> 21:53.091 [SPEAKER_00]: How can you know if a person is sinning in a way that leads to death or not? 21:54.276 --> 22:00.017 [SPEAKER_00]: because it seems like this passage says prayers for one of those are gonna be answered, but prayers for the other one won't. 22:00.117 --> 22:01.498 [SPEAKER_00]: How do we make sense of this? 22:02.318 --> 22:03.538 [SPEAKER_00]: How do I know which is which? 22:03.598 --> 22:15.501 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, without taking a deep dive on this, I think what's happening here is John's understanding of God's sovereignty, the fact that he is in control of everything is shining through. 22:17.221 --> 22:23.363 [SPEAKER_00]: When it comes to knowing whether or not someone else will ultimately be saved, we can't know for sure. 22:24.398 --> 22:26.439 [SPEAKER_00]: because only God can see their heart. 22:27.119 --> 22:28.780 [SPEAKER_00]: You can have assurance of your own salvation. 22:28.820 --> 22:32.701 [SPEAKER_00]: You cannot have 100% assurance of someone else's salvation. 22:35.422 --> 22:39.124 [SPEAKER_00]: God is alone that we should God is the one alone that we should trust for the judgment. 22:39.144 --> 22:41.325 [SPEAKER_00]: But that being said, this is here. 22:42.445 --> 22:49.148 [SPEAKER_00]: In time, what a person most deeply believes will display itself in the way that they live. 22:50.608 --> 22:54.130 [SPEAKER_00]: And so for us, we may have to wait until the end of their life to see. 22:55.031 --> 22:56.712 [SPEAKER_00]: For God, He knows everything. 22:56.872 --> 22:58.613 [SPEAKER_00]: He's in control of everything. 23:00.934 --> 23:09.860 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's the point being made by John in verse 18 that everyone who's been born of God, that means everyone who is a true Christian, does not keep on sinning. 23:12.461 --> 23:15.423 [SPEAKER_00]: And at first, we're like, well, uh-oh. 23:16.832 --> 23:27.580 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought I was a Christian, but I sinned yesterday, and I sinned a day, and I'm pretty confident I'm going to sin tomorrow, as sad as it is, so what about me? 23:28.100 --> 23:28.700 [SPEAKER_00]: What about you? 23:30.482 --> 23:32.923 [SPEAKER_00]: John, obviously, makes clear already in this book. 23:33.224 --> 23:41.950 [SPEAKER_00]: First John, one, nine, one of the sweet passages in this text that Christians will continue to sin, but when they do, they're going to go again to God for forgiveness. 23:42.510 --> 23:43.231 [SPEAKER_00]: He will offer it. 23:43.851 --> 23:44.932 [SPEAKER_00]: He will extend it to them. 23:45.735 --> 23:47.996 [SPEAKER_00]: The well of his mercy never runs dry. 23:51.398 --> 23:58.081 [SPEAKER_00]: But when he says the one who keeps on sinning, he's referring to the person who continues to sin without remorse, or desire to change. 23:59.522 --> 24:00.982 [SPEAKER_00]: They're totally content in their sin. 24:01.563 --> 24:05.084 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is the natural state of every person who has come into this world. 24:05.104 --> 24:05.905 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what he says. 24:06.185 --> 24:10.147 [SPEAKER_00]: The whole world lies in the power of the evil one that is Satan. 24:11.453 --> 24:13.473 [SPEAKER_00]: The whole world lies in the power of Satan. 24:13.613 --> 24:19.715 [SPEAKER_00]: Satan has a grip on their heart and mind that they are not able to overcome. 24:21.815 --> 24:26.416 [SPEAKER_00]: What's interesting in this passage is how John describes the person who does not keep unsigning. 24:26.996 --> 24:37.478 [SPEAKER_00]: The text says that the evil one does not touch this person because he, meaning another brother, prays to him. 24:40.177 --> 24:48.558 [SPEAKER_00]: This person is protected somehow and God's sovereignty through the prayers of one of his brothers or sisters. 24:49.939 --> 24:52.419 [SPEAKER_00]: That is what this text lays out for us. 24:53.959 --> 25:06.162 [SPEAKER_00]: God protects his children in a number of ways, but student, have you ever considered the fact that your prayers could be an instrument used of God to save someone. 25:07.382 --> 25:08.222 [SPEAKER_00]: He was not that way. 25:09.739 --> 25:12.981 [SPEAKER_00]: to protect someone from eternal death. 