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[0:00] Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to 1 John chapter 5. Chapter 5. This is the last chapter of 1 John.

[0:16] As it's laid out, anyway, in our English Bibles. 1 John 5.

[0:28] We're going to read and just look at verses 1 through 5, chapter 5. As always with John, there's lots there.

[0:39] Some dots now that he's beginning to connect for us. He's been examining different ideas on their own, and now he's combining them.

[0:54] So, it's our desire today to unpack that and see how that works in our lives, how it relates to us. So, if you're able, please stand as I read.

[1:05] 1 John 5, beginning at verse 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

[1:20] And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.

[1:37] For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. Why?

[1:48] For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world?

[2:02] Except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. So, it reads. Let us pray.

[2:12] Father, help us to see what John is putting together for us as he takes these concepts of believing in Jesus and loving one another and practicing righteousness.

[2:27] how those three things combine and how it relates to the way that we conquer the world, the way that we overcome the world, which is our faith.

[2:43] And so, Father, put these together for us. Help us to see how this looks. As always, Father, open our eyes. Let us convict us of truth.

[2:55] Comfort us. And, Father, I pray for believers today that they will find assurance in these words. And that all of us, Lord, will find truth that sets us free.

[3:08] We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. So, you understand how advertising works, right?

[3:26] Right? They're trying to kind of bait you with stuff. They kind of lure you in, seduce you with, you know, this will help your life. This will make you better. This will make you, whatever, more happy. Right?

[3:37] Understand. They're trying to sell a product. Well, sports advertisers, of course, are doing the same thing. They promote a product seeking to convince you that it will be an advantage to you in your athletic endeavors.

[3:54] And all of us have so many athletic endeavors, don't we? No? So, if you want to fly like Michael Jordan, you must buy his Air Jordans, made by Nike.

[4:14] Now, you're going to pay a high price for Air Jordans because they have Jordan's name on them. And because, of course, they will make you just like Michael Jordan.

[4:27] You will hang in the air for hours and be able to do things most humans cannot do. Probably the highest selling product, at least at that time, in sports history.

[4:45] Because who doesn't want to be like Mike? If you're a young boy and you're an athlete and you love basketball. So, Nike sells shoes and people will pay a high price because they believe it will give them an edge to victory.

[5:04] Nike. Nike. Hear where they get their name from? Hear where that word comes from? I bet Diane knows. Nike was a mythical winged goddess of victory.

[5:22] Of course, the Kronect pronunciation, we've Americanized it into Nike, but it's Nike. Nike. Nike, or Nike, is also the Greek word in our text for overcome and for victory.

[5:44] So, Nike chose an image, right, that was about victory, about, and she would, Nike was also the goddess of flight, so, you know, Air Jordan. that was the image.

[6:01] And so now, we have in our text, verses four and five, it repeats this word over and over. You know, everyone who's born of God overcomes the world. Nick K's the world. Nike's the world.

[6:13] Right? And this, this is our Nike that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that Nike's the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God?

[6:27] John tells us that, that it is faith that is our advantage. It's not a shoe. It's faith is our advantage to overcome the world, to conquer the world.

[6:44] It's what we believe about Jesus that is the key to conquer the world's seduction. Okay?

[6:55] That's what we're talking about. The faith that conquers the world. The world in what way? Well, not, not, not, not to advance in the world, but to overcome the world's seductions.

[7:07] The enticements of the world. Conformity to the world, however you want to say it. So, John has been combining this evidence of authentic Christianity, right?

[7:18] From chapter one, he talked about walking in the light instead of walking in the darkness. Practicing righteousness instead of practicing sin. So, that was one test, walking in the light or practicing righteousness.

[7:32] What he's calling here in, in, uh, verse three, practicing obedience. things. And then in chapter two, John gave us a second test of authentic Christianity.

[7:44] Not just that you walk in the light, but secondly, that you love your brother. So, he talks about loving your brother in chapter two. Chapter three, he talks about it in terms of laying down your life, right?

[7:57] To meet a need instead of closing your heart. Chapter, uh, four, he talked about it in the ultimate sense of forgiving trespasses, forgiving sin. We forgive our brothers and sisters.

[8:09] So, we walk in the light, we love our brother. And then the third test, and these all have to go together, the third test is confessing the truth in chapter two. Instead of denying the truth, uh, he described it in chapter three as believing in Jesus' name or denying Jesus' name.

[8:27] So, here, he talks about it as believing Jesus. Okay, so three, three tests he combines that give us the evidence that we are truly born again.

[8:40] Give us the evidence that we do have eternal life. Give us the evidence that we are authentic Christians. If you just have belief, oh, I believe.

[8:53] Well, that's not enough evidence to show that you're an authentic Christian because if it doesn't come also with loving your brother as well as walking in the light or practicing righteousness, then that's not a saving belief.

[9:12] Or if you're, you're a loving person, you love your brothers, but you don't believe in, or you're not practicing righteousness. It's all three combined that John says is what confirms.

[9:24] So, here, in chapter five, in these first five verses, he's going to combine these three things together to confirm who's genuinely born of God.

[9:35] What is the evidence for regeneration? So, he talks about it in different ways. So, when he says in verse 13 of chapter 15, chapter 15, chapter five, he gives us the whole purpose why he's writing this letter, right?

[9:52] chapter five, 513, I write these things to you who believe. He's writing to believers. To you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Why? What's his goal? So that you may know that you have eternal life.

[10:05] That you may know you have eternal life. So, he's writing this letter to show you here's the marks that you look for. Here's the fruit you look for in your life to recognize whether your faith in Jesus is a genuine faith.

[10:18] Whether the description of yourself as having fellowship with God is a genuine claim. So, you walk in the light, you love your brother, you confess truth. Those three areas of your life.

[10:29] So, here he's going to put them all together. What is the evidence that we have eternal life? Here, he talks about it in terms of being born again. Here, he's going to use this phrase, right?

