This is my favorite part.
It's so nice!
This is my favorite part.
It's so nice!
This is my favorite part.
It's so nice!
This is my favorite part.
It's so nice!
Do you have a song?
V, G, A, G, E
Does that make some secret?
No.
I know.
Ok.
We are going to sing a song.
I don't know.
I'll write that down.
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no.
Oh no, no.
Oh no, no, no.
Oh no, no.
No, no, no.
Oh no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
A man could weren't for Sutton.
Hi, let's start our second survey is go back our seats and turn to him.
Number 52 welcome to very g inclusive spirit.
Let's open our hymn books and turn to hymn number five two. Let's sing the song
Zion's Hill.
In number fifty two, let's sing the song Zion's Hill.
There waits for me and that tomorrow. Ready on the first ready sing. There waits for me and that
tomorrow. Working so first things don't go by. And when I cast this veil of sorrow. I will hop on the other side.
Someday the undermen so formed again. Someday the lonely those to spare. And when the way those so formed the lives of old and near.
And I will go to hell on Zion's hill. Someday I hear the angels singing. Beyond the shadows of the tomb. And all the hells of heaven's ringing.
The saints are singing home straight home. Someday the undermen so formed again. Someday the lonely those to spare. And when the way those so formed the lives of old and near.
And I will go to hell on Zion's hill on earth. Someday my labor will be ended. And all my wantings will be home. And all my virtue will be ended.
And I will sigh and weep no more. Someday the undermen so formed again. Someday the lonely those to spare. And when the way those so formed the lives of old and near.
And I will go to hell on Zion's hill on earth. Someday the darkness will be lifted. And all the night long to be cast. And all its burdens will be lifted.
Someday the day all pressure don't have passed. Someday the undermen so formed again. Someday the lonely those to spare. And when the will so formed the lives of old and near.
And I will go to hell on Zion's hill.
Let's pray that you would bless us and give us a good prayer for this afternoon so that we can do so. We're asking all of these things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
For the next song let's turn to hymn number 159.
Hymn number 159. Let's sing the song. That should be the name. Hymn number 159. Let's sing the song. That should be the name.
O praise to him who reigns above. On the first ready sing.
O praise to him who reigns above. In heaven's peace so great. Who gave his son, poor man, to life that he might believe.
Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Lest it be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
We keep our Savior and our friend, but soon we'll find the home. Thou best device of patience, friend, for thou hast died for all.
Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. His name shall be the Councilor, the mighty Prince of Peace.
Of all Earth's kingdoms, stronger o'er, the strange job never seen. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
All right. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church Manila. Take out your bulletin. We'll go through a few things real quickly.
And I forgot to say, why is this on the front here? I didn't even really mention. It's kind of the conclusion of the sermon.
All of those traits are kind of basically like acting like a kid. That's the reason why we have the Super Nintendo.
You know, as a kid, I played Super Nintendo. If you think about all those five traits, it's kind of like the attributes of a child.
We need to teach our children at a very young age to learn responsibilities and work hard because life is difficult.
So that's why I have that on the front. In the middle of your bulletin, so let's see, counting up salvations.
Did anybody have any salvations to report that I am not aware of? Anybody? Anybody won? All right.
Praise the Lord. Anybody else? No? All right. Well, we'll pray for good weather today.
And let's see. On the next page, our upcoming activities. Next week, we do have our prayer meeting.
And we have a soul-winning marathon in nine days. On Tuesday, July 20th, it is a Muslim holiday.
And on two weeks from now, we have our dark competition. So hopefully you're preparing for that.
Hopefully you're doing your push-ups, doing your pull-ups, whatever you need to prepare for that, you know, to get ready for that.
So that's going to be fun. And then on the back, we do have a place for sermon notes.
I'm excited about the second sermon here today because 1 John 3, in my opinion, is the most complicated chapter on salvation.
There are so many verses that people are confused about. Repentance preachers, they love 1 John 3, right?
And Calvinists as well. I was thinking as we were singing that last song where it says,
Thou hast died for all. I was like, there's so many songs Calvinists can't sing in our hymnal, right?
For thou hast died for all. It's like, whoop, we can't sing that one either, right?
Because they don't believe that Jesus died for everyone. Anyways, we'll have our brother Marlon lead us in another song.
And for our next song, let's start with hymn number 157. Let's sing the song, Come Thou Almighty King.
Hymn number 157.
Come Thou Almighty King. Ready? On the first verse, ready? Sing.
Come Thou Almighty King. Help us Thy name to sing. Help us to praise.
Father, all glorious, all victorious, come and reign over us ancient of days.
Come Thou incarnate Word, get on Thy mighty sword, our prayer attend.
Come and Thy people bless and give Thy Word success. Spirit of holiness, honestly say.
Come Holy Comforter, Thy sacred witness bear in this God art.
Thou who Almighty art, now roll in every heart, and near from us this poor Spirit of God last, to the Great One in three.
Eternal praise, says Thee, hence evermore. His sovereign majesty, may we in glory see, and to eternity love and adore.
Let's take our offering.
Come Holy Comforter, Thy sacred witness bear in this God art.
Amen. For our scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of 1st John. 1st John chapter 3.
1st John chapter 3, near the end of your Bible.
And we will be reading the entire chapter. It's our custom. Please say amen if you're there.
1st John chapter 3.
1st John chapter 3, verse 1.
Behold what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it did not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when we shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law.
For sin is a transgression of the law, and ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.
Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth that hath not seen him, neither known him.
Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil.
For the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
For this is the message that he heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
And wherefore slew he him, because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hated his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
But whoso hath this world's good, and seeeth his brother have need, and shut it up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
My little children, that is not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
And whatsoever we ask to receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
And this is his commandments, that we should believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandments.
And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
Amen.
Lord God in Heaven, we thank you Lord for the state that you've given us. We pray, Lord, that you would give us, Lord, good weather for this day, for our soul winning and our fellowship later on.
We pray that you would bless us with the power and understanding of the Holy Ghost that we may listen and hear your word, Lord, this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, we're here in 1 John 3, and so the name of the sermon is the most difficult chapter on salvation.
Most of the Bible is pretty clear on salvation. It's not all that confusing.
But 1 John 3 is probably the trickiest chapter, and there's verses that you'll hear false preachers use saying,
Well, see, if you're really saved, you're going to do right. If you're really saved, you're going to do right, and live a good life, and repent, and everything like that.
So, you know, I'm going to break down every single verse in here, and one thing that makes this tricky is I'm not just trying to find an answer for a specific verse.
If you're going verse by verse through the whole book, it's got to line up, right? I can't contradict how I explain one thing with another.
Now, I will say that since it's a confusing chapter, good people can interpret some things differently, and that's okay as long as you have the same doctrine of what salvation is.
A couple things to be reminded of in terms, before we get into this chapter, is this, that when it comes to people, there are really three types of people once you get to a certain age.
Obviously, when babies die, or young children die, they go to heaven because they are safe.
