Book of 1 John

Praying With Confidence

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Confidence in Prayer

Book of 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 13-21

What is confidence? Confidence is the assurance planted in our minds of the truth.

Confidence is a firm belief you have the truth.

Confidence is trusting in the integrity of someone or something you have placed your faith!

What must we understand?

Pro 3:26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

If we just did this one thing, “trust in the Lord”, we cannot imagine how much better our lives would be and that we have such a future ahead of us that it goes far beyond our imaginations!

Where did we end last week?

1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

The biggest problem in the Church is that our faith, “our trust” in the truth of Jehovah God is speculative and experimental and therefore there is no change or very little change in our lives!

Our faith must become certain!

We must know that it is the spiritual world that is the real world and not this physical!

We must know for sure, “we have a Heavenly Father” who wants to be involved in every part of our lives!

We must also understand that though we may not take every commandment God gives us to be serious, God does!

Every commandment we have from God, “rightly divided” has its own intended purpose for our lives!

We must understand that this world we live in lies in wickedness, and God teaches us how to survive with some peace of mind in this evil world, until He calls us home.

God has a purpose for us after He has saved us from ourselves!

There are many that ask, why would a sovereign God care about each individual in His creation.

God answers that question along with any other question that can be asked!

Let’s begin at Chapter 5 and verse 13.

*1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

You have to get the feeling that Jehovah cares for all His children. Not just as a group but each and every individual.

God wants to get up close and personal with each of His children!

According to the Apostle John, his epistle is written to believers.

It should also be obvious that the Bible is written to the Church, each and every Believer!

We should also understand that even today, there are those who believe but still are not assured of their salvation.

The Church has become opinionated, and there are many things we voice our opinions on, when we should just shut up and let God talk.

God says if you believe upon the works of His Son Jesus, then you have eternal life and not eternal death.

We don’t have to take a vote to see who is right.
We don’t have to gather the elders of the Church to get their opinion.

All we must do is trust the Word of God and believe on Jesus Christ!

There is a great blessing that comes from assurance.
There is great peace that comes with assurance.
There is great joy that comes with assurance.

We can be perfectly sure we have eternal life.

We can experience eternal life right now while we live in these bodies of flesh.
We can live as if we will never die as long as we live by the Word of God and in faith in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We can know beyond a shadow of doubt that we will live with our Savior for ever when He takes us home!

The one thing that must take place is, that we believe on the name of God’s Son and believe, and believe, and believe, and believe, and keep on believing!

Joh 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Since we will take on the subject of prayer let’s listen as Jesus prays:

Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Notice how Jesus addresses His Father

Since we know how our Savior prays, then we should have more confidence in our own prayers.

Another of the great gifts of God is the fact that His ears are always open to hearing our prayers!

*1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing “according to his will”, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, “we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him”.

We immediately see the key to answered prayer is praying for things that are in the will of God for your life!

We next see that this prayer must be a prayer of faith!

When we have that confidence in life eternal in God’s Heaven, then we can also have that same confidence in answered prayer!

God hears the prayers of His children!
God does not hear the prayers of anyone else!

The only prayer of the lost that is heard is that prayer of salvation!

No one, not anyone, can approach Jehovah God without the Lord Jesus Christ!

You can pray five times a day or twenty five times a day, but without Jesus Christ that prayer is meaning less!

Every prayer that goes unheard is a plea for an action that will never take place.

As Christians, we should never fear the prayers of false religion, because they pray to a false god who is powerless to cause any harm to Christians.

When a Christian believer prays, God hears and if that prayer is in the will of God for your life, then that prayer will then be answered!

But don’t be praying for the destruction of someone. We must never pray for God to destroy our enemies because God has already condemned them.

Don’t be praying to win the lottery God has already said He would provide for us and we are to try to be good stewards of the things God lets us use.

Use prayer for the reasons God gave, and first prayer is intended for us to have a conversation with our Creator!

God hears our prayers if we ask according to His will, and this passage gives us God’s will for answered prayer!

God has promised to answer our prayers if these conditions are met, but He did not say He would always make His answer obvious to us or in the time frame we have placed in our own mind!

Remember God is still the all-knowing God, and there are things we pray for that we do not need in our lives at any time!

For answered prayer we must have that total trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For answered prayer we must possess the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

We can pray for many things, but we need to spend more time talking to our Heavenly Father than asking for any need!

Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Our Father in Heaven is not a deadbeat dad!

It is the will of God that we be delivered from the trials of this life!

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1Co 10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

If God is first in your life because of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, then we should actually have no worries at all!

Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isa 41:11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
Isa 41:12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

We must pray to God by the Lord by Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit and He will answer our prayers!

We let our own selves down when we do not follow God’s rules and I hate to use the word “rules”.

You see by being obedient children, then we will be delivered from all evil!

2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The God of all comfort will hear His children when we pray according to His will, but it is foolish to ask God for anything, if we do not have enough faith to believe He can provide us that answer.

Mat 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Jesus would not have said this if it were not true!

We should not forget John is writing to believers and we believers are all in this thing together and therefore we need to help one another.

*1Jn 5:16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
1Jn 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

What are the facts? First, we are to pray for all our brothers and sister in Christ. If we see that they are in sin, then we are to pray even more for them!

We must always be concerned about sin and especially sin in the Church. Many lessons can be learned from a study of the Church in Corinth.

I will present a few things for us to consider.

It is clear that if we live in sin, then we do not love our Savior. To live acceptable to God, we must live holy and righteous lives!

By praying for our brothers and sisters who are in sin that can be seen, shows the Lord that we are aware of sin!

There is but one time that we should not pray for our brothers and sisters in sin and this is when they have committed a sin unto death!

There is also sin not unto death!

The Word of God says all sin is unto Spiritual death!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then the only sin that is not unto Spiritual death, is that sin that is under the blood of Jesus.

This is sin that is pardoned by our Heavenly Father by His free gift of “Grace”!

Rev_1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

We must also mention the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which is a great lesson in itself.

Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

What was the truth of the Messiah from the Old Testament?

Mat 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: “I will put my spirit upon him”, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

What is the sin unto death?

Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God “giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him”.
Joh 3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: “and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”.

What we know is that the day when Jesus healed a man who was demon possessed the Pharisees and other religious leaders said these things.

Mat 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
Mat 12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils”.

This is the “blaspheming” the work of God the Holy Spirit who God the Father had placed on God the Son.

In reality since Jesus has returned to Heaven so blaspheming the Holy Spirit cannot take place as it did this when Jesus was upon the earth.

Now the instance of “Spiritual Death” still comes on all those who have rejected the “work” that Jesus Christ has done for our salvation, and are not a home for the Holy Spirit, but these are two separate things.

Getting back to our lesson there two more things that we can consider.

We do not judge our brothers and sisters, but we do see them get caught up in sin and we need to pray from them just as the Scripture says.

There are somethings in our world of sin that can bring capitol, punishment from the local governments, which would be a sin unto physical death and when those charges are in fact true, then maybe we should not pray that God deliver them from this death because God endorses capitol, punishment for certain crimes.

It does stop us for praying for their soul which remains in the hands of God and no man can take away.

We are also reminded of those who leave the Church:

1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest “that they were not all of us”.
1Jn 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

These who have left the Church and go out of the Church, blaspheming all the truth of the Church, were probably never saved to begin with!

They were just spies, for the Devil and people trying to cause confusion in the church!

They had heard the truth and decided against that truth!

We still need to pray for their souls, even if we have a tendency not to do so.

They will suffer eternal death just as all those who reject our Lord Jesus Christ!

Now if this does not answer that question of “sin unto death”, then as individuals we need to pray for God’s wisdom in these matters and just make sure we remain in prayer for all our brothers and sisters.

We are all sinners saved only by the “Grace” of God!

The one other thing we should point out is the Lord’s Supper!

1Co 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.
1Co 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
1Co 11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
1Co 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

By the Holy Spirit, written by the Apostle Paul, those that take of the Lord’s Supper unworthily, could also see sickness and even death and we may not even notice when these things have happened.

The Lord’s Supper is a simple ceremony of reverence to the Body of Christ and should be observed in that fashion!

Maybe those who are not the children of God, should not partake of the Lord’s Supper since they know these things!

Trying to impersonate a Christian for evil reasons can bring death to your body and your soul which could couse your death when you are completely healthy.

This is dying when there is no physical reason for your death!

If we are true “Born Again” children of God, doing the best we can to live holy and righteous lives, praying daily for the forgiveness of our sins, we will never get caught up in any of these things!

*1Jn 5:18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, “and that wicked one toucheth him not”.

If we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, then all our sin is under the “Blood of Jesus” and our sin cannot ever be counted against us!

It is a fact, that we must live righteous lives as best we can, while still in these bodies of flesh and righteous means according to the Word of God.

When God says it is wrong, then it is sin!

We must not give in to temptation and remember that “He that is within us” is much stronger than “he that is in the world”!

1Jn_4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

All unrighteousness is sin! The only sin unto death is rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ!

There are no little sins and no big sins, they are all sin.

We must repent and forsake all sin, while we are still living!

And remember these are those who have been born of God!

Those who do not know the Lord as their Savior, must first invite Jesus into their hearts and be washed in His Blood!

Because we have accepted the fact that Jesus took all our sin upon Himself, we are freed from sin and are now acceptable to God, but we will never have a free license to sin!

Because of Jesus, that “Wicked one” (Satan, the Devil, the Deceiver) cannot touch us!

Though we may feel like it at times, “the Devil cannot ever get on our back”, because we belong to Jehovah God!

*1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

When we know, that we know, that we belong to Jehovah, then we also know that we live in a wicked world.

Think about Noah when he was building the ark. He knew He was right with God and He believed when God said it was going rain and the earth would be flooded.

Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

At the same time, Noah knew the world would be flooded because of sin and therefore he knew he lived in a wicked world.

Noah was not bothered because he provided good jobs, and everyone thought he was a fool.

Things have not changed so much today, the Christian is still looked upon as a fool, but now this wicked world wants all Christians to be eradicated from this world and God will come get His people one day soon.

The world we live in is not the same world God, created back in the Book of Genesis.

The world we live in is not the same world that was left after the flood in Noah’s day.

Everything in this world has been corrupted by the Devil and those who follow him!

Everything in this world is aging, deteriorating, and passing away, and this is easily seen if we just open our eyes.

We must do our best to separate ourselves from this world.

We must do our best to pray for all our brothers and sisters to do the same, and we must give ourselves to the Lord for safe keeping.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

2Th 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

While this wicked world looks to the coming of the Messiah, we know He has already come.

*1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

The Old Testament told us of the coming of the Messiah.
The New Testament tells us that He has come and who He is.

If you are a child of God, then you are aware of the Spirit world, while we live in the physical world.

We know the truth!

Jer 9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Jesus the Messiah came to us to teach us the truth!

Jesus the Messiah came to restore our fellowship with Jehovah.

It is this restored fellowship that protects us from the wrath of God upon this sinful world.

We know these things because our fellowship with Jehovah is restored and this fellowship extends to every brother and sister in Christ throughout this world.

Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

If we reject the proof of the Messiah and the person of the Messiah, then we have placed this world above our Holy Father, and we are idolaters.

As the little children of God this is the first thing we must get right!

Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Anything that takes first place in our lives becomes our little god or if it is our Savior then we have made the right choice!

There is only one answer to all our problems:

Jud 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

We have only one God and His name is Jehovah!

Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isa 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

The Lord has taken the time to make sure we know all these things surely we can take the time to praise Him for the truth.

Any other thing we lack, God will certainly explain them to us, if we go to Him in prayer.

God wants us to know that He is not hiding anything from us!

When we know all these things are true, we can also believe our prayers will never go unanswered!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Victory Over the World

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Victory over the World

Book of 1 John 5:1-12

We now know that there are only two groups of people in the world.

1) There are the children of God by salvation.
2) There are the children of the Devil by open rebellion to God.

We know that all mankind are created by a Holy God and mankind was created in righteousness, in the image of God.

When sin entered the world by Lucifer, the Devil, mankind became unrighteous because of sin!

In chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis we can see the entrance of sin into the world and into the realm of humanity. These are the historical facts of two righteous people who fell into sin.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Sin reigned until the Messiah came:

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Just what is the meaning the title Christ?

Christ is the English translation of the Greek word Messiah.

Christ, the Messiah, means the union of the Divine nature of God and the righteous nature of the first Adam before sin entered into Adam.

These two natures, the Divine and Human, came together in the person Jesus the Messiah the Christ of God!

