(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Let's pray. Father God, thank you for this time that we have here. Just fill Pastor with your Holy Spirit and allow him to preach your word boldly and give the congregation your ears to hear and bless the fellowship afterwards and the service today. And it's all in your name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, we're continuing this evening with the book of 1st John and tonight we are in chapter 4 once again. It's gonna be part 2 of chapter 4. Last week I covered verses 1 through 6 and so there's a lot of content in this chapter that I wanted to go over so I just didn't want to skim through it in one setting. And so last week if you remember chapter 4 verses 1 through 6 really hit on this matter of proving all things holding fast that which is good. And what John the Apostle John is saying here is he's basically saying when he says try the spirits whether they are of God he's basically saying you need to make sure you pay attention to what is being preached right. When a pastor gets up or some preacher gets up it begins to preach what they claim to be the Word of God you know we need to be able to try that prove all things hold fast that which is good and compare it to what the scripture says study to show ourselves approve them to God and see that if it matches up with what God's Word actually says. And so he basically gives them that instruction there and you know he gives basically this guideline and he says look whosoever confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And to be honest with you a lot of Christians struggle with that passage because you think to yourself well you know that seems pretty basic you know aren't there false prophets out there that will confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and they're just kind of being deceptive and you know they're deceiving people and they say that's what they believe but they're not of God so how is that a good guideline to follow if you know there's false prophets out there that will lie about that. Well I believe what John is doing here is he just basically giving a baseline standard to basically put the individual in the ballpark of going towards the truth okay and if you think about it you know as far as foundationally like in an elemental kind of stage that's perfect because once you are able to find people who actually confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh it kind of puts you in the right direction okay in the right category and in fact that eliminates a lot of false religions and a lot of false doctrine I mean if someone's looking for the truth you know and they use this as a guideline you know what that does it eliminates Hinduism it'll eliminate Buddhism it'll eliminate a lot of Eastern mysticism but even within Christendom you know that'll eliminate Mormons it'll eliminate Jehovah's Witnesses it will eliminate one of Pentecostals and so it'll put them in the right ballpark to be able to find what the truth really is and the way I see it well the way I would interpret it is like this you know when you go soul winning for example you run into people and you you tell them are you hundred percent sure that if you die today you go to heaven they're like no and you say this well do you believe the Bible now we obviously understand that if they believe the Bible doesn't mean that they're saved right but it's a good indication that they will adhere to what you have for them because you're gonna show them from the Bible okay so it's like do you believe the Bible do you believe in God I believe in the Bible I believe in God and so it kind of helps them to be in the right direction and it kind of gives you a common ground okay so you can give them the truth so in like manner I think what John is doing here is basically saying hey a good indicator good guideline is for you to find in order for you to find the truth is make sure that whoever's preaching at least that they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh and if they don't then obviously they're of the Antichrist now we obviously understand that there's people who are of the Antichrist who will confess that but they don't really believe it but again there's far more indicators there's far more guidelines that are in the Bible to show you if someone is of God this isn't the only one it's just that baseline standard for you to set you in the right direction now another thing that I want I want to mention a couple things before we get into the remainder of the verses here is that you know when you read the book of first John it's a very complex letter if you think about it and there's a lot of complex doctrine in it a lot of deep things that are found in the book of John but it's actually written in a very simplistic way right I mean some of the most simple terms and phrases are found in the book of first John I mean think about this God is love that's a very simple phrase but it's very deep in its meaning okay and it helps you to kind of appreciate the Word of God even more and obviously God is the author but it helps you to appreciate the human authors as well the ones who were used to pen down the Bible because of the fact that obviously John that's why we give the book of John to a brand new believer because it's written in a very simplistic manner but it has a lot of complex teachings and the same thing with first John and you know I think a lot of reasons why people have a hard time understanding first John is because they kind of they kind of convoluted it they confuse it okay to make it complicated this is why you have first John 3 9 you know being misinterpreted by a lot of people you know he that is born of God does not commit sin I mean that's pretty simple but people complicate it and therefore they get involved in all types of false doctrine but it kind of reminds me of what Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 11 3 you don't have to turn there it says but I fear let's by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve there is subtlety so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ so you think about it you know Jesus Christ as far as who he is is very simple he's the son of God but even aside from that you can get into a very deep doctrines in regards to Jesus Christ salvation the Trinity you know the resurrection all these things are can be simply understood but you could actually go down deep into every single one of those topics now another thing that I want to point out is that and this will help you when reading the book of 1st John not to get confused not to kind of you know stumble at the word so to speak is that we need to recognize that John is actually mainly addressing the inner man okay we obviously understand the Bible's for the inner man period but a lot of what the Bible says deals with the inner man it deals with the flesh it deals with you know relationships has a various topics a myriad of different topics but here in first John he's mainly talking to our inner man okay so he's not addressing our flesh he's addressing the inner man and because he's addressing the inner man you know he makes these very stringent statements that to the untrained eye can seem kind of confusing but if you recognize oh this is only talking about the inner man then everything kind of falls into place and the example a perfect example would be he that is born of God does not commit sin you read that and it's just like whoa hold on a second but I commit sin so does that mean I'm born of God well here's the thing if you understand that it's only directed to or addressed towards the inner man that makes perfect sense because it's only the inner man that is born of God you understand so when you understand this is only directed towards the inner man every single phrase the stringent statements that he makes in this book make perfect sense you know he that is born