1 00:00:03,667 --> 00:00:05,833 It's amazing what a connection Jesus 2 00:00:05,917 --> 00:00:07,333 is between strangers. 3 00:00:07,417 --> 00:00:09,042 Like, just people who've never met before, 4 00:00:09,125 --> 00:00:10,458 you know you share that. 5 00:00:10,500 --> 00:00:11,833 You share a similar love 6 00:00:11,917 --> 00:00:13,583 and you've been loved greatly by him, 7 00:00:13,667 --> 00:00:15,083 and it just opens up relationships 8 00:00:15,167 --> 00:00:18,833 so much more easily. 9 00:00:18,875 --> 00:00:20,500 I was secluded. 10 00:00:20,542 --> 00:00:23,417 I was the dude behind his computer screen at home 11 00:00:23,500 --> 00:00:24,917 and really no community. 12 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,917 And so the first time I actually entered into a Community Group, 13 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,417 it was really awkward for me. 14 00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:31,417 Like, I didn't even know how to, like, 15 00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:33,625 socially interact with people, and I didn't want to. 16 00:00:33,667 --> 00:00:35,625 But then I saw the benefit of it, 17 00:00:35,667 --> 00:00:39,333 and I saw the Holy Spirit just working through people. 18 00:00:39,375 --> 00:00:42,833 As a single dude, I didn't own a vacuum cleaner, 19 00:00:42,917 --> 00:00:46,333 and Blair and Christina found out that I didn't, 20 00:00:46,375 --> 00:00:50,542 and they bought me a vacuum cleaner. 21 00:00:50,625 --> 00:00:54,500 I moved up here, had no friends, I had some family. 22 00:00:54,542 --> 00:00:57,000 And then through serving at Mars Hill, 23 00:00:57,083 --> 00:01:01,125 I met everyone else here and more Mars Hill people, 24 00:01:01,167 --> 00:01:05,167 and it was nice to have Christian friends in an area 25 00:01:05,208 --> 00:01:10,792 that's, you know, new and you don't know many people. 26 00:01:10,833 --> 00:01:15,250 My car ended up being hit while I was at my first group, 27 00:01:15,333 --> 00:01:17,625 like, almost totaled. 28 00:01:17,667 --> 00:01:20,792 And I went on a vacation right after that, 29 00:01:20,833 --> 00:01:25,542 and I came back to the group again and they had raised $500 30 00:01:25,625 --> 00:01:28,875 to help towards my car, which helped with my insurance. 31 00:01:28,958 --> 00:01:31,375 And I was like, it's great to see a community 32 00:01:31,458 --> 00:01:34,875 and be able to help and serve someone. 33 00:01:34,958 --> 00:01:37,333 Like, the community you have with people you serve with 34 00:01:37,375 --> 00:01:40,333 I think is really strong. 35 00:01:40,375 --> 00:01:41,875 It's just real life. 36 00:01:41,958 --> 00:01:43,625 You can't compartmentalize that. 37 00:01:43,667 --> 00:01:46,417 And I just love that about Community Groups is that it 38 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:49,167 makes the serving on Sundays and it makes just, like, 39 00:01:49,208 --> 00:01:52,042 what you hear on Sundays in sermons and from the word, like, 40 00:01:52,125 --> 00:01:55,542 you can just talk about it and you can apply it in your living, 41 00:01:55,625 --> 00:01:57,458 like, in open relationships with people. 42 00:01:57,500 --> 00:02:00,667 And I just really love that about Community Group. 43 00:02:00,750 --> 00:02:03,917 Real life is you go and you hang out on a Friday night. 44 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,417 Real life is, you know, you help each other out 45 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:08,000 when the car breaks down. 46 00:02:08,042 --> 00:02:10,000 As life is, like, lonely and scary, like, 47 00:02:10,083 --> 00:02:11,417 it doesn't have to be. 48 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:13,417 Like, you can get in a Community Group. 49 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:15,917 You can have people around you who care about you, 50 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,125 who invest in you, who spend time with you, 51 00:02:18,167 --> 00:02:20,750 just to genuinely be loved and love people, 52 00:02:20,833 --> 00:02:24,625 and you find that in community. 53 00:02:27,583 --> 00:02:32,375 I want to begin today by showing you a photo of my dad. 54 00:02:32,458 --> 00:02:34,292 So, here is my dad. 55 00:02:34,333 --> 00:02:36,292 Do you see the resemblance? 56 00:02:36,333 --> 00:02:37,792 Do you see that? 57 00:02:37,833 --> 00:02:40,000 It's a fact of life, right, that as children, 58 00:02:40,042 --> 00:02:44,042 we reflect our biological fathers. 59 00:02:44,125 --> 00:02:46,875 It's also a spiritual reality. 60 00:02:46,958 --> 00:02:49,792 The Bible teaches us spiritually we have one of two fathers. 61 00:02:49,833 --> 00:02:52,958 Either we are children of God and we are the children 62 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,417 of the only true God, the God of the Bible, 63 00:02:55,500 --> 00:03:00,667 or according to the Scripture, we're children of the devil. 64 00:03:00,708 --> 00:03:03,000 And there are telltale signs in our life 65 00:03:03,042 --> 00:03:05,167 as to who is our Father. 66 00:03:05,250 --> 00:03:08,542 The children of God live righteously 67 00:03:08,625 --> 00:03:11,875 while children of the devil live rebelliously. 68 00:03:11,958 --> 00:03:16,708 I want to invite you to open up your Bibles today to 1 John 2, 69 00:03:16,792 --> 00:03:19,125 the very end of the second chapter. 70 00:03:19,167 --> 00:03:21,292 We're at almost the end of the Bible. 71 00:03:21,333 --> 00:03:25,000 1 John 2:28, who's your father? 72 00:03:25,083 --> 00:03:28,500 Are you a child of God or are you a child of the devil? 73 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:29,958 How would we know? 74 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,833 We're going to answer those questions today. 75 00:03:31,917 --> 00:03:34,250 Before I do anything else though, let me pray. 76 00:03:34,333 --> 00:03:38,917 Father, thank you that you love us. 77 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,958 For those of us here today that belong to Jesus, 78 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,708 thank you that your word teaches us that you love us with 79 00:03:45,792 --> 00:03:49,833 all the love and affection you have for Jesus. 80 00:03:49,875 --> 00:03:52,292 You're not a Father who would abandon us, 81 00:03:52,333 --> 00:03:55,000 you're not a Father who would abuse us, 82 00:03:55,083 --> 00:03:58,750 but you love us with a perfect love. 83 00:03:58,833 --> 00:04:01,833 Father, I pray that today, as we open up your word, 84 00:04:01,875 --> 00:04:06,667 we would understand better than ever before how deeply we are 85 00:04:06,708 --> 00:04:09,000 loved by you as your children. 86 00:04:09,042 --> 00:04:12,167 Father, I pray for those today who don't yet know you that they 87 00:04:12,250 --> 00:04:15,625 might meet Jesus in the time that we have together, 88 00:04:15,667 --> 00:04:18,500 that they might turn from sin and trust in him, 89 00:04:18,583 --> 00:04:21,458 and they might become a part of our family. 90 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:25,625 All this we ask together in the name of Jesus, amen. 91 00:04:25,667 --> 00:04:29,333 1 John 2:28, 92 00:04:29,417 --> 00:04:32,958 children of God live righteously. 93 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,417 "And now, little children, abide in him, 94 00:04:37,500 --> 00:04:41,000 "so that when he appears we may have confidence 95 00:04:41,083 --> 00:04:46,042 "and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. 96 00:04:46,125 --> 00:04:48,667 "If you know that he is righteous, 97 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:53,792 "you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness 98 00:04:53,833 --> 00:04:56,833 has been born of him." 99 00:04:56,917 --> 00:05:01,000 We pick up right where we left off last week in 1 John. 100 00:05:01,083 --> 00:05:04,333 The overriding theme is time is running out. 101 00:05:04,417 --> 00:05:06,667 Jesus is coming back. 102 00:05:06,708 --> 00:05:10,458 What's ultimately left to bring all of this history to 103 00:05:10,500 --> 00:05:14,708 conclusion is the return to the earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. 104 00:05:14,792 --> 00:05:18,125 And what John is saying here to those who are reading his 105 00:05:18,167 --> 00:05:21,417 writing is this, "Abide in Jesus." 106 00:05:21,500 --> 00:05:24,167 Same context we covered last week, 107 00:05:24,250 --> 00:05:28,167 that this idea that Jesus lives in us, how does that happen? 108 00:05:28,208 --> 00:05:30,958 Jesus lives in us as his word lives in us 109 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,667 empowered by his Holy Spirit. 