You wouldn't say they're saved, but they're safe, okay? They're not going to be held accountable for their sins.
But once you reach the age of accountability, as we would say, there's three types of people. Children of God, unsaved people, and then children of the devil.
And see, that's where a lot of people get confused. They don't realize that there are three types of people.
Some people say, well, everybody's a child of the devil before they get saved. Well, the Bible doesn't teach that.
Or some people don't believe anyone's a child of the devil because they never read the Bible, right? And the Bible speaks about that.
So you have to understand there's three types of people, and all three of these types of people are going to be interwoven in this chapter, okay?
The other thing to remember is abiding in Christ does not equal salvation, and we talked about that in the earlier sermons.
So let's look at verse number one. Let's get into this.
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
So in verse number one, it talks about how God calls us the sons of God as safe people.
God calls us the sons of God and the daughters of God as safe people, and the indication is His love for us is greater than any other of His creation.
And what it's telling you, and there's places in the Bible that talk about it, that the angels have never been called the children of God.
Now, people like to say, well, in the Old Testament and Genesis 6, you know, the fallen angels are sons of God. The Bible does not teach that.
The Bible says what love He showed upon us that we're called the children of God.
So when we get born into God's family, we become children of God, sons and daughters of God.
And this is a love that He does not have for angels. It's different. They are not children of God, okay?
Therefore, the world knoweth us not because it knew Him not.
And see, when Christ was here, He was rejected.
And if you're a Bible-believing Christian and you're saved, the beliefs you have are going to be different than the world.
They're not going to understand why you do the things the way you do them.
Now, we understand some people are backslidden Christians and not living for God.
But by and large, I mean, if you're saved, you're going to have a different worldview at the very least, right?
Some people before they're saved believe in evolution, and the earth's four and a half billion years old.
What's completely opposite of what the Bible says?
The Bible says we are created directly by God, so do not be surprised if the world does not understand why you live your life the way you do.
It's like, what did you do on Sunday? We went to church and went soul-winning.
And they're like, soul-winning? Like, what? They don't understand it. It doesn't make sense to them.
Don't be surprised if your unsafe family doesn't get it.
Don't be surprised if your safe family doesn't always get it, right?
Notice what it says in verse 2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.
So He's writing, obviously, to save people.
And so the other thing you need to keep in mind is the Catholic Church will teach, well, everybody's a child of God.
And the Bible doesn't teach that either.
The Calvinists, everybody's a child of the devil.
The Catholic Church, everyone's a child of God.
It's like, just add these things together and you've got the full picture, right?
Everybody's God's creation. That doesn't make them a child of God.
You've got to be born again. You've got to put your faith in Jesus Christ.
And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, okay?
Now, when it says what we shall be, that's the future.
And the indication here is in verse 2 that there's no physical manifestation that you are saved.
One day we're going to get the glorified body, but that doesn't come at salvation.
That comes one day at the rapture.
It doth not appear what we shall be.
And the indication is that when you get saved, it's not like there's this magical change where everyone's like, oh, I can see the difference in you, right?
It's like, no, when you get saved, you're saved, but you don't become taller.
You don't lose weight, right?
You don't become more muscular just because you got saved.
And it also doesn't mean that physically you're going to automatically start doing right.
Okay?
But the Bible says one day we will be like him, we're going to get that glorified body.
That's referring to the rapture.
But we know that when he shall appear, the rapture, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Now, it's important to understand that this is referring to Christ because it's talking about his appearance.
It's the same thing in 1 John chapter 2.
It's not really that confusing, but I have heard some oneness people say that, well, in verse 5 when it says in him is no sin, that's just referring to God.
That's not referring to Jesus because Jesus is not mentioned in the first five verses.
It talks about his appearing.
And we know, when he cometh, when he cometh, that's referring to Christ.
Okay?
Christ returneth.
I mean, all these songs in our hymn know about, and half of them are okay to sing and half aren't, right?
But it talks about Christ returning, not God the Father, Christ.
Okay?
So it's clear it's referring to Christ.
We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Verse 3.
This is where people start trying to teach heresy.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.
Some people would say, well, see, if you're saved, you're going to purify yourself.
Well, it doesn't say that.
It says every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.
You say, what is that talking about?
It's talking about Christ abiding in you.
Remember, that is not automatic.
And basically, when you have that hope inside of you, where you're looking forward to the return and trying to live like the glorified man would do, then you're going to purify yourself.
But it's not automatic just because you're saved.
It depends on how you're living your life.
And if Christ's words abide in you, then if you abide in him, he's going to abide in you, and you will purify yourself.
But if you're not abiding in him, if you're not keeping that hope inside of you, then you're not automatically going to purify yourself.
That doesn't mean that you're not saved, though.
It just means that if you're serving God and reading the Bible and keeping this hope inside of you, and he's abiding in you, then yes, you're going to make changes.
But that's not a guarantee.
That depends on whether or not you're keeping that hope inside of you and abiding in him, and then he will abide in you.
Verse 4.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law.
And here's the thing.
Of course, if we keep this inside of us and keep his words inside of us, we will purify ourself, but at the same time, are any of us ever perfect?
No. So here's the thing.
When you commit sin, it's a sin because you transgressed the law.
It means God said something and you disobeyed, and that is a sin.
A sin is when you break God's law.
Verse 5.
And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.
Obviously, Jesus Christ is perfect.
God was manifest in the flesh.
Jesus came, he died, he paid for our sins, and to take away our sins, he died for the sins of the world.
Verse number 6.
Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not.
Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither known him.
Now, Brother Stuckey, what is this referring to?
Not sinning if you're abiding in him?
Well, here's the thing.
The only person who can abide in Christ is someone who's saved.
Okay?
An unsaved person cannot abide in Christ.
Now, a saved person is not automatically going to abide in Christ.
Now, the Holy Spirit will indwell you, but it's up to you.
Just like in John 15, the parable of the vine and the branches, if you abide in him, he's going to abide in you.
But an unsaved person cannot abide in Christ.
Okay?
So if somebody is abiding in him, that means they're not going to sin.
You say, well, what do you mean by that?
Because we all sin.
But spiritually, you don't sin.
Spiritually, we're perfect.
When we give people the gospel, we explain that, hey, when you receive eternal life, you can't lose your salvation,
because after you get saved, you're never going to commit any sins, spiritually speaking,
where God's going to hold you accountable because they're already forgiven.
Okay?
Spiritually, perfect forever.
Now, you're still going to sin physically, and in this life, you're going to be judged for it,
but you're not going to be judged on this big-screen TV in heaven.
And praise the Lord for that, because all of us have done so many things wrong, it would be embarrassing.
I really do not understand these repentance preachers that brag about their sins.
It's like, why would you do that?
It's like, I don't want to brag about things that I've done wrong.
But if somebody's abiding in Christ, then they must be saved because an unsaved person can't abide in Christ,
and speaking about spiritually, you're not going to sin.
Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
Okay? Now, here's the thing.