It was the Apostle John who by the Holy Spirit gave us these words:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

In our lesson today we will talk about victory; “the victory of overcoming the world”.

The “world” is described as that sinful nature that entered into the world by the sin of Adam which was disobedience which brings an eternal separation from God and death by eternal torment.

The “world” then represents sinful mankind, those who do not know God.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

It is only by faith on Jesus the Messiah, that we have the power to overcome this sinful, rebellious world of fools!

That word “fool” may seem harsh, but the Bible says those who love the Lord are “wise”. The opposite of being wise is to be foolish!

We must be “Born Again” into the righteous nature of God!

*1Jn 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

We could ask the world, “why is it so hard to believe that Jesus is the Messiah”? Every prophesy of the Messiah was fulfilled by that Jesus who was born of the virgin Mary which took place in Bethlehem just as prophesied!

Most everyone will claim that they believe there is a God, who is also our Creator.

Those who believe we are all accidents are not as many as the news would have you believe.

Those same people who believe in evolution, that things just happen over millions and billions of years by accident, now claim that mankind can do things that can change that process. It really takes foolish people to believe such things as these.

It is not so hard to believe we have a Creator and that this same Creator loves and cares for His creations.

This same Creator has provided all the information we need to know everything about Him, and that He has given us certain rules to make our lives easier and make our lives better.

The more we know about Him we will find that He is easy to love because He returns that love hundred fold. In fact we do not have a clue to just how much God does love us because His love cannot be measured.

When God says He sent us a Messiah to take away our penalty for sin, then we had better pay attention to what He says!

Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

There are just a few things that we must do to agree with Him.

1) We must believe that Jesus is that true Messiah.
2) We must know and keep His commandments. God’s Word is not a book of suggestions!
3) We must overcome this world but joining the Army of God.

*1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Again we see that if we know the truth of God, then why would we not obey Him.

Wake up people, when you know in your heart that there is a true God and refuse to listen to what He says, then what does that say about our faith?

If you are not convinced by what you see of God’s creation in the daytime, then why not stay up at night and see God’s creation in the dark of night.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

If everyone took the time to read what God has to say, many more would agree that God is real, and the real God is the same God written about in what we call the Bible.

We will also come to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the God of the Bible, with God being in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

These are the three persons that are Jehovah!

These things are not that hard to understand once you know the truth.

It is the truth that makes us free from the lies of this world!

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

It is a great feeling to know the truth of God and rejecting the lies of this world!

It is easy to love all those who are your true brothers and sisters, once you know the truth.

1Co_2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Yes, we had a physical birth to enter into this world! How can we deny a Spiritual birth to enter into the realm of our Creator God?

We could say that no one knows what happens at death, but that is not true because we can have that Spiritual birth before we die and know much, much more about what happens after our death!

We will live to die and then die to live forever. This is God’s promise if we will only believe Him!

This is the work of God’s Messiah!

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

When we believe these things it is not so very hard to believe that God will have some rules after He has given us such a wonderful gift.

His first and greatest rule is, to love others and show that love that He has shown to us!

All other rules will come easy when we follow this one rule!

*1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Maybe the only sure proof of our love for God is the fact that we do our very best to keep His commandments!

Without our own love for God, we will never be obedient to His words!

Our God is the Creator of Life, and anything he teaches us concerns our own longevity in real life which is the life that comes after our physical death!

You would think that once we meet the Expert of all life, that we would just trust what He has to say about our life.

Those who are without God live by the ignorance of foolish men, who are thought to know the truth which for them is impossible.

There cannot be any true believers who have hate within their hearts!

We live in a world where hatred dominates the actions of governments, and dominates those who walk up and down in our streets!

Anyone who has the nature of God will have the love of God!

There are many absolutely nice people in this world yet, if they cannot proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and be obedient to all the Word of God, they cannot know the love of God!

It is only by Jesus Christ that we can have victory over sin!

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

When we have victory over sin, then and then only can we have victory over death!

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

We will also have victory over God’s judgment!

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

One of the greatest victories we will have is victory over fear and despair!

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

And without a doubt, we will have a sure victory over Satan!

Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

In fact there is nothing in this world that can overcome the Saint of God!

And just so we are clear, you can only become a Saint of God by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ while you are still living!

*1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Faith, the one word in the Bible that is the difference between being a child of God and a child of the Devil.

Biblical faith is that sincere belief of the heart and the mind in the promises of God!

All our salvation and all our eternal being, rest in the promises of God!

All the truth to the Church, rest in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ!

All our reality, rest in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Jehovah, in His threefold character of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, has provided all the actions to give us a place to rest our faith!

The hearty, cordial, sincere, personal belief, in the blessed truth of God is called “faith”!

Heb_11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Rom_1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Rom_5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Rom_10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

What is the reality of our faith?

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Without faith we can have no relationship with Jehovah!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Without “faith” in the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will remain slaves to this world we live in.

*1Jn 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Our faith must say that this Jesus, written about in all the Scriptures, is indeed, the Son of God!

It is our faith that will conquer all the lies of this world.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Jesus is the Messiah, already came once, but will soon return to be the Jewish Messiah!

*1Jn 5:6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
1Jn 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
1Jn 5:8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Since we are now assured of our faith.
Since we are now assured of our salvation.

Let us now be assured about the true Messiah.

Let’s us now see the test of our Savior.

What is the witness of the true Son of God?

There are those who accept that Jesus was just a man full of the Word of God and full of wisdom and goodness and that maybe even the Spirit of God fell heavily upon Him, but this is far from the real truth.

Jesus Christ is all these things, but He was also supernaturally born by the power of God!

Was this Jesus the promised Messiah from the Old Testament?
Was this Jesus the true Savior of mankind?
Was this Jesus the One sent from God?
Is this Jesus without a doubt the true Son of God?

This Jesus was born of the virgin Mary empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Luk 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

It is this same Jesus born of the virgin Mary, who God Himself declared to be His Son!

John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Messiah and He had to know who the Messiah was:

Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

This is He that came by water:

Mat 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Water is the emblem of spiritual purification, the outward washing of the Lord.

The Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus was the hand of God descending upon His Son!

It is only after this incident in the life of the Messiah, that Jesus began His ministry upon this earth, according to the Laws of Moses, that He would be 30 years of age.

Num_4:47 From thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation,

The Messiah came not only by the water but also by the blood.

It is also the death of this Jesus that declared Him to be the Son of God!

It is by the death of our Savior that our sins have been forgiven!

It was only by the blood that the prophecies could be fulfilled!

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

It is only the Son of God, the Messiah, who had to die to pay for the sin of this world!

The sin that began with Adam and the sin that still goes on today!

1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

And it is the Holy Spirit who bore witness of the death of the Messiah, the Son of God:

It is the Holy Spirit who gave us the words of prophecy:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

It is the Holy Spirit that qualified the Son of God for His office:

Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Isa 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

It is the Holy Spirit who bore witness to the Messiah by signs and wonders:

Act_2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

It is the Holy Spirit who brings Holy Ghost conviction to those who hear the truth of the Messiah, the Son of God, because it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness of the truth of God!

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Joh 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The Holy Spirit testifies of eternal life:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit:

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Holy Spirit will never lead us astray because He will only lead us, to the Son of God!

Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

There is only One Jehovah God, but we can only be the children of God if our faith rest in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, brought to us by all the character of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

Why can a child of God not ever fail?

Because there are three that bear record in Heaven, God the Father, God the Word(Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit, all the persons of Jehovah God!

You see our Heavenly Father is behind everything.

It is His plan of redemption and His work!

It is His Son who came to this earth to fulfill all the Word of God!

It is His Holy Spirit who is the power behind the plan of God and God’s plan cannot ever fail!

There are also three witnesses upon this earth that declare the Lord Jesus Christ!

They to agree as One!

There is the witness of the Holy Spirit.
There is the witness of the water baptism when the Holy Spirit came down as a dove and God the Father said “this is my Son” in an audible voice.
There is the witness of the “blood”, the cross, the death of God’s only begotten Son.

If we cannot receive the witness of God then how can we say we believe, how can we say we have that perfect victory that God so graciously provides to all who have “faith” in His Son?

*1Jn 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
1Jn 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

The truth of God is a far greater witness than anything of this world!

You see if we really believe God, then we can simply test ourselves to know that this is true!

There is only one question to answer!

Do we believe in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ has already done for our salvation?

You see our justification is based entirely upon our “faith”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

There is no business with God until we have done this one thing!

The truth is, we cannot have this faith and our faith not seen in our actions in this life! Why?

Because God’s perfect witnesses will come to live inside of us!

Many spouses believe the words of each other.
Many children believe the words of their parents.
Many workers believe their employers.
Many juries believe the accounts of the witnesses.

Look at today as so many fall into the trap of believing false news.

So just how much greater is the truth of God that is so easily rejected by so many who will believe anything but God!

What does the belief in God bring?

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

How can there be anything of this world greater than this truth that so many say is foolishness?

How could we ever say to God that He is a liar, just like all those of this world?

It is the witness of logic that should overwhelm all those who would just take the time to listen to what God says and take the time to read the truth of this world and the truth of our Creator!

Remember it is our Creator who is the giver of all life!

It is the Word of God that has given us this account of the truth of God!

*1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

You see God has given to us His record of life. There is no record more important that the record of life from our Creator!

Life is the energy behind our being!

Jesus Christ said:

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The Bible says that all those that believe upon His Son would have eternal life (John 3:16)

Jesus said: All those who hear the Word of God and believe will have everlasting life. (John 5:24-29)

Jesus said: “I give unto them eternal life” (John 10:28)

Real life is eternal!
Real life is forever!
Real life is satisfaction!

Jesus said all those who come to Him would be satisfied! (John 6:35)

Life can only be found in Jehovah, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

Jesus Christ shows us all what life is all about!

All of us here today with our faith in the truth of God and His Son, have the life that comes from the Son of God!

All those who deny Him do not have God anywhere near them, and all they have to look forward to is death, because they live in death and not in life!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Love Is An Action Word

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Love in Word and Deed

Book of 1 John Chapter 4 verse 7-21

Our lesson says the most effective way to deal with evil is to know the truth and then live as close to the truth as we possibly can.

The only way to deal with in world in a positive way, is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

To love in word is, not to just declare our love, but to let our actions prove our love!
To love in deed is that our love is a fact that cannot be denied!

This is God’s philosophy of the “Born Again” child of God!

*1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

We already know the number one commandment in all the Bible so, what is the number two commandment in all the Bible?

“Let us love one another for love is of God”!

The greatest of all test of the Christian is, “Do we love like God loves”? Do we really love our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we really love our neighbors? Do we love our fellow man, no matter who they are?

Loving one another is proof that we love the Lord Jesus Christ!

The nature of God “is love”!

What is atonement? Being “at one” in the Love we have for God and His creation!

All things were made because God made the things that He loved!

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

We might say that perfection cannot be created because perfection comes from being a part of God!

We can only be perfect when we do the things that God does and therefore conformed to His image.

This is the way Adam and Eve were created in the likeness of God.

Gen 5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
Gen 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

They remained in the likeness of God until sin entered into their lives and the Lord Jesus Christ had to come to remove the darkness of sin, so we can be restored to the likeness of God and then striving for perfection and the image of God!

This is what being born of God is all about! Reaching for true perfection and that perfection rest upon the perfect love of God!

When people look upon the Christian, they look to see if we have the nature of God. If they do not see what they believe to be the qualities of God, they see hypocrites, and everyone hates the hypocrite!

When they do see what they believe to be the qualities of God, then they think of Jesus Christ and again they hate us because they see what they are not, someone striving to be like Jesus, and it reminds them of their sin.

If they cannot see the love of God, and the joy of salvation, and the peace that comes from knowing our home is in Heaven, they will never know Holy Ghost conviction!

1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

If we are not seen as someone working fervently to show the love of God, then how can we say we love God!

It is only because of the “Love of God” that we can know the “Mercy” of God from which comes the “Grace of God”!

*1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The word “manifested” means, “to be made clear”, “to be made apparent”, “to be made obvious”, “to be made evident”.

God has proven His love toward us by sending His Son to His death just so we may live.

To live is to live forever in the presence of God.
To die is to live forever in the pits of the Burning Lake of fire along with the devil.

The life we live now, is only the time we are given to make that choice to decide which way we will go.

We might say, “well if God has all this great love then why can I not live as I please and still live forever in the presence of God in Heaven”?

The answer to this question lies in the promises of God.

