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So we're there in 1 John chapter 2 and verse number 15, look at verse number 15, it begins by saying, love not the world, the title for the sermon this morning is love not the world. So we want to understand what does this mean, not love not the world, okay, don't love the world. But then we know the most famous verse in the Bible, for God so loved the world, hold on, does God love the world, are we not meant to love the world? I hope this chapter can kind of help you understand what this is all about, okay. So let's start there in verse number 1, 1 John chapter 2 verse number 1, my little children these things write I unto you that ye sin not, and if any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Now as I said to you last week, John does a great job explaining why he writes his books, okay, what's the reason for him writing the book of 1 John according to this one or at least chapter number 2, it says my little children these things write unto you that ye sin not, oh wow, does this mean you have to stop sinning to be saved? No that's not what it's about, okay, when we read chapter 2, we have understood the context of chapter 1, right, I was just arguing this recently, not really arguing, but I was going back and forth with someone over the phone recently about this, he was saying that if we continue to sin, we'll lose our salvation, and he was trying to show me 1 John chapter 2, how often it speaks about not sinning, you see, that ye sin not, what's the point of that, to be saved he reckons, no, of course he's missing the point of chapter number 1, if you were here last Sunday, you will remember that the reason chapter 1 was written, in fact let's have a look at it once again, 1 John chapter 1 verse number 4, 1 John chapter 1 verse number 4 says these things write unto you that your joy may be full, and we know that by keeping our joyful as we saw last week in chapter number 1, we need to keep in fellowship, we need to be walking with the Lord, right, not walking in darkness but spending time with the Lord, just like we sang earlier, in the garden, we spend time in the garden alone with the Lord in fellowship with the Lord, this will give you great joy, and when you sin, you actually walk in darkness, and so to maintain that joy, to maintain the fellowship, we ought to be striving as Christians to not sin, and so it's consistent, we get to chapter 2, yeah, that ye sin not, hey, but if we do sin, it says, and if any man sin, because we will continue to sin, amen, we should be striving to not sin, but if any man sin, we do sin, we sin every day, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, this is why we ought to go to God and confess our sins, every day, every time we sin, we go to the Lord and we say we're sorry, please forgive us to maintain our walk, not to get saved, or the fear of losing salvation or anything like that, no, it's to maintain the walk, and then we have Jesus Christ our advocate, what's an advocate? Someone that speaks on our behalf, okay, and not only has Christ paid for our sins on the cross, but even when we continue to sin to this day, you know, our sins still have been covered by this precious blood of Jesus Christ, you know, His blood as it were, is that advocate, it continues for all eternity, His blood is in heaven, okay, yes, He shed His blood on this earth, but He took His blood, He took it to heaven, and that blood testifies that all our sins have been paid for, you cannot out sin the grace of God, the sacrifice of God. I'll quickly read to you from Hebrews 9-11, which says, but Christ, being common high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. And so Christ took His blood to this tabernacle in heaven, and there it is for all eternity, okay, let's say again, and obtain eternal redemption for us. Once you have been saved by the blood, you can never be unsaved, it's eternal redemption, praise God, we have the advocate of Jesus Christ up there in heaven, okay, let's keep going, verse number 2, 1 John 2, 2, and He is the propitiation for our sins, what does the word propitiation mean? It means that it satisfies, okay, it satisfies the judgment of God, another very similar word that you might find in your Bible is the word atonement, okay, He atones, He's satisfied, Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for us only, but also for the sins of the whole world, amen, this just destroys Calvinism, Calvinism teaches that Christ came to just die for the few, to die for those that would ultimately believe Him, no, yes He died for us, of course He did, His blood cleanses us from all sins, His blood satisfies, satisfies, satisfies all of our sin payment, but not only did He die for us, He died for the sins of the whole world, and you might say, well if He died for the sins of the whole world, if it's all been paid for, why is it that then they still will die and go to hell if they die? It's because they've not received the gift, okay, what we have to do, Christ has done all the work necessary, and then Christ goes here, here's the free gift, you know, and that's why we need to be soul winners, we need to go and offer that free gift to this lost and dying world, and then it's up to everybody's individual free will, whether they'll receive that gift or not, and that gift is received through faith, by simply believing that that's what Jesus Christ did for us, and that's what you're trusting in, to go to heaven, praise God, salvation is so simple. Let's keep going, verse number three, and hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments, so