of God loves his brother oh well that makes perfect sense even though sometimes we don't love our brothers the way we should okay maybe we feel ill will towards them or you know there's there's a Christian who's bitter at another Christian like man am I born of God then well you got to understand he's referring to your inner man and the inner man always wants to do right the inner man is the lights in the law of God the inner man does not commit sin the inner man loves the Lord loves his brethren at all times and even the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within us constantly wants to do right constantly wants to preach the gospel what loves the Word of God wants to pray wants to subject subject you to the things of God and the lights in those things and in fact you can even compare the Holy Spirit to fire within us okay and that's why it says quench not the Spirit right the Spirit is constantly burning there's a burning within us to do the will of God and when we choose to walk in the flesh what are we doing we're quenching the spirit you're kind of squelching that you're putting like a blanket over the spirit when you don't obey those things you think of what Jeremiah said you know you know he didn't want to make mention of him anymore but then he said but his word was within my heart as a what burning fire shut up in my bones and I could not stay so he's saying it's like I had this burning desire to preach to God's Word well that doesn't come from his flesh it comes from his spirit okay and so you know as you read the book of first John throughout your life if you could just understand oh this is talking to my inner man it's not referring to my flesh you know that's why he can make these very strict statements within the book of first John and it makes perfect sense because it's only talking about our inner man okay now chapter 4 is a great chapter and has a lot of deep truths within it but it's actually often overshadowed by chapter 3 right chapter 3 is the is the is like the go-to chapter where a lot of people get confused on as far as you know he that is born of God does not commit sin so a lot of people focus on that and often think well chapter 4 is just all about love God is love you know love your brother and you love God and it almost seems a little redundant right you think well it's just really repetitive really redundant just talks about love but when you understand these truths and the fact that he's addressing the inner man you you'll see that there's a lot of deeper meaning to chapter 4 and so we'll get into that tonight now look at verse number 7 if you would verse number 7 says beloved let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love and again often you'll see this over and over again whether it's in chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 it's always referring to the person who is born of God he says if you're born of God you don't commit sin you're born of God you'll love your brother you love one another you're born of God you overcome the world so it makes these very strict statements and it's just like well I don't know if I've done those things well it's like yeah your your flesh hasn't but your spirit has okay and so he can make those statements in regards to our spirit and he says everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God so basically what he's saying is this if you're saved you will have a natural love for your brethren not because you're anything special because you've disciplined yourself to love your brethren but because God is love and if God dwells within us we have a natural love for our brethren if we're walking in the spirit understand and here's the thing if you think about it this is one aspect of the Christian life you don't really have to work on right like once you're in church you start developing a love for people just kind of naturally you just want to be around God's people you like fellowshipping with God's people now don't don't don't misunderstand what I'm saying you know our expressions and how we love our brethren is different and this is why he says in chapter 3 let us not love in in he says let me read it here in chapter 3 and verse number 18 it says my little children let us not love in word neither in tongue but indeed and in truth so he says look you're gonna have a natural love for your brethren but hold on a second don't just love in word and in tongue I love the brethren I love being in church I love being with God's people he says no you need to love indeed and in truth so we need to express that love in a certain deed doing good into all men but especially those of the household of faith and obviously we can look to different portions of scripture and how we do that James chapter 2 is a great example of that when we put our faith into practice and we get to begin to provide for our brethren we pray for our brethren we encourage them we meet their needs as best as we possibly can but he's saying here in chapter 4 that when you're born of God you're gonna love your brethren okay because God is love now first Thessalonians 4 verse 8 verse 9 says this but as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another you know this is basically like a very basic instruction on loving your brethren and it's very simple to do now here in 1st John chapter 4 you find the verse that people take the most out of context right and more specifically out of context in regards to yours truly or preachers like me you know they'll run into someone like me like oh man you're so hateful because you don't like the LGBTQ and you preach against them and you hate all these people and you hate the workers of iniquity this is what you say you know God is love that's what they'll say right it's like the only verse they know oh God is love you know how how can you say you have hate for people or hate for sins or hate anything if the Bible says that God is love and first of all if you were to tell them where is that in the Bible they're not gonna be able to point to you where that is they're like well that's in Genesis 1 or something you know point to something they don't know where it is they're just repeating what someone else said and here's the thing what they're insinuating by saying God is love they're saying God is only love but doesn't say that God is only love you know obviously we understand that love the source of love is God right and he is love but let me say this it's not at the exclusion of everything else they a part of his at the exclusion of his other attributes okay it's not that the exclusion of his justice of his judgment of his righteousness of his holiness of his hatred okay all those characteristics still exist within God even though he is love and in fact in order for God to be love he has to have those other attributes as well because then what do you how do you measure that love okay if you don't have justice how do you measure love if you don't have righteousness how do you measure love if you don't have holiness okay those things are expressed due to those other attributes that he has okay but they'll often say they're like well God is love and they're basically saying he's not anything else you shouldn't hate you shouldn't have any animosity towards the devil towards people who reprobate or you know you should love Ted Bundy you know you should love Richard Ramirez and love pedophiles and love all these people love because God is love it's nonsense folks it's nonsense and here's the thing look folks just a basic reading of the Bible shows you that God hates certain people and certain things right you can't read the Bible cover to cover and not come to that conclusion okay if you read from Genesis to Revelation you will see God executing justice upon people in such a way that you would say wow he it almost seems like he has malice towards that individual right you like he just rained fire and brimstone upon