God made certain promises to those who choose His only begotten Son, and the statement that we might live through Him.

If God is not a God of His Word then, “there is no God at all”!

Those who go to the Burning Lake of Fire go there not because God has forgotten His love but only because they did not choose the only path to Heaven, which is by Jesus Christ.

If you do not understand this, think take it up with God and see if you can talk Him into going against His Word which He will not do, because God is the same today as He was, back in the day of Adam!

Our world is full of evil and because of Jesus the world hates God, they curse God, they ignore God, reject God, they rebel against God, they deny God, and they oppose God, with none of these things making God love them less, but they must choose the right path and that path is by Jesus Christ!

The entire world has been full of sin! It was sin, that Satan used to seduced Eve into sin and Adam into disobedience.

Jesus the Messiah was sent to be the propitiation for that sin and Jesus paid the price so we do not have to pay that price and if we choose Jesus then this payment is accounted as our payment and we will receive a full pardon for our own life of sin.

It’s really pretty simple! You may not get a pardon from your Governor, you may not receive a pardon from your President, but by Jesus Christ you can receive a pardon from your Creator and your God!

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

These things are a sign of God’s love!

This is the same sign that all others should be able to see in us and in our lives!

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

We will not be able to see God with our eyes until we get to Heaven, but we can see God in our heart if we show that same love, He has for us to all others!

*1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
1Jn 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

How do we begin to show the signs of perfection while on this earth? We show the love of God in our heart!

We read all these things about the love of God and we know they are true. Many of us have actually seen the love of God work in our lives.

We have seen how love can change our world, because we have seen what hatred does and hatred is in full view in our nation today and so many of those who talk about hatred are the same ones who instill hatred and cause hatred.

They operate fly by night, because they have no real answers, but the one thing they have in common, is that they oppose the truth of God!

No man has ever seen God! God is not known by sight! No human will ever come face to face with God!

God is Spirit and the only way to know God is by having the Holy Spirit come to live within your heart and regenerate a new soul!

Even the Holy Spirit teaches us said the same thing while Jesus was upon this earth:

Listen to John the Baptist:

Joh 1:15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

if you see God as some man then you will never feel near to Him, but God is Spirit and He can come right into your heart and live!

God came to this earth and was born of the Virgin Mary, as a babe, 100% God and yet 100% human, these things by the Holy Spirit, just so we can know our God and by the Scriptures God teaches us everything that we need to know to go home one day to the glory world!

God can only be known by love. God cannot be known by hatred because, hatred comes by humans and love comes by God!

Jesus the Messiah is the image of perfect love, yet those who would reject Him will slander His name because of hatred!

BUT, when we honor God’s first begotten Son by believing on Him, then the ever-loving God will come and dwell in us to begin our “sanctification process” that will end one day in perfection, at bodily death or when the Lord returns in the clouds.

Even at this time we will never in our human flesh be able to stand before Christ Jesus because the flesh can never be made perfect!

If you love Jesus Christ, God will cause His “Divine Nature” to be a part of our lives while we live upon this earth.

This must be our testimony that we are “Born of God”!

The love of God cannot be perfected in us until the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) abides within us!

*1Jn 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Notice the Holy Spirit is a gift and He is a willing gift. This is something the Holy Spirit wants to do. God loves His little children!

You see when the Holy Spirit lives within our heart and our heart influences our mind to be like Christ, to draw closer to Christ, then our own spirit will resemble Christ Jesus.

Rom_8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Php_1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Heb_9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

We know God by His love. There is no other way to know God because God is perfect love!

Our own testimony will show that God sent His love into this world by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to remove all hatred!

As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, He will remove our own hatred if we listen to Him, and this will leave only the love of Christ within us!

We already know when Lucifer was tossed out of Heaven, and He now walks to and fro throughout this earth, all he does is instill hatred and from this hatred come death, and immorality, and corruption, and all evil things.

The Holy Spirit will instill in us the image of Christ Jesus, to put a wall of love up that hatred is drawn to and hatred will never overcome love!

If we cannot know the love of God within us, then we need to reevaluate our salvation!

Jesus Christ came to be our Savior from hatred and instill in us the love of God!

The world was desperate until the Lord came and now those of the world have a choice to choose love or remain in hatred in this world that still shows the signs of desperation.

Satan is desperate because he is in his own last days and he will do anything to cause harm to God’s testimony of love that comes by Jesus Christ!

Mankind through hatred will destroy itself and our Savior is more important than He has ever been, but time is running out for this world.

The signs of this world dying is showing every day. Some call it climate change, some are desperate to try to find some other world that does not exist, to try to escape what they know is in the future, but the fact remains, God already has a home prepared for His own children and He welcomes all who want to come, if they come according to the Word of God which will not accommodate hatred in any form or fashion but only by the love of Jesus Christ.

Thoughts and words by great men, great philosophers, great scientist, the great promises of politicians, are meaningless because this world needed a Savior!

Evil is destructive, but God’s love is the builder of perfect things!

Christianity is God’s power of love upon this earth and hatred’s worse enemy! This is why Christians are so hated!

What did Jesus say?

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Joh 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

This world tries it’s best to hinder the Holy Spirit, but the world cannot stand against God’s Holy Spirit!

Just ask all those from the past who have already tried!

God’s answer is always the same! God says, “come to Me by My Son, or don’t come at all”!

*1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

Those in the world have no problem with talking about gods. Everyone has their own personal gods.

BUT there is only One true God! There is only One God who is also our Creator who loved this world enough to save those who He created.

God made a promise:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

God fulfilled this promise just as He has and will fulfill every promise He has ever made!

We just need to wrap our hearts and our minds around the truth.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Php 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We live in a world where promises are made every day and promises do not mean much anymore as they are so easily broken.

BUT our heavenly Father will not ever break a promise and He will never go against His Words.

It was and is the Jesus of the Bible. The same Jesus that the Apostles witnessed His death, His burial, and His resurrection that is the God of the Bible.

The same God who left the throne room of Heaven and came to this earth and put upon Himself the same sack of flesh that we wear and born as a babe grew up to be a man, who was the chosen Lamb of God to take away the sin of our world.

These are the most true words that some will ever hear, but if they refuse to confess that this Jesus is in fact the Son of God, then they will never know the true God and they will never meet the Savior that this world had to have!

It just takes a little faith and then allow God to show you things that will increase that faith just because of His great and marvelous love!

*1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

We live in a world where men say they love other men in a lustful fashion:

Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Where women do the same:

Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Where they worship each other as gods:

Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Why?

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Now if God would see that these things were written down for us some 1800 years ago, and we witness them with our own eyes, and these who do such things have come out of the closet and broadcast their unrighteousness and immorality around the world, then how can we not believe what God has said.

Thinking they are wise they have become fools!

Why have these things become public?

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

This is not love, this is the workings of lust!

God is love! All men living in sin will draw back from the love of God, and that sin will not allow the love of God to come upon them!

We live in a world that makes up their own meaning of love, and God does not fit into their picture of love!

God makes it very simple. If we do not have God’s picture of love, then we do not know love for love is God!

If God had a middle name that name would be “Love”!

Loving one another in God’s love, is the only way we can tell we are Christians opposed to the world’s description of love, which has become a foolish love, which is not love at all, but is built upon hatred to those who disagree with them.

If we have the love of God and love one another as God loves us, then we can say we are Christians.

1) God is love: God sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.
2) All believers must love: We must live in the love for one another with the image of God’s love.
3) Loving one another with the love of God is our means of knowing our salvation is pure and is real.

So how is this love mad perfect?

*1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

It must be our goal to live as our Savior lived, and Jesus lived a perfect sin-free life. Even Jesus could not have done so if not for the love of God.

Love is a caring attitude for all people, especially those in our Christian family.

When we have this love, we do not have to fear the day of judgment!

When we have the love of God, because of the love of His Son, we have been delivered from God’s judgment!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Judgment has been removed by faith, but we cannot see that in perfection until we understand the love of God and show that love ourselves.

I am sure that even at the “Judgment Seat of Christ” which is not about our salvation, we will not be so bold to stand before God as we will be judged for the things since our salvation for rewards or the loss of rewards, but the subject of our salvation will never come up.

We are justified! We are pardoned to never face that sin ever again!

Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

We have been restored to the family of God, because God is love and we have acknowledged that love!

When we have grown in Christ, it is because we have grown in the love of Christ.

Gal 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

When our faith works according to the love of God which becomes our message of love, it is then that we can know, that we know, that we know, we are God’s own children just as His own Son!

There is no fear in judgment for those who have the love of God and show this love to all those we meet!

*1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

There is only one thing that we must fear, and He is also the one true Judge!

Pro_19:23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

This fear is a reverent fear of the Lord our God, but we must never forget His Awesome power.

There is no fear in the love of God, so there is no fear in love!

When we love someone with the love of God, we have no reason to fear them!

Even when those who come against us do so out of foolishness, we have no need to fear them because the peace and assurance that comes from the love of God erases all fear.

Perfect love cast our all fear. We cannot love one and hate the other, because this fear has torment, it will wear on your heart and the Holy Spirit will wear on your soul.

To fear is to have torment because this fear expects punishment and forever wonders when it will come!

To fear means we are not perfect in our love!

Even the fear of my death is gone, for those who would take my life can only send me home to the place where I belong!

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

All these come not because we knew love for no one understood love until we have known the love of God!

*1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
1Jn 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jn 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

The truth is we would have never known love, if not for our Creator!

Loving one another proves that love originated from the Lord and it was this same love that sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sin!

We may say we love God.
We may think we love God.
We may say it and think it and yet not show the love of God to all others.

Our love is shown in our actions. If our actions say otherwise, we are just hypocrites!

If God is truly our Father in Heaven, and He is, how can we say we love our Father and then show hatred toward any of His children?

If God had not shown His love for us, we would never have known love.

With love comes responsibilities!

If we are truly the Temple of God the Holy Spirit, and show no love to all others then we are not filled with God’s Holy Spirit. It’s just that simple!

If we cling to that personal sin that we refuse to give up, we are in open rebellion to God, and we cannot know the love of God!

The proof that God exist is that we keep His commandments and love as God does!

We think of murderers as the lowlifes of this earth, but when we reject the love of God and the “Grace” of God’s Son, we have become murderers!

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Our love must be real. Our love cannot just be in feelings!

Our feelings alone are never a faithful guide to our Spiritual life!

It is easy to feel that some things considered to be wrong, may in fact be right.

It is easy to feel that some things considered to be right, may in fact be wrong.

God takes the guess work out of our feelings, and just says “obey my commandments” and put your feelings back in your pocket and forget about your feelings!

The truth is not determined by how we feel, the truth comes by what God has said is true!

One of the greatest commandments says: “he that loveth God love his brother also”.

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Identifying A False Spirit

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Identification of False Spirits

Book of 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 1-6

What is our spirit? Our spirit is that part of us that is not flesh and bones!

The words of Jesus: Luk 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

What is the soul? It is our soul that controls the power of our spirit!

Pro 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

Pro 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

This is why the Lord saves our soul and fills us with His Spirit!

Php_1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

In our bodies of flesh it is the spirit that can be said to be the breath of life!

Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

This is why our own spirit must be replaced with the Holy Spirit who has the breath of eternal life!

Tit 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Having said all these things to get us started.

What are the traits of the Holy Spirit?

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

What are the fruits of our old spirit?

Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Eph 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

We know that John has been teaching us about false teachers, apostasy, and false doctrine, and we must understand who and what we are and why!

It is in our own actions that we can determine if we truly love God!
It is in the actions of others that we can tell if they love God!

It is in our own truthful confession of the Lord, that we can know the “Spirit of Truth”!

1Jn_4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Joh_14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

When we study the Scriptures, we will understand how the different spirits can influence our life:

On the Good side:

1) Spirit of God
2) Spirit of wisdom
3) Spirit of the Lord
4) Spirit of knowledge
5) Spirit of understanding
6) Spirit of counsel of His might
7) Spirit of humility
8) Spirit of heaviness
9) Spirit of Grace
10)Spirit of truth.
11)Spirit 0f holiness
12 Spirit of life
13)Spirit of meekness
14)Spirit of faith
15)Spirit of your mind (that has been renewed)
16)Spirit of the fear of the Lord
17)Spirit of glory
18)Spirit of life
19)Spirit of prophecy

On the bad side:

1) Spirit of jealousy
2) Spirit of the ruler
3) Spirit of judgment
4) Spirit of burning
4) Spirit of whoredoms
5) Spirit of the unclean devil
6) Spirit of infirmity
7) Spirit of divination
8) Spirit of slumber
9) Spirit of the world
10)Spirit of fear
11)Spirit of the Antichrist
12)Spirit of error

It is very important that we understand the spirit, because all of our functions are under the control of our spirit!