110 00:05:33,708 --> 00:05:38,000 So Jesus lives in us and we, in turn, are to live in Jesus. 111 00:05:38,083 --> 00:05:41,833 We're to live all of our lives practically in the sphere 112 00:05:41,917 --> 00:05:44,542 of Jesus by, through the power of the Holy Spirit, 113 00:05:44,625 --> 00:05:46,750 obeying his word. 114 00:05:46,833 --> 00:05:48,417 Now, why would we do that? 115 00:05:48,500 --> 00:05:52,125 Here's why, because Jesus is going to return. 116 00:05:52,167 --> 00:05:54,833 The word "appears" is a very interesting word in 117 00:05:54,875 --> 00:05:57,125 the original language of the New Testament. 118 00:05:57,167 --> 00:06:00,292 It's the idea of a king, a monarch, 119 00:06:00,333 --> 00:06:03,500 visiting his subjects that are remote from him. 120 00:06:03,542 --> 00:06:06,500 So the king comes to town and he's to be warmly greeted 121 00:06:06,542 --> 00:06:09,125 and received by his subjects. 122 00:06:09,167 --> 00:06:11,292 The same is true with King Jesus. 123 00:06:11,333 --> 00:06:14,917 King Jesus is coming back, and what John is saying to those 124 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,417 who are listening to him is Jesus is coming back. 125 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:22,667 When he returns, you don't want to be ashamed. 126 00:06:22,708 --> 00:06:24,292 You don't want to shrink away. 127 00:06:24,333 --> 00:06:27,333 You want to move to him and not away from him. 128 00:06:27,375 --> 00:06:30,208 And the way that you're going to be able to do that, 129 00:06:30,292 --> 00:06:35,417 as you abide in him, you will practice his righteousness. 130 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:38,375 The Bible teaches that you and I have a relationship with God 131 00:06:38,458 --> 00:06:42,000 on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus. 132 00:06:42,083 --> 00:06:46,083 When we say Jesus is righteous, what we're saying is Jesus is 133 00:06:46,167 --> 00:06:50,458 in right relationship with God by nature and by deed, 134 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:53,167 that all that Jesus is and all that Jesus thinks, 135 00:06:53,250 --> 00:06:55,917 says, and does, he is in right relationship with 136 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,000 God the Father. 137 00:06:58,083 --> 00:07:01,250 The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the second member of 138 00:07:01,333 --> 00:07:05,417 the Trinity, God the Son, taking on human form. 139 00:07:05,500 --> 00:07:08,500 And as Jesus came to this earth, he doesn't have a nature 140 00:07:08,542 --> 00:07:10,000 like you and I have. 141 00:07:10,083 --> 00:07:11,833 He has a nature that's without sin. 142 00:07:11,917 --> 00:07:15,042 That's why it was important for him to be born of a virgin 143 00:07:15,125 --> 00:07:17,000 who was impregnated through the Holy Spirit. 144 00:07:17,083 --> 00:07:19,792 Jesus doesn't inherit a sin nature like you and I do. 145 00:07:19,833 --> 00:07:22,583 He is righteous with God the Father, 146 00:07:22,667 --> 00:07:25,583 then Jesus lived the only perfect life in word, thought, 147 00:07:25,667 --> 00:07:29,458 action, and deed, the only life that's ever been lived. 148 00:07:29,500 --> 00:07:31,458 So Jesus is righteous. 149 00:07:31,500 --> 00:07:33,792 As we abide in him, we have his righteousness. 150 00:07:33,833 --> 00:07:36,792 We don't come to God on the basis of who we are 151 00:07:36,833 --> 00:07:38,167 or what we do. 152 00:07:38,250 --> 00:07:40,375 We come to him on the basis of Jesus, 153 00:07:40,458 --> 00:07:42,875 and in essence what we're doing is we're living out 154 00:07:42,958 --> 00:07:44,625 the righteousness of Jesus when he comes. 155 00:07:44,667 --> 00:07:46,042 Here's the big idea. 156 00:07:46,125 --> 00:07:48,333 Jesus is coming back. 157 00:07:48,417 --> 00:07:50,250 Jesus is coming back like a monarch, 158 00:07:50,333 --> 00:07:52,708 like a king who visits his subjects. 159 00:07:52,792 --> 00:07:55,708 And when he returns, we want to be ready. 160 00:07:55,792 --> 00:07:58,542 We want to be practicing righteousness. 161 00:07:58,625 --> 00:08:03,000 We want to draw near him and worship him when he returns. 162 00:08:03,042 --> 00:08:04,500 We don't want to shrink away. 163 00:08:04,542 --> 00:08:06,458 We don't want to hide. 164 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:09,458 We don't want to be living in shame. 165 00:08:09,500 --> 00:08:13,208 As a kid, I remember my dad coming home from work. 166 00:08:13,292 --> 00:08:15,875 My dad was an entrepreneur, had a couple of different businesses 167 00:08:15,958 --> 00:08:18,542 when I was a kid, and so he would come home 168 00:08:18,625 --> 00:08:19,958 at different times. 169 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,375 His work hours were unpredictable, 170 00:08:21,458 --> 00:08:23,375 but he would come and we'd have dinner, 171 00:08:23,458 --> 00:08:25,875 and it was kind of the highlight of my day. 172 00:08:25,958 --> 00:08:28,083 Love my dad, have great respect for my dad. 173 00:08:28,167 --> 00:08:29,583 And when my dad came home, 174 00:08:29,667 --> 00:08:31,792 I didn't want to be hiding in my room. 175 00:08:31,833 --> 00:08:33,167 I wanted to greet him. 176 00:08:33,250 --> 00:08:36,375 Now, I knew for that to happen and for him to embrace me 177 00:08:36,458 --> 00:08:39,500 and to greet him well that the day had to go well, 178 00:08:39,583 --> 00:08:41,333 meaning I had to keep his rules. 179 00:08:41,417 --> 00:08:44,667 And most importantly to my dad, his greatest rule was that 180 00:08:44,750 --> 00:08:46,875 I respect my mom and I help her out, 181 00:08:46,958 --> 00:08:49,792 and that I get along with my little brother Bill. 182 00:08:49,833 --> 00:08:52,833 I didn't want my mom to say 5 minutes before my dad 183 00:08:52,917 --> 00:08:55,333 walked in the room, "Wait until your father gets home." 184 00:08:55,417 --> 00:08:58,542 I would do whatever it took to make things right so that when 185 00:08:58,625 --> 00:09:01,792 my dad came home, I wouldn't shrink away in shame in my room, 186 00:09:01,833 --> 00:09:04,292 but I could embrace him and I would greet him. 187 00:09:04,333 --> 00:09:07,500 And I knew he was going to ask me, "How was your day? 188 00:09:07,542 --> 00:09:09,208 "Did you do right by your mom? 189 00:09:09,292 --> 00:09:10,958 Did you do right by your brother?" 190 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,500 Yes. That's the concept here. 191 00:09:13,542 --> 00:09:16,333 John is reminding us we're still in the last hour. 192 00:09:16,417 --> 00:09:20,000 Jesus is coming back and when he comes back, 193 00:09:20,083 --> 00:09:21,417 you want to greet him. 194 00:09:21,500 --> 00:09:23,917 You want to run to him and not from him. 195 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,917 And the way that you can do that is you can practice 196 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,625 his righteousness in your life by abiding in him. 197 00:09:30,667 --> 00:09:37,167 Chapter 3, verse 1, the children of God live righteously. 198 00:09:37,208 --> 00:09:40,167 This is a profound truth. 199 00:09:40,208 --> 00:09:43,458 If you walk away with anything today, 200 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:46,958 I want you to own this at a heart level. 201 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:51,958 "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, 202 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:58,958 that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 203 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,083 Are you still in awe over that concept? 204 00:10:03,167 --> 00:10:05,833 The God who created the entire universe, 205 00:10:05,917 --> 00:10:09,583 who spoke it into being, the God who gives you and I life, 206 00:10:09,667 --> 00:10:13,000 the God who sustains our life, the God who one day will call us 207 00:10:13,083 --> 00:10:16,500 in account--to give an account for our life to him is the God 208 00:10:16,583 --> 00:10:20,417 who loves us like a father loves his children. 209 00:10:20,500 --> 00:10:25,250 We're the children of God and the Father loves us. 210 00:10:25,333 --> 00:10:27,208 This is so important to living righteously, 211 00:10:27,292 --> 00:10:29,292 as you'll see in just a minute. 