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

Look at 1 John 3, verse number 9. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. The title for the sermon this morning is, Born of God. Are you born of God? Are you, you know, we sang, you must be born again. We sang that before we got into the sermon. You must be born again. Have you been born again? Are you saved? Are you born of God? Well, it says here, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. So pass, but I do commit sin. Maybe that means I'm not born of God. So it's important that we go chapter by chapter through the Bible, because there are phrases, there are verses that your false prophet, okay, false beliefs are built on. They'll look at a passage like this and say, see, in order for you to be born of God, or to prove that you were born of God, or to be sure that you're born of God, you have to not commit sin. Well, then none of you are saved. Neither am I. You know, what is this talking about? You know, this is why it's important. We go chapter by chapter, verse by verse, because these verses you must be, they must be understood within the context that they found. And, you know, I would say if I just, just in my own experience, people that want to teach you a workspace salvation, or they want to teach in order for you to get saved, you need to give up your sins and live a sinless life. You know, they'll turn to a passage like 1 John 3. They'll turn to passages like James 2. They seem to be the favorite chapters of these false prophets, and then they'll teach you a workspace gospel. They'll say, look, you just need to clean up your life, or you know if you're saved based on how much your life has been cleaned up. Now, look, I know I'm saved based on what Jesus has done for me. Okay, that he died, that he rose again, that he paid for my sins, and simply by trusting what he's done for me. My simple faith, it may have been as small as a mustard seed, but that faith was placed wholly on Christ alone. I know I'm saved. And I don't doubt it because it's not based on my performance. It's based on what Christ has done for me, and I know what Christ has done is all sufficient to save me. So I don't need to waver. I don't need to doubt. You know, it doesn't matter how bad my life is, or how wonderful my life is. I'm not based on that. I'm not based on my salvation on how well I'm living my life. It's based solely on what Christ has done for us. That is the true gospel, and people love to turn to passages to say, well, your works will prove whether you're saved or not. Well, really, because that's a high standard. Doth not commit sin. You'll never reach that standard. Not in this life. Okay. Well, actually, you do reach a standard, which is why it's in this chapter. But that needs to be expanded to, that needs to be explained as we go chapter by chapter through the Bible. Now, let's just backtrack to the last verse of the previous chapter. Let's just remind ourselves what we're leading into. In 1 John chapter 2, verse number 29, it says, and you know that he is righteous, sorry, and you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. So those that are born again, those that are born of God, they do righteousness. Righteousness. And doth not commit sin, as we saw later on in chapter three, verse number nine. But in order for you to understand the book of 1 John, haven't I told you, this is why you need to read the book of John. In fact, when people get saved, the first book that we encourage people to read is the book of John, because it is by far the easiest book of the Bible to understand. It is the book that reinforces salvation by grace through faith, over and over and over and over again. We know we have our wonderful John 3 16, you know, in that book. And if you can, keep your finger there, come with me to John 3, come with me to John 3, let's just build some foundations again, because I've not preached for you for a month, let's just build some foundations here, let's understand what it means to be born of God. And once we understand that from John chapter three, then you'll better understand 1 John chapter three. All right, in order to understand 1 John chapter three, you must understand John chapter three. Okay, so let's look at John chapter three, verse number one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. But in order for us to see the kingdom, in order for us to enter the kingdom, we're about to read, we must be born again. You've already been born. The fact that I can see you with these eyes, I know you've been born, I know your mother went through tough labor to give birth to you, to give you life. Well, Jesus says, now you need to be born again, born a second time. Verse number four, Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Of course, that's ridiculous, that can't be done. Verse number five, Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, there it is, the water and of the spirit, that's born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So there are two births that you need to be part of, a water birth and a spirit birth. And the false teacher will come across you and say, well, that means the water birth, that's baptism. You need to get baptized in order for you to be saved. No, okay, that's not a birth. In fact, Jesus explains it in the next verse, number six, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's your first birth. Your mom gave birth to you, that's flesh. That's been born of water because you know full well when the baby's in the mother's womb, that baby is surrounded by water. When the waters break, the amniotic fluid, when that water breaks, which is like 99% water by the way, okay, that's your water birth, all right? That which is born of the flesh is flesh. And then he says, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So if you've all been born of the flesh because I can see your flesh and so have I. If we're to be born again, what kind of birth do we need to experience? It's born of the spirit, okay? It says there, and that which is born of the spirit, that's the Holy Spirit is spirit. You see, in order for you to be saved, you must be born of the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? God, you know, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit, okay? So when we talk about being born of the spirit, of course, another way they can say it, which is the title of the sermon, you're born of God. That second birth has been born of God. Then he says in verse number seven, Marvel not, don't be surprised. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind blow for every listeth, and thou hearest the sand thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh. And whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the spirit. So that which is born of the spirit is what? Spirit. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. Now you can see my flesh. Can you see my spirit? No, but if you're born again, you've been born of the spirit. You have a new spirit living in you, that which has come from God, okay? And this is the reality of the Christian life, the flesh versus the spirit. This will be the battle for the rest of your life. It's frustrating. It's a challenge, okay? And you know you struggle with that battle within you. The flesh wants to be selfish. The spirit wants to serve God. You know you have that battle within you. And you know, and when you accept that, then you can understand the battle that happens with your brothers and sisters. You know, instead of looking at your brothers and sisters, you know, criticize them. Instead of criticizing them when they fail, when they make mistakes, you're going to understand, hold on, I have that same battle within me. And the spirit doesn't always win. Many times the flesh wins, and you know when the flesh wins, that's when you commit sin. All right, so we have this as the basis. John chapter three. The dual nature of man. The spirit and the flesh. So when we get back to first John chapter three, come back with me to first John chapter three, we understand what John is speaking about. Remember, born of God. Someone that is born of God is what? Born of the spirit. Is this flesh born of the spirit? Did this flesh come from the Holy Spirit of God? That came from mom and dad. All the way to Noah. And then even further, Adam and Eve. Okay, we're all one flesh. This is born of the spirit right here. All right, so born of the flesh right here. The flesh. All right, this is not born of God. This is born of man. This is born of Adam. Adam passed down that sinful flesh. Okay, the sins that we commit are contained in this flesh. This is why the Bible says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Because we're not going to heaven in these bodies. We'll ruin heaven if we go in these bodies. Okay, we know that one day God's going to give us what a new resurrected body. In fact, it's spoken about here in this chapter. But let's go back to 1 John 3 and let's look at verse number one. Behold what manner of love the Father have bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. So we're called the sons of God the moment that you're saved, that you're born again. I mean, it's a great religious phrase, born again. But what that really means is that now you're born of God, God is your heavenly Father. A lot of people on this earth think everybody's a child of God. No, you must be born again in order for him to be your father. All right, and if you've been saved you can call God your heavenly Father. It's a beautiful thing. Not just to be saved, now you're part of God's family. I mean, I know how much I love my kids and my wife and my family. I know how much I love them. So how much more does God love me? I'm his child. What a wonderful thing. So I can come to him in prayer and bring my supplications before him. Verse number two. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Are we now the sons of God? Yeah, now. Okay, we're the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. This is speaking about the second coming of Christ. When Christ comes, we're going to be like him. Because at the rapture we receive new resurrected bodies. This flesh, this sinful flesh will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and this corruption is going to put on incorruption. This mortal is going to put on immortality and our bodies will be fashioned like unto Jesus Christ. A glorious body. A body that cannot sin. But even though that's an exciting future to look forward to, don't forget it said, now are we the sons of God. Okay, we are already the sons of God in what sense? In the spirit. Born of the spirit. Okay, but one day this flesh is going to have its change and what a wonderful thing when our bodies are sinless, our spirit we already know is sinless and will never have to struggle with sin ever again. What a wonderful promise. What a wonderful future to come. So the flesh will get cleaned up one day but right now in the presence your flesh is filthy. Your flesh sins. You know, you know that already. You know that about yourself. All right. Verse number three. And every man that have this hope in him, so you're hoping for that future to come, purify of himself even as he is pure, even as Christ is pure. So this is saying, look, don't just say, okay, I'll get, you know, I'll live a sinless life, you know, I'll overcome sins when I get my new resurrected body. It says, look, no, if you have that hope in you in the future, then now start to purify yourself because we're already the sons of God. We are now the sons of God. We have the Holy Spirit of God. And so our desire ought to be to live a life that is pure, a life that pleases God. Verse number four. Whosoever commit of sin, transgresseth also the law. I love the next phrase. The Bible's definition of sin, God's definition of sin, for sin is the transgression of the law. What is sin? According to the Bible, according to God, the transgression of the law. So when you break God's laws, you're committing sin. You're transgressing. Okay, you're committing sin. This is why repenting from sin as a means of salvation is a false doctrine. It's a false gospel because sin is a transgression of the law. Let's just, what is the law? Let's say the 10 commandments. Okay, give me one of the 10 commandments. Well, what's something? There shall not bear false witness, which is basically lying. Okay, all right. So that's the law. If I transgress that law, what am I doing? I'm telling a lie. If I keep that law, what am I doing? I'm telling the truth. So let's say this side represents keeping the law. This side represents transgressing the law. Okay, this over here, I'm lying. Over here, I'm telling the truth. Okay, if sin is the transgression of the law, I'm lying. And you say you got to repent from transgressing the