You're still going to be held accountable in this life because you reap what you sow,
but spiritually, your sins are as far as the east is from the west.
They're completely gone.
And the same thought's going to come in in verses 7, 8, and 9 as well,
where spiritually, you're perfect forever, even though you physically still sin sometimes.
Little children, let no man deceive you.
He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
And see, if somebody is a saved person, the only thing they do is righteousness.
Now, that does not mean that they don't sin.
That does not mean that they read the Bible more.
But what it's saying is, no sin you're going to have to pay for,
for a thousand years in semi-purgatory hell or whatever.
Your sins are forgiven.
So the only thing you do is righteousness.
And see, the thing is, God makes this determination.
Go to John 5. Let me show you this in John 5, verse 29.
I always tell people when I'm going out soul-witting that,
yeah, you know, when you do wrong, but that's your body.
Paul said it's your flesh.
It's the flesh that's doing wrong.
Spiritually, he wants to do right, but his flesh still chooses to do wrong.
But it's not spiritually like, oh, wow, you committed a sin.
Well, now you need to get saved again.
No, spiritually, you're perfect forever when you get saved.
It's eternal life, okay?
John 5, verse 29.
Look at verse 28 first.
Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice
and shall come forth.
They that have done good under the resurrection of life
and they that have done evil under the resurrection of damnation.
So the Bible says there's two types of people,
those that have done good and those that have done evil.
You say, but Brother Stuckey, don't say people do wrong sometimes.
Yes, but you're not going to get any punishments
when you're at the judgment seat of Christ.
You're only getting rewards.
Now, this specific group of people,
this is actually after the judgment seat of Christ
because there's an hour where basically anyone who got saved
after that time period,
so this is after the millennial reign and everything,
but here's what you're seeing, though.
Those that do right versus those that do wrong
because an unsaved person, hey,
I helped a little old lady across the street.
Well, you're being judged for what you did wrong,
not what you did right.
It doesn't matter.
All that's going to come up for them at the Great White Throne judgment is evil.
Every sin they ever did.
It doesn't matter what they did that was nice.
It doesn't matter what they did that was right.
You think of the rich man in Luke 16.
He wasn't an evil person.
I mean, he helped, you know, feed Lazarus,
but it's not like, oh, you know,
some of your sins are removed because you did good.
No, you're going to pay for the sins that you did
as an unsaved person at the Great White Throne judgment,
but for saved people, all that we see is doing right.
The same thing is in Romans chapter 2 as well,
and so sometimes there's verses like that
that people try to take out of context and say,
well, see, if you're saved, you're going to do good,
and if you're unsaved, you do bad.
Well, you've got to take the Bible completely together
because otherwise you're going to have a lot of contradictions.
The Bible does not teach that,
but what it does teach is that when you're saved,
you're spiritually perfect forever,
and so basically there's no evil that's going to come up
like you committed this sin, here's your punishment.
The punishment happens in this life if God judges us.
He chastens us in this life,
and the Bible says, you know what,
we should not be upset at being chastened.
We should be happy because it helps us in life.
That's reality.
Go back to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, 1 John 2.
So in verse 7, it talks about how saved people only do right
because spiritually speaking, they only do right.
Verse 8, he that committeth sin is of the devil,
for the devil sinneth from the beginning,
for this purpose the Son of God was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the devil.
And in verse 8, what are we looking at?
We're looking at a child of the devil.
He's of the devil.
See, with someone who's of the devil,
the only thing that's going to come up is them doing evil,
them doing wrong, okay?
Now generally, unsaved people can do good things and bad things,
but when we're talking about someone who's a child of the devil,
like in verse 8, it says he is of the devil,
for the devil sinneth from the beginning,
for this purpose the Son of God was manifested
that he might destroy the works of the devil,
and a reprobate only does evil.
They only do wrong.
Now there's two intersecting ideas that we're going to talk about.
One is the fact that if you're saved,
the new man spiritually never does wrong.
You're spiritually perfect forever.
The other intersecting idea is the comparison
between a child of God and a child of the devil
that is in 1 John 3.
And that is where this gets pretty tricky.
But verse 7 is a child of God.
Verse 8 is a child of the devil.
It's not just an unsaved person.
It's someone who is of the devil, a reprobate, okay?
They profess that they know God,
but in works they deny him, right,
being abominable and disobedient
and unto every good work reprobate.
Verse 9. Verse 9.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin,
for a seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
Now, I'll be honest.
A lot of people look at this as one of the tricky verses on salvation.
I never actually have thought this verse is tricky.
Let's be honest.
Because the Bible says if you're born of God,
if you're saved, you do not sin.
But the Bible says everybody still sins.
So what's that talking about?
Spiritually.
I mean, it's not that complicated.
It doesn't say, well, if you're born of God,
you're not going to commit many sins.
No, it says doth not commit sin, right?
Meaning they don't sin.
Sinless. And yet we still sin.
Why? Because you need to make a distinction
between the body and the soul.
Because your soul is perfect forever,
and when you die, if you're saved,
your soul goes to heaven,
no matter how many sins you did, okay?
Whosoever is born of God,
anyone that's saved does not sin, the Bible says.
And yet the Bible says that we still sin
after we're saved, because the distinction is
spiritually you're perfect,
even though physically you're not perfect.
Why is it that we don't sin?
For a seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin.
It doesn't say he's not going to sin much.
It says he cannot sin.
He can't sin.
He will never sin because he is born of God.
A saved person is never going to sin again, the Bible says.
But Paul said that we're sinning till the day we die.
You say, Brother Saki, if I sin,
does that mean I'm not saved?
Because the Bible says if I'm saved,
I'm never going to sin.
Well, of course you're going to sin,
because Paul even said he's going to sin.
And if you say that you never sin,
you're going to sin.
But what the Bible says is this,
that if you are saved, you're born again,
you do not sin.
You say why?
Spiritually you're perfect forever.
So how could you lose your salvation
if you don't have any sins after you're saved,
spiritually speaking?
There's no sin.
When people say that you can lose your salvation,
they try to draw a line like,
well, you don't lose it for telling a lie,
but committing murder, you would lose it.
But none of your sins are going to be held accountable
in this life, but spiritually you're still perfect
because you're born of God.
You have eternal life.
You cannot lose that, okay?
But notice verse 10.
And this is actually the verse
that I found very confusing for a while.
In this, the children of God are manifest
in the children of the devil.
Now, a comparison is being made
between saved people and children of the devil,
not between saved people and unsaved.
Do you see that?
In this, the children of God are manifest
in the children of the devil, right?
What does the word manifest mean?
Well, the word manifest is like
God was manifest in the flesh.
You know, it was seen.
It was made known.
And see, in this, the children of God
and the children of the devil are manifest.
It's known.
What does it say?
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.
Now, here's the thing.
As a saved person, all you do is righteousness,
spiritually speaking.
You must be honest that whether or not
you're a child of God or a child of the devil.
I believe when it says,
whosoever doeth not righteousness,
I believe it's a dual application,
where basically spiritually,
yes, you're perfect forever,
and it just talked about that.
