1 John 2 vs 26-29

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1 John 2 vs 26-29

Calvary Chapel Cherry Creek

February 11, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 2:26–29

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1 John Chapter 2 Verses 26 – 27

· John tells us exactly why he has written this portion of scripture. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you… Is it possible for a Christian to become deceived? Absolutely! Not deceived unto condemnation, but deceived unto error and all that can come with error. Division, strife, contentions, agitation…, joy killers! And the word for deceive is actually, “seduce.” That’s far more of a subtle thought because deception we can defended against (to me this makes sense) far more effectively than seduction…

· Seduction is the “thought meaning” that no matter how mature you are or how much you know, seduction is going to work… That’s why its seduction… So how do you overcome seduction? Well, in the flesh, good luck! Situational, momentary, impulse…, you have no chance! To overcome and win against seduction, you have to love something more, be committed to something that is allowed even to cause you pain, than to be carried away by the emotion and draw and desire of something else… (OR, set up DEFENSIVE STRONGHOLDS!)

· It’s really a commitment to something greater than the pleasure of the predicament you find yourself in… To not be playing the “short game” all the time, but having a mind that understands the “long game.” Knowledge gives you insight to the immediate, wisdom applies that knowledge towards a purpose. And so, the seduction of the moment, that fiery dart, hits the breastplate of righteousness (which all righteousness really happens to be is a synonym for wisdom) and the shield of faith prevails… (picture)

· And John gives us a solid statement of that commitment as protection against being carried away, protection against setting aside truth, (Wisdom Himself), the anointing of God on your life! God will do the things, He will do the protecting and the guiding and the securing and the opposing and the preventing because it is His anointing of His strength within YOU, our play alone is to abide in Him! What’s that mean? LISTEN TO HIM!

· And I love the fact that he says, “You do not need anyone to teach you!” It’s true! You have the greatest resource in all of eternity within you! The truth is not me, its not any teacher no matter how convincing they are or how great of an orator they are. The truth is the Word of God! Jeremiah 31:33-34 even tells us, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

· So, what am I doing up here!? Why are you listening to me!? First of all, not to reveal anything new to you that you couldn’t know on your own! It is the height of arrogance for anyone to say that they have the inside scoop on the scriptures! So called prophets, deconstructionists, apostles, and the like. That is the height of arrogance! We need teachers and I’ll tell you why/how, that are skilled in confirming the Word of God. When you walk away from a teaching, the Holy Spirit should be confirming what you heard. If not, watch out…! Remember this, if its new its not true and if it’s true, it’s not new!

· Paul said something extremely important and revealing in 1 Corinthians 4:15. He said, “For every father we have they are worth 10,000 teachers.” So, one reason we still need teachers today is because teachers that are called care more about you than they do about teaching you. Sorry if you don’t like that. That’s Biblical. AND, I am saying this not to be praised but for myself, having a teacher, a mentor, someone who watches over my soul and calls to mind for me the heart and Word of God, is a gift from God Himself beyond priceless!! Jeremiah 3:15, God said, “I will give you shepherds according to My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding!”

· AND, just because you can know it, doesn’t mean you do! The only thing common about common sense, right…!? So, my job, and any teacher’s job, is first to care about each and every one of you. If I don’t, I have no biblical business teaching you. Second, is to confirm the scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit, and third, to prod you towards truth and away from error – which we all need, HOWEVER, truth is personally accessible to every Christian in its highest form! (Remember common sense – give the traffic story)

1 John Chapter 2 Verses 28 – 29

· Ok, some folks take these verses one way and others take them another… When the Lord returns for His church, when He appears in the clouds at the time of the deportation of Christians before the judgement of God, the Great Tribulation, comes upon the earth, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” And at that moment, Paul explains in 2 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

· AND 1 John 3:2 tells us that, “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is…” So, these three truths together, when we are taken into the presence of Jesus at the rapture of the church, John calls it, “His coming,” in our scripture set, we will be changed, perfected and become like Jesus. Without the constraints and burden of our fleshly nature any longer. And so, shame at that moment… I can’t get there. So, what must John mean?

· Not sure. But some translations give this as, “We may have confidence and not be ashamed before His coming.” This may be a statement of eternal life, that quality of life where shame is defeated and confidence calls the shots. However, I’m flexible, perhaps there will be tears of shame when I stand in front of Jesus, although I know that no shame can be in His presence…, He defeated shame…, however perhaps this is a sort of righteous shame…, Godly sorrow if you will, which we do see in the scriptures…

· With that being said, Paul does tell us of an accounting of sorts, a judgement that all believers will enter into with Jesus Himself, and many believe, at His coming. A very personal thing. Something just between you and Him, in which you have a discussion with Him concerning what you did with your life. You find this in 1 Corinthians Chapter 3.