law. You got to repent from sins to be saved. What are you telling someone? You got to stop repenting of your sins. Stop transgressing the law because that is the definition of sin. You got to keep the law. When a preacher gets behind the pulpit and says you have to repent of your sins to be saved, what they're saying by the definition of that God gives us a sin is you got to keep the law. That is not how you get saved. You cannot do it. You cannot do it. You know you can't do it. Don't tell me, pastor, I know I'm saved because I repented of my sins. What a lie. What a bold-faced lie. You still sin to this day. Who's willing to, brave enough to say, pastor, I've overcome all my sins. I've repented from them all. I know I'm saved because I've cleaned up my life. But that's not how they position it. They position that you got to repent of your sins, which is not a phrase found in your Bible. Repentance is found in your Bible. So what are we repenting from? You're repenting from not trusting Christ to trusting Christ. You're repenting from thinking that salvation is based on you being a good person, all right, and you're turning, you're repenting, and say, I'm not good enough. Christ was good enough. I'm going to heaven based on his righteousness, not my own righteousness. Sin is a transgression of the law. And when I say these things, people get upset. Oh, pastor Kevin thinks you can just go ahead and just sin for the rest of your life and do whatever you want. Once you're saved, like any father, when you transgress his law, when you break his law, he's going to chastise you. He's going to correct you lovingly for your profit, because he wants to live lives that are pure, that are clean, that are righteous. But that's not how you get saved. Otherwise you've got to wait for the resurrection in order to live a pure, clean life where you can now say I've repented from all my sins because you'll never sin again. But that won't happen until you're born again. And you're born again because of what Christ has done for you. Salvation is by Christ alone. Okay? Faith alone in Christ alone. All right, that is salvation. By grace through faith in Christ alone. However you want to put it. It's not based on what you do. Okay? All right, let's keep going. Verse number five. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. And in him is no sin. So who was manifested to take away our sins? Christ. Who takes away our sins? You know, I've heard a preacher say, you know, if you say you can't, you know, it's not about repenting from your sins. You know, it's kind of like this argument. Well, what's the problem between man and God? Sin. All right. So in order for you to be right with God, something needs to be done about your sins. Therefore you need to repent from your sins in order to be right with God. No, no, no. Christ came to take away my sins. My sins were put on Christ. And he was crucified. And he paid for my sins. And he died. And he was dead for three days and three nights. And then he rose again. Victorious. Showing that he overcame my sins. That he overcame the wrath that I deserved. That he overcame death. Salvation's on what Christ has done. As soon as you start to measure your salvation on you, you've got a problem. You've lost sight. You've lost sight, you know, of the most important doctrine of the Bible. But it's Christ who came to take away our sins. Yes, something did happen with my sins. Though Christ took them. And he was punished by his Heavenly Father. He took the punishment that I deserved. Okay. The wrath of God fell upon him. That's what happened to my sins. They were nailed to the cross. You know, the Bible says in Romans 8, 3, for what the law could not do. What the law could not do. What the law could not do. In that it was weak through the flesh. Weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin. Condemned sin in the flesh. This is something the law could not do. So repent from your sins. Meaning keep the law. No, the law can't do this. The flesh is too weak to live a sinless life. Christ had to come. And my sin was condemned in his flesh. That's what the Bible teaches. Verse number 6. Whosoever abideth in him, sineth not. Whosoever sinneth have not seen him, neither known him. So Brevin, we get the basic instruction of how to live a sinless life. A clean life. You need to abide in Christ. And we've seen this before. That's your walk. That's your fellowship. Spend time with Christ. Okay. And what that means is, other passages in the Bible talk about walking in the spirit. Putting on the new man. Taking off the old man. Putting on the new man. And walking in that new man, that spirit that God has given you. That is abiding in Christ. And when you're doing that, you will do works of righteousness. You will clean up your life. You will do amazing things for the Lord. But you know, once again, the battle. Spiritless with the flesh. And sometimes the flesh wins. The Bible says, let's keep going to verse number seven. Little children, let no man deceive you. Hear that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. All right. So righteousness. So how do we do righteousness, pastor? Well, ask yourself this question. Do we do righteousness in our flesh? Or do we do righteousness in the spirit? Which one makes more sense to you? It's righteousness in the spirit. Righteousness in the new man. The born against spirit that you have. That is where righteousness lies. And when you do righteous acts for God, yes, you do it in his body. That means the flesh is subject unto the spirit. Okay. But sometimes that flesh rebels. And that flesh rebels is when you sin against the Lord. When that flesh rebels is when you do not the works of righteousness. Verse number eight. He that commit of sin is of the devil. Now let's stop there. Do you commit sin? You don't have to tell me. You know you do. So are you of the devil? Do you belong to the devil? Or do we really see that we're children of God? Do we belong to the devil? Do we belong to God? So this can see why these are challenging passages. What is this referring to? And it is, these are deep doctrines. You know, they are. I mean, I know the answer to this, but I'm just saying like, I can understand where people read these things and get kind of messed up. Kind of confused. All right. It says for the devil sinner from the beginning, for this purpose, the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now the next verses, they need to be understood all together. We already saw the emphasis that we're born of God, we're children of God. Now we're going to be looking at the children of the devil. Okay. And let me just warn you in advance. This is a controversial topic. And it's controversial. I don't think it should be, but it is. Okay. Let's just keep going. Verse number nine. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Ah, so I do commit sin. What is born of God again? The spirit doth not commit sin. So brethren, when you sin, it's not the spirit that sins. It's the flesh. Okay. What is born of God again? Born again, the spirit, the new man within you. You know, when this flesh does all manner of wicked things, not that it should, but when you do. What's wonderful is that the new man, the spirit within you remains sinless. Because it's born of God. Okay. This is why I, you know, if I were to just commit some grievous sin, and then I were to die, immediately after that, I'd say, oh man, it's really bad. But that flesh is going to be in the grave, rotten away, and that new man, which is sinless, will be with the Father. Go to heaven. Not because of works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Okay. It's the new man within us. But it's here, you know, make it clear, whosoever is born of God, born of God, the spirit, doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him. He cannot sin because he is born of God. The spirit is born of God. Born again of the spirit. That is born of God. That is the part of you that never sins. So this is true about the new man. This is true about the spirit. This is true about the part of you that is born of God. But as I said to you earlier, looking at John 3, this flesh was not born of God. This flesh has a sinful nature. All the way going back to Adam. All right. Now, in case you think I'm out for lunch here, please keep your finger there and come with me to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, please. Romans chapter 7. Because I think most people would agree, the greatest Christian that we read about in the New Testament is most likely Paul. I mean, he wrote most of the New Testament books, right? The apostle Paul did great things. Started many churches. Won many souls to the Lord. All right. And this is what the apostle Paul says about himself. I don't believe I'll ever do great things like the apostle Paul. Hopefully the Lord can utilize me. But you know, that's what the apostle Paul did was very high standard. All right. And this is what he says about himself. And I want you to notice that what he says here is exactly what we're reading about in 1 John 3. So what he says in John chapter 7, verse number 14. John, sorry, Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, verse number 14. He says, for we know that the law is spiritual, but look what he says. But I am carnal, carnal, carnal flesh. He said, I'm fleshly, I'm carnal, sold under sin. Because man, I'm like a slave. I've been sold. I'm cut my flesh. Then he says, verse number 15. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. So what I want to do, I don't do it. Then he says, but what I hate, that do I. You know what he's saying here? I want to do the right things. I don't do it. And there are things that I hate in life. Sins that displease the Lord. But I do them. This is the greatest Christian you read around in the Bible. So what, is Paul not saved? What's it say here, verse number 16. For then I do that which I would not. I consent unto the law that it is good. Then he says these words. Now then, it is no more I that do it. But sin dwelleth in me. He goes, you know, the sins that I do, the things that I do that I hate, it's not really I that do it. It's sin that dwelleth in me. It's in my flesh. I'm carnal. I'm sold under sin. But he goes, even when that happens, he says, then there's no more I that do it. When he says there's no longer I that do it, what is he referring to there? The spirit, the new man in him. It's not the new man. The new man is not corrupt. It's just the sin that dwells in my flesh that doesn't. He's not excusing himself. He's not saying, oh, therefore I'm sinless. No, he's understanding the difference between the spiritual and the carnal. Okay. And this, if you don't understand this in your New Testament, you will be lost. I tell you now, I get a lot of phone calls or emails from different people about different passages in the Bible. And I would say the thing that people are most confused about is the differences between the new man, the old man, the flesh, and the spirit. Because they read verses about the spirit, go, wow, high standard. I'm not doing that. Maybe I'm not saved. It's because that's flesh. It's a carnal. It's no longer you that does it if you're saved. And this is the concept that John is teaching us in 1 John 3. If you can't separate these two natures that you have within you, you'll be lost when you read the Bible. You will conclude, therefore, I need to do the works to save me or something like this. Or you'll be deceived to believe that and you forget the simplicity of the gospel that Christ did it all for you. So back to 1 John 3. 1 John 3 and verse number 10. 1 John 3 verse number 10. Now this is a controversial part, okay? There are different opinions in verse number 10. But I'll read it to you as I understand it, okay? And I'll prove this a little bit further as we keep going. In this, the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Now we're differentiating between the children of God and the children of the devil. Okay? Now, one interpretation is, the children of the devil is everybody that is unsaved, okay? That is one view. The problem with that is we keep going in the context of this. In fact, I'll just prove it to you. If you drop down to verse number 12, look at verse number 12, which says, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one or of the devil and slew his brother. What we're going to be looking at here, those that are of the devil want to kill God's people. They want to hurt God's people. They want to kill God's people. The average unsaved next door neighbour down the road is not seeking to harm you or hurt you or kill you. They might think you're weird. You know, they might think you're a cult member or something, right? They might have just, you know, not the nicest feelings about you potentially. But more than