212 00:10:29,333 --> 00:10:31,375 Now, here's something that helps us make sense 213 00:10:31,458 --> 00:10:33,333 of the world around us. 214 00:10:33,417 --> 00:10:39,667 "The reason why the world does not know us is that 215 00:10:39,750 --> 00:10:41,833 it did not know him." 216 00:10:41,917 --> 00:10:43,500 Isn't that true? 217 00:10:43,583 --> 00:10:45,875 People who are outside of the family of God, 218 00:10:45,958 --> 00:10:48,000 outside of relationship with Jesus, 219 00:10:48,083 --> 00:10:51,250 they don't necessarily recognize us as the people of God. 220 00:10:51,333 --> 00:10:52,667 Why is that? 221 00:10:52,708 --> 00:10:54,750 Because they didn't recognize Jesus. 222 00:10:54,833 --> 00:10:56,667 They recognize Jesus, they recognize us. 223 00:10:56,750 --> 00:10:59,417 If they don't recognize Jesus, they won't recognize us. 224 00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:01,833 Mars Hill, this is why it's so important, 225 00:11:01,875 --> 00:11:04,500 as we saw in our intro video, that you're part of 226 00:11:04,583 --> 00:11:06,167 a Community Group. 227 00:11:06,250 --> 00:11:08,917 You live in a world who doesn't know who you are. 228 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,458 It's critically important that beyond Sunday, 229 00:11:11,500 --> 00:11:14,958 you participate in the family. 230 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,292 And the family belongs to God, it's his family. 231 00:11:17,333 --> 00:11:18,833 He's the Father, we're his children. 232 00:11:18,917 --> 00:11:21,542 God wants his children to get together and do life together, 233 00:11:21,625 --> 00:11:23,583 and that's what we need to be doing. 234 00:11:23,667 --> 00:11:28,583 Verse 2, "Beloved, we are God's children now, 235 00:11:28,667 --> 00:11:32,917 "and what we will be has not yet appeared; 236 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:38,333 "but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, 237 00:11:38,417 --> 00:11:41,167 "because we shall see him as he is. 238 00:11:41,208 --> 00:11:44,833 "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself 239 00:11:44,875 --> 00:11:50,375 as he is pure." 240 00:11:50,458 --> 00:11:51,917 Man this is profound. 241 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,875 I wish we had hours to cover this. 242 00:11:53,958 --> 00:11:56,625 We don't, so let me just take minutes. 243 00:11:56,667 --> 00:12:01,125 Powerful truth that even though we're the children of God, 244 00:12:01,167 --> 00:12:03,042 we're still in process, right? 245 00:12:03,125 --> 00:12:04,542 You're a work in progress. 246 00:12:04,625 --> 00:12:06,542 Turn to your neighbor right now and say, 247 00:12:06,625 --> 00:12:08,542 "You're a work in progress." 248 00:12:08,625 --> 00:12:09,958 Go ahead and do that. 249 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:11,667 Now neighbor, respond to them and say, 250 00:12:11,750 --> 00:12:13,875 "Thank you, and so are you too," all right? 251 00:12:13,958 --> 00:12:15,292 Good. 252 00:12:15,333 --> 00:12:17,500 It's not funny, is it? I guess it is. 253 00:12:17,542 --> 00:12:20,208 We're all a work in progress. No one has arrived yet. 254 00:12:20,292 --> 00:12:21,708 We're the beloved children of God, 255 00:12:21,792 --> 00:12:23,917 but we aren't who we're ultimately going to be 256 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,125 when God is done with us through Jesus. 257 00:12:26,167 --> 00:12:27,667 But here's a beautiful image. 258 00:12:27,750 --> 00:12:29,875 Guess what happens when we ultimately will see Jesus 259 00:12:29,958 --> 00:12:31,292 face to face? 260 00:12:31,333 --> 00:12:35,042 We will be translated and transformed exactly 261 00:12:35,125 --> 00:12:37,667 and conformed exactly into his character. 262 00:12:37,708 --> 00:12:40,458 We're not there yet. 263 00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:43,708 Lot of rough edges, lot of stuff to be worked out, 264 00:12:43,792 --> 00:12:46,708 but we're the children of God, we're loved before we get there, 265 00:12:46,792 --> 00:12:50,333 and God's love guarantees that someday when we see Jesus 266 00:12:50,417 --> 00:12:52,667 face to face, we'll be just like him. 267 00:12:52,750 --> 00:12:54,083 And guess what? 268 00:12:54,167 --> 00:12:56,792 He is pure. 269 00:12:56,833 --> 00:13:00,292 This is an interesting concept. 270 00:13:00,333 --> 00:13:03,833 If you've read throughout the Bible, 271 00:13:03,917 --> 00:13:07,833 when you go to the Old Testament before Jesus comes to the earth, 272 00:13:07,875 --> 00:13:11,375 we talk about purity ceremonially, right? 273 00:13:11,458 --> 00:13:14,333 So purity means you can't come into the presence of God 274 00:13:14,375 --> 00:13:17,500 and have shellfish or pork on your breath, right? 275 00:13:17,583 --> 00:13:19,500 There's certain things that we don't do. 276 00:13:19,583 --> 00:13:21,042 We wash ourselves. 277 00:13:21,125 --> 00:13:22,625 We clean ourselves up. 278 00:13:22,667 --> 00:13:24,833 You hope that you don't have certainly bodily functions 279 00:13:24,875 --> 00:13:26,625 or you can't appear before God. 280 00:13:26,667 --> 00:13:29,625 When we move towards the New Testament though, 281 00:13:29,667 --> 00:13:32,000 and we see this in the words of Jesus, 282 00:13:32,042 --> 00:13:34,125 purity doesn't really come from the outside in. 283 00:13:34,167 --> 00:13:36,000 It comes from the inside out. 284 00:13:36,083 --> 00:13:39,208 It's about the heart, it's about the desires, 285 00:13:39,292 --> 00:13:41,000 it's about the motives. 286 00:13:41,042 --> 00:13:44,208 That's why Jesus says when he was confronted why his disciples 287 00:13:44,292 --> 00:13:45,667 didn't wash their hands well. 288 00:13:45,708 --> 00:13:48,333 Jesus said, "It's not really what goes into a person that 289 00:13:48,375 --> 00:13:51,333 makes them unclean, it's what comes from the heart." 290 00:13:51,375 --> 00:13:54,667 When we say Jesus is pure, we mean he's entirely pure. 291 00:13:54,708 --> 00:13:56,167 He's without sin. 292 00:13:56,208 --> 00:13:59,250 His motives, 100% pure. 293 00:13:59,333 --> 00:14:01,500 Now I want you to see the progression here. 294 00:14:01,542 --> 00:14:04,167 Inevitably, some of you are going to walk away here today 295 00:14:04,208 --> 00:14:05,542 with the wrong idea. 296 00:14:05,625 --> 00:14:07,042 You're going to think this way. 297 00:14:07,125 --> 00:14:11,083 "Okay, what I heard Pastor Dave say was that if we are righteous 298 00:14:11,167 --> 00:14:13,417 "and do our best to be righteous like Jesus, 299 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:16,333 "and if we work on being pure, then God will love us 300 00:14:16,375 --> 00:14:17,750 as his children." 301 00:14:17,833 --> 00:14:20,417 That's wrong. 302 00:14:20,500 --> 00:14:23,625 That's out of order. 303 00:14:23,667 --> 00:14:26,375 That's inside out and upside down biblically. 304 00:14:26,458 --> 00:14:29,250 I want you to see the progression here. 305 00:14:29,333 --> 00:14:32,292 God loves us first. 306 00:14:32,333 --> 00:14:34,833 First comes God's love for us, perfect in Jesus, 307 00:14:34,917 --> 00:14:37,542 then comes righteousness, then comes purity. 308 00:14:37,625 --> 00:14:42,042 We're not righteous and pure so that God will love us, 309 00:14:42,125 --> 00:14:44,583 we're free to be righteous and pure because he already 310 00:14:44,667 --> 00:14:46,083 perfectly has in Jesus. 311 00:14:46,167 --> 00:14:47,500 Make sense? 312 00:14:47,542 --> 00:14:50,500 Let me show you this from the words of Jesus in case 313 00:14:50,542 --> 00:14:51,875 you don't believe me. 314 00:14:51,958 --> 00:14:53,292 Words of Jesus, John 15. 315 00:14:53,333 --> 00:14:55,792 Jesus, as he gathers with his disciples, with his guys, 316 00:14:55,833 --> 00:15:00,583 on the night before he goes to the cross, says this. 317 00:15:00,667 --> 00:15:06,750 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. 318 00:15:06,833 --> 00:15:08,333 Abide in my love." 319 00:15:08,417 --> 00:15:10,333 Similar language, right? 320 00:15:10,375 --> 00:15:13,083 Think about that for a minute. 321 00:15:13,167 --> 00:15:16,000 How much does Jesus love us? 322 00:15:16,083 --> 00:15:19,667 Every bit as much as his Father loved him. 323 00:15:19,708 --> 00:15:22,333 How much does God the Father love God the Son? 324 00:15:22,375 --> 00:15:24,375 Anybody want to put a number to that? 325 00:15:24,458 --> 00:15:26,167 You can't! 326 00:15:26,208 --> 00:15:28,083 It's unquantifiable. 327 00:15:28,167 --> 00:15:29,542 It's immense. 328 00:15:29,625 --> 00:15:32,000 It's immeasurable. 329 00:15:32,042 --> 00:15:34,125 Right, in the great words of Buzz Lightyear, 330 00:15:34,167 --> 00:15:35,542 it's infinity and beyond. 331 00:15:35,625 --> 00:15:38,333 That's how much God the Father loves God the Son. 332 00:15:38,417 --> 00:15:41,125 And God the Son says, "I love you that much. 333 00:15:41,167 --> 00:15:43,958 Now, live in my love." 334 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:45,417 That's what the word "abide" means. 