· We read in 1 Corinthians 3 and because its such an important chapter, I want to read verses 1 – 15, although we will concentrate on verses 9 – 15. “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal (not yet free is a way to look at this, not yet walking in the freedom of Christ and the rest of Christ) and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (And now the accounting…) For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire (recall Jesus’ eyes of fire in Revelation Chapter 1); and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

· That phrase, “suffer loss,” is one word in the Greek. The word “zemioo,” and it literally means, “to receive damage,” or, “to lose.” It’s the same word used in Matthew 16:26 when Jesus said, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” That’s wild! So, the Bible appears to perhaps offer that there will be a moment with Jesus where we will give an account for our lives and its possible, for that moment only perhaps in all of our heavenly lives, that we sense and feel sad and sorry for having a lack of faith in this life. Wasting our times or seasons and even refusing to submit our hearts to the Lord… That perhaps is what John is talking about here in this chapter and that certainly is a sobering thought.

· And, John gives us this last thought of this chapter…, if you know the Lord, you can see the Lord in those that know the Lord. The kids today say it this way, real recognizes real. The one that practices, the word in the Greek is “commits to and brings forth” righteousness… The one that is close to the Lord, abiding in Him, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we light up when we see others who love the Lord also. We enjoy love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…, force multiplying each other unto the glory of God!

1 John 5 vs 1-5

May 5, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 5:1–5

1 John Chapter 5 Verse 1 · John somewhat levels the playing field here after talking so much about love being the physical, observable consequence of salvation by saying that simply loving each other doesn’t save anyone. What saves someone is being born of God and being born of God is believing in Jesus. The Bible is very clear… · Everyone is born. Raise your hand if you were born! HA! Right!? And, in order to be forgiven of all sin and inherit eternal life, everyone must be born again. Born of water, born of the Spirit or as John puts it here, born of God. · There’s no room for argument here as some who claim to be of God even today mock the term born-again. That’s simply nonsensical as Jesus was very clear in John Chapter 3 verses 5 – 7, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” So, this church and every other protestant church…, we aren’t born-agains…, we are Jesus believing, Jesus obeying, Bible reading…, CHRISTIANS! · Are you born again? Simple process John lays out for us in verse one. Check the pattern…, believe, born, love… BOOM! Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came and paid for the sins of the world? Yes? You are born of God! · Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16 verses 15 – 17, “Peter, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” Born of God! Then…, agape/love. It’s agape time!! Believe, born, love! That’s the simple pattern of all heaven humans! 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 2 – 3 · What are the commandments of God? Yes, there are 10 big ones! That’s true. AND Paul told us in Galatians 5 that when love is in the mix, law mutes. It rests. Its overly satisfied! Precisely why Jesus said hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:40) on these two commandments, love God and love others. · And there’s this revelation that leads us into the next verse set that God’s commandments aren’t burdensome. Legalistic religious living, that’s burdensome. Love God, put Him first, and serve others…, I am my brother’s keeper…, not burdensome at all…, IF IF IF IF IF the Spirit of God is the Captain of your corazon (heart)! · Remember, God IS love. And so, if you are FILLED with the Holy Spirit and you walk in criticality of others, disdain of others, dislike of others…, there’s a war going on inside of you! You will be peaceless! Burdened! BUT, if you are a Christian, isn’t it hard for you to kick against the goads!? Yes, they’re incessantly stupid but my calling is not to remind them of that but to relieve them of that! Relieve folks of their stupidity! HA! Now there’s a definition of love!!! · SO, you decide to get in line with the heart of Jesus. You decide to get in line with the heart of God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…, and in so doing, the peace of God that surpasses understanding enters in and the Bible says (Philippians 4:7) guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus! That word for guard means “military protection!” Yes, the moment you love someone that is not being lovable, it will sting… but that one moment will be followed by multiplied moments of merriment in your heart of hearts! · And maybe, just maybe, you begin to learn that overcoming the world isn’t necessarily having heavenly seconds but rather heavenly minutes, hours and days! Sacrificing the seconds for the seasons…, playing the long game…, precisely what Jesus did on the cross. 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 4 – 5 · Overcoming and being victorious is not a feeling. So many feel like the world is kicking their ever-loving keister and in that they are stumbling and suffering. Brother, the world is going to kick your ever-loving keister. We overcome and are overcomers because we keep getting back up like we never got kicked! That’s the victory! · John 15:18-20, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” · Folks, I hear this all the time, my marriage is so hard, my job is so hard, my kids are so lame, my car is so squeaky, my flesh is so filled with temptations, when will I overcome!? What has any of that to do with overcoming! Jesus was destroyed by this world…, then He got up! Overcoming is being slammed over and over and over again and yet YOU KEEP COMING. YOU ARE OVERCOMING!!!! · So, what is it that overcomers display, flex, have and activate? It’s not worldy success or the perfect job, or the perfect marriage or the perfect mature this or that or I’m finally free of this temptation…, not at all! It’s faith! Trusting God through the thing. If you aren’t tempted then you have no shot at being faithful! And now we have the complete picture from John. Believe, born, love, FAITH…., rinse and repeat until Goliath FALLS, until Jericho FALLS, until Pharoah FALLS! And here’s the encouragement. Its not when they are defeated that they fall. That’s Jesus’ job when He does His thing on the last day. Its when you never stop coming…, that’s when every weapon formed against you does not prosper!! · Check this out. Proverbs 24:16, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” That word calamity means overcome by grief! So, where’s the victory? Faith! Over and over but you still keep coming! Believe, born, love, faith > rinse and repeat!