why should we keep His commandments? To be saved? No, we keep His commandments to know our God better. How is it that you understand God's commandments? By reading His word, you have to read His word, you have to learn His word to know what His commandments are, and you know what, the more you know God's word, the more you're going to know God. You see, salvation isn't about knowing God, it's simply about knowing the gospel, that Jesus did it all for you, and then as we grow in our spiritual life and our Christian life, you're going to know God more and more, alright? Let's keep going, verse number four, hear that saith I know Him, if you say you know Him, if you say I know God, and keep not His commandments, He's a liar, and the truth is not in Him. Notice that. You know what, we can be saved and never know God, and just not know Him. We've never picked up His bible, we don't know His judgement, we don't know the things that He loves, we don't know the things that He hates, we know nothing about God. That's possible, okay? But that's like, you know, you can't say well I know God because I'm saved by the blood of Jesus, amen, you don't know Him, if you don't keep the commandments. This is a big book. Not every page on this book is about salvation of the soul. In fact, yeah, there's a lot about the salvation of the soul. You know, I found over a hundred bible verses that teach that salvation is simply by faith alone and Christ alone, okay? But this is a big book. There's a lot of commandments, there's a lot of directions to life in this book, okay? And so the more we walk in accordance to His ways and keep His commandments, the more we'll know God. If you don't read your bible, you do not know God. Okay, this is why, why do you think so many churches think of God as a Santa Claus? Who never gets angry? Who doesn't throw anyone in hell? They've never picked up the bible, they don't know who the God of the bible is. They don't know Him, okay? Their God may very well just be a completely alternate God. This is why we're warned in the bible not to bear with other people that preach another Jesus. There are other gods that have the name of Jesus. There are other gods that have the name of the Father and the Holy Spirit that they give. But it's not the God of the bible, okay? The God of the bible offers salvation free through the blood of Jesus Christ. And it's by following His laws and commandments that we know Him better, that we walk in His paths, that will help us, of course, overcome sin. Because what is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. We don't keep His commandments, we sin, we transgress the law, we're in darkness, we break the fellowship with God. And our goal to be happy, to live an abundant and fulfilled and joyful life is to ensure we walk with the Lord as much as we possibly can. Now, when the bible says here in verse number 3, and hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments, okay, verse number 4, hear that and sayeth I know Him and keepeth not His commandments. Notice the bible keeps saying the word keep, keep, keep. Well, Jesus Christ says something similar. In fact, I'll get you to turn to John chapter 14. Remember when we look at 1 John in the first chapter, we kept going back to John. So let's do the same thing. Let's keep one finger there in 1 John and keep another finger there in John. Please go to John chapter 14 for me. John chapter 14. Jesus Christ says something very similar in John chapter 14 and verse number 15. Do you love Jesus? Do you love what Christ has done for you? That He suffered on the cross for you, took your sins upon Himself. If you love Him, this is what Jesus Christ says in John 14, 15. John 14 verse 15. If ye love me, keep my commandments. So you know what? How you walk in your Christian life, how you follow the commandments of the Lord basically pictures how much you love Christ. If you just continue to live a sinful and wicked life, you never seek to walk in the Lord's ways, do what the Lord commands, then that just tells me you don't love the Lord Jesus Christ. You can be saved and not love Him, simply by not following His commandments. If you say, no, I'm pastor Kevin, I love Jesus, okay, then prove it to me. If you love Jesus, keep His commandments. Live righteously. Live holy. Live a holy life that pleases the Lord. Notice again, Jesus Christ uses that terminology. If you love me, keep my commandments. Keep my commandments. Just keep that in your mind because when you go back to 1 John chapter 2 verse number 5, 1 John 2, 5, it says, But whoso keepeth his word. Notice that God keeps using this phrase to keep. But whoso keepeth his word. In him verily is the love of God perfected. He by know we that we are in him. You see, we all express love. And God wants to perfect love in your life. A love for Jesus, yes. A love for the Lord God, yes. Okay. We all love things. Guaranteed right now there are things that you love that are wicked and sinful. Guaranteed. There's something like that, okay. But you see, God's love needs to be perfected or completed in us. We need to learn to love what God loves and learn to hate that which God hates. But the only way you grow in that love and understanding of God again is to keep His commandments. What does it mean to keep? I'll quickly read to you a few passages. Psalm 113 verse 9 says, He maketh the barren woman to keep house. There's a word keep, keep house. And to be a joyful mother of children, praise ye the Lord. What does it mean to keep house? Is that she just gets a house and just looks at it? No, to keep house means, and