335 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:47,167 "Build your house there in my love." 336 00:15:47,208 --> 00:15:48,542 What does that look like? 337 00:15:48,625 --> 00:15:53,333 "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." 338 00:15:53,375 --> 00:15:56,708 Which comes first, love or obedience? 339 00:15:56,792 --> 00:15:59,458 First comes love, then comes obedience. 340 00:15:59,500 --> 00:16:01,167 Test case, the life of Jesus. 341 00:16:01,250 --> 00:16:03,958 "Just as I have kept my Father's commandments 342 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,375 and abide in his love." 343 00:16:06,458 --> 00:16:10,917 When did God the Father first love God the Son? 344 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,083 Somewhere in eternity past, right? 345 00:16:14,167 --> 00:16:16,542 Forever, God the Father has loved God the Son, 346 00:16:16,625 --> 00:16:19,542 not when God the Son became a man, and walked this earth, 347 00:16:19,625 --> 00:16:20,958 and lived in obedience. 348 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,375 God the Father has always loved God the Son. 349 00:16:23,458 --> 00:16:25,500 See the progression here? 350 00:16:25,542 --> 00:16:27,750 First comes love, then comes what? 351 00:16:27,833 --> 00:16:31,292 Then obedience, not inverse. 352 00:16:31,333 --> 00:16:37,708 "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, 353 00:16:37,792 --> 00:16:41,667 and that your joy may be full." 354 00:16:41,750 --> 00:16:43,667 See the formula here? 355 00:16:43,750 --> 00:16:46,417 See the sequence? 356 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:49,208 God loves us perfectly in Jesus. 357 00:16:49,292 --> 00:16:52,250 As children of God, we're perfectly loved by 358 00:16:52,333 --> 00:16:54,042 God the Father. 359 00:16:54,125 --> 00:16:56,083 And because God loves us so perfectly, 360 00:16:56,167 --> 00:16:58,833 we're free to pursue righteousness and purity 361 00:16:58,875 --> 00:17:02,958 because the children of God live righteously. 362 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,208 I remember seeing this truth most profoundly as a dad when 363 00:17:06,292 --> 00:17:08,333 my little girls--I've got four daughters. 364 00:17:08,375 --> 00:17:10,333 When my little girls were little, 365 00:17:10,375 --> 00:17:14,667 they always thought I was stronger than I really was. 366 00:17:14,708 --> 00:17:17,125 They always thought I was cooler than I really was. 367 00:17:17,167 --> 00:17:18,833 They always thought I was more talented 368 00:17:18,917 --> 00:17:20,667 than I really was, right? 369 00:17:20,708 --> 00:17:23,167 And I remember when they were little and they began 370 00:17:23,208 --> 00:17:24,667 to communicate, I remember thinking, like, 371 00:17:24,708 --> 00:17:27,833 "Oh, I hope I become the dad that you believe me to be 372 00:17:27,917 --> 00:17:29,792 "someday because you love me so much. 373 00:17:29,833 --> 00:17:31,667 I want to be that one." 374 00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:35,000 That's what it means to be a Christian. 375 00:17:35,042 --> 00:17:37,833 When God the Father looks at you, 376 00:17:37,875 --> 00:17:40,833 he sees you through the lens of Jesus. 377 00:17:40,917 --> 00:17:43,292 He sees you in the righteousness of Jesus. 378 00:17:43,333 --> 00:17:45,333 He sees you in the purity of Jesus. 379 00:17:45,375 --> 00:17:48,667 And the essence of the Christian life is you and I living out 380 00:17:48,750 --> 00:17:55,583 practically who we already are in the perspective of God. 381 00:17:55,667 --> 00:18:00,042 If you're a child of God, your life is radically transformed. 382 00:18:00,125 --> 00:18:03,083 You're becoming a woman, you're becoming a man who thinks, 383 00:18:03,167 --> 00:18:05,375 feels, acts, and speaks like Jesus. 384 00:18:05,458 --> 00:18:09,292 Why? Because you are perfectly loved. 385 00:18:09,333 --> 00:18:12,500 Who's your father? 386 00:18:12,583 --> 00:18:14,500 Is this what your life looks like? 387 00:18:14,583 --> 00:18:16,000 You're not arrived yet. 388 00:18:16,083 --> 00:18:18,542 There's work to be done, but you're being transformed daily 389 00:18:18,625 --> 00:18:20,625 into a person who looks like Jesus. 390 00:18:20,667 --> 00:18:22,042 You're living righteously. 391 00:18:22,125 --> 00:18:23,583 The children of God live righteously. 392 00:18:23,667 --> 00:18:27,500 Some of you, though, are children of the devil. 393 00:18:27,542 --> 00:18:30,458 Back to our text. 394 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:35,125 1 John 3:4, 395 00:18:35,167 --> 00:18:40,167 "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also 396 00:18:40,208 --> 00:18:46,125 "practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 397 00:18:46,167 --> 00:18:48,667 You may know that he," Jesus. 398 00:18:48,708 --> 00:18:50,500 Listen to this about Jesus. 399 00:18:50,542 --> 00:18:54,833 "You may know that he, Jesus, appeared to take away sins, 400 00:18:54,917 --> 00:18:57,250 and in him there is no sin." 401 00:18:57,333 --> 00:19:01,417 Verse 6, "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; 402 00:19:01,500 --> 00:19:06,417 no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him." 403 00:19:06,500 --> 00:19:12,542 Two words: sinning and lawlessness. 404 00:19:12,625 --> 00:19:15,917 As some of you may know, and maybe some of you don't, 405 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,750 the New Testament of the Bible wasn't originally written 406 00:19:18,833 --> 00:19:21,167 in modern day English. 407 00:19:21,250 --> 00:19:24,708 Much of it was written in Koine Greek. 408 00:19:24,792 --> 00:19:26,708 In Koine Greek, there are different words 409 00:19:26,792 --> 00:19:28,417 that are used to talk about sin. 410 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:30,417 The first word that we have here, 411 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:32,167 "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning," 412 00:19:32,208 --> 00:19:34,000 has a very specific meaning. 413 00:19:34,083 --> 00:19:36,875 It means that you break God's rules. 414 00:19:36,958 --> 00:19:40,625 Either you've done something you weren't supposed to do 415 00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:43,333 or you didn't do something you were supposed to do, right? 416 00:19:43,417 --> 00:19:45,000 Either way, you've transgressed. 417 00:19:45,083 --> 00:19:46,542 You've broken his rules. 418 00:19:46,625 --> 00:19:48,792 The second word, "Lawlessness," 419 00:19:48,833 --> 00:19:52,875 more reflects the essence of the heart. 420 00:19:52,958 --> 00:19:56,333 Lawlessness means you rebel against God. 421 00:19:56,375 --> 00:19:59,667 You passively shake your first in the face of God and you rebel 422 00:19:59,750 --> 00:20:03,375 against him, or you passively, indifferently rebel against him. 423 00:20:03,458 --> 00:20:06,375 But either way, the heart issue is you are rebellious 424 00:20:06,458 --> 00:20:09,208 towards God and the cause-- that's the cause. 425 00:20:09,292 --> 00:20:14,167 The effect is you break his law. 426 00:20:14,208 --> 00:20:16,500 Here's simply what this text is saying. 427 00:20:16,583 --> 00:20:21,292 You cannot claim to be a Christian and live 428 00:20:21,333 --> 00:20:27,667 continually in rebellion and sin against God. 429 00:20:27,750 --> 00:20:34,625 If you are a Christian, not your perfect experience, 430 00:20:34,667 --> 00:20:37,667 but your progressive experience is that you are living out 431 00:20:37,750 --> 00:20:41,208 the righteousness that Jesus has achieved for you. 432 00:20:41,292 --> 00:20:46,625 So, you are righteous and you occasionally sin, 433 00:20:46,667 --> 00:20:48,167 not the other way around. 434 00:20:48,208 --> 00:20:52,125 You can't be a Christian and consistently live with rebellion 435 00:20:52,167 --> 00:20:54,750 in your heart towards God expressed in sin 436 00:20:54,833 --> 00:20:57,958 and breaking his rules in your life. 437 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,792 Now, before you think that we're talking about perfectionism, 438 00:21:01,833 --> 00:21:04,375 we're not talking about that. 439 00:21:04,458 --> 00:21:07,375 John isn't saying that if you ever sin, 440 00:21:07,458 --> 00:21:08,792 you're no longer a Christian. 441 00:21:08,833 --> 00:21:10,500 That's not what he's saying at all. 442 00:21:10,583 --> 00:21:13,000 Let me prove that to you before you go there. 443 00:21:13,083 --> 00:21:15,750 This is what John has already told us in chapter 1 444 00:21:15,833 --> 00:21:17,167 of his letter. 