1 John 4 vs 17-21

April 28, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 4:17–21

1 John Chapter 4 Verse 17 · So as He is, so are we in the eyes of the Father. Completely true, isn’t it? That because of what Jesus has done for me, stood in my place and paid the price for my sin, I now stand in his place, I am now a son of God, made perfect in the eyes of God, forgiven of my sin. Entirely true. And I think that’s just great! As thankful as I am for that today, when I meet my Maker, I will be far more thankful!! And, that’s interestingly not what John said here. He said, so as He is, so are we (supposed to be) in this world. Check this out, I want to be like Jesus before the Father, but I don’t want to be like Jesus before my brother? I am a hypocrite! Doesn’t make sense…. Sort of a wake-up call! · This whole verse is an incredibly important verse! Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” For the one that has rejected Jesus Christ, that judgment is unto condemnation, that is the consequence, the outcome, of presenting sin to God when it is your time. It wasn’t dealt with, the sin, my debt of righteousness remains, and so there remains no other option but to repay the debt yourself… · For the one that has received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the payment for their own debt of sin, there is a judgment that awaits that person as well however that is a judgment unto eternal rewards and eternal identity. Who you will be and what will be your role in the coming Kingdom of God. Your sin was dealt with 2,000 years ago, no sin to present in the presence of God… · We see this in John 5:24, 28-29, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” · So, for you, (this question for you has nothing to do with me, and this question for me has nothing to do with you), for you, when the day comes as it will come for all, Jesus accepters and Jesus rejecters alike, when the day comes for you to stand in judgment face to face with God, what will be your confidence? · John uses the word boldness. It means wide-openness. Complete voluntary and comfortable transparency. Free and fearless and full of assurance… You arrive at the moment where you are to be judged by God and you are like YESSSSS! I’ve been waiting for this!!!! · To be quite clear, that is the highest goal. Forget the money you made in life, the position you achieved, the successful business, the solid marriage, the faithful ministry, the fruitful investments…, this is the most important goal and its one that so few are living for… Isn’t that nutso!?!? · And oh my my my my MY! John, tell me, Lord show me, God teach me, what is it, what’s the strategy, what’s the vision, mission, goals, and values, what is the method, procedure, policy and program for having this greatest day of excitement, this most important day in all my existence, this boldness and confidence when I stand in my own eternal judgment? · Perfect attendance at church? Memorization of the Bible? Strict legalistic living in accordance with the Word of God? A life of serving in the church? Should I be sure to drink my Ovaltine!? HA! NO! Revelation! The mission, vision, strategy, values to achieve the highest goal… Its. All. Love… Agape. The one thing this world lacks the most, needs the most, understands the least! To love and to serve those that are living, doing, saying and thinking not how I want them to! Deploying care and light and love into the world, one way, because as He is, so are we in this world… · When you are loving and caring for someone who is living and doing and saying things you yourself would never say! In fact, what they are doing is horrific to you personally and yet you are willing to lay down your life for them…, your rights, your emotions, your own convictions, to love them…, at that moment you are more like Jesus than you could be in any other scenario! · And when I show up face to face with Jesus, we won’t first talk about all the things, we will talk about love. And honestly, I’m saying this for me and this has nothing to do with you, honestly, I cannot wait for that moment! I am SO excited for that moment! Emotions aside, affections aside, to love through being used or rejected or hated or misunderstood or taken for granted, I fortunately and unfortunately am well acquainted… And I will be more acquainted the more God allows me to live because I am living for that goal. · Not saying I’ve been perfect in this… Certainly haven’t. But this is between Him and I…, and God sees it all, and nothing is lost, He knows… And because He knows, I cannot wait for the day when the accounting is called due and I have what I have to offer Him! Boldness!!!!! · Jesus, you forgave my sin and so I approach you without fear… That’s the next verse…, AND the more I was able to learn agape, the more I applied it and it was horrible….! HA! But it was for You. And it was because of the horrible you endured for Me…. That’s how its going to go and I can’t wait for that moment!! How about you? 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 18 – 19 · Receiving and registering what has been done for you in Jesus Christ erases the fear of standing face to face with God the Father. In other places in scripture, we are told to fear God but that is an entirely different fear. That is reverence, respect, dignification toward God that He is God and I am not! And we know that because John describes this fear in 1 John 4 as involving torment. This is fear that invites and incites hopelessness… · So, because of what Jesus has done, accepting that, understanding that, grasping that, I know that I am going to stand in front of God justified by the blood of Jesus. Just as if I’d never sinned… AND, this is also a present fear of understanding that God loves me…, so I can rest in hope about tomorrow, even when the season is rough. · Check this out, God corrects, chastens, disciplines those that are His children. And that discipline isn’t pleasant (you’ll find all of this in the book of Hebrews), but knowing that His love for me is perfect, fear fails… God, I trust you because You love me! And His integrity and promises comfort me… · And the completing, John uses the word perfecting, of that love in us, this boldness in us is when we do stop and realize that we love the Lord for all that He is and all that He is done and what He has done for us and yet there’s an epiphany that rolls in…, the only reason I even love Him is because He initiated it all… What manner of amazing grace, stunning love is this!? And a settling takes place… Because God’s love for me predates my faithfulness, my obedience, my religion! 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 20 – 21 · It certainly isn’t what we say, is it? Its what I do that expresses the reality of my experience. In Luke 18 the rich young ruler (everything going for him) came to Jesus and yet he went away sorrowful and he himself was lacking in his heart of hearts, why? Because it came down to he didn’t love others… Or maybe that’s not fair, maybe he did love others, he just loved what he had more… · And so, this thing about love isn’t just a commandment for religious purposes…, to please and appease God…, all of the commandments of God (of which this one is primary) is truly to set us free, to complete us and to prepare us for the most important day in all of our lives…, when we pass from this very very very temporary very difficult very unfair very fallen ridiculous version of reality into life that is eternally what it will be…