[10:42] Verse one, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Right? And then again, verse four, everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

[10:55] So, what's the mark of being born again? What's the mark that I've been regenerated? Right? Not that I've just started my own new life, but what's evidence that God has actually come and changed me?

[11:11] I'm born of God. I've been born of flesh. Now I'm born of spirit. I've been transformed. So, what's the evidence of that? And if you've been transformed, there's going to be marks.

[11:22] It's going to show how you believe, how you love, and how you practice your life. Okay? So, I broke this text down in two ways.

[11:34] Gee, surprise, two ways. Because verses one through three, he talks about these three combined things, the proofs of authentic Christianity, the proofs that we've been born again, right?

[11:50] He puts these three things together, believing, loving, and practicing together to confirm our conversion. And then, in verses four and five, he goes a step further.

[12:02] Now he's going to talk about not just the proof, but the power of that. What difference does it make that we have this belief, this love, this practice in our lives?

[12:12] How does the rubber meet the road? Well, when you go into the world, you overcome the world. There's power now to overcome the world. And that also is another proof in a sense.

[12:25] Right? So, that's what we're looking at. So, the proofs. First of all, verses one through three, three proofs. Faith, love, and obedience together confirm true conversion.

[12:39] Confirm that you have been born of God, that you have been transformed. So, we see in verse one, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

[12:58] Second part of verse one, everyone who loves the Father loves whoever's born of Him. Right? So, if we love God, we love the Father, we're also loving His children, those who are born of the Father.

[13:10] So, the Father's children. And by the way, those who have been born of Him like we've been born again. Right? So, we're not talking about just general children of God like everybody in the world.

[13:22] We're talking about people have been regenerate. People have been transformed. We know we love the Father because we love other believers who have been transformed.

[13:32] as well. Right? And then, verse three, this is the love of God. This is how we know we love God. This is our love for God that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome.

[13:46] So, those three things, believing Jesus, loving God's children, and then practicing obedience. First proof that you're born of God is believing. What does that mean? It doesn't mean to believe Jesus.

[13:57] I believed Jesus from day one. Well, I don't know about day one. But my mommy, bless her heart, told me all about Jesus from the get-go.

[14:10] I went to Sunday school and my mother was called Mrs. Story because she told stories. She told Bible stories and missionary stories and puppet stories and, you know, I believed it all.

[14:24] I believed. I believed, I believed, I believed every single word. Is that what it means? To just accept the idea? James says that the demons believe.

[14:39] In fact, their belief causes them to tremble, right, when they saw Jesus. Right?

[14:52] Now, are you sending us to the pit now? So, their belief actually had action to it. Their belief, you know, they were convinced. There was no question.

[15:03] Oh, are you the one? No, you're the one. I know who you are. So, that belief doesn't save. So, what are we talking about belief here?

[15:14] Believing Jesus. Believing that, specifically, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, right? So, what does that mean? Believing. Now, it's a verb.

[15:24] It's a present tense. It means to continue. It's not just that I have believed. I've attached, I've accepted that concept, but that I am believing. I am trusting.

[15:35] I'm relying on the Christ. Who's the Christ? He's the promised one. And notice how John puts it.

[15:46] What comes first? Believing or being born again? What comes first?

[15:58] Believing. So, believe causes you to be born again. Understand? That's what most evangelicals will say. I grew up with that.

[16:10] Billy Graham said that. Billy Graham wrote a book. This is how to be born again. So, we have a lot of wonderful, great people that Christians believe that. John didn't believe that.

[16:23] John says, look at the words. Everyone who believes, present tense, who is now believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. What's that? What's has been?

[16:36] That's before. That's perfect passive, by the way, if you like grammar. Perfect passive means it's occurred in the past and it continues to have results.

[16:47] Perfect. Perfect. And passive, what does that mean? It's done to you. I receive that action. I'm believing I'm doing that action that having been born again is something God did to me.

[17:02] Remember how Jesus described it in John 3, right? Nick at night, right? How does a man get born? He's thinking physically. Jesus is talking, no, I'm talking about spiritually. It's a work of the spirit.

[17:13] And the spirit's like the wind. You can't predict the wind. You can't tell the wind when to blow. Right, James? You can't tell the wind where to go. You try. You can pray for it.

[17:24] Meteorologists will tell you you pray about the wind. It really has to go back and five, ten days ago to kind of, you know, whatever. John says to believe is prompted and caused by being born again.

[17:45] Now, that's a mystery to us because, you know, we're told to repent and believe. We're told all that, right? We have a part in this. So it's a bit confusing. And most people say, just leave that.

[17:57] You know, whatever. People who are particular theologians want to understand. Care about nuance of words. So, maybe we can explain it this way.

[18:11] Think of Ephesians 2 when Paul describes our salvation, right? He says, we are, we were, before we were saved, we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

[18:21] We were enslaved to our passions and desires, right? We were captive and we were walking in darkness and we were doing the work of Satan, right?

[18:35] We were children of wrath even as the rest and then he says, but God came into that situation. That's where we were. That's, but God did what? He made us alive, transformed us, gave us light, gave us, made us alive even when we were still dead.

[18:58] So, who caused that? Obviously, God, but did, you know, does dead mean I couldn't do anything? Well, no, I still had beliefs. I still had, I could still function in one area of life, but I couldn't function in the area of spiritual truth.

[19:15] because I was dead in trespasses and sin. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I'm not trying to convince you. I'm just alerting you.

[19:27] I'm going to explain that later in terms of my own conversion. So, believing, the first proof that you're born of God is believing Jesus. Believing that is an active trusting and relying on Jesus.

[19:40] Second proof, he says in this, in part two of verse one is, and everyone who loves the father, literally, the text, in Greek, the text reads, everyone who loves the begetter, the one who begets children.

[19:58] Everyone who loves the begetter loves the ones begotten, who have been begotten by him. So, we translate a little, the father, right? He's the begetter.

