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

So in 1 John chapter 2 we're continuing our study in 1 John, so let's just dive right into this. Last week we talked about the fact that this book was written that your joy may be full, that we would have fellowship with the brethren, that we'd walk in the light. So at the very beginning here we're not talking about how to get saved, we're just talking about how to be a disciple of Christ, how to walk after his steps and it continues in that same manner when you go into chapter 2 and starting there in verse 1 of chapter 2 it says, my little children these things write I unto you that you sin not and if any man sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. So this is really calling back right to what was just said before in chapter 1 where it said if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and so it's the same thing dealing with the fact of you know you're saved but if you if you sin we have an advocate with the father and so the commandment is not to sin but if you do sin so that that's what it's telling you don't sin but if you do you have an advocate with the father meaning that you just come to Jesus you confess your sins and he's faithful and just to forgive your sins this is talking about the flesh this is talking about the sins in the flesh because spiritually speaking in your soul your soul has no sin and so the only way this makes sense especially when we get into chapter 3 is that we're talking about the flesh go to Hebrew chapter 9 I kind of mentioned this when I was talking about it last week but I really just want to go to the passage just for you to see it Hebrews chapter 9 and we're going to look at verse 13 this not only tells you what all the sacrifices in the Old Testament were for physically when it talks about an atonement for your sin atonement for your soul like all these different things when they would do these these these animal sacrifices it wasn't to get you to heaven in Hebrew chapter 9 verse 13 it says for if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of the what flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God and throughout Hebrews it's talking about how much better the New Testament is and so what was the whole point of the the bulls and the goats and all these the sprinkling the ashes of the heifer is for the purifying of the flesh and we already covered that last week but I just wanted to show you that and that's what it's talking about here when it says my little children these things write unto you that you sin not that's one of the reasons why I wrote this book is saying sin not so you'll see that in other places where it's talking about not sinning but that's that's a commandment you know is not to sin but he's he's noting that the obvious is that you're going to sin you know if any man sin we have an advocate with the father so he's saying don't sin but if you do you know confess it to Jesus we have the advocate with the father that's Jesus Christ the righteous and notice it says he is the propitiation for our sins not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world and I don't understand how these Calvinists can come out there and say that well Jesus only died this limited atonement or he only died for the elect no he died for every single person everybody that's in hell right now Jesus died for them and he died on the cross with their sins on it he was made to be sin for them as well they just they just rejected it and so they're without excuse they could have been saved their sins were all paid for all they had to do is accept it and they're in hell so but go to Romans chapter 3 this word propitiation you know it's a big word but pretty much just means atonement and so this word is used in three different places this is one of them Romans chapter 3 but then it's also used in in first john chapter 4 so this word isn't used that often in the bible but we can clearly see what it's talking about the word atonement is used a lot in the old testament it's only used once in the new testament and we talked about that in Romans chapter 5 and so propitiation is kind of like another word for atonement and so he's the payment if you want to look at it that way he's the payment for our sins but Romans chapter 3 this is very famous passage that we use out soul winning all the time but Romans chapter 3 and verse 21 it says but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference for all of sin and comes short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God to declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus fits perfectly you know this is what this is what this is talking about is the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin he is the advocate with the father he is the Jesus Christ the righteous the just and what we have to understand and I'm going to really get into this next week okay we talked about this in Romans but I'm going to get into next week with the fact of the old man new man we have the inner man which is our soul that's born of God but then we have the outer man which is the flesh which is not born of God yet and it will be and there's no doubt it will be eventually whether Christ comes in the clouds or not but we're waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God to with the redemption of the body and so we're waiting for that but what we'll see is that we are children of God right now it's just the fact that it's spiritually speaking right now and it's not physically and it's physically though it's physically speaking if you walk in the spirit okay and so that's that's what this chat that's what this book is really talking about is the fact that if you're walking in the spirit that's how you're manifesting yourself physically right and it's your choice whether you're going to walk in the spirit and walk as a child of God that doesn't mean that you're not a child of God when you're not walking as a child of God it just means it's kind of like that light you know if if that light be darkness how great is that darkness it's talking about the light that's in you and if you quench that spirit and you and you put out that light that's what that's talking about now let's get let's get into uh chapter uh two verse three because this is where people really get caught up and think we're talking about adding works to salvation or something where we have to do good works to go to heaven usually no one really i don't think anybody really trips up with the first two verses there but verse three notice what it says hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments he that saith i know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him well see there you go if you don't do the commandments then you're not saved i'm just telling you this is what people think though now what you're going to find though is knowing God and being known of God are two different things knowing God is a process that's going to take time and and it's going to be something that's going to you know it's kind of like uh knowing your your spouse you know that's not something that happens automatically you know like that's something over time you get to know her and know her and know her and same thing with God is knowing God is something that we'll never fully know God until we see him for you know face to face you know until we or we uh we or like him and and when we see Jesus coming in the clouds and so but what it's talking about here is we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments so that's basically saying don't tell me you know God and you're close with God if you don't keep the commandments that's what it's talking about now that i want to show you the difference go to Galatians chapter 4 because it shows a stark difference between knowing God and being known of God now obviously when you get saved you are knowing God to a certain extent right when you hear the gospel and hear that Jesus died on the cross for your sins rose again the third day i'm not saying that's not knowing God to a certain aspect okay but that's kind of like the beginning of knowledge right the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and so you're you're i wouldn't say that's not knowing God a little bit but when we're talking about knowing God in the bible most of the time it's talking about a Christian learning more about who God is understanding his word and increasing in knowledge and so that's something that's a process is something that happens after it's it's a if you're a disciple you're gonna be knowing God you're gonna know God and so blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God you know that's something that doesn't happen automatically necessarily when you get saved you're not gonna automatically know everything about God that's why you come to church that's why you read the bible that's why you go out soul winning that's why you know there's a huge deal and you're not going to get that just when you get saved okay galatians chapter 4 and verse 8 it says how be it then when you knew not God you did service unto them which by nature