445 00:21:17,208 --> 00:21:19,875 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, 446 00:21:19,958 --> 00:21:23,708 we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." 447 00:21:23,792 --> 00:21:26,500 That's why it's really important to understand 448 00:21:26,542 --> 00:21:28,333 what's happening here. 449 00:21:28,375 --> 00:21:30,167 These are present tense verbs. 450 00:21:30,208 --> 00:21:32,875 In other words, what's being said here is you can't be 451 00:21:32,958 --> 00:21:35,583 a Christian and sin--that's not what it's saying here. 452 00:21:35,667 --> 00:21:39,625 What it's saying is you can't be a Christian and practice sin. 453 00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:43,000 Your life cannot be defined by sin as you're a Christian 454 00:21:43,042 --> 00:21:46,333 because Jesus so radically has changed who you are that you 455 00:21:46,417 --> 00:21:50,500 can't be in right relationship with him and continually sin 456 00:21:50,583 --> 00:21:56,667 without any change or transformation. 457 00:21:56,750 --> 00:22:01,125 Several years ago, a close friend of mine was found out 458 00:22:01,167 --> 00:22:05,833 to be having an adulterous relationship with a woman 459 00:22:05,875 --> 00:22:08,333 who wasn't his wife. 460 00:22:08,417 --> 00:22:11,875 He'd been acting in a suspicious way for awhile and finally 461 00:22:11,958 --> 00:22:14,833 his wife figured out exactly what was going on. 462 00:22:14,917 --> 00:22:19,000 And when she confronted him, he came clean 463 00:22:19,042 --> 00:22:23,750 and he had a serious decision to make. 464 00:22:23,833 --> 00:22:27,167 The nature of this other relationship was so serious that 465 00:22:27,208 --> 00:22:31,833 he was in process of divorcing his wife and going on to marry 466 00:22:31,875 --> 00:22:34,333 this woman who wasn't his wife. 467 00:22:34,375 --> 00:22:37,708 And we talked a lot in the days leading up to the decision he 468 00:22:37,792 --> 00:22:40,458 was going to make, and we would go around and around 469 00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:43,458 about issues, and I remember bringing it home. 470 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:46,500 At one point in time I said, "Listen, here's the deal. 471 00:22:46,542 --> 00:22:49,167 "What you do next will ultimately determine 472 00:22:49,208 --> 00:22:51,708 "whether or not you know Jesus. 473 00:22:51,792 --> 00:22:53,708 "You can't have a right relationship with Jesus 474 00:22:53,792 --> 00:22:55,125 "by doing right things. 475 00:22:55,167 --> 00:22:56,500 "I'm not suggesting that. 476 00:22:56,583 --> 00:22:59,000 "What I am saying is because you do know Jesus, 477 00:22:59,083 --> 00:23:00,583 you will do the right thing." 478 00:23:00,667 --> 00:23:06,000 I said, "You cannot divorce your wife, pursue this other woman, 479 00:23:06,042 --> 00:23:08,708 "marry her, and think that you have a right relationship with 480 00:23:08,792 --> 00:23:10,833 "God, because this is true. 481 00:23:10,875 --> 00:23:14,500 "You can't claim to be a child of God and your practice 482 00:23:14,542 --> 00:23:17,583 predominantly be that of sin." 483 00:23:17,667 --> 00:23:20,250 Thankfully, he turned from his sin, 484 00:23:20,333 --> 00:23:23,333 went back into his marriage, and it's stronger than 485 00:23:23,417 --> 00:23:26,500 it's ever been before. 486 00:23:26,542 --> 00:23:30,292 The children of the devil, they live rebelliously. 487 00:23:30,333 --> 00:23:33,042 They live either passively indifferent towards God 488 00:23:33,125 --> 00:23:35,708 or defiant and rebellious towards him. 489 00:23:35,792 --> 00:23:39,500 But regardless, children of the devil live rebelliously, 490 00:23:39,583 --> 00:23:45,583 in contrast to the children of God who live righteously. 491 00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:53,333 Verse 7, "Little children, 492 00:23:53,375 --> 00:23:56,583 "let no one deceive you. 493 00:23:56,667 --> 00:24:01,833 "Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he, 494 00:24:01,875 --> 00:24:05,000 "Jesus, is righteous. 495 00:24:05,083 --> 00:24:09,833 "Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, 496 00:24:09,875 --> 00:24:13,792 for the devil has been sinning from the beginning." 497 00:24:13,833 --> 00:24:15,792 Look at this next statement. 498 00:24:15,833 --> 00:24:19,083 What a great purpose statement. 499 00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:22,000 "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy 500 00:24:22,042 --> 00:24:26,917 the works of the devil." 501 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,167 I want you to understand who the devil is. 502 00:24:29,250 --> 00:24:33,417 The devil is a created, angelic being who, 503 00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:36,417 somewhere before the beginning of the physical earth that we 504 00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:39,500 lived in, rebelled against God and led a third of the angels 505 00:24:39,542 --> 00:24:42,833 in rebellion against God. 506 00:24:42,875 --> 00:24:47,167 And he has continued to rebel against God at every opportunity 507 00:24:47,208 --> 00:24:50,625 afforded to him since his initial rebellion. 508 00:24:50,667 --> 00:24:53,542 Here's the concept. 509 00:24:53,625 --> 00:24:57,250 If you live in sin, in essence, your sin is breaking 510 00:24:57,333 --> 00:25:00,292 God's rules, not doing what he says for you to do, 511 00:25:00,333 --> 00:25:02,792 doing the things he says you can't, 512 00:25:02,833 --> 00:25:04,958 not doing the things he said you should do. 513 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,250 If you continue to live there, in your heart is rebellion. 514 00:25:08,333 --> 00:25:10,125 It may be a passive, indifferent rebellion, 515 00:25:10,167 --> 00:25:13,708 it may be a very active, angry rebellion. 516 00:25:13,792 --> 00:25:18,000 And you are, if you're living in that space day in and day out, 517 00:25:18,083 --> 00:25:20,958 you are ultimately reflecting the DNA of your true father, 518 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,500 the devil, because that's how he's always operated. 519 00:25:24,542 --> 00:25:27,500 And you cannot live in that space if you claim to know 520 00:25:27,583 --> 00:25:31,208 Jesus, because Jesus came to this earth to do what? 521 00:25:31,292 --> 00:25:33,667 Destroy the works of the devil. 522 00:25:33,708 --> 00:25:38,083 This verse is always etched in my mind because one year 523 00:25:38,167 --> 00:25:39,875 I was working at a church 524 00:25:39,958 --> 00:25:42,042 during the Advent season as we were looking forward 525 00:25:42,125 --> 00:25:44,792 towards Christmas and celebrating the coming of Jesus 526 00:25:44,833 --> 00:25:47,292 again, and we had one of those old marquees. 527 00:25:47,333 --> 00:25:49,500 You know what I'm talking about, where you put 528 00:25:49,542 --> 00:25:50,875 the actual letters? 529 00:25:50,958 --> 00:25:53,625 You have this long rubber thing and you put the letters 530 00:25:53,667 --> 00:25:55,000 on the board. 531 00:25:55,083 --> 00:25:57,667 And so, our pastor was preaching on that particular Sunday right 532 00:25:57,750 --> 00:26:00,750 before Christmas on the reason the Son of God appeared 533 00:26:00,833 --> 00:26:03,417 was to destroy the works of the devil, but he said, 534 00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:06,167 "Jesus came to destroy the works of Satan." 535 00:26:06,250 --> 00:26:09,750 Well, some clever vandal got to our board and he basically 536 00:26:09,833 --> 00:26:12,833 reframed it so the sermon title for that week was, 537 00:26:12,875 --> 00:26:15,792 "Jesus came to destroy the works of Santa." 538 00:26:15,833 --> 00:26:17,208 You could only imagine. 539 00:26:17,292 --> 00:26:19,708 And I thought, "Okay, I want to see who showed-- 540 00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:21,125 "let's not change it. 541 00:26:21,167 --> 00:26:24,125 Let's see who shows up this Sunday." 542 00:26:24,167 --> 00:26:26,792 You cannot claim to be in right relationship with Jesus 543 00:26:26,833 --> 00:26:29,500 and not experientially be seeing the works of Satan 544 00:26:29,583 --> 00:26:31,083 destroyed in your life. 545 00:26:31,167 --> 00:26:33,333 The works of Satan are rebellious. 546 00:26:33,417 --> 00:26:37,917 They always have been, they always will be. 547 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:43,333 Verse 9, "No one born of God 548 00:26:43,375 --> 00:26:46,042 makes a practice of sinning." 549 00:26:46,125 --> 00:26:49,250 Your life isn't characterized by perpetual sin 550 00:26:49,333 --> 00:26:52,417 with maybe an occasional good thing here or there. 551 00:26:52,500 --> 00:26:56,375 It's the other way around. 