[20:09] He's the father. So, we love the father. If you really love the father, what will you do? You'll love his children. And what children are we talking about? We're talking about the children that have been, have been born of God like you.

[20:23] Not just born of flesh, not just born of the world, but born of God. So, they've had a second birth. All right? So, we're not talking about loving everyone.

[20:35] In fact, John never talks about our love for unbelievers in this book. That doesn't say he doesn't believe in that. Doesn't say that's not important. He's simply talking about what's going on in the church.

[20:47] And when he talks about love, he's talking about the priority of our love. What's the priority of our love? What's the most important love that we have according to Scripture? God.

[20:59] Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. Nope, not your mind. Hebrew, with all your ma'od, right? And the second commandment is like the first, but it is second in priority.

[21:11] Love who? Your neighbor. Who's your neighbor? Anybody? Jesus came and gave a new commandment. He didn't say love your neighbor.

[21:23] He said love who? Want to know. Want to know. Peter, John, Andrew, Bartholomew, Judas, no, the good Judas.

[21:34] Yeah, okay, that and yeah. One and other. Mutual. He didn't say you don't love the world. He taught the parable of the Good Samaritan.

[21:45] Of course you love the world. God loves sinners. God loves the world. But your priority, love God, love, well, if you're married, love your wife, okay, then love the church.

[21:59] Then love the world. Priority. How's the world going to know? Jesus said, by this, your love for one another, will the world know that you're my disciples?

[22:11] They will see it. They will see it. They will see it. If you demonstrate it, if you demonstrate it, they will see it. It will, that's what happens in Acts chapter two.

[22:23] They saw this love and people wanted in on it. Okay? Greatest evangelical strategy Jesus ever came up with, but we come up with different ones because that's not quick enough and it's not flashy.

[22:41] We went with the wham, bang, do it in an event. Jesus says, nope, it's lifestyle. Nope, it's lifestyle. It's loving people. loving God's children.

[22:56] John has no option here for just loving the Father. He says, everyone who loves the Father loves whoever's born of him.

[23:09] If you love the Father, oh, it's just me and God. No, John doesn't have any room for that. John doesn't even have a conception that you would love God only and not love one another.

[23:22] That's not even in his thoughts. That's in our thoughts in American, you know, it's just me and God. Just me and Jesus, we walk, you know, we do stuff. I love Jesus, but I stay away from church.

[23:38] Well, then you don't know Jesus because Jesus' new commandment was all about gathering, relating, engaging, loving.

[23:52] If you're going to love, you have to engage. You can't love from a father. You can, but you can't really. He has no concept of just me and God.

[24:05] Love God. The proof that you love God is that you love his children. Amen. So, then he adds a third proof, verse 3. It's this practice.

[24:15] What he talked about in chapter 1 is walking in light. We talked about in chapter 2 is practicing righteousness. Here he calls it keeping his commands or obeying his commands or practicing obedience, however you want to describe it.

[24:30] Verse 2, By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God. This is how we prove our love for God that we keep his commandments.

[24:45] We practice his commandments. That's proof. Proof that you love God is keeping what he says, practicing it. The word obedience actually, I think, into verse 2, my translation says, when we love God and obey his commandments.

[25:02] The word obey is not actually in there. I hate that word, obey. Don't you? It's just a childhood baggage thing I got, but I hate the word obedience.

[25:14] But it's the same word we saw in chapter 2 about practicing righteousness. We do it. We do his commandments. We practice them. We keep them. We're keeping them. I love the translation of practice.

[25:28] It's like, okay, I haven't perfected this by any means, but I'm practicing. Working on it. Doing the work. I'm taking the baby steps. That was a side joke.

[25:43] And then, look what he says. This statement in the second part of verse 3, this is our love for God. Obviously, he means, love of God here means our love for God because he explains it by what we do that we keep his commandments.

[26:00] And then he makes a statement. And his commandments, by the way, are not, what? Not burdensome. Really? What?

[26:14] Does that mean they're all easy? Is it easy to love? Especially Christians who hurt us?

[26:27] Is that easy? Is that not a burden? Aren't some of his commands not only hard, but impossible for our natural person.

[26:44] Like forgiving. Right? Or, remember when the crowd comes and they haven't eaten for three days and Jesus says, you know, the disciples come, hey, Lord, they're hungry.

[26:57] We need to send them away so they can go get food. And Jesus says, no, no, no, you feed them. So, we did a tally and we got five loaves and two fish.

[27:08] Yeah, you feed them. So, Philip, the accountant, okay, Lord, I don't think you understand, right? Five loaves, two fish.

[27:19] 5,000 men, we're talking about probably 25,000 people. Wouldn't you add the women and children in there? You know, come on, Lord. No, you do it.

[27:30] Just start, feeding them. It's impossible. How do you do that? How do you do that? So, what does that mean?

[27:41] His commandments are not burdensome. Obeying, practicing obedience is not a burden. It's not heavy. It's not oppressive.

[27:52] It's not grievous is what that word means. Not grievous, not heavy. It doesn't mean it's not hard, but it does mean it's not a burden, you know, not a heavy yoke on you like the Pharisees gave to the people.

[28:12] All these restrictions about how you spend your Sabbath day. Don't you walk more than however many feet? Don't you, you go to Jerusalem, you still have some of those laws.

[28:24] You can go to Jerusalem and on the Sabbath morning you'll get up and what kind of eggs can you, can you get scrambled eggs? Nope, can't get scrambled eggs because that's, you know, you're working. So, you get boiled eggs that they made the day before.

[28:37] You take the elevator in the Jerusalem hotel and don't you touch that button. You touch that button, that starts a mechanical process, that's work. So, they're pre-programmed.

[28:48] Just, I just thought, that's great. I mean, they've thought out how to do this. Right? To help people who believe that's, but in Jesus' day, man, that was, it became oppressive.

[29:10] Like, I know Aunt Susie needs this so we can't get over there because it's too far. It's the Sabbath. And Jesus talked about the ridiculousness of it all because he talked about, if your donkey falls in a ditch, what are you going to do?