are no gods but now after that you have known God or rather are known of God how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements weren't he desire again to be in bondage notice how the bible is stating it's it's more important that you're known of God okay and this is something that's brought up a lot nayum chapter one and we did the whole book of nam or if you remember um nam chapter one and verse seven it says the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him who know with them God knows them to trust in him the Lord knows them to trust in him so remember that it's talking about that after you that you have known God or rather are known of God that's the more important thing is that you're known of God and so second timothy chapter 2 and verse 19 second timothy chapter 2 and verse 19 so i want to show you the difference this chapter in chapter 2 of first john we're dealing with knowing God and it's already assumed from the very beginning of the book that we're talking to people that are known of God already okay and so this is something that you're adding on top of being known of God you want to know him okay and so nahum 1 says he knoweth them to trust in him second timothy chapter 2 and verse 19 it says nevertheless the foundation of God stand assure having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone the name of the name of Christ apart from iniquity so this is very consistent go to john chapter 10 john chapter 10 famous passage of of the good shepherd jesus the good shepherd john chapter 10 and verse 14 and what you're going to see in here is it does talk about us knowing him too but it's usually coupled with following him okay and so being known of God is being saved following Christ is knowing God okay and so uh john chapter 10 verse 14 it says i am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine verse 25 it says jesus answered them i told you and you believe not the works that i do in my father's name they bear witness of me but you believe not because you're not of my sheep and i said unto you and as i said unto you my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me and i give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand i my father are one and so this passage is very clear that his sheep he knows his sheep the Lord knoweth them that trust in him the Lord knoweth him that that are his and that fits perfectly with this my sheep hear my voice and i know them now that's important when you go to matthew chapter 7 when you understand that so people have used this passage go to matthew chapter 7 and they try to use this passage to say well you could lose your salvation these people lost their salvation and it's always you know it's funny to me how people that will use passages to try to disprove eternal security are actually the best passages to prove eternal security and so someone tried to use this passage to me a long time ago trying to tell me i could lose my salvation and i've won many people to christ using this passage to say that you can't lose your salvation and so it's always it's it's ironic i guess that they that they use the the very passages that disprove what they believe and so matthew chapter 7 verse 21 it says not everyone that saith unto me lord lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven many will say to me in that day lord lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works and then will i profess unto them i never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity notice he said i never knew you so were they ever his sheep not according to the fact that he says my sheep hear my voice and i know them and so he he says many times i'm the good shepherd and know my sheep so if that's the case if he said i never knew you were they ever his sheep no and you say well you know but you have to do the will of the father the will of the father is to keep all his commandments oh is that what it says go to john chapter 6 and verse 39 and so being known of god we'll see what that what does that mean because he said only those who do the will of the father are going to enter in the kingdom of heaven and he says to these people did they say anything about the believing in the any in that whole in those three things they said was there anything about i believed on you christ i trusted in you no i prophesied i cast out devils and i did many wonderful what's the last word works and isn't that what everybody believes everybody that we run into is that some kind of work that they have to do to go to heaven and so these people clearly weren't saved to begin with and he's stating that he said i never knew you and so in john chapter 6 verse 39 here we get our answer what is the will of the father the will of the father in verse 39 it says and this is the the father's will which hath sent me that ever that all which he hath given me i should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which seeth the son and believed on him may have everlasting life and i'll raise him up at the last day well that sounds familiar with everything else that we believe that is believe on the lord jesus christ and now shall be saved so they didn't do the will of the father they didn't believe on jesus christ and that's why they're bringing up all this other stuff as far as doing good works prophesying in his name and he said i never knew you but if they would have believed on him he would have said i knew you because he knoweth all them that trust in him and so that's very clear the knowing the knowing of being known of god is being saved knowing god is being his disciple that's what this chapter is saying uh hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments you want to know how you're the disciple of christ if you're keeping his commandments you want to know whether you're a follower of christ if you're keeping his commandments you want to know how you if you love christ keep his commandments and that's what this book is all about is the fact that being his disciple being fruitful abiding in the word of god abiding in christ and we're going to see that where we're talking about walking in the light and abiding in him are the one and the same thing but jeremiah go to well uh go to hosia chapter six because i've gone to jeremiah 31 i don't know how many times the past a couple uh sermons but you remember when the the covenant of the new covenant you were in jeremiah 31 it says and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying know the lord that's what we're talking about we're not talking about getting saved because why else would jesus say go you into all the world preach the gospel out of the creature you know teaching all nations right if why would he probably that would be the last thing jesus tells his disciples to do if the new testament is all about not teaching anybody right this is obviously talking about knowing the lord which means as you once you're saved then with the holy ghost you don't need anybody to teach you you need not that any man teaches doesn't mean that no one can teach you it just means that it's not required it's not required meaning it's not you could learn everything about the bible just with you and the holy ghost and hosia chapter six this is an interesting verse that just uh it just kind of stuck out to me in verse one it says come and let and let us return unto the lord for he had torn and we he will heal us he has smitten and he will bind us up after two days will he revive us in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight then shall we know if we follow on to know the lord it's going his going forth is prepared as the morning and he shall come unto us as the rain as the ladder and former reign unto the earth it's interesting because this passage i believe is also showing a prophetic fact of jesus rising on the third day but it's also talking about that uh then shall we know if we follow on to know the lord and that's what you're going to see throughout this is if you're following christ that's how you're going to know him and how do you follow christ keep his commandments read his read his word that the word of god would dwell in you that the word of god would abide in you and so uh but we see this down in first john chapter two in verse 20 it says but ye have an unction from the holy one and you know all things first john chapter 2 and verse 27 it says but the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you and you need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing teaches you of all things in his truth and is no lie and even as it had taught you ye shall abide in him and so remember what the the indwelling of the holy ghost the holy ghost is always abiding in you abiding in you forever but that holy ghost is going to teach you all things whatsoever jesus said and so when we're talking about knowing the lord we're talking about the fact that we have the holy ghost inside of us and if we keep his commandments that's how we're going to know the lord so it's this book is really giving you avenues as far as how you're going to know god you say i want to know god i want to