that's where we get the term housekeeper from. My wife is a housekeeper. Amen. That's someone that manages the household. She takes care of the household. She does work. To be a housekeeper, to be a keeper means you do some work. You do some level of effort to maintain that place. When God created Adam, he says in Genesis 2.15, and the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Adam was a gardener. He was the keeper of the garden, meaning that he had to work in the garden. He had to maintain the garden. Keeping it is not just this idea of I know, I know God's commandments, I know what God has given me, but now you've got to put the effort in to maintain what God wants from you. You know what, I'll just read it to you. A familiar passage, Revelation 3.10, which says, Because thou has kept, there it is again, because thou has kept the word of my patience. I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation. So if we keep God's word, we keep His commandments, God says, I'm going to keep you from the hour of temptation. I'm going to help you. I'm going to maintain you. I'm going to perfect you. So when the hour of temptation comes, you don't give in to it. It says, We shall come upon all the world and try them that dwell upon the earth. You want to overcome temptation? You need God to keep you from that hour of temptation, to protect you from temptation. So how do I do that? How do I ensure that God does that for me? You keep His commandments. You keep His word of His patience. The more you keep God's word of His commandments, He has a greater capacity as He perfects His love in you to keep you from temptations, to keep you from sinning, to keep you from doing the things that God hates. The Bible also says in Luke 8.15 in the parable, it says, But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. You see, when we hear God's word, we need to keep it. Keeping it is not just hearing. Keeping it is maintaining, doing the works that God wants us to do. Having heard the word, keep it and bring forth fruit with patience. You see, in order for us to be fruitful for the Lord, in order for us to be successful in soul winning, to do as much work and be as fruitful as we can, to win souls for the kingdom of God, we must keep His word. We must keep His commandments. We must do what God instructs us in His word. You see, the word keep isn't just to know. The word keep is to work, to maintain, to do that which God has left us to do. And so brethren, many times we can be hearers of God's word but not doers. And God is asking us to be a doer, to be a keeper of His word. And we'll be able to be much more fruitful for His kingdom. First John chapter 2 verse number 6. Hear that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk even as he walked. And we saw that the walking has to do with fellowship. I want to abide with Christ. I want to be close with the Lord. You know, if we abide in Christ, we can be even more fruitful. Please go to John 15. Go to John 15 and verse number 1. John 15 and verse number 1. Again, you know, John has written both these books, 1 John and John, and there's a lot of parallels. So John 15 verse 1, Christ says, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit is taken away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges forth, that it might bring forth more fruit. And ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Look at this. Abide in me, and I in you. What is John teaching us in 1 John chapter 2? To abide in Christ. To walk in His ways. So if we abide in Him, what does it say? We need to walk in His ways. We need to keep His commandments. As the branch cannot bear of itself, fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. Boy, brethren, we need the Lord. If we want to do anything for the Lord, we want to do anything of eternal value, we want to do anything for the kingdom of God's sake, we need to abide in Him. Again, what is abiding? To walk with Him. To keep His word, to do His commandments. These are all different ways of saying the same thing. And this is how, you know, we accomplish the overcoming of the sins, to sin less and less so we can keep the fellowship with God and continue being joyful in our Christian life. 1 John 2 verse 7. Now, I'll be honest with you guys, the next few passages, well 7 to 11, are probably the toughest ones that I felt that I could explain. Like the teaching is simple, but I felt it's a little bit challenging. I'll explain to you how. If you look at verse 7, it says, brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye have heard from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. So what is, you know, John is saying, look, I'm not teaching you anything new. This is not a new commandment. This is an old commandment. This is a commandment we've known from the very beginning. What was that commandment? To keep His word, to walk with the Lord. In fact, that's what verse number 6 says. In Him Himself also to walk even as He walked. The commandment is to continue walking with the Lord. And I was just thinking about this, okay, it's not a new commandment, it's an old commandment from the very beginning. Well, which is the book of the Bible, which is the book of beginnings? Genesis. Genesis means the beginning, right? And I had a quick look at the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 5 and verse number 24, which says, and Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. So we learn a great principle there, right? A great man Enoch, what did he do? He walked with God. Genesis 6, 9 says, these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. We