1 John 5 vs 14-17

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1 John 5 vs 14-17

Calvary Chapel Cherry Creek

June 2, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 5:14–17

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1 John Chapter 5 Verses 14 – 15

· Ok first comment here. Truly it is by God’s grace and love for us that He does not grant us our petitions that are outside of His will! God is perfect, good, holy, righteous and just. So, for this first point, let that describe His will. Makes sense. How many times have I prayed asking for something that is not those things… Many times…

· On my worst day, how many times have I prayed for what is opposite of those things? Many times… Imagine for a moment and world filled with the answered prayers of the unjust. Wow, wait a minute, this world sort of seems like that already. I don’t know if that deconstructs the illustration or supports it as we live in a fallen world who today is puppeteered by the prince of the power of the air…, the god of this age…

· But the point is that God’s will is good. It is perfect, just and right…, and so I’m going on record saying now that any prayer that includes exiting what God desires for me, I’m glad those prayers get the “No,” from on high. Because I trust the Lord over my, well really, my whatever…

· Honestly, have you ever even considered a world where every prayer is answered! It would be ridiculous, really weird, and VERY different. There’s be no sports. Both sides would always win. Praying for that win. There’d be no point! There’d be no gyms, supplements, fitness coaches… You know why? “Bless this food to our body!” HA! Everyday would be a snow day for highschoolers! Doctors? Lawyers? Judges? Pharmacists? Dentists? Psychiatrists? Taxi Drivers? No need! Everybody would be lottery winners! Stupid illustration but man probably the number one complaint in the Body of Christ is about unanswered prayers…

· Back to the will of God, second thing to consider with this is what is, and I’m talking specifics now, what is God’s will? How can we know exactly what is the mind and intention and ways of God? The answer is perhaps simpler than you think. It’s not the will of God if it goes against the Word of God. This is a guidepost of truth to remember… It is not the will of God, if it goes against the Word of God…

· If someone wrote a book on effective prayer, that book could be the shortest book ever written. HA! First, pray! James says in James 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask.” That thing you’re dealing with, that you’re facing, that you’re concerned about, that you hope works out…, on and on…, have you prayed about it? There’s a big word in these verses in 1 John and that word is “anything!” So, first sentence in the book on prayer…, we should pray!

· Second sentence, filter and align your prayers through the knowledge of the Word of God AND your heart to trust the Lord. Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” It’s amazing that folks can be praying and praying and then read their Bibles and they either get the answer or they get the reason why their prayers are being, well, unheard… So, pray and know the Bible. The end. Not sure it would be a best seller. Folks want something easier than that and I get it…, ha.

· It really comes down to this. Prayer is not designed to be a means of casting our wishes into heaven but rather a source of confidence and faith-strengthening as our approach to God is intelligent and informed, being rooted in the understanding of the will of God and His promises according to His Word. Then we pray, we pray about everything, and God hears us AND is faithful to His Word… We see it, we perceive it, we know He is trustworthy…

1 John Chapter 5 Verses 16 – 17

· Welp, that was weird! HA! What? What is John talking about!? Super odd verse set if we don’t slow things down a bit and look at how John worded this. First, he uses the word, “brother.” So, we are talking about someone in the faith. Someone that knows the Lord, has accepted salvation through Jesus Christ, and yet is in some sort of sin. So, what are we, and this is a bit enlightening and also a bit convicting, when we see a brother in sin, what should we do?

· Correct them! Call them out! Convince them using the Bible that what they are doing is sinful. John isn’t saying not to do those things but he is telling us what to do first. First, we should take it to the Lord. We should pray for that brother! God has sent us to correct, rebuke, exhort and teach and to go into the whole world and make disciples, teaching folks to observe the words of Jesus…, BUT, how much more amazing, effective, great if we see a brother in sin and GOD does the correcting!