know more about god keep his commandments and it's not just reading his word you can say well i'm just going to read the bible and that's how i'm going to know listen the bible is very clear he that win his souls is wise and it talks about strong meat belonging to them that are a full age even those who by reason of what use having their senses exercises discern both good and evil if you want to know god and you want god to give you insight about the bible and you want the holy ghost to teach you all things and give you the deep truths of god you better be doing the commandments you better be loving your brother because that's how you're gonna bite in and that's how he's gonna and we're gonna get into the fact of christ and the father abiding in us and making their abode with us and so i believe that uh that you know some christians god may just not reveal certain things to them because they're not doing the work why do you think that there's a lot of baptist churches today a lot of people that that have read their bible probably a lot and but they don't know the bible from like holding the ground because they're not doing the work it's a bunch of lazy people in church that just want to know you know they want to be puffed up with knowledge knowledge puff it up but charity edifies and charity is is being selfless enough to say you know what i'm going to leave off being comfortable for an afternoon and i'm going to go out into the hot sun and go out soul winning that's charity but if you want more knowledge if you want to know god then you need to do the work and that's what the bible's teaching in here in first john and you know dispensationalists will just come to this passion say well that's different dispensation that's laziness and it doesn't surprise me that these dispensationalists that don't want to go soul winning or these calvinists that don't want to go soul winning don't understand the bible because they're lazy and god rewards those that work and so you can look at knowledge in the bible and knowing god is a reward for following him the more you follow him the more he's going to let you know about him and there's so much in here and there's nothing i'm never going to know everything in the bible you know i want to but i'm never in my whole lifetime will i ever look at the bible and say i know it all i figured out everything that was in there no it's never going to be the case but if i stop soul winning and i stop keeping the commandments you better believe i could read this book every single day but do you think the holy ghost is going to be teaching me all things when i'm not abiding in christ no and that's what this is teaching hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments and so that's what this is talking about if we keep his commandments and it says in verse four he that said i know him and keep it not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him so that's what it's saying you know basically if someone comes up here and says you know what i know this bible i've read this bible you know cover to cover so many times and you know i i know all these doctrines and i know god but i don't go soul winning anymore that's for someone that's for the peasants that's for the layman of the church he's a liar and the truth is not in him that's why if you're ever going to go to the church you're ever going to listen to somebody preach they better be doing the work i don't have respect for pastors or preachers that don't go soul winning and you know sometimes people will be like why don't you listen to this guy you know well first of all is he king james only because if he died i don't want to listen to him but let's say he's king james only is he going soul winning well you can still learn no no i don't i can't i don't want to learn from somebody that doesn't go soul winning i have no respect for those that don't go soul winning so why would i listen to them now i still love them and i want them to get right and i want them to go get get on the right track start going soul winning and do what they need to do but why would i listen to what they have to say about the bible when the bible says hereby we do know them or hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments and they're not doing it and so that's what this chapter is talking about is knowing god knowing god is by keeping his commandments being known of god is believing on the lord jesus christ simple as that and abiding in him is also the same thing abiding in christ and this is we were out soul winning and this guy that grew up baptist or whatever you know we were talking about and i asked him i said well the rubber meets the road is do you believe you can lose your salvation he said well yeah i do and he's like i know that and i say well we don't he's like yeah i know you you guys don't believe you can't and so he knew where we were coming from he knew what what we believe and he was saying you know he didn't even know the passage i'm like well just off the cuff i said what is it what's the biggest passage that you would say that would convince you of thinking you could lose your salvation and he said oh it's somewhere in galatians about falling from faith or something i'm like falling from you know you falling from grace and he wouldn't really let me try to explain it to him at all but he's like no you gotta abide in him you have to abide in him and that's where people come in they go into the chapters like this and they find where we need to abide in christ and and basically if you're not loving your brother you're not abiding in him therefore you're not really saved if you don't love your brother you're not really saved if you don't keep the commandments you're not really saved if you don't do x y and z because they're coming into a book that's written to christians written to believers and obviously that guy's not saved so he's not going to understand it but you have a bunch of baptist preachers that are confused on this passage don't know what they're talking about haven't studied this passage enough to know what it's talking about and so abiding in christ it's not it's not talking about getting saved it's not talking about staying safe it's talking about abiding with christ you're walking with him and what this is dealing with is that if you're not keeping his commandments you're not walking with christ if you're sinning you're not walking with christ it's simple right you're not walking in the new man you haven't put on the new man that day if you're sinning or you're not keeping the commandments that's as simple as it gets but it says right here in first john chapter two verse five it says but who so keepeth his word in him verily is the love of god perfected hereby know we that we are in him he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to what walk even as he walked remember we saw this over and over again that is even as you have received christ jesus so walk ye in him if you live in the spirit also you know walk in the spirit the walking is something that happens after you get saved it's not how you get saved and it doesn't determine whether you are saved because you can get saved and never walk in christ you heard it right from my mouth you can get saved and never abide in christ and you still go to heaven because it's believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved does not do the works and give up you know pick up the cross daily and follow me that's to be his disciple that's the abiding christ that's to be fruitful that's the walk in the spirit and that's the walk in the light and so that's what you're going to see here is this abiding now this will help you understand go to first john chapter three first john chapter three is probably the hardest passage that we're going to be dealing with when it comes to what people have problems with with that in mind that abiding is talking about walking in the spirit and not talking about whether you're saved or not okay that's how this makes sense whosoever abideth in him sinneth not now if that's talking about being saved that means that if you're saved you'll never sin again so we know that's not true because the very beginning the book it says if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us and these people are so lazy that they can't take the fact that you can't have two verses that say two opposite things and try to you got to reconcile you got to understand how they both fit you can't just drop out one you know because if you're going to say well we do sin that verse must not be saying that it's it's not sinning well that's a problem because it says it was over abideth in him sin it's not that's what it says it's plain as day but then you have the other crowd it says well once you get saved you never sin again well how do you reconcile the first chapter here's how you reconcile it you have the flesh which is sinful and then you have your soul which is sinless and if you walk if you're abiding in christ you're walking in the spirit which means you're walking in the new man which means you're not sinning you know what that tells me is