Ecc_3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

*1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

What is wrong with the modern-day church? The Church is not trying the spirits!

It is easy to say, “I’m a Christian” but the reality of that is, “whose rules do you follow”?

If those behind the pulpits do not speak according to the Word of God, then they are not of God. It’s just that simple!

If those who are teaching do not teach the actual Word of God, then they are not of God. It’s just that simple!

In the Word of God we are commanded not to sit in judgment of others so, instead of being judgmental then all we must do is look at the facts.

To try the spirit is to put to the test the principles they follow!

How can we tell if we really love God? We can tell by the Spirit of the preachers and Teachers we are following!

The “beloved”, God’s children, will not follow those who are not true believers themselves!

Jesus put it this way:

Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

The false teacher will present a way that seems like the truth but by seeing if they live by the true Word themselves, you will see the difference!

We can hear those things that say, “God did this and God did that”, but we better hear that God is Jesus Christ!

We had better hear about the Triune God! God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

A false teacher may seem to preach all the right things without living as if he knows the truth.

They will use Science to teach us the things of nature.
They will teach that the laws of Science are based on facts and are absolutely uniform.
They will teach that the human race is elevated above all animals but in accordance to the laws of nature.

They will twist all these things around until all of a sudden you realize they have rejected a Divine Creator, so they are liars!

They will teach that the kingdoms of the world are necessary to maintain order and suppress violence, and repel wars but none of these things can work without the Church and the Holy Spirit, so again they are liars!

They are the great philosophers, and writers, and thinkers, who speak of great things, many in the mega churches of today, but if you read their works you will see that they speak many things against true Christianity. Very seldom do they teach their thoughts on Jesus Christ because they are all liars!

The religionist will teach great respect for Christianity, but they will be in opposition to Christian principles.

Well known, so called godly men, will say great prayers without mentioning Jesus Christ for fear they might offend someone.

If they are offended at the name of Christ, then they are antichrist. It’s just that simple!

America was once known as a Christian nation, but look what is going on in our streets, in our societies, in our politics and in our Churches, which tell an entirely different story!

Just how does God feel about that false preacher and that false teacher?

Deu 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

Has God changed for this stance He took a few thousand years ago? No, He never changes!

Jesus said these people were coming and believe me they are here!

Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

So how are we to know them?

*1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

Jesus Christ is the Messiah! Plant that in your memory!

So many are looking for some messiah and some great movement of God and it has already started!

Not quite 2000 years ago there was a babe born of a virgin in Bethlehem just as the Old Testament Scriptures had declared!

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

His name was Jesus and this name was given to Him by the Holy Spirit, who is also God. The name Jesus means Savior!

Luk_1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk_2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

You see it is what you believe about Jesus Christ that makes you a Christian or not a Christian. There is no other measurement!

You cannot just believe in Him you must believe on Him!

The Bible says Jesus fed 5000 with two small fishes and five small loaves of bread, you had better believe it!

Mat 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Jesus said Jonah was swallowed by a whale and three days later, he was spit out to preach in Nineveh, you had better believe it or you are calling Jesus a liar.

Mat_12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat_12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The Bible says Jesus died for my sins. I truly believe that this is true! You had better believe that He died for your sins because this is also the truth!

Rev_1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Jesus said he would rise from the grave in three days to prove He is God. I believe this is true!

Mat 27:63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
Mat 27:64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.

Jesus said He is God and you had better believe this is true, because it is!

Jesus said there are no other gods and I believe this is true because it is!

You do not belong to God unless you are a home for the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will never live in a house of sin!

If you cannot believe that Jesus is the Messiah that has come and will come again one day, then you cannot be filled with God, the Holy Spirit!

The only way for you to believe a lie is that you must reject the truth and every “word” about the Lord Jesus Christ is true. In fact every “word” is so true the Apostle John said He could be known as “the Word”!

1Jn_5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Every spirit that confesses all these things are true are the children of God!

All those that reject the truth of Jesus do not belong to God!!!!!!!

*1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

We live in a world full of counterfeits!

There is no Christianity without there also be hypocrites.
There is no gold without there also be tin.
There is not wheat without there also be tares.
There is no truth without there also be lies.
There is no Christ without there also be Antichrist!

We must understand that we cannot bow down to everything that resembles God!

This is the exact way the Antichrist will take over this world. He will appear to be the Messiah!

This will be in appearance only. If his spirit is tested, he will easily be seen as an impostor.

We already know the truth of the Messiah. He came in the flesh born of the virgin Mary.

We already know the circumstances of the return of the Messiah, our Savior. He will meet His Church in the clouds.

Any other counterfeit that does not measure up is exactly that, a counterfeit of the Antichrist.

Those that confess things other than these are also antichrist! Counterfeit Christians. Hypocrites!

There are many spirits in the world and most all of them are spirits who deny the truth of Jesus Christ!

The false teacher will not commit to Jesus Christ the Savior.
The false teacher will not commit to Jesus Christ the Messiah.
The false teacher will not commit to Jesus Christ, come down from Heaven, taking on the flesh of man, dyeing a sinners death, rising from that death as God and returning to His throne in Heaven, to give us time to believe or to not believe His wonderful plan of salvation for all mankind!

When the false teacher denies Jesus Christ, they have denied God and are bound for Hell!

The false teacher will destroy the truth of salvation when they are given the opportunity to do so!

The false teacher will destroy the hope of a lost and dyeing world if they are listened to.

All those who declare they are made of God but remain in sin are the disciples of false teachers.

The proof remains, are we trying to be like Jesus Christ and know that He is the God of Heaven come down in the flesh to save those who believe Him?

What did Jesus say?

Mat 10:32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Jesus came to separate the Christian from the Counterfeits!

We know for sure these false teachers are in the world and America is already feeling the damage from the works of their lyes.

These antichrists are raising up with a loud voice because it is almost time for the Antichrist to come out from his darkness into the light of man.

Remember our study of 2 Peter.

2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

There has never been a time in all history that these things have been more truer than they are now!

All the conditions are in place for the man of sin to step out onto the scene but there is another truth also.

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

The Lord our Savior is far more powerful than any Antichrist.

All those He has given victory will remain in that victory!

How is this possible?

*1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

All these things teach us the answers to our own questions! When we ask, do we belong to God? Then the answer lies in Jesus Christ.

Does Jesus have a home in our heart? Do we believe all the things of Jesus Christ? Do we trust our Savior?

Have we been born again into the family of God?

When we can answer these questions with Jesus, then we know we are in the family of God because we know the truth!

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

These are the very words of our Savior.

When we know these things then we can overcome all the teachings of false teachers and false preachers!

You see the Holy Spirit cannot fail, when you cling to Jesus Christ!

Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

You see the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) is much more powerful than the Devil!

The Holy Spirit will assist us in every purpose that is opposed by the Devil!
The Holy Spirit has more freedom to touch the hearts and the minds of man than the Devil can ever have!

There is nothing and no one, who has the power of the Holy Spirit, but He as God will never force His ways upon us!

We can only have access to His power by Jesus Christ!

We have only one thing we are to do, and this is, we must play by God’s rules!

Jesus said:

Joh_14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh_15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

The reason we are on the winning side is because we have a Mighty Savior!

The Antichrist is no stronger than just a thought in the Mind of Christ Jesus, and he can be tossed into the Burning Lake of Fire by the smallest Angel in Heaven at any time God so chooses!

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Our enemy has never been those who are lost. Our enemy has always been the Devil and his spiritual followers! His demons.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Those who follow the Devil are those who have fallen into the lyes of the Devil’s world!

*1Jn 4:5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

You want to see the greatest test of false teachers? Look at those who follow them and see how they live!

And then see how the world responds to them.

Remember the world hates Jesus Christ and those who love Him.

If there is anything Satan is wise about, he is wise with the wisdom of those who are in Hell.

It is the wisdom of evil that is passed to those principalities, to those powers, to those rulers of darkness (Satan’s demons, fallen angels), to those with spiritual wickedness in high places.

These are the voices we hear when we listen to the false news. These are the voices we hear from the United Nations. These are the voices we hear from all those who oppose Christianity. These are the voices we hear that oppose Israel. These are the voices we hear of all those who oppose the Church!

Luk 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

These are the voices the world is listening to and these voices are drowning out the voice of the Church!

Jesus will return to do what the Church has not been able to do!

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

The Bible says Satan will keep them happy with things that affect their senses!

Mic 2:11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

This is the sort of stuff that the world loves to hear!

Luk_17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

These are not to be the ways of the children of God!

*1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

After becoming a child of God, the greatest advantage we have over those who reject God is the fact that we can speak directly to God Himself.

God ears are always open to hear His children!

God listens, God convicts, God leads us to do right. God will lead us away from those who choose wrong!

You see whenever we are in doubt, we can converse with God through prayer. We can converse with the Holy Spirit in the Word of God and it can be said we can converse with Jesus Christ through the red lettered words but understanding the Holy Spirit gave us all the Word of God.

You can see that we can know the truth and it is the truth that makes us free from the falseness of Satan.

Those that trust Satan are losers because Satan is a loser!
Those that trust the world are losers because the world follows Satan.
Those that trust nature are losers because God is Spiritual, and the natural world will perish.
Those who follow the spirit of error cannot speak or cannot be heard by the only One who can save them!

Those who trust anything, but God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit will never even get a smell of Heaven, but they will see plenty of ever-burning fire!

We should be able to look around at the people around us and see if they follow the spirit of truth or if they follow the spirit of error.

This is the thing that breaks my heart every day when I see some of my grandchildren following the spirit of error!

Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Joh 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

While Jesus walked upon this earth, even as God in the flesh, He said “even I follow all the Word of God”!

It is not hard to know the truth it may be hard to do the truth but by Jesus Christ even this is possible!

1Co 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The truth comes by Jesus Christ who then seals us with the Holy Spirit!

There is only one Holy Spirit!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Are You Sure

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Assurance of Our Salvation

Book of 1 John Chapter 3 verses 11-24

How do we know we have become a part of God’s salvation plan? Because, the Holy Spirit has come to live within us!

How do we know the Holy Spirit lives in inside us? The proof is that we begin to love and to show the love that our God has shown to us!

We ended last week’s lesson with Chapter 3 and verse 10.

1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

How are God’s children made known to the world?

We are to be the ones who are doing things right while the world does things wrong!
We are to be the ones who love all others like our Heavenly Father loves us, who are so unworthy of His love!

This is the message God has had since the first day of Creation!

What is love?

Love is a great desire to promote peace and happiness and have true affections for all others.
Love is refusing to do anything that could prove injurious to others.
Love is doing things to promote the welfare, and the comfort, and the interests of others whether they appreciate it or not.
Love is personal and will show the real worth of that person who is so loved.
Love is taking action to show this love to all others.

This is the love God has shown to those who live throughout His creation!

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

Let this sink in for a moment.

This is the message of the Bible that we have learned from the beginning!

*1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

This is the very first lesson we need to learn after receiving our Savior!

For those who do not understand why God does what He does, then this is His reason!

We live in a world where it seems that almost everyone is looking for love.

Those not looking for love are looking to instill hatred, because they have never known what love means.

One group looks for love in the wrong places, and the other group denies that there can be such love yet, God’s only answer is that we must love one another.

When the Apostle John became so weak, he could hardly preach, he had only one message that he repeated over and over until his church got tired of hearing about the love of God.

The church of today has become tired of hearing John 3:16!

How did John respond? John said it is the Lord’s first command and that is a good enough reason to keep preaching about the love of God.

After all, when we obey the commandments of God, we show we love Him.

If we grow tired of God’s love, then how can see say He is our Father?

How could we ever grow tired of the love of our Heavenly Father?

Love is God’s message and love is the message God gave to His Son!

What happens when love ceases to exist?

*1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

The truth is, those who live of hatred are of the wicked one! The wicked one is the Devil, Satan, the Deceiver, the evil one, the Antichrist!

It was Cain who committed the very first murder upon this earth!
It was Cain who first spilled the blood of an innocent human being!
It was Cain who first showed the results of hatred, to a world who had never seen such a thing!
It was Cain who showed the results of evil works from the mind of a human being!