all these people and if you think that's love towards them you're like some spiritual masochist or something okay because obviously you don't love people you don't burn people whom you love okay but you have you know and here's the thing people say yeah you say you know he hates all workers of iniquity but point to me a verse in the New Testament where he says that he hates all workers of iniquity and this is what I always say to these people when they when they come up with that card okay I pull out this card and it's very simple folks just use a little bit of reasoning why would God you know reiterate that he hates all workers of iniquity you understand that the Old Testament 39 books there's a lot of content found in that those 39 books and he's constantly talking about hating all workers of iniquity hating those who hate the Lord and just reiterating that why is he it would be redundant to mention that in the New Testament if he's already spent 39 books in the Old Testament talking about it so if he's already spent 39 books in the Old Testament showing not just not just saying that he does but actually showing you how he hates all workers of iniquity why would he have to reiterate that in the New Testament he expects for you to already know those things and now here's the thing you know if if if people are like well you know I still need to see something in the New Testament it kind of shows first of all they're that the fact that they don't appreciate the God's Word you say why is that well because if you're only reading the New Testament you're completely negating the Old Testament you know don't ask why God does this if you if he's already said it within his word in the Old Testament you're not paying attention to that he's already giving you 39 books where he's like this is why this is why and then he comes to the New Testament is like well I don't understand it God is love it's like well hello did you read the other half of the Old Testament did you read all the other books in the Old Testament explains why he does so it'd be redundant for him to have to like reiterate that again in the New Testament if he spent so much of the Old Testament explaining why he does and how he does okay and look he's not gonna be he's not gonna reiterate it because he expects us to reiterate it in song right because in the New Testament the Bible tells us to speak to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your hearts unto the Lord and you know what a lot of those in precatory prayers a lot of those verses that talks about hating the workers of iniquity is found in the Psalms therefore he expects us to remember those things via music and song okay and so when people say hey God is love amen to that but not at the exclusion of the other attributes that he has I know that God is love we believe that God is love but here's the thing it doesn't negate just because he's loved it doesn't negate his justice his righteousness and his holiness but think about this if that's not enough okay because you know they say well you know I just don't see that in the New Testament I see a lot of grace in the New Testament and you got to kind of ask them like well do you did you have you read Revelation it doesn't sound like he's being very gracious with a lot of people in the end times I mean when you have you read through the trumpets and the vials and like when he sends these supernatural creatures that are specifically made to torture people for months on end and they can't even die I mean that's pretty that's pretty gnarly it's pretty crazy you know when he creates these these these scorpions they are like locusts and they have faces of lions and they just look like your worst nightmare and they're coming at you and they're like stinging you and they're paralyzing you and they're doing all these things you're just like have you read that that's in the New Testament have you not read but how about this if that's not enough okay if you're like well you know I don't want to stick to the revelation you know that's too that's too much for me okay well do you believe in hell because hell is God's greatest expression of hatred think about that I mean folks hell is not like a figure of speech you can use it as a figure of speech the Bible uses it as a figure of speech sometimes but hell is a literal place where people go to burn not for a year not for a decade not for a century not for a millennium forever and anybody who goes to hell the Bible tells us that the smoke of their torment shall ascend up forever and ever they have rests no rest day nor night okay and if that's not hatred I don't know what is I mean that's God's greatest expression of justice and hatred and in righteousness okay he's a water agree with help then you have to take that up with the Lord he's the one who created hell and you know what I agree with help you know and and I'm thankful that I got saved from hell so I'm we're not saying hey we're just better people because you know we're saved or better off for sure but it's not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us so what I'm saying is this is that yes God is love but never at the exclusion of his other attributes where he exercises righteousness he executes justice and think about this he says this you know whoever knows him they know that God is love right well in the Old Testament you know the that section that people don't like to read and Jeremiah 9 24 it tells us let him that gloria glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercised loving kindness judgment and righteousness for in these things I delight in saith the Lord so the Bible says that he delights in being lovingly kind to us which is great isn't that like a beautiful thing he delights in being loving towards us he delights in being kind towards us he delights and showing us mercy being gracious towards us but he also says that he delights in judgment he delights in righteousness and he says the person who understands and knows me knows that this is not a one-sided thing it's like well he only delights in being lovingly kind well here it says that he delights in being lovingly kind judgment and judging and in righteousness but guess what that is something that only people who understand and know God know of the people who really know their God the really the people who understand who God is they know those facets about him okay and so yes God is loving look in context what are we talking about here in first John chapter 4 in context when he's saying God is love he's saying the reason we should love one another's because we have God in us and God is love so therefore we have the source of love dwelling within us and therefore we can love one another okay you know prior to being saved you know our love was probably very superficial towards human beings well even if it was towards our family we loved our family and and you know but what about our friends or our neighbors you know you can have a certain degree of love towards them but it would only go so far right whereas now that we're saved we have a supernatural love where we can look beyond people's frailties and mistakes and their shortcomings and love them for who they are because they're God's children understand and so that's a great thing you know that's why we can get that's why we have churches why do we have churches because it's a group of people who come from different walks of life who can come together fellowship and love one another you understand look at verse 9 when we read it here let me read back to verse 7 says beloved let us love one another the love is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love and I find it interesting that people will say oh man you don't love people these but these same people hate us so it's kind of hypocritical it's just like oh you're not loving so I'm just gonna blow up your building just to show you how much I love you how loving