· PLUS, we have not the right heart to correct a brother until we’ve prayed for them! Do you know that!? I hope you do. If we do not love them, we should never correct, rebuke, exhort or teach them. We just simply aren’t qualified. This is straight from the throne room of heaven, are you ready for this. If we can’t learn to love them then we should learn to be quiet. And in that quiet…, pray.

· This comment about life is a comment of the heart and essence of God. God Himself is the originator of life and in Him is life itself. And so, you pray for that brother and God abides in you…, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, that same life goes after that brother in sin. That is a promise here! I truly believe that I can drop the most incredibly awesome knowledge on someone and yet the Holy Spirit ministering directly to their heart for a mere second will be eternally more effective!

· Now, that is sin not leading to death… John, (and there are many ideas about this, this is just mine), John says that if the sin is leading to death (and this is physical death – not spiritual death), then without delay, without hesitation, without a day a week a month of waiting on the Lord, realize that if someone is on the brink of destruction and you see that, YOU are God’s answer to prayer. Go after them…

· Look at what Jude says and this really is revealing…, Jude 16 – 22, “These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.”

1 John Chapter 5 Verses 18 – 19

· This is a positional statement that in Jesus Christ my sins are forgiven, forgotten, withdrawn from my account before God and therefore I stand before God sinless, just as Jesus is in heaven, because Jesus stood in my place on the cross, representing and in the place of mankind on earth…

· And, whoever is born of God ultimately finds great difficulty, even impossibility, to continue on in habitual lifestyle sin. Why? Because the Spirit of God within convicts and corrects. If you can go on in some sort of offensive heart or lifestyle to the Holy Spirit then you’re either miserable or you’re just simply not born of God.

· But he who has been born of God keeps himself, total personal radical accountability…, not waiting on God to deliver you…, God has already provided everything you need for every struggle you’ll ever face…, its up to me to walk by faith… In the light of truth, we aren’t really struggling, what we’re doing is delaying obedience….

· Keeping myself , walking by faith over feelings, understand there is a promise here, a truth of God’s word, that in that state, the enemy can’t touch me. As a Christian, understand, for the enemy to touch me at all that has to go through God…, because I am His. And if I am walking in the flesh, perhaps the best thing for me is to get a glimpse of hell to set me straight…

· And the promise is that as I walk with the Lord, hey, the environment might stack against me, Satan is the swayer of the whole world, but he himself…, or better said, me, I’m off limits… Now the inverse of that reveals a truth. For those that are not God’s, unsaved, rejecting of God, there’s a hint here that there is essentially no protection upon them from the wicked one…

1 John Chapter 5 Verses 20 – 21

· Understanding comes from God. Understanding of the truth is not something to be achieved or attained, it is given only by and through relationship with Jesus by faith… And after a great revelation of who Jesus was and is, John gives us the simplest and most complete exhortation, “Be little, be simple, be humble, be grateful, be receivers…, little children, and keep yourselves from idols. Stick with only and close too the single Truth of and in Jesus Christ!”