likely, they're not looking to hurt you or to kill you or harm you, okay? What we've been looking at here are two, by the way, verse number 10, look at it again. In this, the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil. We're talking about a manifestation. What does it mean to manifest? To reveal. We don't need to reveal man because man is man. We know what flesh is. But to reveal within man who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil, there are ways of knowing this. To manifest. These are things that you're looking out for. How does man manifest themselves to be one or the other? Now, let's just go back to some very basic principles, okay? Very basic principles. And this is the controversy. Again, shouldn't be a controversy because if you pay attention, you'll find it all over your Bible. But once you're born of the flesh, you're born of mum and dad. Can you be unborn out of that family? Well, even if you leave mum and dad, say, mum and dad, I hate you. Want nothing to do with you. Never see you again for the rest of my life. Are they any less your children if your children do that to you? They're still your children. Nothing's ever going to change that. You cannot be unborn. Just like you can't enter into your mother's womb a second time like we saw earlier, right? What about when you're born into God's family? When you're born again. Can you be unborn? No. We know that once you're born, it's fixed. Once you're born of God, you will always be a child of God. No matter what happens. No matter how badly you mess up your life. See, a very basic principle is this. Once you're born, you're part of that family, you cannot be unborn. Another way is saying you can't lose your salvation. And there's many ways to prove you can't lose your salvation. But just a very basic principle. Once you're born, you can't be unborn. What about children of the devil? What does that mean? What does that mean? If someone is a child of the devil, who is their father? Satan. What is that family? Is that family language? If someone's a child of the devil, does that mean they've been born into the devil's family? Once you're born into a family, can you be unborn? Basic principles. And this is a controversy. You see, there are some people whose father is the devil. I'm not talking about in the flesh. I'm talking about spiritual nature here. Some people go crazy and they start believing there are people that are half reptilian, you know, devil DNA within them. And that cane was, I won't go into it. There is just, you've probably heard, like the fact that you're laughing, you've probably heard some of this stuff. It's, no, all right. We're talking about spiritual aspects here. How do we manifest spiritual realities? How do we know who's born of God? How do we know who's born of the devil? You see, there are some people that have gone too far with God and God says no more. Okay. And what's strange about this, I remember going to church and hearing this stuff taught. Like, I remember the first time I heard this taught was my old IFP pastor, because there are some people that have, you know, God's given them chance after chance to hear the gospel. They've rejected God. They don't want to accept his salvation. And God says, I'm done with you. I'm through with you. And that person has lost their chance to be saved. Think about that. People don't like that. That's controversy. It's like, no, I want people to, I want to believe that everybody has to the last dying breath to believe in Christ. We're not saying that Christ did not die for everybody. Christ died for all. All. He paid for all sin. But you can get to a point in your life where you reject him over and over and over again. This is the reprobate doctrine. Another way of saying reprobate is a child of the devil. You've been born into a family, you can't be unborn out of that family. When we know what the devil's destination is at the end of it all, the lake of fire, where do you think his children are going to go? The lake of fire. Okay. Like we understand this concept from a, from just a, another sense. Like we say, okay, well, once someone dies, if they, if someone's died without believing in Christ, have they lost their chance to be saved? Of course. Once they're in hell or the lake of fire, they are reprobate. They are rejected. Okay. That's it. It's all over. All we're saying here is that some people walk the earth today and they've already been rejected by God. They've already been born into the family of the devil. Otherwise, there are passages in the Bible that you're going to struggle with. The Bible says that if you take or add to the Bible, that your part has been removed out of the book of life. Those people still walk the earth today. They can't be saved. The Bible speaks of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. That you won't be forgiven in this world, nor the world to come. That's talking about people that were walking in that day. You know, there are many passages like this, where Christ says that he speaks in parables, that they would not hear, okay, that they would not then essentially be saved, that God would not heal them. God has done these things to certain people. Not everybody. This is why we go and preach the gospel. The majority of people are just lost, hoping that they make it to heaven, hoping that someone would come to give them the gospel, but there are some people that are so wicked, so wicked, they hate God so much, that they're born into the family of the devil, spiritually speaking, and they can't be unborn. Controversy. Look, if you have a hard time with this doctrine, I can show you all of the Bible. You know, it's all over the place, okay? And you'll find that some of the passages that you struggled with will make a lot more sense when you understand this doctrine, okay? Now, let's read the rest of it, okay, because it's gonna help us understand this. If you look at verse number 11, and this is the message that we heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. So one way to manifest a child of God is someone's love toward another brother in the Lord. If I had shown you love, that should, you know what? Pastor Kevin has manifested, that is a child of God. So how's a child of the devil gonna manifest himself? Love, loving the brethren, loving God's people? No, hating God's people. This is why, again, verse number 