I am let me just blow up your building let me just threaten your children let me threaten your wife let me just do all manner of evil to show how much I love you so show the public how loving I am and they say that I'm the hateful one I'm the one who have so much hate in my heart yet you'll never find me bombing someone else because I don't agree with them it's cancel culture out there where it's just like well we don't agree with what you say so let me just express my love for you by violating you taking away your property or doing ill towards you it's it's a it's hypocrisy is what it is you know those who know God actually know love okay look at verse number nine and 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 now this actually reminds me of you know a verse to be commonly used when we go out sowing which is Romans 5 8 Romans 5 8 says but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us now when people often when they describe or they try to interpret that or they tell people what that means they'll say you know God basically demonstrated his love toward us and really that's not a proper interpretation of Romans 5 8 but it's not a bad interpretation I'm explained to you why just a bit but when it says God commended his love towards us command basically means to elevate okay so God elevated his love toward us and that while we're yet sinners Christ died for us he basically magnified his love toward us he loved us in this manner when it says for God so loved the world as like I so love you he's saying that he loved you in this manner that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins to pay for our sins okay so command means to elevate but it's not really a bad interpretation to say that he demonstrated because here it says 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 so he manifested he demonstrated his love by sending his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us he says in verse number 10 here in his love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins so he's magnifying his love and think about this you know people who say well you know God is love and he's just all loving but they don't really know what that means they wouldn't even know how to necessarily interpret that we know how to interpret that because what that means to us is the fact that he became the atonement for our sin every single sin that we've ever done every single sin that we will do he became the propitiation for that the Bible says he became sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him you know and and look folks the Bible tells us that when Jesus Christ died that his soul descend what is it that he ascended but that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth referring to the fact that when he died his soul descended into hell for three days and three nights but the Bible says that his soul is not left in hell neither that his flesh see corruption and that's a great expression of his love folks have you ever been burned for like one second I mean three days you know you think to yourself yeah but what if we would have died we would have been there for an eternity well I guarantee you three days feels like an eternity in hell think about that and he he was a just man who died for the unrighteous so he wasn't there because he was he was paying for his sins because he had no sin you know he was there to pay for ours so that was a great expression of his love for us and you know every once in a while it's good to just reflect on your salvation you know you learn the Bible you walk with God you get people say but every once in a while it's good to just go back to the rudimentary aspects of your Christian life and recognize I'm so thankful I'm saved I'm so thankful that God loves me I'm so thankful that you know that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sins and he resurrected them on the third day he conquered death and he made it so easy for me to be saved that all I have to do is place my faith in him and that's it what a wonderful thing I mean think about this if you're saved you're gonna live forever you will be here forever you will never see death now obviously our flesh will die one day but let's use God's definition of what death is God's definition of what death is is the fact that you go to hell okay when we die to be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord the Bible says okay so when we die we just shed this carcass this shell and we get to be with the Lord and then one day our bodies will resurrect and and we will receive our glorified bodies and we shall be ever we shall be forever with the Lord we'll be in the millennial rain I mean we'll be in the new heaven the new earth I mean we will live forever right what a great gift and so you know magnifying his love is recognizing that his son Jesus Christ was sent to be the propitiation for our sins and in chapter 2 it says not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world so we don't believe in Calvinism here okay it's not like well you know he died for just his elect no he died for everyone even the Richard Ramirez right he died for him too but unfortunately you know there came a point when Richard Ramirez rejected that became a hater of God and just completely just just denied the Lord God that bought him okay but think about this you know God's love is perfect towards us it's when we say perfect what do we mean it's complete you know he doesn't lack in his love for us it's just like well you know he's still working on loving me you know I mean he's still working on loving me I'm just so unlovable he's just working on that still and you know I got flaws no he loves you the way you are now do we do we need to go through the process of sanctification absolutely but that just because we are lacking just because we're not where we need to be today doesn't make God love you any less he loves you just as much as when you were born as when you got saved he loves you as his child okay and so his love is perfect towards us and think about this the Bible tells us that he's loved you with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness he would draw you you know and I think about the verse in Romans chapter 2 where it says that the goodness and forbearance of God should lead me to repentance now obviously when you're in sin and you're backslidden you know obviously you should get back and get right with God because you're afraid of God's judgment I mean why not that's a good motivation like I don't want God to spank me I don't want God to judge me I don't want God to destroy me or destroy my finances or destroy the people around me you know I'm afraid that I'm gonna get judged so therefore I'm gonna get right with God that's a great reason to do so but the Bible also says that the goodness and forbearance of God should lead you to repentance when you recognize the fact that he could judge you and he doesn't the fact that he could cause you to lose your legs and he doesn't when you're on the brink of judgment and God does not judge you that's God's goodness in his forbearance that's his mercy and it's just I should just get right with God now you know let's not push it too far here you know let me not push my luck I need to get right with God now before that judgment comes okay but he's loved us with an everlasting love and it's that loving kindness that draws us you know it leads us to repentance etc look at verse 11 beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another so he loved us in this manner in like manner we should love our brethren as well you know the Bible says in John 15 the 13 greater love hath no man than this that a man laid down his life for his friends now you're probably not gonna have to do that I probably shouldn't say that too soon because it might have to happen or something I don't know because there there's times during the last month where I was