[29:24] I've got to leave it there. It's Sabbath. Really? You're going to, come on. Somebody's sick, you're going to help them, aren't you? No, you can't do that. So, it's Sabbath. Disciples walk through a wheat field and they're picking grains and they're, oh, you're picking grains, that's one job and then you're rubbing them so you can eat them.

[29:47] That's like two, you guys are breaking the Sabbath. Jesus, what are you talking about? He knew what they meant, but. Not like that.

[29:59] So, God's commands, Jesus' commands to us are not like that. They're not oppressive. They're not a grief. So, in fact, he promises.

[30:10] Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 11? You know, come to me. Remember that text? Here's the context. He says, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

[30:29] So, you don't know the Father unless the Son says, okay, I'll reveal Him to you. And then he says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

[30:41] We love that text, right? Love that text. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, who have too much, too much, right?

[30:55] And I will give you rest. Now, we would expect them to say, just settle down, relax, don't have to do anything. Let me take care of it all. No, what does he say?

[31:06] Take my yoke. Wait a minute, Jesus. Take my yoke. Wait a minute, there's a responsibility to follow. Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't. I just come to Jesus, He forgives me and I can do whatever I want.

[31:18] No, take my yoke. Take my yoke. I have a yoke for you. I have responsibility for you. You're going to follow me, it means something. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

[31:36] By the way, it doesn't talk about physical rest, it's talk about deep rest. Why? Why will I find rest when I take His yoke? For my yoke is easy.

[31:49] That's a poor translation, I'll explain it in a minute. For my yoke is, well, I'll explain it now. My yoke is easy. A better translation, it would be, my yoke is good. My yoke is kind.

[32:02] My yoke will benefit you. It's good in a way that it's advantageous to you. Not easy. We read into, oh, I want easy.

[32:16] And my burden is light. In other words, not so heavy that you cannot bear it.

[32:26] my yoke is easy. My yoke is good and my burden is light. Now, now why? Because you're not going to be bearing it alone for one.

[32:40] I'm with you. I'll give you a helper. And then I'm going to surround you with people that are going to love you. Right? You're not going to be alone. And then think of the Psalms.

[32:58] David loved the law. He loved the law. He loved commandments. This is revolutionary for me because I hated commandments growing up.

[33:12] But Psalm 19 says, the law of the Lord is perfect. Reviving the soul. Does the law revive your soul? Thou shalt not, thou shalt not.

[33:24] Oh yeah, that picks me right up. What's he talking about? The law is perfect. It revives the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple.

[33:35] The precepts of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart. Rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure. Enlightening the eyes.

[33:47] The fear of the Lord is clean. Enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold.

[33:58] Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Is that how you feel about the Lord's law and commands? Does the law revive you?

[34:11] Are his commandments sweet to you? Does your heart rejoice when you read his precepts? If not, it may indicate that you have not been genuinely born of God.

[34:29] I don't mean that are there times in your life where this is hard, I don't like. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about it. It's never a delight.

[34:41] It's never sweet. It might be an indicator that your heart has not been changed. So I grew up in the church, right?

[34:54] I believed from day one. I believed everything that I was told. I believed the Bible. As I grew older, I could read the Bible for myself. I was absolutely convinced of it. I grew up in a church that had altar calls and I've told you this before.

[35:10] Pretty much every time there was an altar call, I went because I was convicted. God was genuinely working on it. I was convicted that I needed to repent.

[35:20] And my part, as my dear pastor said, was to come, repent, pray, right, and you will be saved. Well, it never took from me. I went to Billy Graham crusade.

[35:33] Okay, Billy's higher up, isn't he? Maybe he's a little closer. I don't know. And he promised me, if you come and you cross this line, come down out of those, you know, the buses will wait.

[35:45] Come on down. You know, have you ever been to Billy Graham? Come down and cross that line and come stand before us and we'll have people pray with you. But if you pray and you repent and you believe in Jesus, you will be changed.

[35:58] I did it. Buses had to wait. You know? Next day, nothing. Still convicted that was all true.

[36:11] And by the way, I'm not Chris. Bill Graham preached the gospel. Okay? His methodology was flawed, I believe. He's just a man.

[36:24] My pastor was the same. He did the same thing. Convinced that that's, he was so hungry for people to come to know Christ. I get it. That's why I will never use that method because I think it confuses people.

[36:38] It disillusions people. I saw too many people walk away from the church because it didn't work. But here's my test.

[36:49] So I did all that up through 20 or so. And I don't remember the time. I don't remember what age I was, but there was something that radically happened in my life. Up at camp, there was demons involved and there was demon, you know, stuff.

[37:03] It was like, whoa, I was scared to death. Right? My mom was used to that. She's, you know, old hand at that, I guess. Not me. So it was pretty real and pretty scary and I remember me and a couple of buddies went up, and we just went up on the mountain and we just prayed and repented of all our making fun of charismatic people and stuff like that.

[37:24] We were just, you know, we were just laying it on the line. Okay, Lord, okay, we were wrong. You know, it's real. And something happened that night. Changed me. Freed me.

[37:36] All the prayers I had before didn't, didn't, didn't work. I could not change me. But something changed me. And what I realized later was this phrase, his commandments were no longer burdensome.

[37:52] But before that, his commandments were absolutely, I didn't want his command, I did not delight in those, I hated those commands. I felt I had to do them.

[38:04] I knew they were right, but I hated them. And at some point I realized, wait a minute, now I want to do them. Now I want to do them. I desire to do them.

[38:15] I want to please him. It's Jesus' command? Sign me up. I want to do anything Jesus says to me. Not a burden.

[38:26] So in that sense, not a burden. Not heavy. Doesn't mean it's easy. Some of the things he calls me to do. But does that weigh up?

[38:37] No, because he's with me and he will give me power and he'll give me the ability to do that. By the way, John says in verse 4, he gives the reason why his commands are not burdensome.