12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him? Why did he slay his brother? Because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous. Those that are of the devil, they hate the righteous. They hate righteous works. They hate God's people. So they seek to harm, and to hurt, and maybe kill if they can get away with it. It's so sad, but Adam and Eve's first child was reprobate. He's in hell, okay? He's burdened in hell, firstborn child, firstborn ever into the world from mum's womb. Can you please come with me to Romans chapter one? I wanna show you this. Romans chapter one, and I know a lot of our church members know this doctrine already. But it is fine when I talk to the average person, they struggle with this, because they've been taught their whole life, no, you got to your dying breath to believe on Christ. Well, a lot of people do, obviously. The thief on the cross did, okay? But these people were not haters of God. And when you look at Romans chapter one, verse number 28, we won't go into all of it, just a snapshot. I wanna show you a few things here. Romans chapter one, verse number 28, please. Romans chapter one, verse number 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, some people don't wanna, I want nothing to do with God. I wanna think about God, atheists, okay? I don't wanna believe in him. I don't wanna think of him. I want nothing to do with God. Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. The word reprobate means rejected. God says, all right, you wanna reject me? I'll give you over to rejection too. And if you know the context of this chapter right now, you know this is talking about homosexuals. Oh, pastor, look, I'm a Baptist Bible preacher is what I am. I'm not here to tickle your ears. Read it for yourself in your own time. This is about homosexuality. Men with men, women with women, which has been thrown down our throats the last 10 years or so. In schools, I mean, a brother recently was showing me, I didn't even like to know about it. He was telling me that Big W and Target is selling some filthy books on sex and not just regular information, but sodomite information. How to be a wicked homosexual, how to be a wicked sodomite, and it's targeted to children in the children's aisle, 11-year-olds. Apparently, Big W has taken that off the shelves recently. They can still order it online. Does anyone here that recently? Yeah, okay. Look at, and so this is about homosexuals, reprobates who have become homosexuals. It says in verse number 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters. The next one is what I want you to notice. Haters of God. They hate God. Look again, average unbeliever down the road does not hate God. They probably don't like the idea of being accountable to God. Okay, they probably want to be right with God. They hope they're right with God. How many people say, look, the vast majority of people say, look, I believe God will let me in because I'm a good person. The majority of people are like that, aren't they? I'm a good person, God will let me in. So they don't hate God. They want to be with God. They just don't know the way. These are haters of God. They don't want to retain God in their knowledge, okay? Despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedience to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, look at this, without natural affection. Without natural affection. You know, even unbeliever down the road, if I can help them in a bad situation, just naturally, I want to try to help somebody. It doesn't have to be a brother or sister in the Lord, right? If I just see someone downtrodden, having a hard time, if I'm in a position to help them, I'll try to help them. These people are without natural affection. They have no love to anybody else. They say love is love. It's not true love because God is love. This is why Cain is able to so easily just go and murder his brother Abel. Why? Because Abel was righteous. That's why. I don't like how righteous Abel is. I don't like how he walks with the Lord. I don't like how God accepts Abel. I hate that. So he goes and kills his brother. No, natural. That's not, is that natural affection? Without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. Verse number 32, who know in the judgment of God, and they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Come with me to another passage. Judges chapter 19, please. Judges chapter 19, verse number 22. I want to just show you the links here in the Bible. You can spend your own time doing your own study. I told you it's all of the Bible. Reprobates. God's rejected them because they rejected God. Understand that. And we know God is long suffering. We know he's merciful. I'm not saying the moment you reject God once that you'll reprobate. These people have time and time and time and time again to get right with God. And they cross the line with God. I don't know what that line is, but they cross the line with God. God knows. And God says, all right, I'm giving you up. These people become children of the devil. As I said to you, the context of Romans chapter one was homosexuals. We're looking at another passage about homosexuals in Judges 19, verse number 22, but I want you to focus on a few words here. Judges 19, verse number 22. Again, the context is homosexuals. There are men that are trying to beat down a door. Be careful how I say these things, all right? But to be intimate with another man, okay? Judges 19 and 22. Now as they were making their hearts merry, look at this. Behold, the men of the city, certain, look at the next words, sons of Belial. Or Belial. Sons of Belial. You know your Bibles, it's another name for the devil. Baal, Beelzebub, Belial. These are names of the devil. Sons of Belial. Children of the devil. Homosexuals. Beset the house roundabout and beat at the door and spake to the master of the house, the old man saying, look at this, bring forth the man that came into thine house that we may know him. So the men in the city, we want to know that man, bring him out. And when the Bible uses the word know, in that sense, you know what it means, okay? According to the Old Testament, these homosexuals are known as what? Sons of Belial, children of the devil. Now I'm not saying every child of the devil becomes a homosexual, but homosexuals are sons of Belial, okay? Children of the devil. This is why I don't spend time witnessing the gospel to them. I'm not looking