1 John 5 vs 18-21

June 23, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 5:18–21

1 John Chapter 5 Verses 18 – 19 · This is a (one) a positional statement that in Jesus Christ my sins are forgiven, forgotten, withdrawn from my account before God and therefore I stand before God sinless, just as Jesus is in heaven, because Jesus stood in my place on the cross, representing and in the place of mankind/me on earth… · That’s the gospel! And the gospel is not whoever figures it out, whoever decides that they ought to act right, whoever becomes a good person…, the gospel of the Bible, and the true work of salvation is whoever is born of God! The word in the Greek is “gennao” and it literally means, whoever is fathered by God… · Jesus said in John 8:42-47, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore, you do not hear, because you are not of God.” · Strong words about to whom someone truly is born of…, who is their father. The gospel of salvation, the watermark of the Christian, Jesus said, “If God were your Father,” first off you love Jesus. Now here’s the shocker. The word Jesus uses is agapeo! Not phileo! I love Jesus for who He is, for what He’s done for me…, because He is good and He is Truth…, and that is not the love Jesus says will be the sign that I am born of God. I love Jesus over my distress. Over my inconvenience. Over my emotions. Over my pride. So therefore, I will trust Him and comply with His wishes, even to my own detriment. That is agapeo. And that is the sure sign for anyone that they are born of God, saved by grace through faith, and a Christian. · This, what I just described, is not something you can set out to do. This is not a decision or a resolution. This is not you saying, yep, that makes sense, I need to do that. I need to obey Jesus even if its hard. You aren’t boot-camped into Christianity, you’re born into it. If this isn’t what you now naturally do, more and more as you walk with the Lord… Well, let me put it this way…, Madison doesn’t get up everyday and decide to be my daughter…, she just is… · The first work of the gospel, being born of God, is that you WILL (not you will set out to, not you will discipline yourself into this, not you will study yourself into this, not I will ever be able to preach you into this) you will love Jesus. And those that love Jesus, He continues there in John 8, will listen to His Word. That word for listen means to harken…, to be endowed with understanding unto operation and result. · Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord Lord and do not what I tell you to do…?” Why? Because Jesus, my love for You…, that’s the problem. No, that’s the symptom. The problem perhaps is that you need to come into the home and authority and provision of God through the Gospel of grace by faith! The desires of God you will want to do if you are born of God. Just as Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father, you want to do.” What are the desires of the devil? · Well, number one is to unseat God. That’s what Lucifer created of himself in the first place. God says this, wants this, directs this…, I’m going to do my own thing. What is the desire of your heart? To do what God desires or to do your own thing? No need to think about that answer…, just survey your last season of behaviors, actions and attitudes. We think so much and think our way right into justification for ourselves…, when the truth is what actually happens. You know that right? You live in reality, right? · Is that all of the desires of Satan? Paul helps us out in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Why? Revelation, folks that are fathered by Satan…. · What are the desires of God? Jesus said, “If God were your Father, the desires of your Father you would want to do…” Paul is very clear…, take all of the Bible, all of the directs of God, all of the truth of God’s character, and find His heart here…, Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit,” the life result of the circumstance of God being your Father, “is love.” Agape. First for Jesus and second for each other. Nothing you have to do, set out to do, purpose to do, resolve to do…, you just wake up…, and Madison is my daughter everyday… · And what does love look like? Doing right, being right, acting right, knowing right, and making sure everyone around me knows too. WHOA. Sounds a ton like another father… The fruit of the Spirit is love, and that looks like joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. So, are you born of God? Stop thinking so much. Is this YOUR character or at least the desire revealed in your character! Perhaps convicting. Perhaps worrisome. Maybe today, you need to really give your heart to God