25:15.862 --> 25:19.204 [SPEAKER_00]: It's amazing to think that our prayers could actually matter that much. 25:21.065 --> 25:22.426 [SPEAKER_00]: It don't deserve it on their own. 25:22.966 --> 25:27.068 [SPEAKER_00]: Only because God has appointed it to be, and yet that's how He makes it. 25:28.529 --> 25:32.431 [SPEAKER_00]: And what a great incentive that is for us to pray. 25:32.771 --> 25:36.853 [SPEAKER_00]: God actually could use the words that come out of my mouth to affect 25:37.552 --> 25:39.573 [SPEAKER_00]: The eternal state of another person. 25:40.654 --> 25:41.674 [SPEAKER_00]: That's incredible. 25:44.156 --> 25:51.600 [SPEAKER_00]: It's an amazing thing to be used by God, but it's even more amazing when we're used by him to bring life to someone. 25:54.862 --> 25:57.364 [SPEAKER_00]: Just one more point in these last verses, I wanna draw you out. 25:58.364 --> 26:02.067 [SPEAKER_00]: Point number four, it breeds holiness. 26:03.227 --> 26:04.928 [SPEAKER_00]: It breeds holiness. 26:04.948 --> 26:05.889 [SPEAKER_00]: So biblical belief, 26:06.757 --> 26:15.399 [SPEAKER_00]: builds assurance, boldness prayer, brings protection and last when it breeds holiness. 26:17.979 --> 26:27.421 [SPEAKER_00]: The goal of God's redemptive work in us is that our lives would begin to display his power within us. 26:29.561 --> 26:31.541 [SPEAKER_00]: God's plan and change in us is to show 26:36.133 --> 26:39.455 [SPEAKER_00]: generosity and love and benevolence through us. 26:39.815 --> 26:45.618 [SPEAKER_00]: And when you display his character, you show this family resemblance. 26:47.499 --> 26:50.220 [SPEAKER_00]: My son, Zik, is almost six months old now. 26:50.500 --> 26:51.141 [SPEAKER_00]: Hard to believe. 26:51.441 --> 26:53.562 [SPEAKER_00]: I know, I was like, I just remember holding them as like, 26:54.320 --> 26:54.800 [SPEAKER_00]: a newborn. 26:55.020 --> 26:56.121 [SPEAKER_00]: And now he's almost six months. 26:56.641 --> 27:08.946 [SPEAKER_00]: It's so fun to see him grow up and interact more and smile and laugh and one of the things that Emma and I love to do is look at our baby pictures compared to his and see who looks like him more. 27:09.286 --> 27:11.047 [SPEAKER_00]: It's actually Emma right now, so we'll see. 27:11.287 --> 27:19.831 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm hoping that he'll swing my way a little bit later, but it's really fun to see him and it's crazy to think about. 27:21.013 --> 27:24.214 [SPEAKER_00]: Wow, as he grows up, especially like he's going to go out on his own. 27:24.234 --> 27:41.258 [SPEAKER_00]: He's going to go to school, and he's going to continue to grow, and he will, there, he already does, bear the Whittaker family name, that boy is a Whittaker, and that means that when people interact with him, he is representing the Whittakers. 27:42.096 --> 27:42.296 [SPEAKER_00]: Right? 27:42.356 --> 27:55.606 [SPEAKER_00]: And my goal and hope and prayer is that he would bear the resemblance not just to our name, but to our values, to our character, to the things that we are instilling in him from a young age. 27:57.047 --> 27:58.368 [SPEAKER_00]: He represents his parents. 27:59.269 --> 28:07.936 [SPEAKER_00]: And when a Christian obeys God, even in a small and really simple way, you are bearing witness to this idea of family resemblance. 28:08.803 --> 28:12.085 [SPEAKER_00]: And what you're doing is you're stacking up these testimonies. 28:12.505 --> 28:13.786 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, one after the next. 28:14.146 --> 28:20.150 [SPEAKER_00]: That point to the fact that God has done an amazing, redemptive supernatural work in your heart. 28:23.191 --> 28:29.575 [SPEAKER_00]: Every day that you obey through the power of the Spirit, you are stacking up these testimonies of show off for God can do. 28:31.836 --> 28:37.840 [SPEAKER_00]: Throwing and holding this, an addition to bringing more honor to God is also a means by which we are assured of our faith. 28:38.942 --> 28:52.553 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, as we begin to look like him, second Corinthians 3, 16 through 18, it's a picture that we are being transformed from one degree of glory to the next, into the same image that is the image of Jesus Christ. 