know that God used Noah in a powerful way, in a great way, to build an ark and to save mankind, basically, okay? He also walked with God. Genesis 48, 15. And he blessed Joseph and said, God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day. So you can see Abraham, Isaac, these great men of faith that we know about, they all walked with God. And so that's what I believe John is saying, that this is no new commandment. I'm not teaching you anything new. You know, we've known this from the very beginning, that our lot, what God desires from us, is that we walk in fellowship with the Lord. And brethren, if this is something that has been known from the beginning, I want you to think about just how serious has your walk been with God? Are you walking with the Lord? Have you spent time with God this week? Have you opened the Bible? Are you open it every day? Are you praying to God every day? How is your walk? And if you say, boy, you know, I've not been walking the Lord lately. Well, you know what, this is nothing new. We've known this from the very beginning, okay? You open the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, you'll know how important the walk with the Lord is. Let's keep going to verse number 8, 1 John 2, verse number 8. But then it says this, and this is the challenging part for me. Again, a new commandment I write unto you. So now this is a new commandment. Okay, what is this new commandment? Which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth. And he that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. So what is this teaching us? We know that God is light, we're in fellowship with God. If we're in fellowship with God who is light, we are going to love our brothers, okay? If you start hating your brothers in the Lord, okay? Now look, it's not saying that you don't, that doesn't mean you won't ever have a clash. It doesn't mean that sometimes you won't get along with each other. That happens, okay? Friendships don't always work out. Things don't develop, okay? But even when there's a brother where I can't get along with that person and, you know, the friendship is no longer there, if that person is truly saved, I still love them. I still want them to do well. I still want them to be happy and I still want them to serve God and I still want them to have great rewards in heaven even if it's more than mine. Even if I've had a, you know, a fight with that person or something along that line, okay? You know, we ought to love our brethren. This is basically the new commandment, not to hate our brethren, okay? If we hate our brothers, we're in darkness and if we're in darkness, we're not in fellowship with the Lord God. You know, if you say to me, I know so-and-so is saved, but I hate his guts. Well, you know what? That means you're not in fellowship with the Lord. You're in darkness at this point in time, okay? You can't say to me, I'm with the Lord, I'm in fellowship with the Lord, and at the same time, you hate your brother's guts, okay? So this is the new commandment that's been taught to us here. It says in verse number 10, Hear that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But hear that hateth of his brother is in darkness, and worketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. You wouldn't want to live a Christian life where our eyes are blinded, okay? If you hate your brother, if there are brethren in your church or past churches that you hate, okay? I'm not saying people that are apostate and heretics, I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about true brothers in Christ, okay? And you say, I hate that brother, you're blinded, okay? And if you're blinded, you're going to stumble in your Christian life, okay? So this is definitely an area of your life that you need to make sure that you're right with God about, that you're consistent about, okay? That you truly love your brethren. And you say, well, is this really a new commandment to love our brothers? You know, haven't we heard this before? And if you can turn to John 13, please, go to John 13. Because it kind of really isn't a new commandment to love your brethren, okay? And this is the challenge, right? How do we understand this? And while you're turning to John 13, I'm going to read to you from Leviticus, all the way in the Old Testament, right? One of the early books. Leviticus 19, 18. It says, Thou shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people. But thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. We know that Jesus Christ taught us to love our neighbor, okay? Well, even in the Old Testament, even going back as far as the books of Moses, it says, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So I was thinking about how is this a new commandment? We've already been taught to love our neighbor. This is why I'm saying to you, right? It's not really a big deal, but to me, I was kind of scratching my head. How do I teach this? How do I explain that this is new? What makes this new? Well, look at John 13, John 13 and verse number 34. Because John is not the only one that says this is new. Jesus Christ says the same thing. In John 13, 34, Jesus Christ says, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. You know what's unique to the world? When the world looks at saved Christians, you know what should be unusual to them? That they say, boy, these people love each other. These people that go to church together, they love each other. Something different to what we see in our society. And that should tell people, these must be disciples of Jesus. They're following