[38:48] He says at the end of verse 3, his commands are not burdensome. What's the first word in verse 4? 4. What's 4? 4. Why are you transforming? Because.

[39:01] And actually, it should be. It's a stronger word than 4. It should be translated because because now he's giving the reason. He's giving the reason why his commands are not burdensome. Why not?

[39:11] Why? Because everyone who has been born of God, who has been transformed, is overcoming the world. Why aren't his commandments burdensome?

[39:23] Because now you have a power. Now you have enablement. Now it's not he's asking you something to do that you just can't do. He asked the disciples to feed the 5,000.

[39:37] They didn't have the ability to do. But what? He was there. So all of a sudden, I don't know where all the bread came from. We got a bunch of leftovers here, Jesus. It doesn't make any sense.

[39:50] Giving. Giving. Giving. Have you been transformed by the concept of giving to the Lord? Have you been transformed by that? It's not a logical thing.

[40:02] When I first started tithing, I was in seminary, we didn't have any money. We can't even make our budget. But I was convinced. Just not from a legalistic standpoint, but I needed to trust the Lord in this, so I started giving.

[40:17] I don't know how it worked. Mark has a similar story. I don't know how that worked. But, so, so, so, sometimes obedience, sometimes, obedience is about faith.

[40:41] Overcoming the world is about faith. Do I trust God in it? I can't overcome that. But you've been born again, and now you have a new nature, so yes, you can.

[40:54] See? So, let's look at that. Verse 4. So, he talked about the proofs. You know, we're believing in Jesus, we're loving one another, and we're practicing.

[41:05] We're walking in that light. We're practicing what's right. We're doing what he says. And that's not burdensome because now everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

[41:22] We have a power now. There's a power, which is also a sense of proof. The power is this, that real converted believers can and do conquer the world's seduction.

[41:38] real converted believers are able to and will conquer the world's seduction.

[41:50] They've been transformed. They have a new nature. You now possess the Holy Spirit within you who made you alive and now empowers you and teaches you and convinces you and encourages you and convicts you and does all these things that he's doing in your life.

[42:16] Right? He empowers you to do this. So we talk about the world conquered. What is that? Conquering the world. There have been world conquerors, right?

[42:26] Julie Seavers. Caesar. I don't care if I get his name right. Right? And, you know, the guy that came in, Titus, who came into Jerusalem and conquered Jerusalem, right?

[42:41] Which wasn't a hard task for Rome to do. And then there's the Huns that came in and conquered Rome when Rome was pretty much done in anyway.

[42:53] You got William the Conqueror. You got all these guys that Revelation tells us about. These guys that come in on the white horse right there. These are conquerors. And that this is going to keep going on through the history of the world until the end.

[43:04] These conquerors are going to come in. They're going to bring war. They're going to bring blood. They're going to bring death and famine. And you see after every one of these world conquerors that come through the world, right?

[43:15] So until the end when there will be a final conqueror. Is that what he's talking about? Conquering the world? I don't know.

[43:26] Conquering. Overcoming the world. Nikkei, right? Nike. The world. Victory over the world. In what sense? What does he mean? So is he talking about the physical world? He's talking about the people of the world?

[43:38] He's talking about the seductions of the world. So it's like what he talked about in chapter 2, 2.15. It says, don't love the world. Don't love the world. What's the world? Well, the world is, he talked about three things, right?

[43:51] The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Right? So the lust of the flesh is just those natural yearnings, right?

[44:02] To fulfill my satisfaction through physical ways. Lust of the eyes, that's things that appeal to my eyes. What I covet, what I envy, what I, you know, look for, what I'm looking for.

[44:16] And then pride of life, remember, that was all about, you know, pride in what I have. I've made a life. My possessions, what I have. So that's pride in my accomplishments, looking for self-glory, that kind of thing.

[44:36] That's all about what people value and desire. So why do we have to fight that? If we've been born again, why do we still have to, why do we have to fight that? I'm born again.

[44:47] Aren't I immune from that? No. We still live in this world and I'm not glorified yet. So I still live in this body that still carries around this old nature.

[45:01] Right? And so why, you know, why do I still, because it's still there. And Paul talks about the whole walking by the spirit is about killing that old nature.

[45:13] Killing it. Crucifying it. Cutting off its air supply, right? You know, Jesus talked about cut the hand off, you know, poke the eye off.

[45:24] Do what you got to do to protect yourself from that dangerous seduction. So two is about those kind of things. In chapter four, remember, he talked about it's also a message.

[45:35] There's a false message that comes out. We also have to overcome that. Those messages that say they're from, they're prophets, but they're false prophets because they speak from the world and they don't line up with what Jesus says.

[45:48] So chapter four, he gives us some tests of how to test what's truth and what's error. Words that promote self, words that are interests of man instead of God.

[45:59] Remember, Peter got roped into that one, right? He proclaimed Jesus as the Christ and then he says, Jesus says, I'm going to go get crucified. And Peter said, no, no, no. And then Jesus said, remember Jesus said, rock, rock, rock.

[46:13] Now, now Peter's like, no, Satan, Satan, Satan. Why was Peter goes from rock to Satan? Why? He says, your interests are man's.

[46:26] You don't want me to be crucified? That's a man interest. That's a man promotional, worldly interest. God's interested not in you promoting yourself, but you denying yourself.

[46:41] God's interested in you sacrificing. God's not interested in your best life now. God's interested in your way better life later.

[46:56] God's interested in you following Jesus, walking like he did, living like he did, sacrificing like he did, giving like he did, trusting like he did. So, not being enticed by the world.

[47:13] Why are we so easily enticed by the world? Because there's still part of me that desires the easy way. There's still part of me that wants to just, I want it to be easy. My soul really wants relief now.

[47:29] So I'm looking for a quick fix. Or a quick escape. Or a quick numbing of whatever pain I'm feeling. Right? So, how do we conquer?

[47:41] It says we conquer, verse 4, what's the victory? What's the Nike that overcomes the world? He says, at the end of verse 4, it's our faith. Faith. Faith is what overcomes the world.