Why was Abel chosen by Cain to show this hatred? Because Abel had tried his best to be obedient to God and Cain openly showed his parents that he was not going to believe what God had to say!

You see Adam had allowed sin into this world and Satan immediately found his first follower!

Cain was the first one to reject the truth of God!

Cain was the first child of the devil!

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Cain was the very first one who decided to try to put an end to the good works of those who love the Lord God Almighty!

As humans we cannot give life so in reality, we have no right to take a life, but according to the Word of God!
As humans we do have the ability to reproduce and those who hate life so much, have decided that they have the power to end these lives!

Reminds us of those innocent babies who are murdered everyday who have done nothing to harm anyone!

These things are the results of Satan inspired hatred!
These things are the results of a people who hate to see other people try to do good!

We should also see that Cain started down a path that he could see no means of escape, and we can be sure that Satan was feeding him these lies, and Cain never asked God for forgiveness.

Cain began a life of envy and we see these same things today in our societies, our politics, our sports and in Hollywood.

Envy leads to strife, and division and hatred and sometimes murder, as it did with Cain.

Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If we are filled with God the Holy Spirit, it will show, and the world will hate us also!

*1Jn 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

We see all these things today in our world and though we mostly mind our own business, the world will treat us as the enemy and the truth is, if the world is our enemy, then obviously we are enemies to the world even if we go about our business not bothering anyone!

1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Our world is not interested in any form of salvation that does not come by powerful men who live in this world!

Our world is not interested in remedies that do not come from some man who are said to have great scientific minds, or great in philosophy, though they are only men.

Our world will not be satisfied until we renounce God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and join the world in unbelief.

But we have a Savior who will not give up on the world and this is the message that we are to give the world!

Jesus has explained all these things to us, and the Apostle John is just reminding us that this situation came about when love was rejected, and hatred began!

These things can bring a blessing from our Heavenly Father if we stick by the stuff of Jesus Christ!

Luk 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Luk 6:23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

When we cling to the love of God and show that love to others no matter what the world is doing, then we can understand why the Scriptures gives us these words!

*1Jn 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

First: The first proof that we have passed from “physical death” to “spiritual life” (Born Again) is because we love all the brethren of the Church!

Adam represents all those in the physical world and Jesus represents all those in the spiritual world, of which every believer has become a part of!

We are no longer bound by the law of death, but live by the law of life that is in Christ Jesus!

We have left that state of condemnation and live by in the state of justification!

If we cannot now love all our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we have not made this change and the Holy Spirit does not live in us!

It takes a regeneration by the Holy Spirit to know the true love of God!

We cannot even please God, until His Spirit of life lives within us!

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And we must count it a privilege to be a part of the family of God and have so many brothers and sisters in Christ!

The early church began with this understanding!

Act 4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Act 4:33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Though circumstance were far different in the days of the early church, we must remember, our God does not ever change!

All those who do great religious works, but do the wrong works are still dead!

Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

We may think God is not paying attention to us, but we will be fooled when the Lord returns!

If we retain any hatred for our brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter where they are or what denomination they abide in, how can we say we belong to the Lord ourselves?

*1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

The truth is “love does not hate”!

This does not mean we have to agree with everyone because we must stick to the truth of God!

When we have all sorts of negative feelings against others in the church, then we are not expressing the love of God!

Some of these negative feelings would be things like, dislike, anger, bitterness, envy, jealousy, resentment, irritability.

When we hate, we are in the same class of people as murderers!

We could say, well John is going just a little too far, but what did Jesus say?

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Mat 5:24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

We see Jesus went a little further and said God the Father will not hear your prayers, and the Lord our Advocate will not defend us, as long as we are guilty of any sort of hatred!

Love is the only security against hatred!

Pro 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

What is our greatest example of the love of God?

*1Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Unless we forget, we were all dirty rotten sinners when the Lord died for our sins.

We could say well, we were not even born at that time of the Cross.

Then we would be limiting the Omniscience of God, who knew us all before we were even born!

I know that the Lord Jesus Christ would have died just for me!

Think upon that for a moment!

Jesus the Messiah took all sin upon Himself and took it to Hell where it all belongs!

If we love God, then we will follow His Son. We will love other people just as He did!

This does not mean we will love their sinful ways. In fact we must place all our hatred upon sin without placing hatred upon that person!

Even when a sinner rejects the Lord Jesus Christ it does not change the love God has for them!

God will just honor the choices we make because He loves us!

This we must do also!

We must plead and beg and teach our children and grandchildren, and then honor their choices, but we must never stop loving them!

We must still not be a part of their sinful lifestyle!

If we cannot love those that oppose us, then how can we say we have the love of Jesus Christ?

Joh 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Before we go home to be with the Lord can we truly say, ” Father, I will give you my life for my children or for my grandchildren”!

Jesus has already given us the power to lay our life down and the power to pick it back up again.

Now this does not mean anything about suicide or any such thing as that. It does mean are we spiritually willing to go to the extreme to save our children and our family!

Do we have that sacrificial love for our family?

Are we willing to pick our cross up daily and follow the Lord in all circumstances?

Are we truly in the will of our heavenly Father?

Are we considerate of the needs of others?

*1Jn 3:17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

What is one of the greatest traits of love? Compassion! (Pity)

What are “the world’s good”? Notice this does not say the world’s “goods”, though it would include some of the world’s goods which make up the necessities of life.

The “good” things of the world are those things that comply with moral law.

The world, in its own way can show compassion at many times such as in the devastation of the recent hurricanes.

Today, it is not so much in sharing the things you have, but for the most part, the requests are for money to specific agencies who will keep more of that money than they will use.

For us of the Church it remains better to give to the Church and such Church agencies that can be trusted.

There will always be the poor amongst us, and these are those who are poor in worldly good!

The world’s “good” could be said to be things that are useful, things that produce a good effect, things that have a value to life and things that are valuable to life.

These things could be said to be the basic needs for life!

God says:

Isa 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Is there a benefit to doing these things?

Isa 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

You see this is another form of laying down your life for someone else!

So these may not be spiritual things, but they may lead to us being able to share spiritual things!

Or how can we look upon the face of God, if we turn our faces away from those who have a need that we are able to supply?

We know that John is preaching to the Church and certainly those should come first, but God’s love extends to all those in His creation!

We wonder why God does not answer our prayers sometimes, and John gives us another reason and another lesson in, Are We Who We Say We Are?

1Ti 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
1Ti 6:18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
1Ti 6:19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

So the question remains, Do We Really Love God, As He Loves Us?

Are we expected to empty the Church coffers to help all those in our area? I believe the monies we give are for the maintenance of the church, the salaries of those who are needed, and for the church outreach. I believe we owe it to the Lord to use every means possible to spread the Gospel and make disciples. I also believe we need some monies in place for hard times just as all good stewards.

I also believe it would not hurt to have some monies and some people, set aside to help those in need especially those of the church and according to the Word of God those needs are the necessities of life and not cars and not homes and not, other worldly things.

In other words strictly monitored!

If we are to follow all the Word of God, then certainly we must show the love that God has shown to us, in giving us His Son the Giver of Life and Life Eternal!

Are we following the Gospel truth?

*1Jn 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

This is something that we need to settle in our hearts. We must know that we are of the truth, and that truth is Jesus Christ!

You see God cannot be fooled because He can see deep into our heart and He knows if we are real or not!

We can be sure that He that created all things, also knows all things!

God has a perfect knowledge and we do not have a clue what perfect really means, because we base perfection on the things of this world and there is nothing perfect in this world beyond that Saint of God who has departed this world to go home and the perfect Word of God!

But we need to strive for perfection and the regular attendance to a Bible believing Church is one way to do this!

Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

When our hearts are pure and striving for perfection, God will always be there to walk with us in the cool of the day, but also in the heat of the day!

*1Jn 3:20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
1Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

If deep down in our heart, we know what we do is wrong, then how can we expect God to believe that we are right?

If our own conscience condemns us, how can we expect God not to condemn the things we do?

There is nothing that we can hide from God! Absolutely nothing!

And for those who are just playing Church, they need to wake up and get real with God and our Savior!

All those who think they can cling to their sin and get prayers answered, need to wake up!

At the same time, when we are deep into our own unworthiness and still possess the love of God for all our brethren, then God will give us the confidence that we are lacking because God can see into our heart knowing the truth of our being!

We can also know that we will have periods of doubts and fears, and God will never condemn us even of these things!

You see God certainly can see our sins, but God also knows our temptations, our struggles, our sorrows and our love.

God knows what we go through in our life and in our Christian life.

Heb_2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

God knows how to deliver us from every obstacle we face in all our lifetime!

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

It is when we do all these things as best that we know how, that when we pray, we can expect an answer to the prayer, if what we ask is within the will of God for our lives.

There is nothing God is not prepared to give His children, When We Please Him!

*1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

The way to obtain a clean heart, is to walk in the commandments of God!

The way to get prayers answered, is to do things that are pleasing to God!

Things that please God must include our faith in the works of Jesus Christ!

Things that please God, is faith that he is God and there is no other!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

To please God we must join the Army of God!

2Ti_2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

To please God then we must be more like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh_8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

These are all simple things, but they all require that we give up our old life.

None of these things are available to us until we have been “Born Again” into new life!

None of these things will work for us until we accept the Lord Jesus Christ!

*1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

All those who say they do not know what God expects from us, just need to read this passage.

Every Church in every denomination that would allow evil men to dictate lies, need to read this passage to know the truth.

Every soul that has doubts about their salvation, need to read this passage.

All those who want to know the truth of the Holy Spirit, need to read this passage.

All those who trust in the Lord can have assurance, if we read this passage!

All those who want a clean heart, can only have one by and thru the Holy Spirit, which comes only by Jesus Christ!

Are there other ways to please God? No!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Spiritual Reality

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Knowledge of Spiritual Reality

Book of 1 John Chapter 3:1-10

Last week we had a lesson on Apostasy so today we see more of the truth.

What is reality? Reality is the truth. It is fact. It is real as compared to false!

What is it to be spiritual? Spiritual things are things taught to us by the Holy Spirit as compared to natural things, things that are taught to us by the world.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1Co 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Only the child of God can know the reality of the Holy Spirit and the Spiritual truths in the Word of God.

What is the greatest truth of the Bible? The Bible is God’s love letter to those who love Him!

The Bible is God’s instruction manual on how to live in this world until it’s time for us to go home!

The truth is, if God loves us then, He must be very near to us and a loving God is not some deity who does not care about His creations.

What is the truth of our loving God? God does not do bad things even though He is accused of everything that happens that is bad and seldom gets the credit for the good things!

God is always available to help those who love Him in return!

We will never experience the true love of God unless we return to Him the love that He deserves!

*1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

What a privilege it is to be called the children of God even if we are His adopted children. Those who are adopted know they have been chosen!

As a child of God, we know that our Father is the most powerful, the Supreme Majesty of this cosmos we call creation.

Not an accident as so many boasts of, but a calculated creation that operates according to the law of God and overseen by His Holy Angels!

Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

You know what? Even in these things God is no respecter of persons!

There is only one thing we can do to become a child of God and this to believe the things He has caused to happen for our salvation.

We must have faith in the truth of the Word of God!

We know because we were once a part of them that the natural man has chosen to go their own way without God.

It is their belief that God will restrain them from seeking their own way and this is true! To be a child of God is to be an obedient child!

They do not realize, or they don’t care that the benefits of being a child of God, far outweigh the loses that come by being a child of this world!

The world cannot understand believers because the world never understood the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I do not profess to know everything about my Savior, but I am certain that one day soon He will return to take me home if the end of my days does not come first, where some Angels will carry me home to Heaven to be with my Savior!

*1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It should be very clear to us, that we are already the adopted children of God. Being a child of God is not in our future because it has already happened! God has just not picked us up yet!

It is not “that we shall be”, we are already in the family of God if we have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

When we give our life to Jesus, we are accepted into the family of God!

We should say this over and over again until it sinks in!

We have no idea what a glorified body will look like!

We have no idea what perfection does for our soul!

We do know that when we meet Jesus in the clouds, we will be conformed to the exact image of Him!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Will we be equals of the Lord? No this will never happen. We will never be gods! We will be like Jesus Christ in perfection!

We should remember, Jesus still had nail scared hands and feet and His side still showed the marks of a spear.

Most all these things go past our ability to understand, but this flesh we now have will no longer exist as it does today!

Our new body will not be corruptible!

Our new body will be a Spiritual body!

Our new body will be a heavenly body!

Our new body will be eternal!

Our new body will never age!