that if you're ever sinning you're not walking in the spirit so if you're if you're committing sin you're not abiding in christ plain plain and simple that's what it's teaching it's saying if you're if you're not keeping the commandments you're breaking the commandment of god which sin is a transgression of law that's what it says in chapter three if you're transgressing the law you're not abiding in him that's what simply what it's saying so if you're keeping the commandments and you're you're not sinning, you're abiding in Christ. Simple as that. So it's just a simple little guide to show you, you know, how do you know whether you're abiding in Christ? Well, are you sinning right now? You know, are you breaking his commandments? Okay. Do you have the word of God? You know, if you're reading the Bible and you're quoting scripture, guess what? You're abiding in Christ. If you're giving the gospel and you're showing someone the gospel and you're preaching them the gospel and showing them verses, guess what? You're abiding in Christ. Because you had the word of God abiding in you and you're not sinning. And so that's what it's talking about when it says, whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. It's talking about the fact that you're walking in the Spirit. You're walking in the light. And you have to choose whether you're going to do that. So you're not always walking. We're not always abiding in Christ. Let's just face it. No one wakes up every single morning just walking in Christ and that's just never not abiding in Christ. It's just not, it's not going to happen. You're always going to fall back into not abiding in Christ. Our goal, obviously, is to abide in Christ as much as we can. That's the goal. And that's the walk that we have. And so just try to walk in Christ and abide in Christ as much as possible. First Peter chapter two, first Peter chapter two. Actually, before you go to first Peter chapter two, let's go to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. So I hope this makes sense. If there's anything that you're confused about, in my mind it makes sense. But sometimes it's harder, it's harder to get all that information out. Like I, in my mind it all fits like a glove. But if there's anything that you're saying, well, you know, I'm not sure exactly what this is saying or why it says it this way, let me know and I'll try to explain it a little better. But we're talking about abiding in Christ, okay? And so keeping his word. Remember, whoso keepeth his word in him is the verily the love of God perfected and he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk. So notice keeping his word and abiding in him, knowing him, all those things are used synonymously. Now notice John chapter 14, notice verse 21. Verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be loved on my father and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. To who? So Jesus saying, I'm going to manifest myself to him that, what, keeps his commandments. Notice in verse 22, Judas saith unto him, not to scary it, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him unto him, if a man love me he will keep my words and my father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and he and the word which he here is not mine but the father which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you, but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. This is like, when you look at 1 John chapter 2 and you look at this little passage right here, it's exactly how it's read in 1 John chapter 2. Because what is he saying? If you keep my commandments you love me and I'm gonna, I mean, I and the Father are gonna come and make our abode. What's abode? It's just a different tense of abide. So he's saying, I'm gonna, we're gonna abide in you and then it goes into the Holy Ghost teaching you all things and isn't that how that how it ends here when we get down to the end of the chapter? See how John is just like this little basic, first John is kind of like deep and it's smaller but John is really showing you a lot of light there. So he's saying, if you love me keep my commandments, right? That's what he said and that's why he's saying here that if you keep, those that keep my commandments, he it is that loveth me and he it is is who God the Father and him are gonna abide in. But the Holy Ghost is already abiding in you and that's what you'll see throughout this and when we get in chapter 3 at the end of the chapter and in chapter 4 it's talking about we know, we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. So this abiding is really, if you want to look at it like the Spirit of God, you know, you know and coming upon you so to speak or he's making your abode with you and so it's not meaning that God has forsaken you or anything like that if he's not abiding in you. It's just the fact that that's what the Bible teaches about this. Now go to Romans, Revelation chapter 3. So I hope this helps you make sense of some of these passages. Revelation chapter 3, the abiding is not talking about being saved and it's not talking about the entwilling of the Holy Ghost. The abiding of Christ is talking about walking in the Spirit, walking in the new man that's created in Christ Jesus. Revelation chapter 3 at the end there in verse 19. So this little verse right here in verse 19 shows us that all these churches that he's been writing to are saved churches. They're all legitimate churches. They all, a lot of them have problems but they're all say, you know, they're all legitimate churches that have saved people in them and I believe the pastor saved that he's talking to in each one of these churches and Laodicea is no different. It's not like Laodicea is some unsaved reprobate church. Now this is a legitimate church with saved people in it. Notice in verse 19, as many as I love I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent. So we know that the Lord loveth him, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. So he wouldn't be chastening a church that's not a real church. Verse 20, behold I stand at the door and knock and if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. And so notice that's not an automatic thing that he's coming to your door and knocking. This isn't talking about salvation. A lot of people use this for salvation but this is talking about fellowship with God. These people were outside fellowship. They were lukewarm and God wanted to spew them out of their mouth, out of his mouth. But he's saying I'm standing at the door and knocking and all you have to do is open the door. And so he wants to abide with all of us but he's not going to abide with people that are in sin. And that's why he's saying whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. He's basically saying if you're sinning I can't abide in you. And so that's why we need to live a righteous life. We need to get sin out of our lives. We need to keep his commandments because if you want God to abide in you and abide in your life then you need to be a righteous person. You need to be keeping his commandments. Completely outside of salvation. So we're supposed to be walking in the steps. If you want to follow Christ, if you want to be his disciple that's where we're walking in the steps, walking in the light. We're following the steps of the Savior, walking in steps of light. That's what that song is talking about but that's after salvation. Go to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 21. And what you'll see coming up throughout this chapter is the Word of God, right? Whosoever keepeth his word. I've written unto you young men because you're strong in what? The Word of God abideth in you and that wicked one touched you and you've overcome the wicked one. Why? Because the Word of God abideth in you. And so that's something that keeps being brought up a lot about the Word of God, you know, and having that in your hearts. And so in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 21 it says, For even here unto were ye called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. And that's, you know, the footprints of Jesus, right, that make the pathway glow. That's something that we're supposed to be following in the steps of the Savior, walking in paths of light. And the Bible says, The law of God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide, in Psalm 37. One of the most famous passages in Psalm 119 is that, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And is that no marvel that the Word of God keeps being brought up when we're talking about walking in the light. How did the book start off with, you know, God is light and that we're not to walk in darkness. And so we're walking in the darkness and say that he's in the light, he's a liar, right? So we're talking about the fact that we're supposed to be walking in the light and that's what exactly we're gonna go into keep going forward, or as we keep going forward here. So we're talking about abiding in Christ, walking in the light. All this stuff is after you get saved. All of it. And so don't get confused. It's not like we got to piss, we have to take pieces of this and like basically take it out and this is about salvation, this is about being a disciple. No, all this is after you've gotten saved. And so this is written to save people. And so everything in the Bible is not always about eternal salvation. That's where people mess up. That's where people get confused. So in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 7, notice what it says here. And this, you know, kind of always, when I was memorizing 1 John I was like, this is weird. Like when you read this you're like, what in the world is he talking about, right? That's what it says. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which you have from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which this thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shining. What in the world is he talking about, right? He's like, I'm not writing a new commandment unto you, but an old commandment. But this is a new commandment I'm writing unto you, right? You're like, what in the world is he talking about? How is it new but old, right? Well, go to John chapter 13. This will answer what we're talking about here. And so I remember I was like, man, this is confusing like what they're saying here. And when you read this, you'll understand why he's saying new, but it's not new, okay? John 13, verse 34. John 13, verse 34. It says, a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. And so that's not new, right? Loving one another. But what's new? As I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are to my disciples, if ye have love one toward another. So when you get into these passages, like how is it manifested that you're a disciple? Because you have love one toward another. That's what the Bible teaches. And it doesn't mean that you find two people and they love each other, and you're like, they're disciples of Jesus. Okay, that's not what we're talking about there. But there is this... Maybe next week I'll get into that, about the fact that we know that we love the brethren if we love God and keep his commandments. There's this unfeigned love of the brethren that's there, whether you like it or not. And if you're walking in the Spirit, you know that you love the brethren. But if you're walking in the flesh, you don't... You could be hating the brethren, you know, in the flesh. But never in the Spirit. You never hate the brethren in your soul or in your spirit. But that's the side note. So why is it new? Because it's as Christ loved us. Do you see how he's saying it's a new commandment is, he's saying, I want you to love the brethren as I loved you. Why? Because it says hereby I perceive we love God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And so that's why it's new, but it's old. It's new because Christ just did it. But it's old because it's been from the foundation of the world that we should love one another. And so that's what he's saying there. That's why it's so confusing when you're reading it. It's like, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, a new commandment I write unto you. You know, it's like, wait a minute, you just said that I wasn't writing a new commandment. It's new because we're talking about the thing where it says, a new commandment I write unto you which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shine. It's talking about Jesus Christ, okay? And so that's, you know, that's what this is talking about. And what's the commandment? That we love one another. That's why the next breath, when you go to verse, uh, verse, oh, no, I, I, yeah, actually I was going to go to 2 John chapter 1. All these John's in here. I got 1 John, John, 2 John, and it's like messing with my mind here. So I go to 2 John, and it says the same thing, talking about a new commandment. Well now we know what that means. We know that the new commandment is talking about the fact that it's as Christ loved us, that he died for us. And so in 2 John chapter 1 and verse 4 it says, I rejoice greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. Does it say you must walk in it? No, it says ye should walk in it. If ye love me, keep my commandments. That's what Jesus said. And so this all lines up, but it's all talking about abiding in Christ and walking in the light. And so keeping the commandments has to do with that. And so you can't take that out. You can't say that you're walking in the light or abiding in Christ if you're not keeping the commandments, and if you're not loving your brother in Christ or your sister in Christ. And so that's what this is teaching. Now go back to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2, so now after he says that, I have this new commandment, but it's not a new commandment. And it's new because Christ just did it, right? It's new because it's been since the foundation of the world, but he manifested himself in these last times for you and showed that love of laying down his life for his brethren, for his friends. And 1 John chapter 2 and verse 9, it says, He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, isn't in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. So notice that we're talking about being in the light, abiding in the light, or being in darkness and walking in darkness. See how abiding is the same as walking? So when you see that abiding in Christ, and he that abideth in him, and sin is not, it's talking about walking with him. And remember, we keep seeing how that's a part after salvation. That's something that accompanies salvation. It's not something that's a part of salvation. And so over and over again, it's talking about, you know, you're children of light, but walk is children of light. And so in John chapter 8, and we kind of already went to some of these when we were talking about this last week, but John chapter 8 and verse 12, sometimes, you know, it just helps to see how they're used interchangeably. And I'm not saying, you know, these words are synonyms, like walking, abiding, you know. There's obviously different words, but they're used interchangeably, meaning that it's describing the same thing that's going on, right? And sometimes words that are used like that, it gives you more information, right? Because abiding's a little different than walking with, but it's talking about the same action that's being done. It's talking about the same type of process, so to speak, and it's giving you more information when it gives you in those different aspects. And so following is like that. In John chapter 8 and verse 12, it says, Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Notice the following. Following Christ, walking in Christ, abiding in Christ, all those things go together, and it's something after you've gotten saved. It's something that, that's when you keep the commandments. And so, you know, just so I don't misquote it because I probably will. It's one of those familiar passages. But think of Ephesians 2, 8, 9. How does Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 go? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, and not of works that any man should boast. But verse 10 is the one that we don't usually go into that much. But verse 10 says, For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. And isn't that what it just said when we were talking about that, that you should walk in it, in 2 John. So notice the should, not must. Is that, that's what we're supposed to do. We should walk in newness of life, it says in Romans chapter 6. Titus, you know, I'm just thinking these off the top of my head, and a lot of them I have memorized, but I'm going to end up misquoting it. But Titus chapter 3, after it gets done not by works of righteousness, we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, and goes through all that. It says, This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable on the men. It's good and profitable if you do the works, and if you follow Christ, and if you abide in Him, and walk in the light. And so, as we go on, go to Ephesians chapter 5, I'm going to read John 12 because we've already read that before, but go to Ephesians chapter 5. John chapter 12 verse 35 says, Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye had the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whether he goeth. Isn't that exactly, I mean, knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness had blinded his eyes, is what it says in 1 John. So you see how all this stuff is all basically in John, and it's just coming out again in 1 John. But he that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there's none occasion of stumbling in him. I'm going to misquote it. Yeah, that's right. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there's none occasion of stumbling in him. And because, obviously when you look off the cuff, what are you talking about? If you're walking in the light, you can see where you're going. If you turned off all the lights, and it's completely dark in here, you're going to stumble and fall and trip up on something. And so that's what it's talking about is walking in the light. You need to walk and abide in Christ. Christ is the light. God is the light. And so if he's not abiding in you, if you're not keeping his commandments, you're going to stumble and fall. That's what this is teaching. It's not talking about stumbling and falling from salvation. It's just talking about falling as a Christian. Falling from your own steadfastness is what it says in 2 Peter. So if you do these things, you shall never fall. It says in 2 Peter 1. And so for sake of time, I'm not going into all those passages, but this is something that's brought up over and over again. So when you see this type of stuff as far as walking, abiding, all this stuff, that's what we're talking about is after you've gotten saved. But in Ephesians 5 verse 8, Ephesians 5 verse 8, notice what it says. For ye were sometimes darkness, but notice this, now are ye light in the Lord. Notice that, now are ye light in the world, and walk as children of light. Notice what it says. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather approve them. Isn't that what we're talking about in chapter 1, having fellowship with the Father and with the Son? Walking in the light, walking as children of light. But notice it says, now are ye light in the world. It doesn't say like, oh, we've got to find out if you walk in the light enough, you're going to become children of God. No, it says, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when ye shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We're the children of God now, spiritually. But what this whole book is talking about is the fact that you have to deal with the flesh. The flesh isn't always abiding in Christ. The flesh isn't always walking in the Spirit. The flesh isn't always walking in the light, and your new man has to reign in the old man. And so you have to put that body, and that's why Paul said, I keep under my body, and I bring it into subjection. That's constantly what we're doing, is that fight as far as the Spirit and the flesh. So Galatians chapter 5, that's what's interesting is this is talking about it says, now ye are ye light in the Lord, walk as children of light. And then it goes into the fruit of the Spirit, and the famous passage for the fruit of the Spirit is Galatians chapter 5, and guess what, it's talking about the same thing. So what we see there is walking in the light is the same as walking in the Spirit. So walking in the Lord, walking in the light, walking in the Spirit, all those things are used synonymously, they're talking about the same thing. It's just giving you different aspects of it. It's giving you a different way to understand it, right? When you're talking about light and darkness, you understand that, just physically speaking, that it's better to walk around when there's light out than darkness. And it's likening walking in sin compared to walking in the Spirit, and what those differences are. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16, notice what it says. Galatians chapter 5 verse 16, it says, This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Sound familiar when you're in Romans chapter 7, and the tongue twister of the things I would, I do not, and the things I would not that I do, you know, and it's no more I to do, but sin to dwell within me. Over and over again he keeps saying that in Romans chapter 7. Same thing here, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would, meaning that you're not, you can't do the things that you want to do because your flesh is warring against that Spirit. But notice what it says in verse 19, or verse 18. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Remember we talked about this, being led of the Spirit, that means that you're walking in the Spirit and your soul is not under the law, it's under grace. But your body's still under the law. That's why you have a bunch of these ecumenicals, brother I'm not under the law, I'm under grace. Yeah, your soul is, if you're saved, you know, with your hair bun or whatever that is, you know, with the trendy jeans that you're wearing. It's possible they're saved, but the thing is that being under the law, not being under the law is talking about your soul. So if you're led by the Spirit, that's when you're not under the law. But if you're walking in the flesh, you're under the law. And you're under the condemnation. That's why it says there's no condemnation to those that walk in the Spirit, in Romans chapter 8. And notice the walk is there. It doesn't just say, just because you're saved, there's no more condemnation for you because your flesh can still be condemned. And so in this life, remember to the purifying of the flesh, that's what we're talking about. With how this book even starts off with, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that's to the purifying of the flesh. And so we're talking about that when we're talking about, you know, being cleansed from our sin or this fact of being a murderer, being our brother, all that stuff is stuff that you would do in the flesh, not in the Spirit. And so Galatians chapter 5 and verse 19, it says, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, other which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Why? Because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. That's why. Because that's talking about flesh and blood. It's not talking about your soul. Now notice what it goes into. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. So when you're walking in the Spirit, you're not under the law. Against such there is no law. But only when you're walking in the Spirit. And obviously when we're in heaven and we have our glorified bodies, every bit of us is not under the law anymore. And because we're completely made new, all things have become new. At that point, body, soul, and spirit. Notice though, it keeps going, it says in verse 24, And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of anger, provoking one another, envying one another. So hopefully all this makes sense, that you had the old man, that's still with you. That's what we're all looking at right now, right? We're all looking at our old man on the outward appearance, so to speak. But inside of every single believer, you have the new man. The new man is sinless. The new man never sins. The new man had the Word of God, his seed remaineth in him, he cannot sin because he was born of God. And that old man is what we have to deal with. And that's what this book is talking about. If you're sinning, you're not abiding in him. If you're not keeping his commandments, you're not abiding in him. If you're not following him, you're not abiding in him. You're walking in darkness. If you hate your brother and you don't love your brother, you're not abiding in him. And so, and anybody that says they're abiding in him, and they hate their brother, they're a liar. Anybody that says they know God and they're not keeping his commandments, they're a liar. That's what this book is saying. And so, anybody that's like, oh, you know, I just follow God my own way, I don't need to keep all those laws while you're not abiding in Christ. And if you say you are, you're a liar. And so that's what this book is teaching. Go back to 1 John chapter one, or chapter two. 1 John chapter two. And I know we got more to go here, but really that's what I wanted to get across. If there's anything about this chapter, it's about this abiding and knowing God that I want you to understand. The rest of this is kind of simple. You know, when we have this, you may, you may ask yourself with this, I write unto you, little children, I write unto you, fathers, I write unto you, young men, and I write unto you, why doesn't it say that when it says to the children the second time, I have written unto you, little children? And you may wonder, have you ever asked yourself that when you're reading that? Like, why is it write and not written? Because he says three things, right? Children, fathers, young men. Children, fathers, young men. But with the children, both times he says, I write unto you. Well, think about it, they're little children, so maybe the first time he didn't write unto them because they weren't there. And so their present tense, one's present tense, one's past tense, right? So apparently he wrote unto these, to the fathers and young men before, and he didn't write unto the children before. So that's just a little nugget right there. I don't know if that really even matters, you know? But I've always wondered, you know, like, why does it say write and not written? But I think that's why, because they're little children, okay? They're little children. So when he wrote the letter before, he missed the letter to him before, and those children weren't there. So it wouldn't make sense to say, I've written unto you, little children. So anyway, he just goes through this, you know, I wrote unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Makes sense that through Jesus's name, that we get forgiveness of sins. I write unto you, fathers, for you have known him that is from the beginning. And it actually says that same thing with both them. But again, all this is, who are they