[47:53] What we believe dethrones the enticements of the world. what we believe defeats those enticements because we're transformed.

[48:10] Temptations always attack our beliefs. Think about that. Temptations attack our beliefs at the core level.

[48:21] Now, they'll come by flesh. They'll come by eye. They'll, you know, they'll appeal to our pride. But it really comes down to what do we believe. So, when Eve was tempted, what did the serpent ask her?

[48:35] Did God really say that? Has God said? Do you believe that? So, do you believe it's always best to flee immorality?

[48:53] Do you believe it's best to flee idolatry? Do you believe it's best to have treasures in heaven? What do you believe?

[49:07] So, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, right? Three temptations. He had a stomach test, a scripture test, and a servant test. Because, you know, it has to be S's.

[49:18] So, the first one, right? You're hungry, right? He's been 40 days. The devil says, if you're hungry, turn these stones into bread. Just, you know, meet your need. Stomach test.

[49:32] And Jesus said, what? It is written. The only thing he said to Satan was, it is written. It is written. I shall not live by bread alone, but by everywhere that comes.

[49:46] So, what do I believe? What's more important? God's word? Living by God's word? And then the second one, he's taking it, you know, the devil takes him up to the highest point of the temple, right?

[49:58] And he says, scripture says. Okay, you want to quote scripture? Let me quote the scripture, Jesus. Scripture says, you know, if you fall or if you, whatever, you know, the angels will catch you, bear you up on them, right?

[50:10] So, Jesus says, oh, you want to go to a battle of scripture, do you? Okay. You want to talk about scripture. Okay, you're a scripture twister for one. What'd Jesus say?

[50:24] I shall not tempt the Lord your God. Yeah, he'll bear me up, but it's not because I purposely and recklessly do something foolish to test him.

[50:37] And then he says, okay, so he takes him up to the highest mountain, right? So, we can see all the kingdoms of the world, which belong to Satan, right?

[50:47] Do they not belong to Satan today? All the kingdoms of the world belong to Satan today. He is the God of this world. He's not on the throne in heaven, but he's the God of this world. He's temporary sovereignty.

[51:00] He says to Jesus, see all these kings? If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you these kingdoms. In other words, quick fix. I know you're supposed to be the king, but I know there's a long process for you.

[51:12] I'll give them to you now. I got a deal for you. I got a deal for you. You don't have to wait. No. No. You buy this car now. You don't have to pay for it for a long time, right?

[51:24] I got a deal for you. You can have your fun now. That's kind of what Satan was doing. Yeah, you can get a shortcut. I'll give you the kingdoms now. All you got to do is bat on. Right? So Jesus says, what?

[51:36] Get out of here, Satan. It is written. Serve the Lord your God and worship the Lord your God and serve him only. What do you believe?

[51:47] Right? So Paul says we have an armor, we have an armor, right? That armor is meant to defend us. And it's all about what we believe. The devil will attack our righteousness.

[51:58] So God gives us a breastplate of righteousness. Satan will say, your righteousness is not good enough. Look at you. You're horrible at following God.

[52:10] You're so unrighteous. And so we have a shield, a breastplate that's not my righteousness because it's got all kinds of holes in it. It's God's righteousness because it's a gift, right?

[52:24] Yeah, you're right. I didn't. But he gave it to me. Now I'm good. Okay. Let's talk about truth, right? No, I got a belt of truth.

[52:36] He's going to attack. What do we got? Belt of truth. We got the breastplate of righteousness. What do we got? We got the shoes. We got the shoes of what? The gospel of peace. So he's going to attack your peace.

[52:50] Where do you get peace? You're not. You don't have peace, do you? Well, I'm disturbed. Yeah, I'm troubled. But you know what? Thanks for bringing that up because I know my peace comes through the gospel and what God has established for me.

[53:03] I can even have peace that passes understanding because I trust in him and I'll take whatever comes. And then he goes to what? We got a shield. Now that's really the texture of faith, right?

[53:15] The fiery darts. He's going to say, God, your God's not with you. Look, he's left you alone. No, he said he'll never leave or forsake you.

[53:28] Your God's not good. Look what you're going through. He's not good. No, he says, for all who love God, right? What is it? Romans 8? For all who love God and are called according to his purpose.

[53:45] What? I'm asking because I blanked. Okay, so. All these things work together for? Good. Good. Two. Two, though.

[53:56] Those who are called according to his purpose. And what's his purpose, by the way, next verse? to conform you to the image of his son. Which means you go through what his son went through.

[54:13] So he can throw darts all day long. And for everyone, we will have a promise of Jesus. We will have a truth of scripture to defeat them all.

[54:24] He will attack your salvation. You got a helmet of salvation. And then, when he's throwing all his darts, you take out your sword then. Right?

[54:35] Well, you take, you got, you better have that sword out once the first dart flies. Sword. We call it the sword. Because it's the word of God, right?

[54:46] It's the sword. Sword. Sword. Yeah. How did, how did Revelation describe, Revelation uses that word a lot, that Nike, not Nike?

[55:03] Same word for conquer, the conquerors. We even themed the whole study of Revelation as those who conquer. Right? To each church, he wrote, those who conquer, those who conquer, those who conquer.

[55:16] Conquer what? Well, whatever issue that church was dealing with. They left their first love, or, right? They were fearful. But in the middle of the book of Revelation, describes this great dragon, right?

[55:27] The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent from the garden, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

[55:39] And then it talks about conquering him. And they have conquered him. How did they conquer the dragon? How did they conquer Satan? How did he conquer deception? They conquered him by two things, by the blood of the lamb, okay?

[55:52] Okay? So, armor, blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony. They professed Christ.

[56:03] They confessed Christ. They spoke. That's the sword, too. They speak the word. Okay? So, the victory is our faith.

[56:17] What we believe, right, conquers. Our shield of faith is what we believe and that conquers. So, our conviction, our confidence, our trust in what God has said, our faith conquers the world.