Flesh and blood will never be allowed in heaven!

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Today we rest in the promises of God and our hope is always in the Lord!

1Th_2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

If you cannot love the Lord Jesus Christ, you can never get to Heaven!

*1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

What are we to be doing? You see God wants a people who are just like Him!

This is why Jesus is to be our example in everything!

God wants us to be pure.
God wants us to be holy.
God wants us to be righteous.

These are the reasons Jesus paid the price for our salvation!

It is His purity, His holiness and His righteousness and especially His love, that we are to strive for today!

Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

We will never be pure until we are working the hardest to keep from sin even if it is impossible!

God blesses effort, He does not bless failure!

*1Jn 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The “law” in this passage would represent all the Word of God. Jesus Christ came to fulfill all the law of God, “all the Scriptures” and He is the only One who could do this.

The fact remains that any transgression of the law, the laws that Jesus kept, then would be sin!

Any violation of the law of God means a rejection of the authority of our Most High God!

Most of us do not see sin the way God sees sin.

We will say we made a mistake.
We will say we came up short.
We will say we had a momentary brain flaw.
We will say we made a bad decisiuon.
We will say we became irrational.
We will say it is just a social thing.

Sin is a far more serious thing to God!

Sin is a transgression of His law!

It is sin that caused Him to leave His throne room and come to this earth to die!

Sin is choosing to ignore our Supreme God!
Sin is living your way instead of living like God has commanded!
Sin is disobedience, not doing what God has but doing what God says not to do!
Sin is ignoring God and neglecting His Word!
Sin is an outright rebellion to a Holy God!
Sin is denying God and denying His remedy.

God is a perfect God and He only accepts perfection!

If God allowed any imperfection into the New Heaven then it would be imperfect.

Sin is imperfection!

Sin had to have a perfect remedy!

*1Jn 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

We see that word manifested in the Bible and it means that the way to take away our sins has been plainly shown to us!

Why did the Lord come to this earth? To take away our sins!

We had a great need for deliverance and the Lord Jesus Christ came to deliver us!

Until the Lord Jesus came to this earth the first time there was no means available for deliverance from sin and reconciliation with God!

Of all who walk upon the face of this earth not one was ever free of sin. In Jesus there was no sin!

If we are in Jesus, then we are also sin free!

Rom_13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Jesus did not have to come to this world to see how things were coming along with His creation. He could see everything from Heaven!

There was only one reason He had to come, and to do this He had to be born like men and then be put to death for our sins. He had no sin himself!

In order for any of us to make it to the glory world, then we had to be made like Christ, that is we had to be made free from sin!

This is something that we all must know and understand and believe!

Jesus always existed but He had to become visible to the human eye. He had to leave the Spirit world and enter into the physical world!

There was only one reason He would do such a thing, and this is because God loves us, and God wants us to join Him in eternity in His Spiritual world!

To show we love our God then we need to turn from our sin and turn toward the sinless Son of God!

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

It is now, before the Lord returns for the second time that we must accept these truths!

2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

In reality the world is running out of time till the day of the wrath of God, toward all those who reject His Son!

*1Jn 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1Jn 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Most all the world and many in the Church reject this statement. (Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not)

Today many in the church have no problem believing we must not sin, but when it comes to those who believe that God makes mistakes and some girls are in a man’s body and some guys are in a lady’s body and this is not sin, are fools.

God does not make mistakes!
If you are in a boy’s body, then you are a boy!
If you are in a girl’s body, then you are a girl!

These things are reality and to do different is abiding in sin, just like abiding in any other sin!

It is obvious that none of us are perfect and we can only be perfect in if we abide in Jesus Christ!

This is the only proof of deliverance!

To love the Lord Jesus Christ is to be obedient to all the Word of God, rightly divided.

Rightly divided means God wrote about sin and the sinner.
Rightly divided means God wrote how to be saved and teaches us about His Savior.

We cannot truly say we know Christ and reject the Word of God!

To do differently is to be deceived and many deceivers have entered the church today leading many souls to Hell!

We have to do more than profess Christ we must accept all of Christ!
We have to do more than be baptized!
We have to do more than join some church!
We have to do more than attend some church regularly!
We have to do more than fellowship with Christians!
We have to do more that read the Bible!
We have to do more than pray, for without Christ that prayer will never be heard!

When we live according to the world’s temporary pleasures and seek more and more of the world’s temporary comforts and temporary possessions, and still believe that God will receive us, we live in a deceived frame of mind and are still bound for Hell!

We must deny ourselves of our lust and desires, to be acceptable to God!

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

To mortify is to go ahead and place the deeds of our sinful flesh in a casket and bury them to be clean from them forever!

We must walk away from our old lifestyle, which by the way is to repent, which is not taught much in the church today!

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

To be righteous is to do all things the right way and the right way is according to the written Word of God, rightly divided!

God does not ever do anything that goes against His own written words!

It is only in the Lord where we can have righteousness!

Isa 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.

The object of being like Christ is to have no sin to keep us out of Heaven!

Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Unless we have faith in the Lord and have picked up our cross to follow Him, we will never be filled with the Holy Spirit who will dictate our lives until the Lord takes us home!

Hint: Without the Holy Spirit you will never understand the truth of the Bible nor be able to teach others the truth of God!

The Bible is a “Spiritual Book” which the world will never understand!

You will never be acceptable to God, until you know right from wrong and live right or live righteous! Righteous according to what God says is right!

For those who reject this truth God has these words:

*1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

All those who think it is acceptable to hold on to their sin and be acceptable to a Holy God, who are of the Devil!

It cannot be much plainer than these words written here!

Jesus Christ is a Deliverer! If you have not been delivered, then you have not accepted the truth of Jesus Christ!

Every place you see the Devil you will see death!

Satan was the very first sinner and he will never repent. Everyone who rejects the work of Christ Jesus belong to Satan and they are bound for Satan’s death!

Remember Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire were created for the Lucifer (the Devil, Satan, the Deceiver) and for all Luciferians!

Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the Devil!

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

What is the reality of sin?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death;

What is the reality of Jesus Christ?

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

There is no battle of good and evil because all the world is evil, and no one is good enough to get to Heaven!

The Devil is a real person, much more than just our fallen nature, much more than just than just our sinful actions!

The Devil has brought death all these years, but Jesus Christ is our substitute for death!

Satan, the Devil, no longer has the power to cause us to be separated from God, we can now make this choice ourselves because of the work of Jesus Christ!

1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

All we need do is to open up the doors of our heart and let the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ enter in and cleanse us from all sin!

Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

This is what being “Born Again” is all about!

*1Jn 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

What is the result of being “Born Again”? We have an Advocate who pleads His own righteousness in our favor every day that we remain upon this earth if we ask forgiveness for the errors that we still commit.

Spiritually speaking as the children of God, we must remain in Christ who cannot sin!

What is the truth?

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When we have faith in the works of Jesus Christ for our salvation, He gives us the power to become sons just like He is the Son of the Father!

When we come from the flesh, we will be like the flesh.

When we come by the Lord Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be like our Savior, spiritual, holy and heavenly a complete blood bought child of God!

God the Holy Spirit is the author of all the Word of God!
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the author of our salvation!

This is the seed that must be planted in our hearts and allowed to grow as it is watered by the Holy Spirit!

Jesus cannot sin and those who are in Christ cannot sin!

So to live in sin, is contrary to the nature of Christ!

Sin is the greatest of all evil!

Holiness is the highest of all good!

So how can we be made free from sin? We must be “Born of God”!!!!!!!

We must have the seed of the new of the New Birth!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

We must have the seed of the New Creature!

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

We must have the seed of the New Man!

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

We must put on the New Man!

Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

We now have a divine nature!

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

This is what the Holy Spirit will do when He is allowed to do His work within us!

*1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

In other words, do we truly love God like we say we do?

Do we really share the love God has given to us with “all” those we come in contact with?

Do we wear the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We should see that there are only two groups of people in this world!

There are the children of the Devil.

There are the children of God.

These two groups encompass all the people of our world.

So which nature are we going show?

God is love!
God is Holy!
God is righteous!
God is pure!
God is perfect!

Now we cannot be God, but we certainly should be showing these same qualities as best we can!

Jesus said we can wrap all these qualifications up in one and that one is “Love”!

1Co_13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

The key we are to store in our heart is: “whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God”.

This is our goal for learning today, and tomorrow, and the next day and every day until we go home to be with the Lord!

This is Spiritual Reality!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Understanding Apostasy

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

An Understanding of Apostasy

Book of 1 John Chapter 2 verses 15-29

In last week’s lesson we learned about Spiritual growth and in this week’s lesson we will learn why we need that growth.

Whenever the Holy Spirit takes the time to warn us about certain things, then we need to pay attention to what He says.

Reading the Scriptures every day is a wonderful thing and we all should do so, but sometimes we need to put our nose to the grindstone and really study to see what the Lord is saying!

This is one of those places!

When we think about “apostasy” in the church, we are talking about those who are forsaking the Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings.

The Apostle Paul says there will be a “falling away” from Christ!

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

In the Book to Timothy, Paul says “departing from the faith”.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

Again in the Book to Timothy Paul writes they will not “endure sound doctrine”.

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

These are all Scriptures dealing with “Apostasy” and there are many more.

How does the Apostle John teach us about these things? He says:

*1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

We cannot experience true victory in Jesus, until we have victory over this world of evil!

This is a world dominated by Satan and we must have victory over Satan and Jesus provides that victory!

Our faith is based upon the invisible things of God’s world, which He offers to us.

If we turn around and seek happiness in this world which will one day end, we are forsaking the truth of God!

This world may seem to be a good world, but it is an evil world!

We live in a world where our worthiness is determined by the amount of possessions we own!

Does this mean we cannot appreciate the wonders of God’s creation? Absolutely not!

God has provided all the things necessary for us to live a comfortable life and have joy in our lives.

The truth is, the heavens and this earth are just temporary things that are aging and passing away.

We live in a corruptible world, as those with powers use these same elements of the earth to indulge in corruption and sinfulness.

We must not become attached to the things of this world which will be destroyed!

There are no perfect governments on this earth.
There are no perfect societies upon this earth.

Even the church has forgotten to strive for perfection!

We may be loyal to some good things upon this earth, but we must stand against all the bad things of this earth!

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

We may live in this world, but we are not to be friends of this world!

Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

What is the real truth of this world we live in?

*1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

We can sit upon a mountain top and view the wonders of God’s creation and just say how beautiful is God’s creation, but when we get back home, we see something for different.

When we look out upon the societies, we see everyone lusting after the things of the flesh.

We see people giving in to the desires of the flesh.

We live in a sack of flesh that will indulge in any sinful behavior if and when it is given that opportunity!

In most cases it begins with the things we see!

The danger of these things is that we desire things that go against the truth of God.

We desire and go after these things to possess that are forbidden by the Word of God.

We may look upon another man’s wife with desire and this is the sin of adultery even if it goes no further than that desire!

Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

It may sound unrealistic, but we must make a vow with our eyes!

Job_31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?

What was the downfall of the great King Solomon?

Ecc 2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Ecc 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

There is no profit from the things of this world!

Then there is the pride of life.

The pride we have that is centered upon ourselves, goes against the Word of God!

When we believe that we are so special that God will just bend over backwards to accommodate our own desires.
When we believe we can do all things without God we will be sadly mistaken.

There is no future without God!

Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

When we fall into these traps, they become so deep they are hard to climb back out of them.

In fact we will not be able to on our own, we will just pass away with the rest of the world!

*1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

There is only one thing that we need to do every day. We need to do the will of God!

We must understand that there is nothing outside the scope of God’s sovereign rule!

Our own salvation falls under this rule of God!

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

God does as He pleases and, it pleased God to provide us a means of eternal salvation!

God does not and will not ever adjust His plan to accommodate our will! We must obey His will for us!

But there is the permissive will of God, where God will allow certain things that fall in place with His eternal plan.

The truth is the Lord Jesus Christ died according to the preconceived plan of God for our salvation.

This does not mean that wicked men were not responsible for His death!

God knew there was no other way that we could be brought back in fellowship with Him!

We should stand in awe of our Great God who could conceive such a plan of salvation!

We can entrust our eternal days to our Almighty God!

We should rejoice in our salvation!

We can rest in peace as we observe all the things in this evil world we live in!

God holds people responsible for their sins, at the same time He has a plan of redemption!

Col 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

God proves that He is in total control of this world, but He allows us to make our own choices!

God lets us know that He loves us! It grieves God when we make the wrong choices!