and experience the love for Jesus that transfers your soul into a kingdom citizen. Perhaps 30-year Christian, perhaps you need to get saved… Drop the critical heart, abandon the judgmental tone, leave behind the unkind, harsh, callous, tyrannical agape-less-ness, and be born again unto a child of God… · Doesn’t mean you will be sinless, it means your desires will change…, maybe let me put it this way…, your pains will change. What vexes your spirit will begin to change…, because also in this statement of John (two) back in our text is implied one does not continue in sin. Whoever is born of God ultimately finds great difficulty, even impossibility, to continue on in habitual lifestyle sin. Why? Because the Spirit of God within convicts and corrects. · You love Jesus. Agapeo, not fondness, and as the Spirit reveals and corrects and redirects, you listen. Not because you have to or because its right or because its beneficial personally for you to obey but because YOU LOVE JESUS! If you can go on in some sort of offensive heart or lifestyle to the Holy Spirit then you’re either miserable (that’s that new pain) or you’re just simply not born of God. · Check this out. God doesn’t want to only lead you with His voice. The Bible tells us God’s desire is to lead us with His eye. Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” That’s Father talk…, you know I can LOOK commands to my kids! A secret to hearing and seeing more and more of God in your life, His blessings, His truth, His provision, His awesomeness and His results…, check this out, here’s a secret to that…, say YES before He asks! · And by the way, God speaking to us over and over again and confirming and man that must be a sign is not a signal of our spiritual maturity…, it’s actually the opposite!! The enemy always attacks the last thing God said to you…! · But he who has been born of God keeps himself, total personal radical accountability…, not waiting on God to deliver you…, God has already provided everything you need for every struggle you’ll ever face…, it’s up to me to walk by faith… In the light of truth, we aren’t really struggling, what we’re doing is delaying obedience…. And honestly, if someone else has to point out my critical harsh judgmental nature then I am not listening to the Holy Spirit! We ought to need no one to ever tell us what it is that is against God in our hearts! We ought to know ourselves…, or, are you even saved, born of God as YOUR Father? · Keeping myself, walking by faith over feelings, understand there is a promise here, a truth of God’s word, that in that state, the enemy can’t cling to me. As a Christian, understand, for the enemy to attach to me at all that has to go through God…, because I am His. And if I am walking in the flesh, perhaps the best thing for me is to get a glimpse of hell to set me straight… · And the promise is that as I walk with the Lord, hey, the environment might stack against me, Satan is the swayer of the whole world, but he himself…, or better said, me, I’m off limits… Now the inverse of that reveals a truth. For those that are not God’s, unsaved, rejecting of God, there’s a hint here that there is essentially no protection upon them from the wicked one… And just like Star Trek, Satan loves to be a Klingon! HA! 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 20 – 21 · Understanding comes from God. Understanding of the truth is not something to be achieved or attained, it is given only by and through relationship with Jesus by faith…, (that means by “YES”). And after a great revelation of who Jesus was and is, John gives us the simplest and most complete exhortation, “Be little, be simple, be humble, be grateful, be receivers…, little children, and keep yourselves from idols. Stick with only and close to the single Truth of and in Jesus Christ!” Jesus truly is all you need. You know why? Back to Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit, the proof of the one born of God, the mark of God being your father, Galatians 5:23, “Against such there is no law.” · You can live out no truth of the Word of God if you do not love the Lord. Agapeo. AND, if you love the Lord, by nature, just waking up into your day, if you are born of God and God is your Father and it is in His house you dwell, you live, if you love the Lord, then by nature, without even knowing it, you will fulfill the entirety of the rest of the ordinances and directives found in the Word and will and desire of God. Jesus said on these two commandments hang all of the law and the prophets. Why. Because those two commandments truly are all of what is revealed and directed in the law and the prophets. Everything else, everything else, is just some sort of idol…