just like Ray might need to die for me or something I don't know you know Marcus might need to die there's times when you felt like you're just at the brink of death we're like hey something actually might happen you know I might get into my car turn it on and boom but we should have the attitude that we're willing to give our lives for our brethren because that's the example that Jesus Christ left us to give our life but even then you know you may not need to give your life physically but you do need to die to self and the way you know the Bible tells us to prefer one another well the way you prefer one another is by dying to self right dying to your own ambitions your own desires your own wants in order to be a blessing to your brothers and sisters in Christ it's putting your needs secondary to those of your brothers okay and so to a certain extent you know we give our lives for others right whether that's our brethren in Christ or whatever may be look at verse 12 no man had seen God at any time if we love one another God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us now what it says that no man had seen God at any time this is obviously referring to who God the Father because no one has seen God the Father but the Bible says that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and that's referring to Jesus Christ and the Word you know was manifest in the flesh and they seen him referring to Jesus Christ he dwelt among them so people who lived 2,000 years ago who were part of Jesus ministry they saw God in the flesh but they saw God the Son okay not God the Father no man had seen God the Father anybody who saw Jesus saw God they saw the resemblance of God because he's his son but they did not see God the Father okay they saw his son and it says here if we love one another God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us so look any time you're fellowshipping and you're like man I love my brothers you know what the Bible says God's dwelling in you and another way to put that is this you're walking in the spirit so when you are fellowshipping one with another and you have this swelling joy of being with your brother it's like man I really love my brother or you know sometimes you leave church and you're like I'm kind of sad that we're leaving like I can't wait till Sunday I want to see my brother again that's a swelling joy that you have the Bible is telling us there that his love is being perfected in us but look folks if you have this attitude is like oh here we gonna go to church again oh there's sister so-and-so and look this church is like that there's churches where literally people are constantly watching the clock to figure out when is church over is it why because the God's not dwelling in them and their love is not being perfected it might be saved when I say God's not dwelling he's not making his abode with him and we'll look at that later on in John 14 you know he's they're not walking in the spirit okay now I'm not saying that like if when you're a Christian you're just getting along you're gonna get along with every Tom Dick and Harry that walks through these walls okay through these doors you know you're not gonna get along with everyone in the church obviously and as our church grows there you're probably gonna run into people who you just don't really like to talk to you very much okay and that's normal but here's the thing I don't never get to a point where you hate that brother when I get to a point where you're bitter towards ever and if it gets to that point you need to get that right go resolve that go get that right and and reconcile that relationship but what I'm saying is this is you will love your brother and just in general like these are my brothers these are my sisters in Christ I love them I love being around them and that is how you perfect your love look at verse 13 hereby know we that we dwell in him and he and us because he has given us of his spirit so what is one of the what is the fruit of the spirit the first one is what love now people think well you know I got to work on love or I got to work on joy I don't know you just got to walk in the spirit and all of those individual aspects become apparent in your life you get them all at the same time depending obviously upon the situation or whatever it may be you know if you're going through a difficult time a trial but you're walking in the spirit you're gonna have joy okay you're gonna have patience you're gonna have long suffering towards people but the first one is this joy go to Galatians chapter 5 let's look at those briefly Galatians chapter 5 hold your place there in 1st John chapter 4 Galatians chapter 5 in verse 22 it says but the fruit of the spirit Galatians 5 22 but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance against such there is no law and they that our Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust now look this is telling us that we don't necessarily have to work on these things right what it's telling us is this if we walk in the spirit the spirit will produce these things in us obviously depending on the circumstance that you're in so if you are dealing with a person who's kind of unruly in the church or you just you're lacking patience with them well if you're walking in the spirit you're gonna have long suffering and patience towards that person you understand if you're happy if you're going through a difficult time and you're just wondering man is God gonna provide well if you're walking in the spirit you're gonna have faith say God will provide you will have meekness you will have temperance you're gonna have love you're gonna have those things if you walk in the spirit so the only thing really that we have to do on our part is just walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh understand now obviously the things that we do need to work on is how to manifest those those those those qualities in a practical way you know if I love my brother what should I do for him right if I am if I have faith what how should I put that faith into practice you know the inner man has faith how can I put that into practice well I need to keep going to church even though I don't I could be working or something you know to earn more money to pay the bills so I need to keep coming to church I need to keep reading the Bible and you keep praying okay you know you have temperance you know if you have temperance what are you gonna do you're not gonna knock out the the the reprobate who's taunting you and saying all manner of evil against you is like well I'm just I'm just have temperance you know I'm not gonna really show them what I could what I can do I'm just gonna like have self-control you're gonna have peace and this is important folks this will make you a super Christian I'm I say that jokingly but I'm but I'm being like I'm not joking at the same time because look when you go through certain trials the world looks at you like why aren't you like losing your mind right now but if you're walking in the spirit it's just like I don't know I just I just have peace the passive understanding I just have love I have joy you know throughout our whole ordeal I've had many people say of me or of our church like hey you guys are taking this pretty well like how are you guys doing it's just like I mean I'm stressed but I mean I have a lot of joy though you know you said how do you express that joy it means you know and so it's important that you walk in the spirit in order to manifest you'll have those qualities in you but you know you got to manifest those things in your personal life as well in a practical way understand and so against such there is no law it says in verse 25 if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit you see when you get saved you have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within you he's never gonna leave you nor forsake you the Holy Spirit comes to