God’s will, will abide forever!

Joh 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

We must also realize that we are in the last of the last days!

*1Jn 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

There may not be more people who disagree with the doctrine of Jesus Christ, though I believe there are many more.

What we can be sure of in these last days is, that those who do reject Jesus speak with louder voices drowning out the Church because the Church has become so passive!

All the sinful movements move through our nation and others with much fanfare but if something good tries to do the same things then they are forbidden or drowned out because the Church refuses to take a stand and many even endorse this evil!

These loudly proclaim that God could never be a human and so the Scriptures are so full of errors that to believe we can know the actual Word of God makes us a people who border on insanity.

These antichrists broadcast their message freely, on every level!

There are also more antichrists in the church than ever before, and they too loudly proclaim a false doctrine driven by the world giving in to immorality.

John says we are approaching the midnight hour when darkness will assume to rule our world.

The Antichrist could step onto the stage of this world at any moment. He may already be there but hiding in the shadows!

This Antichrist is not the spirit of antichrist that is in our world now, but this will be an actual person.

This Antichrist will rise to be on the stage as a world leader and the world will listen to him because he will speak with the voice of Satan who has transfigured into a spirit of light.

2Co_11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

There are so many today denying the truth of God and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be certain that the Second Coming of the Lord is very soon!

What is the truth?

2Th_2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

We are in that day of the great falling away!

*1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

Where do antichrist come from? They walk right out of the doors of the church proclaiming they have been misled.

Teachers who proclaim some new doctrine.

Preachers who have mixed the doctrine of evolution with the truth of creation.

Preachers who have allowed the government to dictate the doctrine of the Church.

Churches that have opened the church doors to the world denying the true Christ who is the foundation of the Church!

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

How can we know them?

*1Jn 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
1Jn 2:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

That word unction means as believers we have the anointing of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit lives within each of us to guide us and to protect us from false things.

A non-believer or an antichrist cannot have the anointing to the Holy Spirit so they cannot know the truth of doctrines of the Bible!

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

The Holy Spirit knows all things about Jesus Christ that we need to know so He will lead us away from the antichrist!

*1Jn 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

We are God the Father’s “little children” and we need to be warned!

Those who deny that Jesus is the Messiah are liars!
Those who deny that Jesus is a Person in the Personage of God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit are all liars!
Those who deny that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God at the same time are all liars!
Those who deny the truth of the Word of God are all liars!
Those who deny that Jesus is God have chosen to believe the Anti-god!

Mat 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Those who stand against God the Father and His Son are doomed to damnation!

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

There are really no true Atheists in this world, but the world is full of people who claim some god and the only God is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

I think the Holy Spirit answers every question that can be ask about our Savior right here in this passage!

Those who are sure we have a Creator had better know that God the Father sent forth His Son as this Creator and to reject any part of these things is to deny Him!

*1Jn 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
1Jn 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

What we have heard from the Apostles is the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the “Gospel” that has all the answers of life and life eternal!

If we do not know God, how can we ever say we are pleasing to Him.

“And let’s just get one thing very straight right now, God is MALE and not female”!

How can there be a “Bride of Christ” if there is not the Groom, God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?

It is the “Gospel” that must continue in us all our days once He has come into our hearts!

God has given us 66 books all bound up in one and any study of these books will lead you to the Lord Jesus Christ the answer to life, the answer to salvation, the answer to eternal life!

What words best describe the “Gospel”?

1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Gal 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

There is only one “Gospel”!

It is by the “Gospel” that comes eternal life in fellowship with the Almighty God!

As long as we are upon this earth there will be those deny the “Gospel”!

*1Jn 2:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

John has already taught us that these who would “seduce”(entice, deceive, lead astray) would come from inside the Church.

1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us;

Those, some inside the church, will teach that there is some other way to restore fellowship with God and this simply is not true.

No one is good enough.
No one is righteous enough.
No one is rich enough.

We must always be on guard against false teaching because there is just too much at stake.

We will never regain fellowship with our Creator if we try some other way than the “Gospel”!

If God the Father, sent God the Son to die for us then, how could we ever believe that there was some other way?

God sent His Son to save mankind, if there had been some other way then there would be no need for the “Gospel”!

God then sent God the Holy Spirit to protect His investment!

Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit to seal our redemption we would still be lost!

Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit_3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We cannot deny the Triune God and still say we understand the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ!

We are doomed to failure if we do not abide in our Savior!

*1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

What is the greatest test of being a Christian? Do we rest in the truth of the “Gospel”?

Do we dwell with Jesus?

Are we ashamed of Jesus Christ?

Have we made our home with the Lord?

I can openly confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior!
I fully believe that God has shown His love for me by Jesus Christ!
I can confess that I love God because He first loved me!

1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

I will have boldness in the Day of Judgment because “I know my name is written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life”!

I know the truth of God and this truth has made me free from the penalties of sin!

Joh_8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh_8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

I will never be ashamed of my Savior!!!!!

I am at peace with God because He called me to meet His Son!

I have been “Born Again” into the family of God!

Have You?

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Are You Getting Closer to Jesus

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Spiritual Growth and Assurance

Book of 1 John Chapter 2:1-14

Have you noticed how many lessons we see about spiritual growth? If we are not growing spiritually every day, we are not just at a standstill, we are actually going backwards.

Last week our lesson was about being cleansed from sin and once we are cleansed from sin, then we need to grow spiritually in our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Remember because of Adam and Eve we had lost fellowship with God! That fellowship can be restored because of the work of Christ Jesus!

As long as we are in these bodies of flesh made from the dust of this sinful world, we will remain sinners. God knows this and through the Cross, when Jesus died the veil of the Temple was rent in to and Jesus made a way for us to enter into the throne room of God, where we can humbly go before the Lord and ask Him to forgive us of our daily sins.

We are to do our best to refrain from sin, but this is impossible while we are in this sinful flesh!

What else has the Lord done for us? He went back to Heaven to be our advocate!

*1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

We know that the Holy Spirit is our Comforter while we live on this earth, but in Heaven while we are still alive, we have an Advocate and this Advocate is the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Holy Spirit is here pleading our case to God while we are still in these bodies of flesh and in Heaven’s courtroom the Lord Jesus Christ is doing the exact same thing!

As an Advocate, the Lord Jesus pleads our cause to God the Father, defending us when we do things out of ignorance to God’s Laws.

Sometimes we may intentionally do foolish things and we can be forgiven of those also, but we will still suffer for those sins!

Jesus is our Owner and He stands in our place before God the Father when we fail Him!

Remember God is not a mean and hateful God, His name is Love.

Jesus is not guilty of anything, yet He stands in our place because when we are washed in His blood then we are also innocent of sin and pardoned of our past life and Born Again into new Life!

Jesus is the only person who can represent us before God the Father, there is no other in Heaven and certainly no one upon this earth!

For whom does Jesus plead? He pleads for His children. All those who have accepted Him as their personal Savior.

We are the little children because compared to all the people in the world, the true Christian is among the smaller group!

Jesus does not plead our innocence.
Jesus does not plead our good works.
Jesus does not plead our goodness.
Jesus does not plead our righteousness.

Jesus pleads His own righteousness as our Owner!

Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How is this possible?

*1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

It is because of the shed blood of Jesus that we are at peace with God, and that peace can never be changed to wrath because of the sacrifice of God’s Dear Son!

Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Propitiation means the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was the payment that satisfied God the Father and made appeasement for all our sins. Not just those who accept this truth but the sin of this entire world past, present, and future!

It is the “Blood of Jesus that has reconciled us to our Holy God!

The Lord Jesus Christ has removed every barrier that was once between us and God the Father!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of every promise of God!

God the Father required blood to be sacrificed for all our sin!

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Not just any blood would do! It took the pure, undefiled, sinless, blood of the Lamb of God to wash away our sins!

Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb” for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

God provided Himself to be the Lamb that was to wash us from all our sin!

By the sin of Adam, we were cut off from God!

God sacrificed Himself so that we could be saved!

This is the meaning of propitiation. A debt that none of us had the ability to pay, had to be paid by God Himself!

It was God the Father who had to be appeased.
It was God the Son who provided that appeasement.
Jesus Christ covered our sins with His own blood so our sin would be forever out of sight of God the Father.

The only “type” of propitiation in the Bible is the “Mercy Seat of God.

Heb 9:8 The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

Because of the work of Jesus Christ, we can now go before the Lord and claim that “Mercy”!

Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

If we know all these things, we should be keeping the commandments of God!

*1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

How do we know we love God? We keep His commandments without questioning them!

How do we show God that we love Him, by being obedient to the things He has said!

We must walk in this world as true believers, being obedient to the Word of God.

We must go before the Lord everyday as sinners, to be washed from the sin and filth of this world that we are in contact with every day.

We are justified when we truthfully ask Jesus to come into our heart, but we are still sinners saved only by His “Grace” until He comes to take us home!

Our lives must be centered around the fact that we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

God lives in the Spiritual world that surrounds us.

We live in the physical world separated from our Holy God.

God the Father sent God the Son into this physical world, so that we to can one day be a part of that Spiritual world with Him!

There is no one upon this earth that has ever crossed over into the world of God except the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

To know the Lord in truth is to have fellowship with Him and His Father!

To not keep His commandments is to still walk in the darkness of this world!

Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

In order to know God we must accept His Son and keep His commandments!

We must believe what Jesus says!

As far as God the Father is concerned, if we reject His Son then we have rejected Him and continue to hold onto the lies of the Devil who has lied from the beginning of his existence!

So how do we know if we love the Lord? We keep His commandments. It’s just that simple!

The more we walk with the Lord the more we show God that we love Him!

It is impossible to say we love God and then reject His commandments.

America is full of those people today reject the truth of God, but say they are one of His children.

The Holy Spirit says they are all liars!

Mar 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

We must be obedient to “all” the Word of God if we say we love Him!

*1Jn 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Some would say from the last passage that all we need do is just keep the 10 commandments and that would be a great start, but the Holy Ghost says, do not be mistaken we must keep all the Word of God!

Without this obedience then the act of love is not in us.

Most people always get the word love wrong. Love is an action word!

The only way to love God is to get nearer to Him!

We must study Him.
We must learn all about Him.
We must know His will for us.
We must know His nature.
We must know His desires.
We must know His wants.
We must know His thoughts.
We must know how He behaves.

These things should be the same for anyone who says they love someone!

God shows us all these things about Him, just so we can get up close and personal with Him!

In the end this is the most important decision we will ever make!

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

When we declare that we are a child of God, then we need to be measured by God’s standards! That standard is Jesus Christ!

That word “ought” says, every child of God is obligated to live according to the written Word of God!

That word “ought” says, we will willingly live as God says to live.

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

These are things that we know and accept because we love the Lord!

God has had this same message since the time of Adam and Eve!

*1Jn 2:7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

As the church, our salvation is not bound up in the laws of Moses or we would say the 613 commandments given to the Jews.

The Word of God does teach us that all the Word of God is to be used for our instructions on living, rightly divided!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

What we should know is that all the Word of God is our love letter, and this is where the Apostle John is leading us.

There are some Old Testament laws that that never change even in the New Testament and this what John is talking about.

Lev 19:17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
Lev 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

The Lord Jesus Christ simplified all those old laws and any new law!

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

It is this love that will allow us to grow in “Grace” and “Knowledge” of our God!

*1Jn 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

What we need to understand is that, Jesus gave that word “love” a new meaning:

Jesus said not only love your brothers and sisters in Christ and in family, but also love your enemies!
Jesus said to not only love good people, but also bad people!
Jesus said not just love the righteous, but also to love the sinner!
Jesus said not only love those you accept, but also those you reject!

Jesus said if we are striving for perfection then this is the meaning of love we should understand!

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

It is hatred that will lead us back into darkness!

*1Jn 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
1Jn 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
1Jn 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

How do we grow in Christ?

It takes faith, so we must believe in His works for our salvation!
We follow Christ in believer’s baptism.
We join a Bible believing Church.
We join Christ in the Lord’s Supper.
We study the Words of Christ.
We pray with Christ.
We live for Christ.
We tell others about Christ.

But then, if for some reason we allow hate to reenter into our heart for someone then once again we are walking in darkness!

We must not allow this to happen!

We must walk in the love of God every day!

God is love, the more we interact with God, the more our love will grow.

The more our love grows, the more we will object to hatred.

1Th 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1Th 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

So if we want to be unblameable when the Lord returns, then we need to be walking in the love of Jesus Christ!