552 00:26:56,458 --> 00:26:59,042 If you know God, your life is characterized by the outworking 553 00:26:59,125 --> 00:27:01,000 of Jesus' righteousness, 554 00:27:01,083 --> 00:27:03,625 and occasionally you blow it big time. 555 00:27:03,667 --> 00:27:06,500 Not saying--not endorsing perfectionism here. 556 00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:10,042 Some of God's greatest saints, King David, Peter, 557 00:27:10,125 --> 00:27:12,417 blew it big time. 558 00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:17,167 But your practice, your signature isn't sin, 559 00:27:17,208 --> 00:27:19,333 it's righteousness. 560 00:27:19,417 --> 00:27:24,250 Verse 10, "By this it is evident who are the children of God, 561 00:27:24,333 --> 00:27:27,917 "and who are the children of devil: whoever does not practice 562 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,667 "righteousness is not of God, 563 00:27:30,750 --> 00:27:35,708 nor is the one who does not love his brother." 564 00:27:39,167 --> 00:27:40,833 That's even more specific. 565 00:27:40,917 --> 00:27:43,667 "What does righteousness look like in the life of a Christian, 566 00:27:43,750 --> 00:27:45,083 Pastor Dave?" 567 00:27:45,167 --> 00:27:46,500 It's this whole letter. 568 00:27:46,542 --> 00:27:47,875 It's the whole sermon series. 569 00:27:47,958 --> 00:27:51,125 That's why it's been subtitled, "Love One Another." 570 00:27:51,167 --> 00:27:54,167 If I'm in a right relationship with God and I'm living out, 571 00:27:54,208 --> 00:27:56,833 by faith, the righteousness of Jesus, guess what I do? 572 00:27:56,917 --> 00:28:00,625 I live in a way that I love other Christians. 573 00:28:00,667 --> 00:28:03,167 Conversely, if your father isn't God, 574 00:28:03,208 --> 00:28:07,208 but your father is the devil, you don't consistently practice 575 00:28:07,292 --> 00:28:10,500 righteousness, and specifically, 576 00:28:10,542 --> 00:28:17,208 you don't love other Christians well. 577 00:28:17,917 --> 00:28:21,333 That's an incredible metric, isn't it? 578 00:28:21,417 --> 00:28:24,667 That's a huge litmus test. 579 00:28:24,750 --> 00:28:28,042 I served years ago in a church that was in a rough part of 580 00:28:28,125 --> 00:28:31,083 town, and we loved to reach out to the community around us, 581 00:28:31,167 --> 00:28:33,125 and we loved to meet very physical needs, 582 00:28:33,167 --> 00:28:35,542 and we loved to help people make transformation. 583 00:28:35,625 --> 00:28:38,458 Particularly, we loved to take people off the streets and see 584 00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:43,333 them move into more permanent housing, see them land jobs. 585 00:28:43,417 --> 00:28:46,500 And there were two men that began to come to this church, 586 00:28:46,542 --> 00:28:48,875 both by the same first name. 587 00:28:48,958 --> 00:28:51,500 We'll just call them Joe for purposes of today. 588 00:28:51,583 --> 00:28:53,833 Two very different men named Joe. 589 00:28:53,875 --> 00:28:57,708 One man came and he was so receptive to the community. 590 00:28:57,792 --> 00:29:00,958 He came, and he participated, and we helped him out 591 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:02,917 financially, we helped him out materially, 592 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,500 and he always responded with gratitude. 593 00:29:04,542 --> 00:29:06,583 He always wanted to help others. 594 00:29:06,667 --> 00:29:09,250 The other Joe, not so much. 595 00:29:09,333 --> 00:29:11,833 Inevitably, no matter how hard we tried to help him, 596 00:29:11,875 --> 00:29:13,417 there always was an issue. 597 00:29:13,500 --> 00:29:16,500 There always was a conflict, and ultimately Joe would either use 598 00:29:16,542 --> 00:29:19,375 or abuse the people that were trying to help them. 599 00:29:19,458 --> 00:29:21,958 And so it was in that context that one day, 600 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,000 one of our members came to me in the church and said, 601 00:29:25,083 --> 00:29:28,500 "Hey, I had a problem with Joe yesterday." 602 00:29:28,583 --> 00:29:31,083 And I said, "Okay, which Joe are we talking about?" 603 00:29:31,167 --> 00:29:32,583 He said, "Oh, not Little Joe. 604 00:29:32,667 --> 00:29:34,292 I'm talking about Grouchy Joe." 605 00:29:34,333 --> 00:29:37,167 And I said, "Okay, first of all, let's not identify people by 606 00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:38,875 "those kinds of adjectives before their name. 607 00:29:38,958 --> 00:29:41,333 "How about we call them Joe and Joey or Joseph. 608 00:29:41,375 --> 00:29:44,500 Let's distinguish them, but not with adjectives." 609 00:29:44,542 --> 00:29:47,000 But there was a reason that Grouchy Joe was called 610 00:29:47,083 --> 00:29:48,500 Grouchy Joe. 611 00:29:48,583 --> 00:29:52,000 He refused to love and serve others even who loved 612 00:29:52,083 --> 00:29:56,375 and served him. 613 00:29:56,458 --> 00:30:03,000 Who is it that uses and abuses the people of God? 614 00:30:03,042 --> 00:30:05,000 The devil does that. 615 00:30:05,042 --> 00:30:07,208 So in essence, when it comes to Grouchy Joe, 616 00:30:07,292 --> 00:30:10,125 the real issue was he wasn't a child of God. 617 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:12,208 He was a child of the devil. 618 00:30:12,292 --> 00:30:14,667 Maybe that's where you are today. 619 00:30:14,708 --> 00:30:17,083 Truth of the matter is you hate Christians. 620 00:30:17,167 --> 00:30:19,583 You distance yourself from Christians. 621 00:30:19,667 --> 00:30:22,000 You don't want to have anything to do with Christians. 622 00:30:22,083 --> 00:30:24,583 You don't love, and serve, and give of yourself 623 00:30:24,667 --> 00:30:27,333 so that others' needs are met within the church. 624 00:30:27,375 --> 00:30:28,708 That's not you at all. 625 00:30:28,792 --> 00:30:31,125 You need to ask yourself a very important question. 626 00:30:31,167 --> 00:30:32,833 Who's your father? 627 00:30:32,875 --> 00:30:34,583 Because that sort of disposition, 628 00:30:34,667 --> 00:30:37,333 that sort of activity would indicate that your father 629 00:30:37,375 --> 00:30:40,875 is the devil, not God. 630 00:30:40,958 --> 00:30:43,625 Now here's the good news. 631 00:30:43,667 --> 00:30:47,042 Even if that's true, 632 00:30:47,125 --> 00:30:51,417 God the Father wants to adopt you as his son. 633 00:30:51,500 --> 00:30:55,000 He wants you to turn from your rebellion, turn from your sin, 634 00:30:55,042 --> 00:30:58,833 trust in Jesus, experience the forgiveness and freedom 635 00:30:58,917 --> 00:31:02,042 that Jesus can bring and begin the rest of your life 636 00:31:02,125 --> 00:31:07,500 as a member of the family of God. 637 00:31:07,542 --> 00:31:13,583 Big idea: Jesus is coming back, and when he comes, 638 00:31:13,667 --> 00:31:15,542 we don't want to shrink away in shame. 639 00:31:15,625 --> 00:31:17,000 We want to embrace him. 640 00:31:17,083 --> 00:31:20,208 We don't want to run from him, we want to run to him. 641 00:31:20,292 --> 00:31:21,958 How do we prepare for that day? 642 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,333 We abide in him. 643 00:31:23,417 --> 00:31:26,083 We live in the love that he already has for us. 644 00:31:26,167 --> 00:31:27,500 What does that look like? 645 00:31:27,542 --> 00:31:30,000 It looks like we're people that are growing in righteousness. 646 00:31:30,042 --> 00:31:32,500 It looks like we're people that are growing in purity. 647 00:31:32,542 --> 00:31:35,000 And most importantly, it looks like we're people who love 648 00:31:35,042 --> 00:31:36,500 the other family members of God. 649 00:31:36,542 --> 00:31:38,667 I can't look at my dad today and say, 650 00:31:38,750 --> 00:31:41,167 "Dad, I love you but I hate my brother Bill," 651 00:31:41,250 --> 00:31:43,375 because my dad loves me and Bill the same. 652 00:31:43,458 --> 00:31:46,917 Children of God live righteously, 653 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,667 not so much the children of the devil. 654 00:31:49,750 --> 00:31:51,500 They live rebelliously, why? 655 00:31:51,542 --> 00:31:55,500 Because they bear the DNA of their father who has always been 656 00:31:55,542 --> 00:31:57,667 in rebellion against God. 657 00:31:57,708 --> 00:32:00,542 As we close our time today, I want to look 658 00:32:00,625 --> 00:32:04,625 at some amazing truths about Jesus from this text. 659 00:32:04,667 --> 00:32:07,208 Three things I want you to see about Jesus, 660 00:32:07,292 --> 00:32:09,958 because we're going to spend the rest of our time today 661 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,417 focusing and responding to who Jesus is. 662 00:32:13,500 --> 00:32:19,500 First thing I want you to see is this: Jesus is righteous. 