live within you he sealed there until the day of redemption he never leaves but then there's the commandment that we have to walk in the spirit we have to be filled with the spirit don't grieve the spirit don't quench the spirit let us not be desirous of vainglory provoking one another envying one another so go back to 1st John chapter 4 if you would this is one of my favorite subjects to talk about because it hits home because we all deal with this you know walking in the spirit of walking in the flesh and you say well you know how pastor I just been feeling really fleshly this week and you know I just I just feel like really in the flesh I'm surrounded by different people that get me in the flesh well you know join the crowd I mean we're all in this world we all have to deal with it the way you overcome that is this is make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof what is it you know when you think of the word provision you think of we know what God provides for us he's providing our meals he's providing our necessities well if you make a provision for the flesh you're basically feeding the flesh so don't feed the flesh and you won't give into the flesh in tandem with that walk in the spirit be conscious of saying hey I need to walk in the spirit I need a submit to the inner man I need to submit to the spirit so that I can live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord look at verse 14 says that we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the son to be the Savior of the world whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God God dwelleth in him and he in God 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 now go to John 14 if you would John 14 so you'll see this these terms being being used in the book of 1st John and it's often about abiding dwelling fellowshipping these all mean the same thing and what this is referring to is the fact that you know when you are dwelling in God or you're walking with God you're living a life that's pleasing unto him the Bible actually says that he makes his abode with you okay and this is this is the sweet spot in the Christian life when Jesus Christ and God make their abode with you okay where you know you're reading your Bible you're walking in the spirit look what it says in John 14 verse 21 he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me so look the person who says oh I love God well we can basically retort back and say are you keeping his commandments right or is is this too legalistic for Jesus here you know he that hath my command by the way when someone says oh you guys are too legalistic they're basically saying they're lawless that's not good he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me now look folks obviously we're supposed to love God with all our hearts soul mind and strength you're supposed to be an emotional love towards God right well we feel like we love God we love God in our emotions and in our heart but in a practical way the way we manifest our love toward God is by keeping his commandments and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him now let me just make this disclaimer does not talk about visions here I saw I saw Jesus in a dream you know I you know this is not referring to that type of manifestation okay because here's the thing is like hope that is seen is not hope right so we walk by faith and not by sight when he says manifest myself to him he's referring to the fact that he's gonna manifest his power his presence okay verse 22 Judas saith unto him not as scary it Lord how is it that thou will manifest thyself unto us and not into the world Jesus answered and said unto him if a man loved me he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him now why am I saying that this is the sweet spot because this is this is where you get blessed by God this is where it doesn't matter if the world's falling apart around you if COVID-19 restrictions are just driving you nuts doesn't matter if you're losing your job or you don't have enough finances to make it you know through the end of the week or month or whatever doesn't matter what happens as long as God is abiding with you you're gonna be fine because if God before us who could be against us you know if your health is going down the toilet but God is abiding with you fret not there's no reason to worry because if we have God with us abiding with us that's all we need but let me say this if you have money if you have your health if you have a job if you have all those things but God is not abiding with you that's a dangerous spot because all the money in the world all the money listen to me all the money in the world can't save you from God's judgment right all the money in the world no matter what job you have no matter what's going on no matter how successful you become in the eyes of the world if you have those things but you have not God you don't have God's blessing it will do you nothing I'd rather be broke and have God's blessing then have it the other way around now I'd rather have both right where it's just like I'm being taken care of giving neither poverty nor riches you know just give me that which is sufficient and God's blessing but here's the thing if I have to choose between being rich and not having God's blessing and being poor and having God's blessing obviously being poor in God's blessing is the best because the Bible says the blessing of the Lord it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow to it I know a lot of people who are rich but they have a lot of sorrow so you know mo money mo problems right but here's the mo God mo blessing so you know this this should be an encouragement to you that or a motivation to say man I want God to abide with me well how do I do that we'll keep his commandments read the Bible memorize the scriptures obey him seek to live a life that's pleasing unto him and and you know don't get become so stressed out like okay my boy my obeying God now like is that enough Bible God you know obviously there's no guideline or indication of how much is enough we just got to do what we can right just walk with God as best as we can make sure that we're keeping sin out of our lives making sure that we're reading God's Word we're gleaning wisdom we're asking God for wisdom we're praying we're soul winning we're seeking to live a balanced Christian life and at that point if you have examined your life and say well I don't think I have sin in my life I think I'm I'm doing as best as I possibly can then guess what God is abiding with you I mean think about this do you have peace in your life are you do you have love you have joy in your life then that's an indication that he's probably making his abode with you okay look at verse 70 go back to 1st John if you would verse 17 says 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 so look it's important that our love is perfected it's complete because the individual who does not work on completing their love they're gonna be very ashamed at the second coming of Christ plain and simple right but if you have perfected your love if you're working at it if Christ comes I was gonna say if Christ comes today which I'm slipping into my old ways here my old pre-trib ways you know if Christ comes within our lifetime okay you know and we we are here for the second coming of Christ we're gonna have boldness in the day of judgment it's like I've sought to love the Lord with my whole heart I've sought to just raise my children for the Lord to love my wife as Christ loved the church to serve God you know I'm take me now I'm glad you're here even so Lord come but you know I guarantee there's a bunch of Christians out there who's so backslid like man I hope he doesn't come in my lifetime because if he does like I'm screwed because I'm not serving God right now and I'd be embarrassed to see my maker you know when I haven't done anything for God I haven't