Jesus. They're following this new commandment that was given by Jesus. But again, I was thinking about how is this a new commandment? Jesus Christ, didn't you tell us to love our neighbor as thyself? Well then, that's what I realized. Hold on, this is a new commandment. Because when we look at the old commandment, and I'll just read it to you carefully, slowly, and pay attention, see if you can notice the difference. And it's not the word neighbor or brother, but it does make a bit of a difference. But it says, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, which is a great commandment. So we should treat the people we come across in society, our neighbors as it were, the same way we would like to be treated. We care for people the same way. If your next-door neighbor has a great need, and you can fulfill that need, even if he's not saved. I think within humanity, we desire just to some element to support each other. And as Christians, we should be striving to be people that treat others the same way we would like ourselves to be treated. Yes, to love thy neighbor as thyself. That's a pretty high standard. But Jesus Christ is teaching an even higher standard. Because if you look at John 13, 34 again, a new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as thyself. No, as I have loved you. Whoa, that's a much higher standard. So the other one is, love your brother as you would like yourself to be loved or taken care of. This time, love your brother as Jesus has loved you. How much has Jesus loved you? So much so that he even gave up his own life. He gave up his own life. He died for our sins. He took all our punishment, all our judgment upon himself, Reverend. That's a much higher the love. In fact, he did not even love his own body there. He gave it up for us. So it's a much higher standard. And so this is what I believe the new commandment is. It's a little different here. Yes, society, your neighbor, love them as you love yourself, as you want yourself to be treated. Yeah, praise God. But when it comes to our brothers, our saved brethren in our local church, we ought to love them with the same kind of love that Christ loved you, that he laid down his life for you. This is not teaching that you should die for your brother, go and die to death, because you're not going to pay anyone's sin. Don't be ridiculous, but this is about serving one another, right? We may not really want to serve the brethren. It's not natural to want to become humble and get out of your way to do nice things for your brethren. But you know what, if we're going to love people the way Christ has loved us, that's how we ought to be. We ought to be servants for one another. So this is definitely a much higher standard, to love each other as Christ has loved you, and to serve one another. Can you please go to verse number 12, 1 John, sorry, 1 John 2, verse number 12. It says here, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Now when we look at verses 12 to 14, I believe the little children mentioned here are actual little children. So like, you know, 10 year olds and under, for example, little children. Now we've got to be careful about this, because if you look at verse number 1 again, look at verse number 1 in the same chapter, he begins by saying, my little children, these things write I unto you. So he's referencing all believers as little children, because we are, we're all children of God, amen? But I believe verse 12 is literally about little children, because you see that they're going to be compared to fathers and even young men. So now, the Apostle John seems to be identifying different age groups. And so this is definitely little children here, in verse number 12, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Now I love this verse, I love this verse. I got saved when I was four years old, okay? I have one of the sons, Sebastian, he got saved when he was four as well, all right? Now most of my other kids, they got saved when they were five, six, seven maybe, actually five and six, probably the ages, but the youngest was Sebastian, four years old, I was saved at four as well. And I've had also another recent conversation where someone doesn't believe little children can be saved. In fact, I've had conversations like this in the past, where they think, no, no, children are too young to understand their sinful condition, but you know why they say that? Because they believe that salvation is a turning from sinfulness, and little children haven't really done that much sin. I was talking to this guy on the phone, he's like, man, I used to be on drugs, you know, I've been in jail, and I know I'm saved because now I'm no longer on these things. I'm no longer in jail, my life has been turned around, I'm no longer on drugs. I said, look, I'm glad for you that your life has been cleaned up. But that's not salvation. And I said to him, and he goes, you know, if you sin more after you claim to be saved, then you're not really saved. And I said, well, I was four years old when I got saved. I was four years old when I placed my faith on Jesus. And you know what, I've done greater sins since I've been saved than before I was one, two or three or four years old. Does that mean I'm not saved then? Do I have to live a more righteous life than I lived when I was three years old to really know that I'm saved? You know, people don't believe little children can be saved. You know, I know of one church where the pastor would not baptize children until they're 12 years old, because he wants to make sure that, have they really believed? Have they really, you know, I want to