1 John 4 vs 12-16

April 21, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 4:12–16

 The entire reason for human creation is to deploy love into the world. This is why you and I are here… to do this one thing. To love God and to love others. When you step into that/your purpose, your heart of hearts illuminates with life. Galatians 5:22-25, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” And from love, deploying this love of God into the world through your life, your choice, not an emotion but an action, a disciplined decision, through love comes, “joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is not law.” Why? Because this is actually the eternal purpose of life! “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires,” so lust has taken a back- seat to love, “If we live in the Spirit,” revelation that is where life is…, living in the Spirit, “let us also walk in the Spirit…”  Verse 9 of 1 John 4, defines love for us. Every heart on every chocolate wrapper, movie label, fashion article, none of those things are love…, they are all something else… We use the word lust as lust is desire for someone or something else and in the terms of relationship, it is entirely reciprocal. I love you because you love me. I serve you because you make me happy. Make me feel a certain way. I want you, I need you, I yearn for you…, all of that the world calls love and its not. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, its just self-centered…, its not love.  Love was painted for us that while we were yet against God, Christ died for us. Verse 10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and (action) sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation is a big word but it essentially means that while we were without, Jesus went and gained us favor in the righteousness and holiness of God. Propitiation explains that I did not win the heart of God, but the Jesus won the heart of God for man!  Another big word used in some scholarly circles is expiation. Same thought, that while we were yet terrible (not you, not me specifically, creation as a whole), God Himself made atonement for all of the wrongs ever committed… It means literally that Jesus has “robbed all sin of their validities and significance!”  So, love was painted. It was defined. Love is not to demand that you affirm me. Love is not to take something from you so that I can have something. Love is not to reciprocate affection. Love is to care for another when they care nothing about you… The world knows nothing of this love, and that is why Jesus has filled you with His Spirit so that you and I can deploy this kind of love into this dark and tortured world. And remember, when you decide to do this, this is when you take all of the control back of and over yourself from the world, the enemy and the flesh (exiting the law of reciprocal affection – because with the life in the spirit, there is no law, only freedom)! 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 12  Is that right? What about Moses who saw God face to face? Exodus 33:11 says, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” What about Jacob who saw God? Genesis 32 tells us that Jacob wrestled with God, like physical wrestling match, all night until the breaking of day. What about Job who said in Job 42:5, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You?” There are others as well including Elijah, Gideon, Manoah and his wife (the parents of Samson). So, what’s going on here…? Because it is clear in 1 John and in Exodus 33:20 God says Himself, “No man shall see Me, and live.”  First of all, why? I could preach for the next 5 hours and not be able to do anything more than this next statement in terms of explanation. God is infinite. The human eyeball is flesh and it is finite. God, Yahweh, is spirit and He is infinite. My eye could no more contain the vision of God than a thimble could contain the oceans… God’s glory is so beyond all things that simply looking upon Him would melt me in my moccasins! And, all these folks in the Bible saw God…, what’s going on?  