However, it's making a distinction
between children of God and children of the devil,
and this makes sense because think of the verse
how it talks about their folly shall be
manifest unto all men.
And so here's what the Bible's indicating.
If somebody is a bad person,
they won't be able to hide it forever.
That's what it's saying.
I mean, serial killers end up getting caught, right?
Judas Iscariot got caught after three years.
Eventually, it's going to become manifest.
Now, how does it become manifest?
And here's the thing.
When you're looking at a local church,
a New Testament local church,
people are going to say they believe the same thing.
That doesn't mean that they actually do
because Judas Iscariot would have obviously
claimed to believe the same thing.
Now, as I've said in our series,
it is possible for a saved person
to act like a psychopath and do a lot of bad things
and make you question.
It doesn't mean they're necessarily a psychopath
because saved people do some pretty bad things
in the Bible, but the Bible does indicate
that if someone is a bad person,
eventually it's going to be manifest.
You can only hide it for so long.
Now, you might be able to hide it for a while
because it's very subtle and people aren't aware of it,
but eventually the Bible says it's going to be manifest
who the children of God are
and the children of the devil.
You say, Brother Stuckey, I'm paranoid.
What do we do about that?
Well, remember in Matthew 13,
the Bible says that there's going to be tears
amongst the wheat.
And it's not going to be easy to tell.
You're not going to necessarily know.
The devil, the enemy, is going to put tears
amongst the wheat, and if you try to take up
all the wheat or take up all the tears,
you might accidentally pull out the wheat
because you got the wrong person
is what the indication is.
The indication is kind of behind the scenes
and there's no blood on their hands
because they're the Jonadab who orchestrated it
but can walk away and you have no idea what they did, right?
But eventually, it will be manifest, the Bible says.
It's going to be known.
You say, well, how do you know it?
Well, it's by the works.
That's what the Bible's indicating.
Now, understand what I'm saying.
I'm not saying we judge if somebody's saved
whether they're saved or lost
or living a good life.
What I'm saying is the Bible says
we can look at someone who's a child of the devil
and their works can make that manifest.
Okay?
Remember what we saw in Titus 1
in the introductory to our series on Sunday mornings?
They profess that they know God
but in works, they deny him.
And the Bible's saying, look at the works
because the works are going to be different
between a child of God and a child of the devil, right?
Now, this is not perfectly two plus three equals five.
It's very simple where you can easily tell
you got those special sunglasses, you walk in,
that's the bad guy.
It doesn't work that way.
I'm not saying it's easy to tell
but the Bible does indicate that eventually
the folly is going to be manifest unto all men.
And look, the Bible says
by your words, you're going to be justified
and by your words, you're going to be condemned
and instead out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh.
So you can only hide who you are for so long.
I was given the example to a couple guys this morning
when there was this case of this woman
who murdered her baby
and she was being interrogated by the cops
because they thought she did it
but they didn't really have the evidence
because they didn't have the body.
Once you find the body, usually it's like
they can figure out who it is in today's world, right?
And they're trying to figure out,
did she do it, where's the body?
So they ask her, where is the body?
Now, here's the thing.
She is the one who killed the baby
and dumped the body, so she knew.
She doesn't know anything about that
but she tries to lie about it.
But here's the thing.
When you're thinking about something,
the words just end up coming out
and you accidentally say what you're thinking about.
So what she said is this.
I don't know where the body is
but I'm sure it's floating around out there somewhere
and the person interrogating said,
check the river, check the lake, check the swamp
and the baby was in the water near the house
because by your words, you're going to be justified
and by your words, you're going to be condemned.
Eventually, your words reveal
that in the heart, you can only fake it for so long
and eventually, it's going to be manifest.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Notice what it says and actually,
go back to 1 John 2 because remember last week
I said you've got to come back
to hear my interpretation of verse 29.
I'm not avoiding any verses in this book.
In this book, I said I'm going to look
at every single verse.
I just did not get to it.
But it says here in verse 29,
if you know that he is righteous,
you know that everyone that doeth righteousness
is born of him and my interpretation is
we're looking at a dual application
of doing righteousness where spiritually
you're perfect forever and there's no sins
that are going to be held accountable for spiritually
but also the difference between a child of God
and a child of the devil.
Not between.
I don't want you to get confused.
Not between a saved person and an unsaved
but basically, somebody,
remember I used that example of Joe Boyd
a couple weeks ago?
He is the great evangelist in the US
and they talked about how this guy,
once you had to put the kids to bed early
because he was a sexual pervert
and he just started talking about disgusting things.
Well, the works don't seem to really match up
to who he's claiming to be.
They profess that they know God
but in works they deny him because
he was revealing who he actually was, right?
And the Bible says that you know what?
Your words are going to make it manifest
because you can't hide what's in your heart.
If you're thinking about something,
it's going to come out.
Look, everybody's going to sit here
and say yes, rock music's wrong
and if you listen to rock music all the time,
eventually it's going to come out
and everybody's going to know it.
Isn't that true?
Eventually if it's on your mind,
you're thinking about it,
eventually it's going to come out.
Now look, that's fine.
You can listen to whatever you want.
If you want to listen to the devil's music,
go for it. I don't care, right?
But eventually it's going to be manifest
what's inside your heart.
And so here's the thing.
The Bible indicates, you know what?
Now look at 1 John 3, verse 11.
Actually verse 10, we didn't finish it.
In this the children of God are manifest
and the children of the devil.
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.
Now once again, the comparison of the children of God
and the children of the devil,
now a saved person, spiritually speaking,
can only do right and we understand that.
But also the comparison of the works
of someone who's saved versus a reprobate
and one thing it says is neither the works
neither he that loveth not his brother.
You say, what does that mean, Brother Stuckey?
Imagine if you lived in a Muslim country, right?
Like Turkey is 99% plus Muslim.
Imagine if you lived in Turkey
and you ran into another saved person.
Wouldn't there be an automatic kinship
and love just automatically there
because you believe the same thing?
It's automatic.
It's even the same way for us
in a Christian, Catholic, whatever country.
If you run into a saved person at the door
there's a bit of kinship automatically there.
Now don't misunderstand me
because it's definitely possible
for a saved person to become bitter
at other saved people
and to hate them in their heart.
Of course we understand that,
but you know what, there is some love
in there for your other brethren
and sisters in Christ.
Now you can obviously quench the spirit,
you can obviously become bitter,
you can obviously become whatever.
However, there is still some love
towards your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now of course the way King Saul
is acting towards King David
you're like, what in the world?
But it's like King Saul loved him
and then he wanted to kill him, right?
So there you see kind of the combination
of the bitterness and the love
that he had for David,
but it just kind of ran out very quickly.
But here's the thing, unsaved people,
well especially children of the devil
which we're talking about,
children of the devil hate
every single word that I say, right?
They hate the sermons we preach.
Man, if I preach a sermon against the LGBT
they would hate that message.