served God I haven't done anything you know we want to perfect our love in order for us to have boldness in the day of judgment not judgment it's not referring to judgment whether you go to heaven or hell it's referring to the judgment seat of Christ you say well I thought you said the second coming the second coming is not the judgment seat of Christ yeah but the second coming at that point you're done working it was like that's the clock out time you can't work those three and a half years of judgment of the God's wrath you know that you know how the millennial reign comes thereafter obviously the second coming you're done clock out time okay so we need to perfect our love all right now look what it says in verse 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 this is a very powerful verse okay when he says there's no fear in love what is he referring to well think about this okay when he says there's no fear in love remember who's he addressing the spirit the spirit never fears never fears and just meditate on that thought for a second the inner man never fears the inner man never doubts the inner man never sins it just constantly has confidence in God it's never afraid so when you become afraid it's an indication that you're in the flesh not in the spirit because the inner man is just like you know let them do whatever they want I'm not afraid the Bible says for God have not given us a spirit of fear but of power love and what a sound mind you know the inner man is just always chillin he's just cool he's cool calm and collected he has a sound mind at all times bombs are going off worlds falling apart Biden is president everything is just like falling apart and the inner man is just of a sound mind he just doesn't faze him pretty amazing if you think about it your inner man is just like that the why don't feel that way that's because you're probably not made perfect in your love you're probably walking in the flesh all the time because the flesh is always afraid the flesh is always fearing there's a common phrase you see on the men's chat who's fearing right who's fearing well those who are in the flesh are fear now look because we have both natures we're gonna fear there's never gonna be a time this side of eternity where we're only of a sound mind and never fear fearful right and there's gonna be a time in your life when you know you're going through a circumstance and you have faith you have peace but you're still a little scared though you're still a little afraid so what do I what what does that mean it means that you have both the flesh and spirit but this is how you deal with that okay when you are afraid when you're going through something or your your faith is being tested your life is being threatened your jobs are being threatened because you know there's people out there who are trying to get you fired from your job and your livelihoods being tested and you're afraid what do you do well here's the thing fear is not a bad thing it's this it's what you choose to do what you're supposed to do is this I'm afraid but I'm gonna do right anyways my flesh is afraid but I'm still gonna do that which is right in the sight of the Lord I'm gonna obey the inner man rather than the flesh because sometimes you know you can't help but your flesh being afraid and you live in your your that carcass of yours you're in that corruptible man so it's gonna be afraid so what do you do you act on your faith not your fear but you know a lot of preachers out there they're not like that they act on their their fear and they make excuses well you know maybe I need to like tone it down a little bit tone the message down and you know whereas that their inner man is like what do you mean are you wussing out you're ranking out are you are you copying out are you scared why are you scared I'm not scared hey don't be scared cuz then you can people are gonna think that I'm scared and I'm not afraid that's what the inner man's thinking your man is like I'm not afraid you're afraid I'm not scared I want to preach God's word I want to stand for truth I want to do that which is right inside of the Lord and some preachers are like well I'm still gonna not do that which is right because I'm scared so it's not like being afraid is bad it's what you do even though you're afraid do right anyways do right anyways there is no fear in love but perfect love cast without fear now what does that mean when it says perfect love cast without fear well think about this when will you be made perfect in love when now which is perfect has come which is our resurrected bodies think about this the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 13 regarding love charity right says we prophesy but we know in part we prophesy in part but when now which is perfect this come then now which is in part shall be done away so you know we we fear in part to us right because even though we're standing for truth there could be times when we become afraid we fear in part but you know when now which is perfect this come perfect love cast without fear and fear shall be done away with because fear is part of that old man that old carcass that old corruptible body okay and look folks we need to make sure that we don't let fear go unfettered in our personal lives why because it hath torment fear has torment folks okay it says there because fear hath torment he that feareth is not made perfect in love now why does it say that fear has torment well think about this go to Hebrew chapter 10 if you would Hebrew chapter 10 the person the Christian who's constantly afraid they could be afraid for various reasons number one if they're backslid and they're afraid that God's just gonna judge them right and they should be afraid of that right the flesh is afraid of that today's the day he's gonna he's gonna he's gonna whack me today God's gonna whack me today I'm done today and they're afraid and they should be look what it says in Hebrews 10 it's biblical verse 24 and let us consider one another to provoke and to love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching it says go to church so much the more as you see the day approaching verse 26 for if we sin willfully after that we receive the knowledge of the truth there remain there's no more sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries you say you know what this person does if they're sinning willfully they know they're not living right they're constantly looking for God's judgment to come upon their lives they're afraid and it should be and he says this verse 28 he that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses hey where's this is this Hebrews is this the New Testament here oh yeah I guess it is the New Testament here huh why are you bringing up the Old Testament Paul we're in the New Testament we're under grace man what are you talking about you're using Moses and people dying under his law without mercy verse 29 of how much sore punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under the foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified in unholy thing and hath done the spite unto the Spirit of grace for we know him that hath said vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompense saith the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people so when it says that vengeance is mine saith the Lord I will repay that's obviously we can apply that to the enemies of God but you know sometimes God wants us to apply it to ourselves because he says I will judge you and then the famous verse in verse 31 it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God and to that I say amen scary because God will hit you where it hurts so you know sometimes people are just scared if they're backslidden you know they can be tormented by the possibility of being judged by God but how about this what about the just the torment that we face on the day-to-day basis of just being in our