[56:31] And then he adds in verse 5, it's a specific kind of faith as well. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

[56:45] Who's the one that overcomes the world except the one who believes, is believing, is trusting, has faith that Jesus is the Son of God? How does believing that Jesus is the Son of God translate into overcoming the world?

[57:04] How does that? Growing up, I believed that. I wasn't converted yet, but I believed Jesus was the Son of God. I believed He was the Christ. I believed He was all that He said.

[57:16] I didn't overcome the world. How does that belief translate into victory?

[57:28] See, just having the concept isn't the victory. It's a faith that's living that does. See, if I'm truly convinced and I'm trusting in Jesus is the Son of God, and by the way, what does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?

[57:46] Remember, John has made different statements that we confess, right? We confess that Jesus is the Christ. We confess that Jesus came in the flesh. Chapter 4, we confess, right, that He's the Savior of the world.

[57:57] We confess here now that He's the Son of God. So which confession is it? Which one are we supposed to say? Right? Which one? Are we talking about, does it? Oh, so John is speaking in a context.

[58:13] So when he's talking about Jesus, we confess that Jesus is the Christ, we're accepting everything else He said about Jesus in this book. So you go back to chapter 1. What does chapter 1 say? In the, right, in the beginning, right?

[58:26] He talks about what was from the beginning, what we have seen and we have heard and we have touched and we have handled with our hands, what was the life that was eternal, what was sent from the Father and now manifested to us so that we could see Him and hear Him and touch Him and we could eyewitness it.

[58:44] That is the Son. So who's the Son of God? Well, He's from eternity. Right? There's always planning and He's the one that gives eternal life.

[58:55] He became visible. We go to chapter 1, verse 7. What else? Well, if we walk in the light together, then the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

[59:06] So we also believe that Jesus who's a forgiver of sin. Chapter 2, excuse me, where's my notes? Chapter 2, 22. It says, you can't believe the Father and deny the Son.

[59:19] You can't do that. If you deny the Son, you deny the Father. You don't get to pick one. It's just, it's just me and God. I don't want, I don't believe this Jesus stuff. And John says, that's not, that's not an option because the Father sent the Son.

[59:33] If you don't accept who He sent, then you don't accept Him. Right? So it's the same thing. 3, 8. He said that Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil.

[59:46] What does that mean? In 3, 8, He said, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.

[59:57] For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Whoever makes a practice of sin is of the devil. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, which means that you don't have to practice sin anymore.

[60:14] Jesus destroyed the works of the devil for those who are born of God. That means I'm set free from the practice of sin. Before I was transformed and born again, I had no choice.

[60:27] That's the only nature I had. I was dead in sin and trespass. That's all I could do. Doesn't mean I couldn't do some good things. Doesn't mean, right? But that's my nature.

[60:40] Now He gives me a new nature, a new nature that actually loves His commands and loves His way and wants to do what He desires and is unable to.

[60:53] Chapter 4, 9, He says the same Jesus, the Father sent the Son to give life, right, and to pay our debt of sin by propitiating our sins.

[61:06] So what does it mean that I believe that Jesus is the Son of God? It means all of that. All of that. And it's not just belief up here because growing up I believed all of that but what I didn't experience was the release from the practice of sin.

[61:28] I didn't know the power of who Jesus was. I believed it that I couldn't overcome sin, I couldn't change my nature.

[61:38] and once God changed me, I was like, wow, I don't want to sin anymore. Still do but I don't want to.

[61:51] In fact, I hate it. It grieves me and I know it grieves my Lord. It doesn't shock Him though. It doesn't disappoint Him.

[62:04] It doesn't make Him mad. But it grieves Him. Because He knows I'm hurting. Right? So, if we conquer the world, I wanted to bring this aspect into this.

[62:21] If we conquer the world, how do we still engage the world without conforming to it? So, we're in this battle, right?

[62:32] So, we're to conquer the world. We don't mean the people of the world. We mean the seductions of the world, the temptations of the world. So, if we're in this world, how do we engage it still without compromising with it?

[62:44] Right? Jesus did not call us to go live in a commune away from unbelievers. He called us to go into the world but not conform to it. That's our whole mission.

[62:56] That's why we're here. If it was just about me and God, then let's rapture and get out of here. But He's left us here, right? In fact, He intends for us to function as a living body, right?

[63:12] To represent Him in this community. How do we do that? Right? So, how do we engage the world without conforming? How do we relate to the world? Jesus' prayer in John 17 talks about this very thing.

[63:27] Jesus talking to the Father. This is the true Lord's prayer, by the way. Matthew 6 is the disciples' prayer. This is the prayer that Jesus prayed, John 17. This is right before going to the cross, okay?

[63:39] I have given them, He's talking about the disciples, I have given them your word and the world. So, He's going to talk about the world a bunch. And the world has hated them because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

[63:53] I do not ask you, Father, that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. Okay? So, this relationship to the world means we need to be on guard. And then He says, they are not of the world just as I am not of the world.

[64:10] Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is true. So, while they're in the world, they need your truth which is in your word. That's the source of what they need. Then He says, as you, Father, sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

[64:25] So, now it's mission. Okay? Now, He sent us into the world. And for their sake, I consecrate myself that they also would be sanctified in the truth.

[64:38] I do not ask for these only, by the way, because some people say, oh, well, in the context, He's only talking about His apostles. So, you know, it only applies to the apostles. They were supposed to go in the world but not us. Okay, well, here's what Jesus said.

[64:51] I do not ask for these only, but I also ask for those who will believe in Me through their word. Oh. So, He's also praying for us because we're the ones believing through the apostles' words. night.

[65:07] That, I ask for those who will believe in Me through their word. Why? That they all may be one, united, just as you, Father, are in Me and I am in you, that they may also be in us, abiding, living.

[65:25] Why? What's the ultimate goal? Why do we all want, why does He want us to all be one? Why does He want us all to be abiding in Him together? What do we do together that we can't do alone that they may also be in us?