Now here's the thing,
if somebody was at our church
that was a tear amongst the wheat
they'd pretend to like the sermon,
but they would secretly say,
I want to kill Brother Stuckey, right?
They don't have any love
for brothers and sisters in Christ.
I mean a child of the devil
hates the work we do.
A child of the devil hates our church, right?
But the Bible's giving a distinction
that if you are saved
you're going to have that love
towards your brother and sister in Christ.
Now you can become bitter,
you can quench that spirit.
I'm not saying we judge them
based on their actions,
but I'm saying in a comparison
between children of God
and children of the devil,
whether or not you hate godly people
or you love them,
that could be an indication
of whether someone might be a bad person
when they hate soul winning.
I hate salvation by grace through faith.
Hard preaching.
I hate Pastor Jimenez.
I hate Pastor Anderson.
I hate Pastor Shelley.
I hate Pastor Berzins.
I hate Brother Stuckey.
I hate this person.
I hate that person.
I'd be like, well, I'm starting to question you.
Why do you hate all the people
that are standing up for God?
That can be an indication
of whether or not someone's
saved or reprobates, okay?
And how do we show our love
towards our brethren?
Well, we show it through our actions, right?
If you're obeying God's commandments,
you're showing love
for your brethren in Christ.
Verse 12, not as Cain,
who was of that wicked one
and slew his brother,
and wherefore slew him
because his own works were able
and his brother's righteous.
Now, why does Cain kill Abel?
Well, Cain was a reprobate,
and we're going to see that.
Cain was a wicked one.
When he slew his brother,
he was a reprobate.
When he killed his brother,
now, I'm not saying every murderer
is a reprobate.
Don't misunderstand me,
but Cain was because he was
of that wicked one
and slew his brother, okay?
So either right before he becomes
a reprobate, I don't know if it was
a knife or whatever he hit him with,
or he made the decision
a few minutes ahead,
and he killed him
because his works were evil
and his brother's righteous.
You know, children of the devil
hate the fact that God approves
of our actions and hates
their actions.
The LGBT hates our guts
because God approves of us
and he hates them.
And they can complain and complain,
but the reason why they hate us
is because their works are evil.
And they want justification
for their actions.
They want to do the same garbage
as them.
They want your kids to become homos.
I mean, for those that listened
to the song yesterday,
they made it very, very clear.
And I read they had to take that down
because of the fact, you know,
it was too much.
Like, no, don't reveal what's
actually in our hearts.
Don't let people know that we're
coming after their children.
But that's the reality.
I mean, if you pay attention,
I'm going to rape your children.
That's what they told us.
Who would make that sort of threat?
Who even has that in their hearts?
You get mad at someone,
I'm going to rape your children.
What in the world?
I mean, it's just like you're
making it pretty clear.
I mean, if you're trying to get people
not to believe in the reprobate doctrine,
you're not doing a very good job
because anyone at our church in Verity
in Sacramento that was on the fence
switched over to, yes, you know what,
harm your children and it's just like,
and there's nothing new under the sun.
That's what they did in Genesis 19
and Judges 19.
They hate us because their actions are evil.
Why did Cain hate Abel?
Because God says, I approve of Abel
and I don't approve of Cain.
And his countenance was falling.
No, why doesn't God approve of me?
Because you're wicked because
you didn't do what God said.
Now, let us go to Genesis 4 to see
a little bit more of this story.
This is like the chapter of the week.
Genesis chapter 4.
Genesis 4.
Genesis chapter 4.
And remember, when Cain killed Abel,
he was of that wicked one
and slew his brother.
So of that wicked one comes before
slaying his brother, okay?
So to understand when he became a reprobate,
we got to see what the Bible says.
Genesis 4 verse 3.
And in process of time, it came to pass
that Cain brought up the fruit of the ground
and offering unto the Lord.
And Abel, he also brought up the first things
of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the Lord had respect unto Abel
and to his offering.
But unto Cain and to his offering
he had not respect.
And Cain was very wroth
and his countenance fell.
Verse 6.
Now, does he sound like a reprobate
in verse 7?
Is that how God would talk to a reprobate?
Hey, if you do well, I'm going to accept you.
If you do well, I'm going to reprobate.
It's like too late, reprobate, right?
So when he's saying,
if you do well, you're going to be accepted,
he's saying you're not a reprobate.
Now, he's obviously not saved
because no saved person can become a reprobate,
but he's not a reprobate.
He's like, if you do well,
you're going to be accepted.
And if thou doest not well, notice this,
sin lieth at the door.
Now, doesn't Jesus use the example
of salvation, I am the door?
And what is he trying to say?
Is it hard to open a door?
It's pretty easy, right?
You open a door, you just walk in,
and you get saved, and it's forever.
That door shuts behind you,
and you couldn't get out if you wanted to.
Not that a saved person is ever going
to want to burn in hell.
That's kind of a dumb, foolish argument, right?
Once you get saved, though,
you're a child of God, you have eternal life.
But it's the same way with being a reprobate.
You make that choice to walk through that door,
and sin lieth on the other side of that door.
You say, why?
And you do wicked and wicked things
for the rest of your life,
and there's no changing it.
And you know what?
The world agrees with a lot of what I say about psychopaths,
but they're like, well, let's try this medicine.
Maybe they just lack vitamin C.
Yeah, that's why Ted Bundy killed all those people.
He didn't eat enough oranges.
It's like, that's what the world is trying to tell us.
It's like, well, maybe they didn't get enough vitamin A.
Maybe they didn't get enough carrots in their diet.
Maybe if they had just eaten an apple a day,
then it would have kept the psychiatric doctor away
or whatever.
Right?
It's like, no, they opened the door and became a reprobate.
That's what the Bible's saying.
And unto thee shall be his desire,
and thou shalt rule over him.
And so here's the thing.
In verse seven, he is not a reprobate.
He has his chance.
And in verse eight, and Cain talked with Abel's brother,
and it came to pass from there in the field
that Cain rose up against Abel's brother and slew him.
And when he slew him, he was of that wicked one
and slew him, the Bible says.
Let me explain something to you.
Every person who was a reprobate,
they chose to walk through that door.
Right?
They made the choice to open up the door to being a reprobate.
Now, usually, they have a terrible upbringing
and terrible things happen, and I understand that.
But you know what?
I feel bad about the five-year-old kid
that's being molested in today's world.
I don't feel bad about the Jeffrey Dahmer
who's the one doing it to us.
I don't feel bad about others.
But he had that happen as a kid.
It doesn't matter.
He chose to open the door to being a reprobate,
and he became a wicked person,
and there's no returning from it.
It's like you have these Christians
who want us to feel bad for these hardcore LGBT people.
Look, I have no clue what happened
to Vice Pongie Winnie as a kid.
Obviously, a lot of weird stuff.
But he opened the door to being a reprobate.
I don't feel bad for him now.
He's a sick pervert.
I don't feel bad for those people that became bad people
because, you know what?
A lot of people have terrible things
that happen to them when they're kids,
and they might have psychological trauma.