for the pride parade, trying to witness. It's like you're wasting your time. They can't be saved. They've been rejected by God. Why are you accepting them when they've been rejected by God? Who's more righteous, you or God? They're children of the devil. Now again, if I go door to door, I don't know who's behind the door. Even if I have suspicion there might be a homosexual, I'm still giving them the gospel because these people are incapable of believing. I don't know if the person at the door is incapable of believing. I understand that society is so messed up today, okay? The agenda, this homosexual LGBT agenda is being shoved in the throats of our children in schools and they're being told, hey, which letter are you? Which colour of the rainbow are you? And then there are plenty of children saying, well, I think I'm this. I think I'm that. But they're not really because they're not haters of God. They're just being brainwashed by society. So if I knock on the door and I have some suspicions, I don't care. I'm gonna give them the gospel and if they believe the gospel, they're not reprobate. If they trust Christ, they're not reprobate. They're not children of the devil. I'll just quickly read to you from First Samuel chapter two, verse 12. First Samuel chapter two, verse 12. Talking about Eli, Eli the high priest serving in God's house. The Bible says, I'll just read it to you. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. What? The preacher, children? He's got children of Belial? He's got children of the devil? It can happen. Remember, we need to be careful. We need to teach our children. We need to give them the gospel. There are plenty of people, and these children were other priests serving in the house of God. There are plenty of pastors, plenty of preachers in churches all over the place, even in independent Baptist churches that are sons of Belial. And if I look, if I can just mention again, you know, going back a few years ago, some youth pastor down in North Brisbane manifested himself as a hater of God without natural affection, committed sodomy on young men, okay, and then he's still allowed to serve God in his house. Still allowed to lead. That is horrible. Look, pedophiles, homosexuals are not allowed in this church. I know we have first-time visitors, but I'm just telling you, I love our children. I love our children. I love my children too much. So allow them to fall prey to these wicked sons of Belial. They can't be saved. They love to enter churches because everyone trusts everybody at church, which is the biggest mistake you can make. Supervise your kids, by the way. Parents, please. Don't leave your kids by themselves at church. Supervise them. I trust everybody. That's where the mistakes happen. That's when they attack. You've trusted them too much. So watch, manifest. People will manifest themselves, you know, in time. And look, I don't believe we have any sons of Belial here, but you've still got to be careful. All right, back to 1 John 3, verse 11. 1 John 3, verse 11. Oh, actually, I read that already, didn't I? Verse number 12. Actually, I need you to turn to one more passage. Come with me to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Because don't forget, you say, pastor, you're coming up with these strange doctrines. 1 John, I don't know. You'll notice that it's already taught by us by Jesus Christ in John chapter 8. Okay? Again, 1 John needs to be understood. It's a complicated chapter, complicated book, in light of an easier book, the book of John. And in John chapter 8, verse number 42. John chapter 8, verse number 42. Jesus said unto them, these are unto Christ-rejecting Jews. Certain Christ-rejecting Jews, okay? Verse number 42. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. So he's dealing with some Jews that do not love Christ. He says, if God were your Father, you would love me. You mean, are they saved? No, they're not saved. Verse number 43. Why do ye not understand my speech? Because ye cannot hear my word. These people cannot get it. They can't believe on Christ. Cause, he says in verse number 44, ye are of your Father the devil. And the lusts of your Father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speak of a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Children of Belial, children of the devil, they cannot believe on Christ. They cannot believe. As simple as the gospel is, they can't believe it. And brethren, if you got so many enough, you'll come across people like this. I can give you multiple examples. Knocking on someone's door, giving them a gospel. They say, I understand it. For the first time, I understand it. Wow, this is easy. Or sometimes they tell me the gospel. So what do you think you have to do to go to heaven? Well, all you need to do is believe on Christ. You know, what he's done, death, burial, and resurrection. Oh, you know, so um, you know, are you a believer? Or something like this? And no, you know, even though I understand it now, even though I get it, and I think it's wow, you know, that's good news. I've had people say this to me. I'm not making this up. Multiple times. Say, I'm incapable of believing it. I'm incapable. I do not have the ability to believe it, is what they're saying to me. And they've always been either atheists or homosexuals. I remember knocking on a woman with blue hair, gave her the gospel. No, no, I didn't give the gospel. She told me the gospel. So why can't you believe it? Oh, because I'm a lesbian. But you know, it's not a works. You know, it's just what Christ has done. Yeah, I know that. But I can't believe it. They're telling me at the door, because they know they've rejected God. They know it. And they know that God has rejected them. And it's gone too far. Look, I'm not making this up. You go enough, you know, you're going to have those conversations and it's going to blow you away. And it shouldn't, because God's already told us in his word that people are like this. You're going to knock on children of Belial's doors, okay? Of Belial. Be careful, because they want to hurt. They want to harm. They want to destroy the righteous. Back to 1 John 3, verse number 13. I better speed up a little now. So then God says, oh, sorry, John, well, God does say it, of course, because this is what, marvel not my bravery if the world hates you. Again, does average unbeliever Joe Bloggs down the road hate you? No. We're talking about