28:53.354 --> 29:02.661 [SPEAKER_00]: As you grow as a Christian, you progressively embody the spirit and the attributes of Jesus Himself through your life. 29:03.482 --> 29:04.603 [SPEAKER_00]: This is Spirit of Christ. 29:06.600 --> 29:17.146 [SPEAKER_00]: Your obedience bears witness to others of what God has done, and it also bears witness to yourself to meant to be an encouragement student by design. 29:19.388 --> 29:30.154 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's interesting that this holiness, though, it's planned by God, and it's accomplished in you, by the spirit, it leans upon our cooperation to see come to fruition. 29:31.155 --> 29:34.497 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why you see so many of these exhortations in the New Testament. 29:35.186 --> 29:43.992 [SPEAKER_00]: to see holiness, to make war with our flesh, to die to ourselves, to put off the old self and put on the new self. 29:45.633 --> 29:50.035 [SPEAKER_00]: And John concludes his letter with one of these little children, keep yourselves from idols. 29:51.817 --> 29:57.080 [SPEAKER_00]: And it sounds like just such a strange statement to finish your book with, like, where did that come from? 29:58.757 --> 30:04.380 [SPEAKER_00]: People, though, as they've read and studied it, and I agree with this assessment, it almost acts as a summary of the whole book. 30:04.940 --> 30:07.341 [SPEAKER_00]: Just in one little phrase. 30:08.642 --> 30:15.205 [SPEAKER_00]: Because the temptation for every Christian, even though they know him who is true, they are in him who is true, that is Jesus. 30:17.406 --> 30:20.347 [SPEAKER_00]: They have this poll in their hearts. 30:20.467 --> 30:23.429 [SPEAKER_00]: We have, I have this poll in my heart. 30:24.169 --> 30:27.631 [SPEAKER_00]: Towards things that I know are not best. 30:28.845 --> 30:30.246 [SPEAKER_00]: towards the things in the world. 30:31.807 --> 30:33.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Things that John's around his book are great examples. 30:34.769 --> 30:42.654 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, sometimes we really struggle to believe what God's word says because something that we see or experience seems to make more sense. 30:44.475 --> 30:56.062 [SPEAKER_00]: Right, or we struggle to love other people because we would much rather be selfish or we struggle to obey 30:59.280 --> 31:05.321 [SPEAKER_00]: What God has laid out for us and we are lacking the strength and motivation to do it. 31:06.282 --> 31:08.682 [SPEAKER_00]: All of those struggles are real for Christians. 31:09.802 --> 31:13.063 [SPEAKER_00]: But when we're in the midst of them, we must go back to what God says. 31:14.083 --> 31:18.565 [SPEAKER_00]: We must trust in His word even when we can't quite make sense of it. 31:18.585 --> 31:24.326 [SPEAKER_00]: Or we don't fully, fully, fully to the core of our being, trust it yet. 31:30.496 --> 31:33.379 [SPEAKER_00]: our beliefs must first be biblical before anything else. 31:34.340 --> 31:42.307 [SPEAKER_00]: And really leaning into this is going to build assurance it's going to bolden prayers going to bring protection and it will breathe holding this in your lives. 31:42.728 --> 31:46.271 [SPEAKER_00]: That is God's purpose in salvation. 31:48.133 --> 31:49.734 [SPEAKER_00]: Listen to the way this is all packaged up. 31:49.855 --> 31:53.038 [SPEAKER_00]: Titus three, I'm just going to read this and we're going to be done. 31:53.078 --> 31:55.460 [SPEAKER_00]: Don't pack up yet, but I'm going to read this section. 31:58.843 --> 32:13.516 [SPEAKER_00]: Titus 3-3 through 8, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, lettuce tray, slaves to various passions and pleasures passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 32:14.497 --> 32:19.121 [SPEAKER_00]: But when the goodness and loving kindness of God are Savior-appeared, he saved us. 32:20.020 --> 32:31.644 [SPEAKER_00]: Not because it works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration, the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. 32:32.364 --> 32:37.926 [SPEAKER_00]: So that being justified by his grace, we might become airs according to the hope of eternal life last verse. 32:38.706 --> 32:48.289 [SPEAKER_00]: The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.