They might have mental and emotional issues.
However, it doesn't mean that they automatically
open up the door to being a reprobate.
You make that freewill choice.
And look, you know what?
I am sure there are people in this room
that you have a horrible story from when you're a kid,
but you know what?
If you're a safe person, you chose not to open up that door.
So don't feel bad about the person
that became a reprobate and an evil person.
They made the choice to turn and hate God.
Now, of course, if we raise our kids correctly,
train up a child on the way he should go.
When he is old, he will not depart from it.
So of course, as parents, we have the responsibility
to raise our kids correctly and do everything we can
and give them the gospel and teach them the ways of God.
However, even if the worst thing happened to a child,
they're still making their own freewill choice.
They can still decide to get saved.
They can still decide to do right.
And if they're not saved and they're not a child of God,
they can make the decision to walk through the door
being a reprobate and sin lieth on the other side of the door.
And look, make no mistake about it.
And look, we preach against the LGBT a lot
because they're the ones that are clearly in our face about it
and it's very manifest what you are, right?
There's no question.
They don't even hide it.
We'll just let you know.
The only thing they say they are that we're not
is they claim to be loving.
Loving while you claim that you want to rape little kids.
Wow, that sounds real loving, right?
Talk about hypocrisy.
They don't even really make any bones about it.
They're just bad people.
They make it very clear.
It's very manifest through their actions.
And you know what? How did they become like that?
They opened the door to being a reprobate and look,
I don't know what's on the other side of that door.
I mean, I know what Romans 1 says,
but once you've gone through that,
you're not going to understand what happens in their head.
But their conscience is seared with a hot iron.
I mean, you listen to these people that are murderers,
that are psychopaths, and they talk about people they killed.
They just kind of speak about it just very casually
like no big deal.
They speak about it just like, you know,
cutting a piece of fried chicken.
They talk about doing that to a human.
It's like, what in the world?
Obviously, the other side of that door is pretty,
impossible to comprehend if you're not a reprobate, right?
Now, turn back to 1 John 3.
But why did he do it?
Well, because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous, right?
That's the reason why Cain killed Abel.
Now, I will say there is something inside each and every one of us
that if somebody does better than you,
there's that automatic thing where you wish it was you
that did better or whatever.
And that's obviously wrong.
Like, you come back from soul winning,
and you get two saved, and they got three,
and you wish you got the three, right?
There's that little thing inside of you,
that little bit of pride inside of you and everything like that.
But, you know, when we're talking about people that are reprobates,
this is like to a whole other level
where he's willing to murder Abel
because Abel got accepted by God and Cain didn't.
And this is why the LGBT hates us.
They know that God says they're evil and wicked.
No one can deny it.
You know what's sick is when you see these Christians
that try to claim God doesn't really condemn the LGBT, right?
I mean, they try to judge, like, well, God, yeah,
but, I mean, it's like a sin like any other sin.
God doesn't feel that bad about it.
Really, because I'm pretty sure
that most cities don't get blown up by God, right?
It's like God blew up, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
He doesn't exactly do that to every area of the world, okay?
And by the way, there's nothing new under the sun.
Because if you look, I think it's the first century in Rome,
they had a big city that got destroyed that was,
they uncovered, there was, like,
all this homosexuality things on the walls
and sexually perverse stuff.
What's the name of that city?
Pompeii, right? No new thing under the sun.
Pompeii the same way, right?
And the same thing could happen in today's world.
God could choose to make an example
of some wicked, perverted, disgusting, LGBT, pedophile place.
It could happen today as well.
Here's chapter 3.
1 John 3, verse 13 is a very important verse
to understanding this chapter.
Because notice this,
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
You say, why is this important?
Because there's a transition between,
a comparison between children of God
and children of the devil to the world.
Do you understand that?
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
We're no longer comparing children of God
to children of the devil.
As saved people, we will be hated by the world
whether they're reprobate or just unsaved.
And the comparison in verse 13 is with the world.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
Verse 14, we know that we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren.
Okay?
Now look, obviously the number one way
you know if you're saved is do you believe?
That's how you know.
But the Bible does say,
and I do believe this is in reference to salvation,
this phrase here.
We know that we have passed from death unto life
because we love the brethren.
Because when everybody else hates the preachers of God
and you love them and you agree with them
and agree with the message and believe them,
there's a difference between you and the rest of the world.
Because the world hated the message
of all these other people.
Now of course, you know whether you're saved
by whether or not you believe the gospel.
However, the fact that you love the brethren
is something that the world does not do
because they don't understand soul winning.
They don't understand why we love the brethren.
They live the way we do.
Okay?
And so that is another way you know you're saved,
the fact that everybody in the world
hates the message we're promoting.
They don't believe in soul winning and all that stuff.
But you love that and you love hearing
about people get saved.
That is a sign that you're actually saved.
Now look, all you have to do is look at whether
or not you believe and that's how you determine.
But the Bible's saying there is an inherent love
towards other saved people as a saved person.
Then it says this.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Now let me say this.
That does not say he that loveth not his brother is unsaved.
It does not say that.
And I do not believe that's what it is saying.
It says he abides in death.
Now remember, abiding in Christ is not automatic.
And so basically, a saved person can either
walk in light or darkness, right?
You can abide in death.
It doesn't mean that you're not saved.
You can abide in Christ or not.
That doesn't guarantee whether you're saved.
If you are abiding in Christ, that is a guarantee you're saved.
But a saved person can abide in death
and walk in darkness and do wrong.
That does not mean that they're not saved automatically
just because they're abiding in death.
Verse 15.
And the reason why I'm making this distinction
is because in verse 15, it talks about abiding as well.
So we need to be consistent with verse 14 to 15.
Verse 15.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer,
and ye know that no murderer hath eternal death.
He hath eternal life abiding in him.
This does not say, and it does not mean,
that someone who's a murderer is not saved.
It does not say that.
Which person of the Godhead is eternal life?
God the Son.
Right?
As far as I know, I'm being consistent with the entire book.
We talked about abiding in chapter 1, chapter 2.
It's a very important word for this book
to understand that if you abide in Christ,
He's going to abide in you,
but you can be saved without abiding in Christ.
And the Bible says that if you are saved,
then you're in dwell with the Holy Ghost,
but you still have the choice
whether you're going to abide in Christ or not.
Now here's the thing.
If you're committing murder, you might be saved
because saved people commit that,
but you're not abiding in Christ
as you're committing murder.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
That does not say you're not saved.
A saved person can commit murder,
and that does not mean that they're unsaved,
but it does mean they're not abiding in Christ.
I mean, if you get so mad and you kill someone,
well, obviously you're not abiding in Christ
as you're murdering someone.
Now, the reality is, whenever we're committing major sins,
we're obviously not abiding in Christ.
Obviously, if you're committing a murder,
you're not abiding in Christ.
That doesn't mean you're not saved, though.
Now, I know people use that and say,
well, if you're a murderer, then that means you're not saved.