writing to? The saved or the unsaved? None of this would make you think that they're writing to the unsaved. Even the little children that they're writing to, when it says my little children, these things write unto you that you sin not, who's he talking to? Those that their sins have been forgiven them for his name's sake. So it's showing you that everybody he's writing to here, he's writing to a saved crowd, from the little ones to the old men, right? And it is interesting that with the young men, it adds something in there, right? Because it says, I write unto you, little children, or young men, because you have overcome the wicked one, and then it says, I have written unto you, young men, and it adds in a couple things, because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you and you've overcome the wicked one. And so it's just interesting that it says you're strong because it says in Proverbs 20 and verse 29, the glory of young men is their strength. And it says the beauty of old men is the gray head. And so it's just something interesting about, they got some strong men in there. And obviously I think that applies physically, but it also needs to be applying spiritually. That young men especially need to be getting strong in the Lord. And so we're not gonna be able to get every little detail of this chapter because I don't have enough time. As you go on to 1 John chapter two and verse 15, you have this whole, this little spot here. So from 12 to 14, you're dealing with kind of like a call to who he's talking to. Again, and more specifically though, with little children, young men, and the fathers. But in 1 John chapter two, verse 15 through 17, we're dealing with not loving the world. And so it says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the father is not in him. And again, people take this type of stuff and they say the love of the father is not in. If you love the world, you're not saved. You know, because the love of God's not in you doesn't mean you're not saved. Just because Christ isn't abiding in you doesn't mean you're not saved. But again, if you love the world, don't tell me that the love of God is abiding in you. Right, it's a rebuke saying that, hey, if you're loving the world, you don't have the love of God in you. Don't tell me that you have the love of God. Don't tell me that God's abiding in you when you're like loving all this wickedness that's in the world. And so it says, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he did do with the will of God abideth forever. Now obviously, you know, there's other wills of God. Besides, remember we talked about the will of the father. It talks about the will of the father is to believe on the son. But then there's also the will of God that you abstain from fornication, right? There's other wills of God, okay? And so when I see this, you know, he that doeth the will of God abideth forever, I more so look at this as far as taking hold of eternal life. And what you do in this life, if it's for God and you're abiding in Christ, it's gonna abide forever. This world's gonna pass away and all the elements are gonna melt with fervent heat. But what you do for God is gonna abide forever. If you do the will of God, that will abide forever. And obviously, if you do the will of the father, you will abide forever, you know, physically, because you're saved and you're gonna go to heaven. And so I look at the will of God as kind of a, it encompasses a lot of things. The will of the father is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But when you look at the will of God, there's a lot of different things. You know, knowing what the will of the Lord is. You know, there's a lot of different things that are the will of God in your life. And by the way, that's what you should look at what the Bible says the will of God is before you start praying and seeking for God to audibly tell you what the will of God is. You know, people are like, first of all, I seek God, I prayed for the will of God in my life. It's like, why don't you read for what the Bible says the will of God is. First of all, do that, then look for that special will of God, you know, in your life where God's gonna like tell you what, you know, they're like, I need to seek the will of God to see who I marry. I'm like, he's not gonna audibly say, God did not come down and say, Jason, you need to marry Holly. You know, there was no big booming voice that said that to me, okay? But that doesn't mean it's not the will of God. But in James chapter one and four, it talks about this, you know, the world, keeping yourself unspotted from the world, you know, pure religion undefiled in James chapter one at the very end. It says, pure religion undefiled before God and the Father is this, to keep, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James chapter four and verse four, it says, ye adulterers and adulterers says, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. So that's what it's talking about, it says, love not the world, neither things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If you love the world and you're a friend of the world, you're in the enemy of God. That's a strong statement. Now your soul would never be the enemy of God, right? Because your soul is a child of God. But what's the enemy of God in this case? It'd be your flesh. It'd be the old man. And so what you have to do, you can almost kinda look at your old man kinda like a horse where you gotta put a bit in bridle in it and just like rear it around where you need it to go. And you're basically taking that new man and saying, you need to get over here, right? You're keeping your body in subjection, telling him where it needs to go. But if you let that thing have free reign, it's gonna be like a wild animal just roaming around doing what it wants to do, okay? And if you kinda look at it that way, and if you're just letting your flesh do whatever it wants to do, Christ isn't abiding in you. You're not following Christ. So you need to take the old man and reign it in. And you have the spirit to help you do that. But go back to 1 John chapter two. A lot of this stuff is familiar. And so we're almost done here dealing with this chapter. And so I just really wanted to hit on that knowing God and abiding in Christ is not talking about salvation. It's talking about following God. Talking about being his disciple. And so in 1 John chapter two and verse 18, little children, it is the last time, and as you have heard, that antichrist shall come. Even now are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. This is actually a really good chapter to show you that we're in the last days. Even back then. You know, God who had sundry times in a diverse manner, spake in time, passed unto the fathers by the prophet, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. And so we are in the last time. And Brother Eric read this right, by the way. And Scorby messes this up. You know, I have a recording of Scorby on my thing, but he messes this up every single, and obviously every single time he does the same recording but like, Scorby, get it right, you know. I've listened to this enough, you need to get it right. No, he'll say the antichrist, but it just says antichrist. Now, what it shows here is that there's the antichrist that's coming, but then there's antichrists that are already here and will be here. And then, so that's showing us, this is the only place in the Bible that's talking about antichrist. Everywhere else, and then 2 John's the only other place that talks about antichrists, and it's talking about plural antichrists that are gonna be here back then, and they're here now. And so this is the one place where it says it, that antichrist shall come. And so that's significant, obviously, but there's obviously antichrists as well. So it shows you that there's the antichrist, but then there's antichrist plural that are gonna be coming around. Now, that's where this 19, and this is where people take this verse in 19 and try to say, if you get out of church, you will never say, okay, what's the context? Are we talking about just the normal church members here? We're talking about antichrists. We're talking about the antichrist. So when we're talking about they went out from us, who? Antichrists. Just because someone gets out of church doesn't make them antichrists, right? Who is an antichrist? Someone that denies that Jesus is the Christ, because that's what it says later on. So we're talking about people that are denying Jesus Christ. And it says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. This reminds me of people that say they were Baptist, like that guy we ran into today. He was in a Baptist church, but he went out from them because he was not of them. So we're talking about people that reject Christ. We're not talking about someone that just gets backslidden and gets out of church. So don't take this verse out of context. And people try to do that and be like, oh, you got out of church. You went out from us, brother, but you were not of us, right? No, it's talking about someone that's an antichrist. So