John tells us the answer… John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time,” written after Moses, Gideon, Elijah…, “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” That word means “interpreted.” Colossians 1:15 says of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God.” And so, who did Moses speak with? God? Yes… the preincarnate Person of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune God. You see, the Bible, if you can’t perceive the triune fact of the Almighty God, the Bible really itself falls apart. To be a biblical Christian you must be a trinitarian because no one can see God and live and yet we see Jesus who was from the beginning, was God AND was with God, and interpreted all things, revealed all things about God when He stepped into His own creation.  AND, there’s a dig here from John. This in context is a defense against false teachers. Yea the bible says this, yea Paul says that, but I HAVE SEEN God…, and so I have the real story. Wolf. That person is trying to make you follow them…, where as someone pointing you to the Word of God is pointing you to Jesus. 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 12 (Again)  In context, these two sentences together, this is what we just read. The world is to see God in and through how we love one another. The single purpose for my life at its simplest signification is to deploy love into this fallen and loveless world. Love is our greatest commandment and also it is each of ours and everyone’s greatest need. And ALL sin is a result of me not loving God or me not knowing that I am loved by God. 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 13  A couple of things here. John uses the phrase “we know” over and over again in his letters. We are to know that we have eternal life. Settled, secured, absolute. Many groups and religions out there and even Christians, ask them if they are going to heaven, and the response you get is, “I hope so.” Stop hoping. Read your Bible. Know…  And one of the ways to know that you are truly saved is that you have a heart, a desire and hopefully mature into actions this act of loving one another. Fulfilling your purpose in life. What you were created to do…  John says that loving one another, he links it to being filled with the Holy Spirit…, which is having God Himself abiding in you… 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 14 – 16  Just for a moment, lets talk about the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit a He or is He an it? A force or a Person? As you study and learn and observe what we can know from the Bible about the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to conclude anything other than the Holy Spirit is not a force but must be a He. Why? Because He exhibits the characteristics of a Person.  The Holy Spirit Himself speaks. 1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Hebrews 3:7, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice…” The Holy Spirit can be lied to. Acts 5:3, Peter says to Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit experiences personal grief as we read in Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” He speaks, He acts, He works, He reveals, He teaches, He convicts, He helps, He gives, none of those things describe a force or an it… AND, countless scriptures cast Him equal in all ways to the Father and to the Son….  Just one example, back to Acts 5:3-4, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.””  So, is the Holy Spirit a Person? Absolutely. And John says that God has given us of His Spirit and that Spirit is love and he who abides in love abides in God. Abide means mixed, we are both on the title to the house, it’s a done deal. So, as we close, one more thought? Can a Christian be possessed? Absolutely! Possessed by the Spirit of God! In fact, that’s what the Bible says being Christian even IS! And just think what a demon possessed person, how they act…, how much more a Christian possessed by the Spirit of God Himself!? John’s entire point!  So, look at your heart. Survey your life. Check your attitude. Are you possessed!? HA! This is the only real proof of being born again, saved, a citizen of heaven. Are you deploying love straight from God, through you, into the world. Satan knows the bible better than any educated human ever. He has spoken to God, been in the presence of God, believes in Jesus and even must obey Him. And yet hell is where he belongs. Love is to care for another when they care nothing for you… That is to be possessed by God, filled with the Holy Spirit, both of y’all on the title…