663 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,125 Jesus is righteous. 664 00:32:26,167 --> 00:32:32,708 Jesus is in right relationship with God the Father. 665 00:32:32,792 --> 00:32:39,333 Always has been, always will be, and that's great news for us 666 00:32:39,417 --> 00:32:42,292 because we're not righteous. 667 00:32:42,333 --> 00:32:48,458 But Jesus is, and the basis of our relationship as the children 668 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:52,167 of God to God the Father is not on the merit of our own 669 00:32:52,208 --> 00:32:55,667 righteousness, but it's totally based on who Jesus is. 670 00:32:55,750 --> 00:32:57,875 Not about who we are and what we've done, 671 00:32:57,958 --> 00:33:01,042 entirely based on who Jesus is and what he's done. 672 00:33:01,125 --> 00:33:06,167 And he is by nature and deed righteous with God the Father. 673 00:33:06,250 --> 00:33:08,917 Maybe you're here today and you're thinking, "Oh, 674 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,042 "I can't possibly have a right relationship with God because 675 00:33:12,125 --> 00:33:18,208 I sin, and I'm weak, and I fail, and I'm inconsistent." 676 00:33:19,792 --> 00:33:22,000 But if your hope, and your trust, 677 00:33:22,042 --> 00:33:25,625 and your faith is in the righteousness of Jesus, 678 00:33:25,667 --> 00:33:27,417 guess what? 679 00:33:27,500 --> 00:33:30,667 You're in. 680 00:33:30,708 --> 00:33:36,042 God loves you because of who Jesus is 681 00:33:36,125 --> 00:33:38,083 and what Jesus has done, 682 00:33:38,167 --> 00:33:41,333 and Jesus' righteousness is your righteousness. 683 00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:47,833 Would you enjoy today the righteousness of Jesus? 684 00:33:47,917 --> 00:33:54,500 You're righteous, and your righteousness is based on 685 00:33:54,542 --> 00:34:01,292 the person and work of Jesus, and that's great news. 686 00:34:01,333 --> 00:34:04,417 Had an incredible experience last summer. 687 00:34:04,500 --> 00:34:07,292 I got to go to training camp with the Seattle Seahawks 688 00:34:07,333 --> 00:34:09,417 for one practice. 689 00:34:09,500 --> 00:34:12,542 And get this, I got to go in the VIP section. 690 00:34:12,625 --> 00:34:15,292 So you go out to their practice facility. 691 00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:18,083 You have a separate parking lot you get to park in, 692 00:34:18,167 --> 00:34:20,333 then a really nice shuttle bus picks you up 693 00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:22,042 and you get to get around. 694 00:34:22,125 --> 00:34:24,542 You don't have to sit on the big grass berm, 695 00:34:24,625 --> 00:34:28,875 you get to go around the back of the complex. 696 00:34:28,958 --> 00:34:31,625 They have this really amazing place where they just 697 00:34:31,667 --> 00:34:33,625 perpetually cook hot dogs and hamburgers, 698 00:34:33,667 --> 00:34:36,125 and give you any kind of soft drink you want, 699 00:34:36,167 --> 00:34:37,500 and potato chips. 700 00:34:37,583 --> 00:34:38,917 Amazing! 701 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:40,667 And you have access on the field 702 00:34:40,708 --> 00:34:42,667 that the fans in the berm don't have. 703 00:34:42,708 --> 00:34:45,667 Like, you get to walk right up and watch people walk by 704 00:34:45,708 --> 00:34:48,375 and players walk by, and you can hear what they're doing, 705 00:34:48,458 --> 00:34:50,375 and you actually get out on the field. 706 00:34:50,458 --> 00:34:52,125 Like, you don't get to run plays. 707 00:34:52,167 --> 00:34:53,625 That's what I wanted to do. 708 00:34:53,667 --> 00:34:56,833 You don't get to do that, but you get to stay close enough 709 00:34:56,875 --> 00:34:58,208 to the action. 710 00:34:58,292 --> 00:35:01,500 And I'm just soaking it all in. Like, I can't believe I'm here. 711 00:35:01,542 --> 00:35:03,667 This is amazing. And I begin to look around. 712 00:35:03,750 --> 00:35:06,875 I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out. 713 00:35:06,958 --> 00:35:09,625 Like, let me figure out the kind of crowd I'm in. 714 00:35:09,667 --> 00:35:13,000 And I looked around and you know who else was in the VIP group? 715 00:35:13,083 --> 00:35:15,000 Former players and family members of current players. 716 00:35:15,083 --> 00:35:17,958 And all of a sudden I realized, like, I don't belong here. 717 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,958 These people are here because they've earned it. 718 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,417 These people are here because they used to play for 719 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:24,417 the Seahawks or their brother, or their father, 720 00:35:24,500 --> 00:35:25,833 or their husband presently does. 721 00:35:25,875 --> 00:35:28,500 And all the sudden, I realized I am enjoying the benefits 722 00:35:28,542 --> 00:35:32,875 of something I could never earn on my own. 723 00:35:32,958 --> 00:35:37,833 That's the significance of the righteousness of Jesus. 724 00:35:37,875 --> 00:35:41,583 That's what Jesus has accomplished for us. 725 00:35:41,667 --> 00:35:46,083 You and I today are righteous, not because of who we are 726 00:35:46,167 --> 00:35:48,833 or what we've done, but entirely because of who Jesus is 727 00:35:48,917 --> 00:35:50,792 and what he's done. 728 00:35:50,833 --> 00:35:56,083 Will you enjoy your righteousness in Jesus? 729 00:35:56,167 --> 00:36:00,667 Will you take your eyes off yourself for a little bit, 730 00:36:00,750 --> 00:36:04,333 and your failure, and your sin, and your unrighteousness, 731 00:36:04,417 --> 00:36:10,333 and will you fix your gaze on Jesus because he's righteous? 732 00:36:10,375 --> 00:36:13,000 Second thing I want you to see is this: 733 00:36:13,042 --> 00:36:17,667 Jesus destroys rebellion. 734 00:36:17,708 --> 00:36:19,875 He's a powerful King. 735 00:36:19,958 --> 00:36:23,458 Two enormous statements are made about Jesus in our text today. 736 00:36:23,500 --> 00:36:26,542 First of all, he came to take away sins, 737 00:36:26,625 --> 00:36:32,792 and he came to destroy the work of Satan, of the devil. 738 00:36:32,833 --> 00:36:36,167 And Jesus is a powerful King 739 00:36:36,208 --> 00:36:39,667 who is quelling our rebellion. 740 00:36:39,750 --> 00:36:43,125 And he's doing it in your heart and he's doing it in my heart, 741 00:36:43,167 --> 00:36:46,125 and he's doing it in our homes, and he's doing it in 742 00:36:46,167 --> 00:36:49,792 Mars Hill Church and he's doing it in his broader church. 743 00:36:49,833 --> 00:36:51,417 And guess what? 744 00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:54,750 He's ultimately going to do it in the whole world so that 745 00:36:54,833 --> 00:36:57,042 ultimately someday-- the Scripture's very clear on 746 00:36:57,125 --> 00:37:00,333 this--every tongue will confess, every knee will bow to 747 00:37:00,375 --> 00:37:02,333 Jesus the Great King. 748 00:37:02,417 --> 00:37:07,958 All rebellion will cease forever. 749 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:12,000 How's it going in your heart? 750 00:37:12,042 --> 00:37:14,458 How's it going in your home? 751 00:37:14,500 --> 00:37:20,458 Are you experiencing Jesus stomping out and putting down 752 00:37:20,500 --> 00:37:22,458 the rebellion that exists in your own heart 753 00:37:22,500 --> 00:37:23,833 and your own home? 754 00:37:23,917 --> 00:37:25,667 Are we experiencing this in our church? 755 00:37:25,708 --> 00:37:28,667 Are we seeing this happen as the kingdom of God invades 756 00:37:28,750 --> 00:37:34,583 the kingdom of this earth? 757 00:37:34,667 --> 00:37:38,000 Jesus said this about the devil. 758 00:37:38,083 --> 00:37:40,875 John 8:44, Jesus says that the devil 759 00:37:40,958 --> 00:37:44,000 has always been a murderer. 760 00:37:44,042 --> 00:37:48,500 So when you and I look at murder in our world today, 761 00:37:48,583 --> 00:37:51,583 we see vestiges of satanic rebellion 762 00:37:51,667 --> 00:37:56,583 against King Jesus. 763 00:37:56,667 --> 00:38:00,083 But as the kingdom of God expands and King Jesus quells 764 00:38:00,167 --> 00:38:03,833 and puts down the rebellion, murder goes away. 765 00:38:03,917 --> 00:38:07,542 I stand before you today as a murderer. 766 00:38:07,625 --> 00:38:13,500 This is what Jesus said about murder, Matthew 5:22. 767 00:38:13,583 --> 00:38:15,667 Jesus said, "You've heard it said that thou 768 00:38:15,750 --> 00:38:17,417 shall not commit murder." 769 00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:19,125 And you and I are thinking, 770 00:38:19,167 --> 00:38:21,125 "Okay, well, I got out of that one. 771 00:38:21,167 --> 00:38:24,292 "I haven't really stabbed anyone to death. 