you gotta take stuff in context. Don't just rip that out and miss the verse right before it. And so in verse 20, it says, but you have an unction from the holy one, you know all things. Notice this, I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it and that no lies are the truth. How many times have we seen that we're talking to save people? And so this book, don't take this as like, hey, this is the book I need to read all these chapters to see how I get saved, okay? This is how we're supposed to be living as Christians after we get saved. And so once you get that out of your mind, once you realize this isn't talking about eternal salvation in these passages, it's gonna help you understand it. Now you're not gonna be like, what in the world is this talking about? How does, how do I lose, you know, and we'll get into those verses. And these verses I've gone through so many times with the next verse here. He was a liar, but he is denied to Jesus the Christ. He is anti-Christ and denied the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son hath the Father also. I don't know how anybody can look at these verses and then look at Judaism and say, these are the people of God. I mean, these verses are meant for the Jews. I mean, if you think about it, when this was written, who was the enemy number one? The Jews that reject the Jesus, that they reject the Son. If you would've believed me, you would've believed, you know, if you would've believed Moses, you would've believed me. And it's saying very clearly that you can't have the Father without the Son. You can't have one without the other because God, the true God is the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and you can't pick and choose and say, I just want the Holy Ghost, or I just want the Father, I just want the Son. No, it's all or nothing because these three are one, it's one God. And so let's go on down there. It's just talking about, you know, that's the doctrine, that's what, when it talks about holding the doctrine of Christ, that's what we're talking about, okay? We're not talking about every little nitpicky thing in the Bible, and just because someone doesn't agree with me on end times prophecy, or even Zionism, even though I hate that stupid doctrine, and even though that someone's a flat-earther, God bless them, you know? Even though that, that's not what we're talking about when we're talking about they went out from us but they were not of us, okay? They're not of me personally, okay, if you're a flat-earther. But that's not talking about salvation, and it's not talking about being some like false prophet, you know, reprobate. But then it says, and this is the promise that he had promised us even eternal life, and this is something I use all the time talking about the promise of salvation. And so verse 26, it says, these things are written unto you concerning them that seduce you. So why is he saying that? Because we're just, God talked, he's just got done talking about how there's gonna be antichrists that are coming out from us but they're not of us, and these antichrists were denying that Jesus was the Christ. They were denying the Son. And so he's saying, I'm writing these things unto you because there's people that are seducing you saying that he's not the Son. You can put modalism in there. You can put Judaism in there. You can put all these things that anybody that would reject that Jesus is the Christ or that he has come in the flesh, that he's the Son of God, put them all in there, that's what this boy, he's saying, I wrote these things concerning them to seduce you. But notice this, he's saying, but the anointing which he had received of him. So he's basically saying, I wrote the Son to you and I'm telling you that these people are seducing you and that there's antichrists, but listen, but the anointing which he had received of him abided in you and you need not that any man teach you but the same anointing teach you of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you shall abide in him. So he's basically saying, that's why he's saying, you have an unction from the Holy One, you know all things. So he's saying, you should know this, you have the Holy Ghost inside of you and you can know this without me even telling you about this, because you have that Holy Ghost, you have that anointing, you have that unction that's inside of you. And so, but in 1 John 2, verse 28, this is what we're gonna finish here and then I'm going long, but I was kind of late getting here, so. This chapter's a little longer. But the last thing here, it says, and now little children abide in him. Now if that was something, we just talked about how these little children were saved, right? They have their sins forgiven them, so he's given them a commandment to abide in them. And then it says, in that same verse it says, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Matt is coming. You know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. Now, this is saying that, why do you need to abide in him? Why is he saying to abide in him? So that you're not ashamed when he comes? Does that mean that you're not gonna be saved, and you're not gonna be taken up in the rapture? No, this is talking about the fact that we wanna be, we wanna be unblameable in this sight. And 1 Thessalonians, go to 1 Thessalonians, this is where we're gonna end with this. And I'll say that last verse where it says, and everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. For the next chapter, because we're really gonna get into that with the abiding, that really just applies to the fact that we're sons of God spiritually, and anybody that's born of God only does righteousness. Because we're talking about our soul. Your soul only does righteousness. Your soul is sinless, but your flesh is still not, okay? So that's what that's talking about. But in 1 Thessalonians chapter three and verse 12, we're talking about not being ashamed before Matt is coming. 1 Thessalonians chapter three and verse 12, and obviously, what's 1 Thessalonians about mostly? If you think about 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, the coming of the Lord. But 1 Thessalonians chapter three, verse 12, it says, and the Lord make you to increase and abound in love, one toward another and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. So remember, he's talking about loving each other and all that, that your love would abound. Go to the end of the book, 1 Thessalonians chapter five, and this is what I think this is talking about. So what's being unblameable? Well, your soul's already unblameable, right? Your spirit with no guile. Your soul is sinless. It's talking about your body being unblameable, right? But in 1 Thessalonians chapter five and verse 23, this is a very interesting verse. And so it says, so when it's talking about being unblameable, unreproveable, when you see these passages and you're like, what is that talking about? I thought it was already unblameable and unreproveable as far as being saved in Christ. Well, it's talking about the body. And notice what it says in verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you holy. And I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's everything, right? He wants everything to be blameless. Right now, your spirit and soul is blameless. You're saved, you have the Holy Ghost inside of you, you're washed with the regeneration, you're washed from your sins in his own blood. But your body's not. And he's saying that if you do all these things and you're living for Christ, you're abiding in him, when he comes, your whole body and everything is gonna be unblameable as well. And so if you're living and walking in Christ, your body is walking in Christ as well. But that's what that's talking about. And so it's the whole spirit, soul and body together. And that's the goal. The goal is to get your body in subjection with your soul and spirit. And so that's what this book is talking about. And we're gonna get into more of it. I know this is kind of deep. I know this is we're getting into a lot of stuff here, but it's something that 1 John is not, this is the strong meat. This isn't the milk, okay? John, the Gospel of John, that's the milk. 1 John, strong meat. And so you gotta go into that. Basically, we're breaking out the T-bones, all right? And we're not eating the cupcakes tonight. This is, we'll get to the dessert later, okay? But this is the meat and potatoes right here. And you gotta understand some principles going into it to understand what you're dealing with here. And so hopefully that makes sense, walking in the light, abiding in the light, that we should do it. But it's not required to go to heaven. So let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for today. Thank you for the soul that was saved and Lord, for the soul-winning opportunities. And I pray that you would be with us as we go home, give us safe travels, and be with us throughout the week. Lord, I pray that you'd bless us in our jobs and Lord, just help us to provide for our families. Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.