It does not say that.
It says eternal life,
which is the second person of the Godhead.
Remember, chapter 1, Jesus is life, it says.
It's not abiding in you if you're committing that sin.
Verse 16.
Hereby perceive we the love of God
because he laid down his life for us,
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Now, the Bible says that we can perceive the love of God.
Perceived means it's something we can kind of comprehend,
but we can't really fully grasp necessarily, right?
But we can perceive God's love because that he died for us.
That's a proof that he actually loves us
because he died for us.
Now, notice this.
Hereby perceive we the love of God
because he laid down his life for us.
So, according to this verse,
who laid down his life for us?
God.
God died for us, right?
1 John 3.16 is a great proof that Jesus Christ is God
because God laid down his life for us.
That's what the Bible says.
Hereby perceive we the love of God
because he, referring back to God,
laid down his life for us.
He died for the sins of the world, the Bible says.
Now, go to John, and then at the end of that verse,
it says, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Now, if he's saying we ought to,
it means that it's not automatic.
Now, go to John 15.
John 15.
Now, when it says we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren,
I think there's a lot of people in San Fernando
that are a little bit confused by what God means.
He's not saying put yourself up on a cross
and die, you know, like Jesus Christ did, right?
He's not saying go out and get drunk
because you can't take the pain unless you're drunk
and then just get crucified on a cross
and be taken down before you die.
It's just like, you know, what in the world, right?
But what does it mean to lay down our lives for the brethren?
Well, John 15, verse 12, notice this.
This is my commandment that you love one another
as I have loved you.
Now, is Jesus Christ dead yet in John 15?
Has he died yet?
No, he hasn't, okay?
But what he says is this,
that you love one another as I have loved you, past tense.
He's saying, as I have loved you, I've already done this.
You say, why does he say that?
Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.
But you say, but Brother Stuckey,
he didn't die for us yet.
Now, of course we understand the Bible says
the foundation of the world,
but I don't believe that's what it's referring to.
I believe what it's saying is that Christ spent his life
laying down his life for other people
and caring about other people more than himself, right?
To look and esteem other people better than yourself,
and he commands us to show the same love.
He said, you know what?
Your life is about laying down your life for other people.
When you raise kids, isn't this the case, raising kids?
Your entire life is about your kids.
It's not about you, right?
Everybody who, if you do not have kids yet,
you will learn that one day.
It's your entire life, once you have kids,
is like, all right, it's all about our kids, pretty much.
Everything in your life changes at that point.
It's kind of a big change, too,
once you get married, because the Bible says
you should basically love them
as you're going to love your own body.
It refers to with guys, right?
It says that.
And so here's the thing, though.
How do we lay down our life for other people?
Well, most likely, I'm not going to have to die for anybody.
I mean, I get it.
I'm not going to have to take the bullet
and save somebody's life.
I don't think that's what he's referring to, okay?
I think what he's saying is that you live your life
caring about other people more than yourself.
And the amazing thing is, God says
this is actually the secret to happiness
as a saved person, caring about other people
more than yourself.
Go back to 1 John 3, 1 John 3, 1 John 3.
Now, I'm not saying that every single verse
you're going to have the exact same interpretation.
This is a deep and complicated book.
As far as I know, I'm being consistent
from beginning to end.
And that's kind of the tricky part
because there's verses where you might have an explanation,
but the question is, does that work
with the rest of the book?
And honestly, from my perspective,
the word abide is extremely, extremely important
to understand this book.
But it's really about God's commanding us
to walk and live for Him
and walk in the light and do what's right.
It's not a book about telling you
how to get saved, okay?
But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him,
how dwelleth the love of God in him.
My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
And see, the Bible says this,
that don't just love by word or by tongue.
Don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk, right?
Everybody's going to say they're a good Christian.
Everybody's going to say they're right with God.
But how do we know if that's true?
In deed and in truth?
By your actions, right?
The determination of whether or not
you're right with God is not the words,
but your actions.
What are you doing, right?
That is how we know.
And see, the Bible's saying,
hey, don't just say that you love your brethren,
actually love your brethren.
Because otherwise, they're just idle words.
They're not really real.
It's fake, it's phony, it's not real, okay?
Verse 19, and hereby we know
that we are of the truth
and shall assure our hearts before him, okay?
Now, verse 19 is a verse
I think a lot of people might take out of context.
If you look at verses 19 through 21,
which we're going to,
I believe you can tell this is not saying
and hereby we know that we're saved.
I do not believe that's what it's saying.
It says that we know we are of the truth.
What I believe it's saying is
that we know we're right with God.
And the reason why I believe that
is the next couple verses that fit that context.
For if our heart condemn us,
God is greater than our heart
and knoweth all things.
So the Bible's saying this,
if your heart condemns you,
it doesn't mean that your heart's telling you
you're not saved and God knows even more
than the fact that you're not saved.
It's saying that if you are basically
feeling a little bit guilty,
well, God is greater than your heart
and knows a lot more things than just that.
If you feel guilty about this,
then it's probably this is what the Bible's saying.
And there's something about going to bed at night
with a clear conscience.
Now, sometimes we go to sleep at night
with a clear conscience.
Sometimes you don't.
Every single one of us,
we will have times where we do not go to bed
with a clear conscience,
but there's nothing better than going to bed at night
with a clear conscience,
where I'm doing what's right.
Obviously we're not perfect,
but you're trying to do what's right,
trying to serve God.
And the Bible's saying if you go to bed at night
and your heart basically condemns you a little bit,
it's like, actually, there's this much stuff
that you should be feeling bad about, right?
God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.
So when it says we know that we are of the truth,
it's saying, and shall assure our hearts before him,
it's saying that if we're doing the right actions,
that's how we know that we're right with God.
That's how we get the clear conscience.
Verse 21.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not,
then have we confidence toward God.
The Bible's saying this.
If your heart does not condemn you,
you have a clear conscience.
You go to bed at night and you can feel
that you're going to have confidence toward God,
not confidence that you're going to go to heaven, okay?
Because some people say, well, see,
if you got that clear conscience,
you have confidence you're going to make it to heaven.
I have confidence I'm going to make it to heaven
because I believe on Jesus Christ.
I don't have to be living a great life to know I'm saved.
If you believe, you're saved.
I mean, if you believe and then you get drunk,
you don't have to question your salvation.
And I'll tell you what.
I ran into someone, this was, man,
I was probably 20 years old.
This was a long time, 15 years ago, right?
2006, I was in college.
And I was going soul winning in the mountain lair at WVU.
And I ran into this guy.
And I realized this guy was half drunk.
And then all of a sudden he told me,
he's like, you know, you're not going to believe me.
But he's like, I'm saved.
He's like, I know I'm doing what's wrong.
And, you know, because he was drunk.
And he quoted Romans 10, 9, and 10.
But he was an independent Baptist.
He said, I know your salvation is forever.
I know you don't think I'm saved.
I said, no, actually, I do think you're saved.