When we walk in hatred we are walking in blindness, and in reality, we do not know where we are going.

Whenever we walk into a group of people, that hatred will walk in front of us and immediately cause division. This walk is not of God!

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

We must never walk like the world walks, in blind hatred!

*1Jn 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
1Jn 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

The Holy Ghost begins His caution by writing to everyone in the Church.

These little children are all the Saints of God, but here John means the Babes in Christ.

The first thing we realize upon our salvation our sins have been forgiven!

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

In the Church there should also be Spiritual Fathers not just the old saints of God, who are mature in the things of God. These are those who have known God and have been faithful to the Word of God since their salvation day.

In the Church we always have a need for the young men who will be the Church, when the old Saints have passed on to glory and they need to grow in the “Meat of the Word” because they have overcome that wicked Satan!

In the Church there are the little children and even they must be taught the truth of the Scriptures.

Do not ever be fooled, a small child can understand the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth of Creation!

Spiritual growth is required for all age groups and though these things mention males they are also writing for Spiritual mothers and the young ladies in the Church.

Not many Churches would survive without Christian ladies!

The intent is that we must all become rich in the knowledge of God!

2Pe_3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

*1Jn 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is a Spirit and if we are created in God’s image, then we must be a spirit also!

If this were not so, we could have no communication with Him!

It is in our spiritual strength that we must grow!

Our flesh is only a tabernacle we will discard one day!

This is the difference between mankind and the animal world!

We must grow spiritually to get closer to God!

John is now reaching out to those who have grown in the Lord.

These fathers are those who have deep and rich knowledge of and have grown daily from the day of their salvation.

It is these who know that the best they can do to avoid sin and they will sometimes fail, but the Lord Jesus will still defend us before God, but they cannot use this as an excuse to sin more!

There is at no point in our lives that we can let our guard down!

We must know for sure where our strength comes from!

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Our young men must become strong in the Lord and they must hold God’s Word above the things in the world!

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

We must not only overcome the wicked one (the Devil), we must live as overcomers!

We must listen to the Holy Spirit who is the power behind the Church!

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Rev 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Mat 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

If we are to grow in the “Grace” and “Knowledge” of the Lord, we must listen to what the Holy Spirit is teaching us, and use His information to grow in Christ!

We must love the Lord far above any love we have for this world!

Amen

Let’s Pray!

Washed In the Blood of Jesus

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Cleansing From Sin

Book of 1 John Chapter 1

Today as we begin a short study of three of the Books written by the Apostle John, we will see another eyewitness to many of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We need also to mention that the Apostle John was writing to the church. In fact the entire Bible is written to the believer because without the Holy Spirit living inside you, you will never have a proper understanding of the Scriptures!

The Apostle John wants us to know the truth, and this was his greatest reason for writing and above all, these are the words of the Holy Spirit given to John.

John had a brother named James and with Peter it these three that witnessed the transfiguration of our Lord and the voice of God!

John was the only Apostle that lived to die of old age!

John wrote 5 books of the New Testament being, the Gospel of John, 1,2,and 3 John and the Book of the Revelation.

John addresses the spiritual beliefs of the believer.

John addresses all the Body of Christ.

John addresses sin in the church and false teachers.

John addresses our sinful world!

John addresses the Second Coming of Christ Jesus.

Let’s listen to the words of the Apostle John, given to him by the Holy Spirit.

*1Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
1Jn 1:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life,

John simply says that which is from the beginning which is the Holy Ghost inspired Old Testament Scriptures, are the actual words from a Sovereign and Holy God.

Most all the Jews knew of the Old Testament Scriptures and the Apostles and yes even the early church was familiar with those Scriptures!

The difference being that to John, the Lord Jesus Christ was the complete fulfillment of those Scriptures,

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John heard the actual words of Christ which never went against the Old Testament.

John saw the things that Jesus did with his own eyes.

John also witnessed things that he could not put into words.

John handled the nail scarred hands of Christ.
John handled the nail scarred feet of Jesus.
John may have even put his hand in the scarred side where that spear pierced the side of Jesus.

Notice John does not have a great introduction, John jumps right into the subject matter of this great book of the Bible.

God is not living off somewhere in outer space having forgotten His creation.
God is greatly concerned in the things of this earth.
God loves and cares for all His creation.

Remember God has not moved away from His creation, His creation has chosen to follow a false god!

The subject of this Book of 1 John is that the Son of God came to this earth to save all humanity!

We must clearly understand that the Messiah, the Son of God has always existed. He created all things. He walked in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. He has always been living and He made Himself known by Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, or we simply say Jesus Christ!

Jesus is the exact express image of God the Father in all His ways!

Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Jesus Christ did not have a beginning because He is the beginning. He has always been!

Moses knew this truth:

Psa 90:1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Jesus Christ proved He was God in many ways, yet so many reject His truth.

John, James, Peter, Paul, Mathew, Luke, Stephan, Barnabas, and so many others in the New Testament did not have a problem believing the Jesus is the Almighty God!

We are foolish not to believe the Apostles, and the other Gospel writers, who wrote by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Jesus is the “Word” because He is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies!

Jesus is the “Word of Life”, because He has the message of eternal life!

Jesus revealed Himself to a lost and dying world, so His life could be shared with all who believed Him!

Jesus revealed Himself to us when He did not have to!
Jesus has given us all an opportunity to share in His life!

Jesus came to us in the only fashion that would be accepted in His goal for us.

Jesus, who is God, came to us in the form of man, His creation!

Jesus Christ came to His creation with a great purpose!

*1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1Jn 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Jesus Christ came to this earth to restore our fellowship with our Creator!

This is the goal of our Father in Heaven that we have an up close and personal relationship with Him.

John is saying let me tell you about my Savior.

We must understand God is concerned about His creation. God cares for each of us!

God has not left us to fend for ourselves against the wiles of the devil and the dark powers of this world!

God promises that there is much more than death and the grave in our future!

God wants to adopt us into His family and with all adoptions there must be some qualifications met!

The Lord Jesus Christ opened the door into the throne room of God, and He is waiting to welcome us with open arms!

Jesus has made us acceptable to our Heavenly Father!

We can talk to Him at any time of the day and His ears are open to hear from us.
He walks with us everywhere we go to caution us and to make us aware of our surroundings.
We can cast all our cares upon Him for He cares for us.
We can ask Him for strength to conquer our trials and tribulations, and He will supply that strength.
We can live with peace in our heart because of Him.
We can depend upon Him for His righteousness because we just do not have any ourselves.
And we can know we have been delivered from sin and death, because He gives us eternal life!

We can know our Father, by His Son, through the Holy Spirit!

Jesus Christ came that our joy would also be full!

Not worldly joy but heavenly joy.

It is the joy of the Holy Spirit.
It is joy based upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is joy, that springs from faith in the work of Christ Jesus.
It is the joy in the knowledge of future rewards.

Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

We know that the world is full of darkness:

Joh_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Joh_12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Jesus Christ who is the light of the world has come to take us out of this dark world!

Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

You see there is no darkness in our Savior!

*1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

We know that all those called of God are to be His messengers so, what is the message they are to carry?

The Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who died to pay for our sin!

We must not ignore the message of God’s salvation plan!

Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Heb 2:2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

It as Jesus Christ Himself who first preached the message of salvation and it was carried on by the 12 chosen Apostles, when we include the Apostle Paul!

Jesus said if you have seen Me you have seen God!

God is Light!

Light is a sign of purity.
Light is a sign of truth.

The Light reveals the nature, the meaning, and the destiny of our world, and those who live on it!

The light of Jesus Christ allows all those in darkness to walk out of the darkness into the Light of the Lord!

In fact Jesus the Light, will one day eliminate all darkness on this earth and in heaven!

Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

We just finished with the Book of 2 Peter where we learned how to identify that false teacher and we can see this again here in 1 John.

*1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

We are all just sinners saved by the “Grace” of God.

As long as we are in the flesh we will stumble occasionally and fall.

If we ask the Lord to forgive us, He will forgive us.

But If we refuse to repent of our sin and continue to walk in that sin, then we are liars if we say we belong to the Lord!

Waking in darkness is walking without the Light of God!

The Lord Jesus is light. His light shines in us by the Holy Spirit who lives within us. The Holy Spirit will not allow us to walk in darkness if we belong to our Heavenly Father.

Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

If we continue to walk in darkness after we have claimed Jesus, then our heart was not true. It’s just that simple.

Walking in darkness is the symbol of ignorance of the truth of God, walking in error of the truth of God, and remaining in our sinful ways!

Our outward profession of faith is contrary to our inward reality!

It takes faith and that faith from a true heart!

Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

If we have truly repented of our old ways, it will show in our new walk in life!

*1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

What is the greatest misconception among all those that claim the Lord Jesus as their Savior? They believe they can have fellowship with God and still walk in sin and remain in darkness.

Walk the streets of America and most of them will claim fellowship with God but their ways say different.
Walk the halls of congress and many of them will claim fellowship with God but their votes say different.
Better still walk inside the congregation at church and you will see many who claim to know the truth but their actions outside the church say something different.

Jesus preached His message to the Jews who already worshiped God in their own way, yet they did not have the fellowship they thought they had, because they rejected the truth of the Scriptures. They rejected the Light sent down from Heaven to remove the darkness of Judaism. Not only Judaism but all known religions who remain in darkness.

Why is Jesus rejected? Because the world believes they can remain in darkness and have fellowship with God the Father, and it is impossible to do that!

That word walk means we must put forth some effort and it must be a continuous effort.

Luk_9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We cannot confess the Lord Jesus Christ unless we walk with Him every day of the remainder of our lives!

The world remains in the dark about God because they reject the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no fellowship with God without His Son!

There is no church fellowship without the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do I walk in the Light of Jesus Christ?

*I must walk in love!

Eph 5:1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

*I must walk in the Holy Spirit!

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

*I must walk by faith!

2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

*I must walk in newness of life!

Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

*My walk must match my talk!

Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

*I must walk worthy of the Lord!

Col 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

*I must certainly walk in truth!

3Jn 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Until we walk according to the truth of Jesus Christ how can we say we have a personal relationship with Him?

We are walking in our old sinful ways!

*1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Even after we have given our hearts to the Lord, we are still only sinners saved by the “Grace” of God.

We will still make mistakes, we will still sin. So if we think we have already reached perfection in this life we are sadly mistaken, we are still sinners, but those sins should be out of ignorance and not intentional, as best we can to live according to the Word of God!

There is only one who lived His life pleasing to the Heavenly Father. We know sin is never pleasing to God the Father, so it was only His Son who has pleased Him!

Joh 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

We are not only mistaken about our salvation we are misleading ourselves about the truth of our salvation.

In other words we do Satan’s job for Him. Satan is the great “deceiver” and we will have deceived ourselves if we believe we will sin no more.

The Lord has already given us the answer to this problem!

*1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

To be a Christian is a growing process and the Lord understands this. When we sin, and we will sin, then the sooner we get on our knees and ask for forgiveness the better off we will be.

We actually need to describe our sin to our Father in Heaven, so He will know that we know what we are asking Him to forgive us of!

This is how we grow we learn from our mistakes. Now we will still pay for those mistakes, but we will not lose our salvation as some teach.

Once the Lord is firmly in our hearts our salvation is eternal, but we still need a daily cleansing that comes from forgiveness!

Our God is righteous!

Our God is also faithful to keep the promises He makes and here it says He is faithful to forgive us.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Once we have been “justified” we cannot ever again be unjustified!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

We must clearly understand God does not make mistakes, but we still cannot say our walk with the Lord will be perfect!

*1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we say we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar!

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Ecc 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

The truth is, how could anyone say such a thing, yet there are those that do.

The word sinner is such a terrible word that most people object to being called sinners, but it is no less true!

We are all sinners and we will be as long as we are in these bodies of flesh!

There are just too many people who believe that they have been so religious all their lives, that God could not refuse to allow them in Heaven, and they are truly deceived about the truth of God.

Many are just religious perfectionists who believe they can achieve a perfect state without the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is impossible!

There are also those that believe they are just too good for God to reject them, but no one is good enough simply because we have no goodness because we have no righteousness.

Isa_64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The only thing we have to offer God is a dirty rotten sinner in need of salvation and this is what God says so it must be true.

The sooner we agree with God and accept His plan of salvation the better off we will be.

When our name is written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, it can never be erased!

We cannot help but sin, but praise the Lord we have a Savior!

The Lord is soon coming, and we will be going home so let’s make Him proud of His children!

Amen

Let’s Pray!