flesh you know isn't it frustrating to be in your flesh the longer you're a Christian the longer you're saved the more you think about think like Paul when he said oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death you're like I'm trying to please God but I fail I was you know I was mean to my wife or something or I was mean to my husband or I was mean to my children or you know I just I just sinned or I messed up I failed in this area you know this this flesh is just like torments me and so but here's the thing is that one that which is perfect has come then this corruptible body shall put on in corruption we're no longer have to deal with that all right but fear does have torment and so but you know a lot of people there's different reasons why people fear how about this just fearing man some people are just afraid of people right there's people were just scared of other individuals because every individual has their own will and they could do something to you if they don't like you and that can bring fear but you know the Bible says that the fear of man bringeth a snare but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe so when you fear man that actually brings a snare upon you you're entrapped you're ensnared you're that's why you know you have these preachers who won't get up and preach the Bible because they're too scared they're afraid of a man can do unto them that's what they're afraid of they have a fear of man but folks we need to trust God not fear man you know the Bible says that the wicked flee will no man pursue but the righteous are as bold as the lion so no matter what threats come no matter what they do to your property or even what they do to your persons you don't back down you stand up for the truth you're bold and Lord you you you you're strong and Lord in the power of his might and don't allow yourself to be ensnared by the fear of man because I'm telling you people will allow themselves to become ensnared and there's just paralyzes them from serving God our life is but a drop in the bucket in comparison to eternity you understand it's a it's a drop in the bucket so it's better to fear God perfect your love in him and and not fear man and here's the thing think about this and my pastor friend gave me this example I thought it was great you know he said this you know when you think about your children for example they do with what you tell them to do because they're afraid of you sometimes you're like well not my son not my daughter well you need a different servant you know they're afraid that you're gonna chastise them or spank them which is good but don't we want our children to get to a point where they do things that we tell them to do because they love us they love us right that's the same thing with God you know God we often serve God sometimes out of fear because we don't want God to judge us but we need to get to a point where we do things for God because the love of Christ constrains us right it's like I want to serve God I want to win souls to Christ I want to live righteously not because I'm afraid but rather because I love the Lord and and I know this pleases him and when I win souls to Christ when I disciple people when I read the Bible when I when I get sin out of my life I know that pleases God and I know that he loves that and because I love him therefore I want to do that understand and that's how we begin to perfect that love there look at verse 19 go back to 1st John chapter 4 so fear hath torment don't allow yourself to be tormented by fear and look man there's a lot of Christians are just afraid all the time they're constantly worried constantly afraid oh man especially now with Biden as president you know you need to do you need to start acting like your inner man your man's like okay don't bother me none I didn't even vote the inner man is like you know you know Donald Trump who Biden who Jesus is my king God is my king I'm his servant you're the inner man is saying go read the Bible let's go read the Word of God the inner man saying hey let's go fellowship with the brethren the inner man saying hey let's go witness to someone the inner man is like let's go get someone saved let's go preach the Word of God let's go stand up against the reprobates let's go fight the Lord's battles let's go do that instead of being afraid all the time that's what he's telling the flesh so look what we need to do is start hanging out with the inner man a little more because don't you see that when you're around bold people you actually become bold yourself right you know if you're if you're afraid and you come to church you start hanging out with bold people you end up becoming bold yourself well how much more when you start hanging out with the inner man spirit you start walking in spirit not fulfilling the lust of the flesh just obeying the inner man you know you're gonna be bold in the Lord I like the inner man great he's cool the old man is lame old man is decrepit he is you know he's falling apart he is constantly afraid he does not have faith in God the guy doesn't want to subject themselves to the law of God neither indeed can be he doesn't like the Bible he despised prophesying he doesn't want to pray he doesn't want to do anything that is godly or that is pleasing unto the Lord let's hang out with the inner man instead because the air man is like I love those that stuff I love singing the hymns I love the spiritual songs I love the truth I don't rejoice in an iniquity I rejoice in the truth and so look what verse 19 says we love him because he first loved us if any if a man say I love God and hated this brother he's a liar for he that loveth not his brother whom he had seen how could he love God whom he has not seen pretty simple there it was like come on if you hate your brother and you've you've seen what he is how can you claim to even love God and you've never seen him and this commandment have we from him that he who loveth God love his brother also so what how does he finish off the chapter he's basically saying hey you got to make sure that you work on your love okay you perfect your love and and the way you perfect the number one is by walking in the spirit don't try to get your flesh to do that which only the spirit can do don't try to get your flesh to do that which only the inner man is capable of doing which if you think about it these lordship salvation's people that's what they're trying to do oh we don't sin and the people they're not even saved because they believe you have to like make Jesus Lord of your life you have to repent of your sins and all these things and it's just like they're trying to make their flesh the light of the law of God and trying to make their flesh to love prophesying love holiness these rake the rake comforts of this world that's what they're trying to do with us is like I'm not gonna try to get my old man to do that he's crucified with Christ he's dead the inner man that's that's what we're about let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and Lord thank you for the inner man that dwells within us thank you so much for quickening our spirit Lord and it's encouraging to know that we have God in us and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us Lord we have a new man the new creature help us to walk in that spirit Lord and not fulfill the lust of the flesh to and help us to be conscious of the fact that if we are fearing if we are feeling bitter if there's envy if there's strife if there's any works of the flesh it's only an indication not that we're not saved but it's an indication that we're not walking in the spirit help us Lord to perfect our love and to realize that that's what we're doing when we're walking in the spirit strengthen our inner man renew him though the outward man perish please continue to renew the inward man day by day we love you so much Lord to me thank you pray these things in Jesus name amen