Because I don't judge his salvation based on his actions.
Now, he himself, even when he was drunk,
felt condemned for his actions.
Right?
He's saying, I know you're not going to think I'm saved.
I'm doing what's wrong.
But he's like, I believe.
And he told me he was going to come to church the next day.
I'll tell you what.
In the moment, I think he meant it.
But honestly, I think he forgot because he was pretty drunk.
Why do you have confidence?
Well, you have confidence.
He was not doing what was right, but he still had confidence.
You say, why?
Because he believed.
And here's the thing.
I remember before I was saved, I never had that confidence
whether I was going to heaven.
I was like, on most days, 75%, 80%.
You do something wrong, you drop down to 65%.
If I hang in there for another week,
I can get back up to 70% or whatever, you know?
It's like, I didn't have confidence toward God.
But after I got saved, I have confidence toward God
that I'm going to be saved.
I'm on my way to heaven.
But here's the thing.
I cannot say that I always have confidence
that I'm right with God.
Because I know of times in my life where I am right with God
and times that I'm not right with God.
I remember I was on a plane one time,
and there was a lot of turbulence,
and some people were kind of afraid.
And I literally, inside my heart, was like,
you know what?
I really don't think God would let me die right now
because I knew I was right with God at that time.
And I was very confident nothing bad is going to happen
because I'm right with God.
But in my life where you're not doing what's right,
don't you have those moments where you're like,
I hope God doesn't strike me down dead?
I hope God forgives me.
I hope He gives me another chance, right?
Great is Thy faithfulness, right?
It's like, and how do we have confidence
that we're right with God?
Well, when we're doing what's right.
And the confidence it's really referring to is this.
And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him
because we keep His commandments
and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
The Bible's saying this.
When we're doing what's right in life,
we're going to have confidence that when we ask
and pray for things from God,
He's going to answer those things.
The only reason He would not is if it's against His will.
If you're right with God and you pray for something,
if it's according to His will,
He's going to give it to you.
Now, He might not give that to you, though,
if you don't ask for it.
This makes perfect sense, though.
Because think about when you're raising kids, right?
I mean, if your kids ask for something
and they're in trouble, it's like,
Dad, can I have ice cream?
It's like, no.
But then when my son is right with me,
sometimes I'll ask him for breakfast.
What do you want?
And I always regret it because he'll name something.
I was like, oh, man, now I've got to walk
and find one of these things or whatever.
But it's like if he asks and he's right with me,
you know, he has confidence he's going to get it.
And it's the same thing with us as believers.
If we are right with God, then we can have confidence
when we ask of God He's going to give us
the things that we want.
Because it's going to be according to His will
if we're right with Him.
And if for whatever reason it's not according to His will,
like maybe you ask for this job or whatever
and God sees the end of the road and He says,
you know what, I know this seems good to you.
It seems right.
But you know what, I'm going to withhold that
because I've got something else I want for you.
Well, of course, God sees the end of the matter
and He directs our steps and we understand that.
But I'll tell you this, when I'm right with God,
I do have confidence when I pray.
When I'm not right with God, oftentimes
you're not even confident enough to pray.
Right?
We believe of Him because we keep His commandments
and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
And this is His commandment, that we should believe
in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as He gave His commandment.
So step number one to being right with God
is, well, to believe on Jesus Christ.
If you're not saved, then you're not even
going to go to heaven.
But then once you get saved, He says,
love one another.
Verse 24,
And he that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in him, and he in him.
And if you keep His commandments,
you're going to dwell in Him.
Now, I personally believe this is linking back
toward dwelling in Christ,
which I do not believe is automatic.
How do you dwell in Christ and Him in you
if you're keeping His commandments?
Now, if you believe this is referring
to the Holy Spirit, which I don't,
then you could say, well, you know what,
if you're saved, all you're going to do is write.
I just don't think that's what the interpretation
is here in verse 24.
I'm okay if that's your opinion because
we still believe the same doctrine.
And hereby we know that He abideth in us
by the Spirit which He hath given us.
And so He abideth in us, to me,
looks like Christ, not the Holy Spirit,
because it mentions the Holy Spirit later.
And here's the thing.
How do I know I'm right with God?
How do I know that I'm abiding in Christ
because I'm keeping His commandments?
That's how I know.
You say, Brother Stuckey, how do I know
if I'm right with God right now?
Are you keeping His commandments?
Are you doing what God says?
If you're not reading your Bible,
you're not right with God.
If you're committing sins,
you're not right with God.
Now, of course, we all sin and we do things,
you know, some sins are obviously worse than others,
but if you're just making small mistakes,
maybe you think foolish thoughts from time to time
because the thought of foolishness is sin,
you know, but you're not doing anything major,
well, then you could still say you're right with God
and you go to bed at night and you say,
God, forgive me, cleanse me, help me do better tomorrow.
You wake up the next day and you say,
God, forgive me for what I did wrong yesterday,
help me do better today.
And the reality is this is what takes place.
That's often when you don't pray.
Isn't that true?
But if you want to be right with God,
you keep His commandments and you know what,
you're going to have confidence when you pray to Him
that He's going to give you those things
because of the fact, you know what, God's happy with you.
But don't get this Santa Claus mentality with God.
People have this idea, well, you know what,
and hey, if your kids never taught you
or your parents never taught you Santa Claus,
praise the Lord, right?
I was taught Santa Claus growing up.
But anyways, this Santa Claus mentality
that just, you know, whatever I ask for,
He's going to give us no matter what
because God is love, love, love, love, love, right?
He's like the Santa Claus
or the big Easter bunny in the sky.
That's not the way God operates, okay?
If you do what's right, God will answer your prayers.
If you don't do what's right,
then the chasing is going to come.
That's the way God operates.
And you know what, it makes sense
because that's how we should operate with our kids.
You don't always just give them what they want
no matter what.
It depends on how they are acting.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you
for allowing us to be here today
and getting to see your word on this topic.
And help us to understand this chapter.
I know there are a lot of confusing verses
and I know people could interpret things differently.
Help us to all study and read our Bibles
so we know what we believe for ourselves, God,
not just to take my word for it.
Help us to understand very clearly salvation
in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Our last one is number 183.
Let's sing the song,
Oh, How I Love Jesus.
Hymn number 183,
Oh, How I Love Jesus.
There is a name I love to hear
Ready on the first, sing.
There is a name I love to hear
I love to sing its word
It sounds like music in my ear
The sweetest name on earth
Oh, how I love Jesus
Because he first loved me
He tells me of a singer's love
Who died to set me free
He tells me of his precious blood
The sinner's perfect me
Oh, how I love Jesus
Because he first loved me
He tells me of my father's wrath
In store for every day
And though I tread the garden path
He'll sunshine all the way
Oh, how I love Jesus
Because he first loved me
He tells of one whose loving heart
Can fill my deepest hole
Who with each sorrow bears a part
That none can bear below
Oh, how I love Jesus
Because he first loved me
Brother T, would you pray for us?
Amen.
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