1 John 5 vs 6-13

May 26, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 5:6–13

1 John Chapter 5 Verse 6 · There are many ideas as to exactly what John is saying here however the why he is saying it is quite clear. The Gnostics of the time believed in a phantom Jesus, a spirit only Jesus, as we have discussed in the past and by making this statement John is being very clear that Jesus was not simply and only a spirit but He was also very man, flesh and blood. Now, what is John saying…? · Jesus coming by water can refer to His physical birth and/or His baptism. Jesus was born in the physical, and in doing so, essentially was stepping into His own creation and saying, “I am not just coming to be among you, I am stepping into being one of you.” When Jesus was baptized, He wasn’t doing that for His own sin, as He Himself had none. What He said to John when John protested Jesus coming to him to be baptized, we find in Matthew 3:13-15…. · “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.” In Jesus’ baptism, which many agree John is talking about here in 1 John 5, Jesus essentially was fully arriving, “He who came by water,” because just as in His physical birth, in His baptism this was Jesus putting on display for the world that He is one of us… (To be qualified to die for the sins of all men, Jesus must Himself be a Man…) · And John says that the Spirit bears witness which at the baptism of Jesus we read in Matthew 3:16, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.” Testimony of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth… · That same Jesus, full revelation of who He is and what He came to do, also came by blood. There is no doubt this speaks of his death. When Jesus died, He didn’t do so because He had to (the wages of sin is death and death had no power over Him). He laid down His life willingly, why? To again, fully identify with sinful humanity AND to pay the debt of sin for all. · So, He was born of water at His birth, and submitted to water at His baptism to fully step into His qualification as fully Man, and He was then further proven as our representative, the qualified representative of all humanity, when He surrendered to death for the my sin and for yours. The Spirit bore witness then and He continues to do so today… 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 7 – 8 · These verses are interesting. In what is said, not too much to exegete. John calls to witness the truth of heaven and the truth of earth to fortify the truth of the Savior Jesus Christ. Got it. We move one… Interestingly, these verses actually have their own name/title. These are known as the Johannine Comma. What’s that mean? · These verses, in virtually all of the ancient textus receptus manuscripts, simply are not there except for one 11th century and one 12th century manuscript in which they are actually added to the margin by a reader. They mysteriously also appear in the Latin Vulgate which was a Latin translation of the Greek manuscripts attributed to Jerome and completed around 200AD. We get our New Testament (King James translations) from Erasmus’ word for word ancient Greek transcription and he purposefully left out these verses because they show up in the Latin Vulgate but not the Greek manuscripts… So here we are… Honestly, take them or leave them. They (in my opinion) add nothing that is not already found clearly in many other places in scripture… 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 9 – 13 · God the Father has testified, set a seal of authenticity, on Jesus Christ, God the Son. How? Well, first, explicitly. At the baptism of Jesus, we read in Matthew 3:16-17, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” · Did you know that this is not the only time the Father speaks audibly from heaven with a crowd around testifying of Jesus Christ? Surrounded by people including His disciples in John 12 verses 20 – 30, “Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake.” · There are proofs, a ton of other proofs, in the scriptures and in the history of the world, and in the history of many lives including my own that Jesus is Himself the Son of God. One of those is the myriad of impossible prophecies fulfilled in His birth, life, death and resurrection. Another is His works He did…, John 5:36, Jesus said, “But I have a greater witness than John’s, for the works which the Father has given Me to finish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me…” · So, we have the testimony of the scriptures, the testimony of others such as John the Baptist, the testimony of the Father, Jesus says the Spirit testifies of the Son, the works testify of the Son and ultimately, the kicker, the straw that breaks the camel’s back, the resurrection bears witness of Jesus Christ being the promised Messiah, the Son of God, having in Himself eternal life! · So, the testimony of God is that He has given us, granted us, restored unto us and redeemed us unto eternal life by His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. If we choose not to believe, not to accept what God has provided but rather to reject Jesus, we commit the unpardonable sin. You cannot have eternal life, as testified by yes, the Christian Bible, but also by Jesus Himself, fulfilled prophecy, the historical miraculous works He delivered, and as testified by the only man to bring forth life out of death…, being resurrected, all of that lays out with unavoidable undeniable testimony that you cannot have eternal life apart from the Son of God, Jesus Christ. · Now, it should be strongly emphasized that eternal life is FAR more, much more than quantity or simply duration of time but it is also and it is first a quality of life. Paul said that he rejoices in hope, loves and enjoys his everyday life, because although the outward man is dying, the inward man is being renewed day by day…, every day of eternal life once you receive Jesus Christ is a day you are growing stronger! Impossible any other way… · Solomon had everything this world had to offer and then some. He said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; And this was my reward from all my labor.” And at the end of getting more than any other single person has ever had, he stated for all of history in Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”” · Give him everything and he finds no life. And yet we have Paul and Silas in prison rejoicing with singing! We have everyone of the apostles embrace death rather than deny what Jesus had done for them and who He was. We have Paul himself who literally lost more than everything write an authoritative book on joy while in a Roman prison! (Philippians). · So, yea, chase whatever you’re chasing to make you whole, to satisfy your soul…, I guess Paul did it wrong…, in the midst of all your getting, get understanding, get Jesus and find and accept this eternal life that God has given through His Son!

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!