children of the devil. Okay. And they do have influence, even though they're a minority, they have an influence over the world system. And they'll try to pass laws and education to destroy God's people. Verse number 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abideth in him. He by perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Who laid down his life for us? He by perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. God laid down his life for us. Jesus is God. Okay. Jesus is not some lesser God. Jesus Christ is God. All right. He laid down his life for us. So then it says we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I've had people say to me, Pastor, would you be willing to die for me? No. I'll die for my wife. I'll die for my kids. Easy. Easy. But I'm not going to die for you. Okay. Because I can't die for you. I can't even die for myself. I needed Christ to die for me. Like what advantage is there if I die? I can't die for your sins, brethren. Christ died because he could pay for our sins. He was a perfect substitute. Somebody says you lay down your life. You know, again, this is what happens when you take one verse and you forget the rest of it. Because the next verse explains how we lay down our life for the brethren. Okay. It says verse number 14, sorry, 17. But whoso have this world's good, and see if his brother have need, and shut off up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwell of the love of God in him? So how do we lay down our lives for our brethren? How do we, how are we sacrificial to our brethren? By doing good things. If someone has a great need, and you've got that possession, you've got the ability, you have the resource to help your brother or sister in the Lord, and you take your resource, and you sacrificially give it to them to help them in a time of need, that's you laying down your life for them. You don't have to die for them, but help them in a time of need. If you have the world's good available to you, you have that good available to you to help other people. So loving our brethren isn't just I love you, and you know, husbands and wives. I told my wife every day that I love her. Yeah, but it's the deed that has meaning. It's deed that manifests your love toward them. Because words can be empty. It's what you do. It's your sacrifice. It's your service. You know, to your family, to your wife, that demonstrates love toward the other person. And brethren, when we serve each other, when we lay down our lives for each other, it's when we're looking out for the best of someone else. Verse number 18. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth, which is what I just said. I love you, I love you, I love you. It means nothing. Make sure it's in deed and in truth. Verse number 19. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. Basically what this is saying is that, you know, you can't always necessarily help every brother in every need, okay? But we know that God can, okay? There might be, if our heart condemn us, meaning that, you know, you just don't have the ability to be there, help someone in a time of need, okay? But we know that God knoweth all things. Our confidence is in God. What this is saying essentially is this. If you are not in a place to help a brother, sister, and a Lord, have your confidence in God. Go to God and say, God, I need to bring my prayer for brother so and so, or sister so and so, in their time of need. Lord, I've done what I can, or I can't do anything, Lord, but I know you can, you know the situation, and so you bring their needs before the Lord. Which is why it says in verse number 22, and whatsoever we ask, so we're going to God and asking of him, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight. So what am I saying? If a brother's in need and you can help them, help them. If you can't help them enough, or you can't help them at all, go to God, say, God, I'm gonna ask of you, and I know we're going to receive of you, but this tells us in what manner will God answer your prayers if you keep his commandments. You want more answers to prayer? Keep his commandments. You want to see God do wonderful things in your prayer life? Live a life in the spirit. Okay, live a life that pleases him, that pleases his sights, and he will reward you with answered prayers. Verse number 23, and this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandments, and he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given us. Born of the spirit. This is how we know we abide, because that new man, not the flesh, because of the spirit that is within us. Not only has God given us a new resurrected spirit, born against spirit, but we also have the Holy Spirit of God living in us. You see, it's God's spirit that bears record or witness to your spirit that you are a child of God. How do you show other people that you're a child of God? When they have needs, and you can help them in the time of need. Do it. Do something to help brother so-and-so. Look, I'll end on this, because I'm short on time, had other things, but when you serve someone at church, or you want to serve me as your pastor, do something kind. Do it with no thought of return. Please never have the attitude. Oh, we invited family so-and-so to dinner, but family so-and-so never invited us back to dinner. No, do it for Jesus. Do it because you love the brethren. Do it with no thought of reward from your man. Do it to serve Christ. And I promise Christ is going to reward you faithfully. I say that because one of the things that irritates me the most, and this is going to be brought up in our meeting, is when people do things and then complain, because maybe recognition, complain maybe because others don't do their standard. Look, do it for Jesus, and you won't be let down. I'm going on a side track there, but I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going on a side track there, but look, this is how you demonstrate love. You're willing to, what, lay down your life for others. When Christ laid down his life for you, did he say, well, only save you if you do also X, Y, and Z. No, when he laid down his life for you, there was no strings attached. It's all been done. When you love one another and you serve one another, do it with no strings attached, no expectations in return. That's how we are to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Okay, let's go to a word of prayer.