772 00:38:24,333 --> 00:38:27,167 I haven't shot anyone to death." 773 00:38:27,250 --> 00:38:31,333 But Jesus, like he always does, redefines what murder is. 774 00:38:31,417 --> 00:38:33,875 In Matthew 5:22, Jesus says this: "Anyone who looks at 775 00:38:33,958 --> 00:38:37,000 "his brother and calls him a fool," 776 00:38:37,042 --> 00:38:39,458 literally calls him an empty-headed moron, 777 00:38:39,500 --> 00:38:41,583 anybody who does that is "guilty of murder 778 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:43,667 and worthy of the fires of hell." 779 00:38:43,750 --> 00:38:50,000 Uh-oh, I'm a murderer. 780 00:38:50,083 --> 00:38:54,167 I'm like a serial killer. 781 00:38:54,250 --> 00:38:57,042 To make matters worse, it seems like it happens every time 782 00:38:57,125 --> 00:39:00,750 I get out on the road, right? 783 00:39:00,833 --> 00:39:03,708 I'm still not used to driving in an urban area. 784 00:39:03,792 --> 00:39:06,875 I'm the guy who perpetually underestimates how far it takes 785 00:39:06,958 --> 00:39:10,792 me to get from this destination to that destination. 786 00:39:10,833 --> 00:39:13,500 To make matters even more complicated and worse, 787 00:39:13,583 --> 00:39:16,583 when I'm running behind, I tend to tailgate and I've 788 00:39:16,667 --> 00:39:20,375 never gotten used to the concept of parallel parking yet. 789 00:39:20,458 --> 00:39:23,167 So inevitably, I'm 15 minutes late for something 790 00:39:23,208 --> 00:39:24,542 I should have known about. 791 00:39:24,625 --> 00:39:26,667 I'm tailgating the car in front of me. 792 00:39:26,708 --> 00:39:28,583 This car is looking to parallel park. 793 00:39:28,667 --> 00:39:30,000 We pass an open spot. 794 00:39:30,083 --> 00:39:33,500 This car hits its brake and then I have to back up. 795 00:39:33,583 --> 00:39:35,375 Happened to me just this past week. 796 00:39:35,458 --> 00:39:38,042 You know what came out of my mouth when that happened? 797 00:39:38,125 --> 00:39:40,833 "What are you doing, you idiot?" 798 00:39:40,875 --> 00:39:43,667 Murder. 799 00:39:43,750 --> 00:39:48,000 I just killed the guy according to Jesus. 800 00:39:48,083 --> 00:39:50,417 Jesus is working on me. 801 00:39:50,500 --> 00:39:52,792 Jesus destroys rebellion. 802 00:39:52,833 --> 00:39:56,292 Jesus came so that Dave wouldn't live as a murderer forever. 803 00:39:56,333 --> 00:39:58,000 He's working in my heart. 804 00:39:58,042 --> 00:39:59,375 He's working in our home. 805 00:39:59,458 --> 00:40:01,333 He's working in our church, isn't he? 806 00:40:01,375 --> 00:40:05,750 Don't you look forward to the absolute victory of 807 00:40:05,833 --> 00:40:07,333 the Lord Jesus Christ? 808 00:40:07,417 --> 00:40:10,333 Won't you be glad that morning you wake up and you never 809 00:40:10,417 --> 00:40:12,333 have to read about another beheading, why? 810 00:40:12,417 --> 00:40:19,333 Because Jesus is destroying the works of the devil. 811 00:40:19,417 --> 00:40:22,833 Mars Hill Church, I want you to know this about your Jesus. 812 00:40:22,917 --> 00:40:26,208 Jesus is pure. 813 00:40:26,292 --> 00:40:28,958 He's pure! 814 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,292 He's perfectly sinless. 815 00:40:36,500 --> 00:40:38,833 His motives are pure. 816 00:40:38,875 --> 00:40:41,167 His desires, pure. 817 00:40:41,208 --> 00:40:44,000 His intent, pure. 818 00:40:44,042 --> 00:40:50,042 You believe that? 819 00:40:52,875 --> 00:40:54,667 One thing motivates the heart of Jesus. 820 00:40:54,708 --> 00:40:57,000 He is absolutely pure, and that's always. 821 00:40:57,042 --> 00:40:59,500 You and I can never look at Jesus and say, 822 00:40:59,542 --> 00:41:01,167 "What's your motive? 823 00:41:01,250 --> 00:41:05,708 I don't know." 824 00:41:05,792 --> 00:41:09,500 Jesus ultimately lives for the glory of God the Father 825 00:41:09,583 --> 00:41:12,000 and our good. 826 00:41:12,042 --> 00:41:17,542 The Bible makes it very clear. 827 00:41:17,625 --> 00:41:22,125 Mars Hill Church, it's been a painful season, hasn't it? 828 00:41:22,167 --> 00:41:28,333 All the controversies, hurts, the conflict from within, 829 00:41:28,417 --> 00:41:32,458 people that we absolutely love leave, 830 00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:37,667 leaders in time not getting along with each other. 831 00:41:40,375 --> 00:41:43,042 And if indeed Jesus is our Senior Pastor and we believe 832 00:41:43,125 --> 00:41:45,875 that, occasionally you have to look at Jesus and say, 833 00:41:45,958 --> 00:41:47,958 "What are you doing here? 834 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,917 "What's your motive? 835 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:55,750 What's going on here?" 836 00:41:55,833 --> 00:41:59,250 You don't have to question the motive of Jesus. 837 00:41:59,333 --> 00:42:03,375 He's pure. 838 00:42:03,458 --> 00:42:07,000 And even when people do things that are impure, and sinful, 839 00:42:07,083 --> 00:42:11,000 and wrong, Jesus is capable of redeeming everything 840 00:42:11,042 --> 00:42:13,333 and ultimately will do exactly that. 841 00:42:13,375 --> 00:42:16,708 You know what Jesus is doing at Mars Hill? 842 00:42:16,792 --> 00:42:19,875 You know what his desire is? 843 00:42:19,958 --> 00:42:25,208 The glory of God the Father and the good of his people. 844 00:42:25,292 --> 00:42:27,833 You can trust it. 845 00:42:27,917 --> 00:42:31,125 You can trust it. 846 00:42:31,167 --> 00:42:34,125 I want us to respond to that Jesus right here, right now. 847 00:42:34,167 --> 00:42:36,625 I'm going to ask our financial stewards to go ahead 848 00:42:36,667 --> 00:42:40,208 and come forward. 849 00:42:40,292 --> 00:42:42,583 One of the ways in which we worship Jesus 850 00:42:42,667 --> 00:42:48,000 week in and week out is by giving to his people 851 00:42:48,083 --> 00:42:50,583 and to his cause graciously and generously, 852 00:42:50,667 --> 00:42:52,917 and we're going to take up an offering now. 853 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,833 And I'd encourage you to worship Jesus through the giving 854 00:42:55,917 --> 00:43:00,167 of your tithes and offerings. 855 00:43:00,250 --> 00:43:02,667 We're going to take Communion together. 856 00:43:02,750 --> 00:43:04,833 Those of us who are here who are Christians, 857 00:43:04,917 --> 00:43:06,500 I invite you to take Communion. 858 00:43:06,583 --> 00:43:09,667 Communion is a beautiful sacrament we practice 859 00:43:09,708 --> 00:43:12,250 week in and week out, and here's why. 860 00:43:12,333 --> 00:43:16,083 Communion reminds us always that our righteousness is in Jesus, 861 00:43:16,167 --> 00:43:18,500 not ourselves, right? 862 00:43:18,583 --> 00:43:21,208 We realize that our righteousness is in 863 00:43:21,292 --> 00:43:23,542 the body of Jesus, Jesus' perfect life. 864 00:43:23,625 --> 00:43:26,042 We recognize that our righteousness is in the blood of 865 00:43:26,125 --> 00:43:30,500 Jesus, Jesus' substitutionary death on our behalf. 866 00:43:30,542 --> 00:43:34,625 Will you take Communion today with a heartfelt conviction 867 00:43:34,667 --> 00:43:38,708 that your righteousness is based on Jesus, 868 00:43:38,792 --> 00:43:41,125 and therefore you can be perfectly secure 869 00:43:41,167 --> 00:43:42,917 in your relationship with God? 870 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:44,250 We're going to sing some songs. 871 00:43:44,333 --> 00:43:47,792 As we sing together, will you sing as children 872 00:43:47,833 --> 00:43:50,000 who are loved by your Father? 873 00:43:50,083 --> 00:43:52,167 Sing to your Father today. 874 00:43:52,250 --> 00:43:54,167 Let's pray. 875 00:43:54,208 --> 00:43:56,542 Jesus, thank you that you are righteous. 876 00:43:56,625 --> 00:44:00,208 Thank you that our righteousness is in you. 877 00:44:00,292 --> 00:44:03,458 Jesus, thank you that you are destroying the works 878 00:44:03,500 --> 00:44:04,958 of the devil. 879 00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:08,167 We pray that you would destroy the works of the devil in our 880 00:44:08,208 --> 00:44:13,625 hearts, in our home, in our church, and the world around us. 881 00:44:13,667 --> 00:44:16,458 Jesus, thank you that you are pure. 882 00:44:16,500 --> 00:44:18,958 Forgive us for doubting your motive ever. 883 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:22,167 Give us the faith to see that you're always about the glory of 884 00:44:22,208 --> 00:44:24,333 your Father and you're always committed to the good 885 00:44:24,375 --> 00:44:25,958 of your people. 886 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:30,667 In your good name we pray, amen.