[65:41] Why? So that the world may believe that you, Father, have sent me, Jesus. it's our unity and our abiding together in Him that brings the world to believe that the Father sent the Son, that that's a real, that's a real deal.

[66:08] And He says, the glory that you have given Me I've given to them that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in Me, that they may become perfectly one.

[66:20] Why? Again, so that the world may know that you sent Me and love them even as you love Me. How we live in the world is about our mission.

[66:34] It's about the watching world. All of this, what we believe about Jesus, how we love one another and how we are practicing His commands, all of that, why all of that?

[66:48] So that we can overcome the seductions of the world so that we can win the world. The ultimate goal is that we win the world. We're not here for us, we're here for them.

[67:02] The children across the street, the people in our neighborhood, the people we meet in the marketplace, the people that we work alongside of, unless you work your focus maybe, unless you work at MTI.

[67:22] That's why we're here. How we live in this world is about our mission. We're sent into this world. We're not of the world, but we are sent into it.

[67:34] We must guard against the devil, but we're set apart in truth so that we might be one, that we might be abiding in Christ together. And as we're abiding in Christ together, in other words, loving one another, walking in the light, right, the world will believe that God sent the sun.

[67:52] We are sent into the world. We are lights that stand in contrast to the darkness. We speak truth and love. We conquer the world's seductions because the spell has been broken once you're born again.

[68:11] because the seductions of this world have lost their appeal. Amen. Because you've tasted something better. It doesn't mean we still don't buy into some of those seductions for a quick fix.

[68:28] But every time we know this ain't it. This just ain't it. This doesn't bring me peace. This doesn't bring me joy. This doesn't give me rest.

[68:40] It brings me death. And I hate it. I want that life that he gives.

[68:51] That life he promised to the Samaritan woman. You know, that would just keep bubbling up. And God says that the world will notice.

[69:02] They will realize that Christ is real. And that he's truly sent by the Father. and that he really loves sinners because they're going to observe other sinners who've been transformed who still sin but they're working on it and they're loving each other like I've not seen that.

[69:25] Instead of ignoring the person, because I know, do you think this community knows what goes on here? Do you think this community knows who goes to this church?

[69:39] Not sure? Your neighbors don't know? Yeah. Yeah. I know I'm known.

[69:55] And I believe you're probably more known than you know. because people are watching. And have you mentioned, you know, to people outside the church that you go to Little Log Church?

[70:08] Oh, I've heard about Little Log Church. What have you heard? Well, 20 years ago. Okay, I don't care about 20 years ago. What have you heard recently? I've heard some good things.

[70:23] We are slowly transforming the message the community has about this church. they listen. They observe.

[70:34] They might taunt you. They might act like they don't care. But God says they're watching. And they will notice. And they will particularly notice when you love each other.

[70:47] They will particularly notice when you stand as a light in darkness. And it's not because you're condemning. It's not because you're, oh, you're dirty sinners.

[70:59] It's because I've been there. I know what that sin's like. I've found something freeing from that. I get it. You know, you're not condemning.

[71:09] You're just like, I'm a fellow beggar. I've been there. I still struggle with that. But I've learned something so incredibly freeing. I've been trying to be more intentional about saying things in public.

[71:29] Which is, I meet people. I've told you, you know, I meet my banker, you know, I meet with my chiropractor, I meet with different people. And I try to be, I just try to throw it out there, not in a, you know, I just say things like, you know, my king's on his throne.

[71:42] What? World's falling to pieces, but my king's on his throne. What kind of king are you? Oh, man, you want to hear about my king? World's falling apart.

[71:53] Yeah, but this is my father's world. Your father. Yeah, it's my father's world. And though it seems so glim and though it does seem dark at times, oh, this is his world.

[72:07] Jesus did that kind of stuff. He found these little, you know, I could give you living water. What? I can give you bread that makes you live. I can show you a light.

[72:18] I can show you a light that you won't walk in darkness. It doesn't go out. And find ways to be, maybe that's just me. God's telling me to be a little more bold.

[72:31] And I'm getting to the age where I don't really care. If people don't like me anymore, I really don't care. I think it's kind of fun, too. Because I find believers out there like the banker.

[72:44] He's like, what'd you say? And going to his office, he shows me, I went to Moody. Oh, okay, so you know my king, too. Yeah, brother, I know your king.

[72:57] Would never have known. Anyway. Are you born of God? Are you born of God? Here's what John asks.

[73:09] Here's what he's writing for. Are you born of God? Do you know that you've really been transformed? Do you know that if you prayed a prayer, you walked an aisle, whatever, and do you know something really changed in that moment?

[73:22] Or sometime following that? How do you know you're born again? Well, are you trusting in Jesus? Are you making intentional efforts to love the people in these pews?

[73:39] And the people that can't come to these pews? Who belong here? And are you walking, practicing, not perfectly, but practicing doing what's right?

[73:55] And has that shown itself in power where now I conquer the seductions of this world? Not all the time, but I'm getting there.

[74:08] I'm getting there. I've seen some victory. I've seen some Nikes. They're starting to fly. I ain't Michael Jordan yet, but I can do a layup now. Well, I don't know if I can do a layup anymore.

[74:23] Spiritual layup. There you go. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for John, his word. Thank you that he thinks through these things carefully.

[74:37] He doesn't give a trite answer by any means to what it means to be a Christian. Christian. He gives an in-depth, yet not complicated answer.

[74:53] And thank you, Lord, that he kind of adds each level to kind of breaks us into it and then clarifies what that looks like.

[75:05] God, I In any event, Father, we pray that what we heard today, we heard from you. And we pray that you impress on us that which we need to hear the most.

[75:20] If it's about our own relationship with you, then help us to deal with that. If it's our role in this world, then help us, Lord, to trust you in that. God, whatever it might be, be the God of our soul.

[75:36]  We pray in Christ's name. Amen.