see how they live their life, and if they hit 12 and they still say they believe in Jesus, then I'll baptize them. Why, why? You know what, salvation, little children can understand the gospel. It is that easy. Jesus paid for it all. All your sins have been forgiven. You can go to heaven as long as you believe in Jesus and call upon his name. Salvation is that easy. Little children can understand. In fact, that's what Jesus Christ says himself in Matthew 18 verse three, and said, verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. In fact, any of us that got saved, even if you got saved in adulthood, you had to become like a little child, childlike faith. Yes, God, I'm going to believe what you've done for me. Children can understand. Children can place their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, and so I love verse number 12. Yeah, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for your name's sake. Look at verse number 13. Verse 13 says, I write unto you fathers, so now we've got a more mature person, someone who's been maybe saved longer, because ye have known him, that is from the beginning. So you notice that little children may not necessarily have known the Lord as much as fathers. You know, fathers, more mature people should have been walking with the Lord for a lot longer, and so he's referencing the fathers because ye have known him, that is from the beginning, okay? Now if you go again back to 1 John chapter 1 and verse number 1, just to remind you, putting these things together, 1 John chapter 1 verse number 1, which says, that which was from the beginning, which ye have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, the word of life, and you may recall last week, the word of life of course is Jesus Christ. So it might be, in verse number 13, when John writes to the fathers, because ye have known him, that is from the beginning, the beginning was the word of life, Jesus Christ, and we know that of course John, the apostle, knew Christ, he saw Christ, he learnt under Christ, it might be that the people that he's writing to here, the fathers, have also been disciples of the past, disciples that follow Christ, that actually saw Christ, you know, talked with Christ, and that's probably what he's referencing there. But again, it's the maturity, the difference between the father and the child. Let's keep going, verse number 13, I write unto you, young men. So when I think of young men, I think about maybe teenagers, young adults, right? It says because ye have overcome the wicked one. So what do we learn there? We learn that the wicked one who's the devil, he seeks after the young man, okay? If you're a teenager, a young adult, guaranteed the devil's going to go after you harder than anyone else. Guaranteed, okay? Why? Because as you've matured as a father myself, I've lived, I've been saved for a long time, you know, the devil's not going to get a lot out of me. He can mess me up pretty bad if I'm not careful, okay? But I guess as a pastor, he probably wants to take me down. But I've lived a life long enough, right? I know the Lord, I'm not going to be so stupid to mess up my life as maybe other people have little children as well. Little children are under the protection of their parents, right? And so there's authority over them. But as you become a teenager and a young adult, you start to find your own freedoms and your liberties and you're kind of understanding the world and you're trying to figure out where you fit in all things, that's when you're at a very weak place and the wicked one, the devil's going to go after you. He wants to destroy your ministry before you get to a point of maturity, okay? So just say to young men, teenagers, young adults, be careful of the devil. Hey, you can overcome the wicked one, amen? As long as you keep walking with the Lord. Then he says once again, I write unto you little children because you have known the Father, okay? You have known the Father. So this is important about knowing the Father again. This proves that little children can be saved. How is it that they can know God the Father? Just quickly drop down to verse number 23 in the same chapter. It says, Whoso did knoweth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. So these little children that have the Father, how do they get to know the Father? Because they've acknowledged the Son, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They're young enough to believe in him, okay? So please don't withhold the gospel from your children, okay? Now, with my children, I never forced the gospel down their throats, never. They all got to a point where they're hearing the gospel preached at church or in different places, you know? At some point, they came to mom and dad and said, Mom and Dad, I want to make sure that I'm going to heaven. What must I do to be saved, okay? Or even the siblings, talk amongst themselves, right? I know Jonathan was instrumental in Liliana's salvation. He'll say to Liliana, you got to believe in Jesus. You got to make sure you go to heaven, right? And that got Liliana thinking about it, and eventually she was able to talk to her parents and understand and believe the gospel. Verse number 14. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him. That is from the beginning. That's a repetition of what we saw earlier. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one, okay? So this is quite interesting. Notice the wicked one once again is mentioned with the young men, okay? So again, the wicked one wants to destroy the teenagers or the young man's life, okay? But you're also strong. You're in your strongest position. Once again, a young man is stronger than a child, obviously. Physically stronger, okay, than a child. And then as you get older, like I'm finding myself, I'm now 40, Brevin. I find myself, I'm just unable to run as hard as I want to. I'm able to jump from high places like I used to. I actually get pains in my body now, okay? You start to deteriorate. Your strength starts to deteriorate after a certain point in your life. But the young men, you can stay strong. In other words, you can do great works for God while you're young. Please, don't waste your youth. Don't waste your youth, right? There's so much more that you can do than what other, like say a younger person or even an older person can do, and so there's great strength in you. But make sure that strength comes, what they say, and the word of God abideth in you. Not only is it the physical strength but the spiritual strength because you should be striving to abide in the word of God, keeping His words. And that will help you to overcome the wicked one as it's mentioned here. What does that mean? I think of Psalm 119 verse 11, which says, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. You know the greatest defense you have against the devil is the word of God. For young men and for all of us, all of us, but even young men especially, okay? You know, keep the word of God, meditate, memorize scriptures, okay? When you're being tempted to sin, when the devil's found a foothold that he can take down in your life, quote those verses. Think about God, just think about how ashamed God would be if you gave in to those temptations and seek the Lord to help you overcome that wicked one. Verse number 15 says, Love not the world, where we get the title from, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I find a lot of Christians don't understand verse number 15, particularly the end of it, where it says if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So they'll say, well there are things in the world that I actually do love. There are things that I know I shouldn't love, but I'm being carnal and I care for these things of the world. What does it mean that the love of the Father is not in him? Does this mean God the Father does not love me? I've heard some people say that. If I love anything in this world, does that mean God the Father does not love me because the love of the Father is not in me? That's not what it says. It's not what it's saying. Remember God is trying to perfect his love in us so that we grow to love what God loves, to hate the things that God hates. So what this is saying is if we love things that God hates, the love of the Father is not in him, meaning the love that we have to those things that God hates is not the Father's love. It's a selfish, sinful, carnal love. It's not saying the Father doesn't love you. It's that our love ought to be coming from the Lord like the moon reflects the light of the sun. We can see the moon shines light. There are some nights that are very bright because the moon is shining brightly, but that light is coming from the sun. Our love for the things that we see in our worldwide should be coming from the Father. We should be reflecting the Father's love in us and then loving things the same way that the Father does. And when you start to love with the Father's love, that's when you grow to love the things that God loves and you grow to hate the things that God hates. But if you love the things that God hates, that's not the Father's love. That's a carnal love. And I'll just prove that to you in verse number 16. It says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. So if you have lust in the eyes and lust in the flesh, then you have proud pride in your life. That's not of the Father. That's not love that comes from the Father, but it's of the world. Now how does this make sense? Because in verse number 15, once again, it says love not the world. And then we have John 3.16. For God so loved the world. So do we love? Do we not love? Well, it's very clear what the differences are there, right? Because in John 3.16 it says, For God so loved the world. What did he love about the world? That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever, whosoever in the world is who God loved. So God loved not the wicked and devilish things of this world. No, he loved the people in the world. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And when the Bible tells us here in 1 John 2, verse 15, love not the world, what are we not to love? Verse number 16 gives us that it's not the people of the world. We are to love people enough to give them the gospel, okay? But we are not to love the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, okay? So it's the system of this wicked world that we are not to love. You know, the lust of the flesh would be the idea of seeking temporal pleasures. That could be fornication, adultery, it could be drugs and alcohol, things that the flesh, you know, is seeking after. We should not be striving for those things, alright? Next one says the lust of the eyes. The lust of the eyes, that's covetousness. You know, desire in the things that do not belong to you. This world is full of covetousness. Every time there's an advertisement. It's just, it's covetousness. It's trying to make you to sin and desire things that do not belong to you. The pride of life is, you know, recognition from man. You know, I want to be seen as someone and I want to, you know, you know, the pride and man's ego gets in the way and instead of, you know, seeking to please God, instead of God's eyes to be upon you, you're looking for man to lift you up and to think that you're wonderful and great. You know, the pride of life is thinking that you can live an abundant life without the Lord. The pride of life is thinking that your success and accomplishments is due to me. Yep, me. I did it all. Instead of thinking that God is the one that blessed me with his great gifts and that's what pride does. It takes you away from the Lord. The lust of the eyes takes you away from the Lord. The lust of the flesh takes you away from the Lord. Look at verse 17. And the world passeth away. We know this world's going to end one day. And the lust thereof. All those things that you're lustre for, it's all going to end. It's all going to be destroyed. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Okay? So God wants our pursuit to be in eternity, eternal matters, not on carnal, worldly things that is going to be destroyed. You know, whatever you do, if you're doing it for the will of God, that will abide forever. Whatever you do for God, the works that you do for God, he's going to reward you in heaven. You're going to lay up treasures in heaven and that's going to abide forever. You might say, well, hold on, this might sound like you can lose your salvation. It says here, but he that doeth the will, he, not just the rewards, but he that doeth the will of God, abideth forever. See? So in order to have life forever, abide forever, you have to do the will of God. And if you don't do the will of God, then you can lose your salvation. This is how these people think. Okay? But, and I don't have time to teach on this in any major way right now. Okay? It's probably something I'm going to cover more in chapter three. But you need to remember, there is someone, the he that abideth, that will abide forever. And don't forget that you have a new man. If you've been saved, you have that new man. And whatever you do for eternity, whatever you do that is righteous and holy works, is done by that new man, not his flesh. This flesh will perish with the world. Okay? That new man will abide forever. Okay? Because that new man only does the will of God. You know, when you sin and you do wrong, the new man did not do it. It was the old man. It was the flesh that did those things. And yeah, that flesh will pass away, just like the world will pass away. Okay? Let's keep going. Verse Little children. Now he's referencing again the whole group, not just, not actual little children. Okay? Little children. It is the last time. And as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. So the word ant, we know what Christ is. Christ the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Antichrist, the word anti could mean in again, like against or in the place of. Okay? Against. So against Christ, we know the antichrist of the end times will be against Christ, but he's also going to take the place of Christ. He's going to claim to be that resurrected Jesus Christ. Okay? So we have heard, we know the Bible refers to that antichrist as the beast in the book of Revelation. So we know that one day antichrist shall come. And, but here's, this is the teaching, the main teaching isn't about the antichrist to come in the future. The thing is, I think sometimes as Christians, we can be so focused on prophecy and future events. And when we have the coronavirus and all this stuff that we're going through in the world with lockdowns, and people are like, is this the end? Is the antichrist coming on the scene? And John is kind of refocusing our attention. Yes, you have heard that antichrist shall come. But then he says, even now, he says, look, keep your mind right now in the present. Even now are many antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. So don't lose sight of the present. You know, just constantly dreaming and thinking about future events. Should we think about future events? Absolutely. It's taught in the Word of God. We should know about that. But we shouldn't be so focused on the end times that we lose sight of the present. There are many antichrists that we have to deal with right now. Okay? So don't worry about the future antichrists. There are many antichrists that we're dealing with right now. Verse 19. They went out from us. Some of these antichrists are going to come from our own church. Believe it or not, people that we think are brothers and sisters in the Lord, some of them are antichrists. Now, I hope not. When I think about my church right now, I love them all. We're commanded to love our brethren. We already saw that. Right? Same way that Christ has loved us. It would break my heart if one of my brothers or sisters in the Lord turns out to be an antichrist. Against Christ. It can happen. Jesus Christ had one himself, Judas Iscariot. He was against Christ. He betrayed Christ. Okay? They went out from us. But they were not of us. Okay? So it's not like they were saved and they somehow lost their salvation. You can't lose your salvation. They were never saved to begin with. They were never believers of Jesus Christ to begin with. It says, For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. Okay? Now look, this is not saying that if someone leaves our church, that means they're an antichrist. All right? Even if I kick someone out of church, it doesn't mean they're necessarily antichrists. Okay? People leave church and find other churches. This is saying if someone departs from the faith, okay? They say they no longer believe in Jesus Christ. Or they go from Christianity and they become a Muslim or something. You know, they leave Christianity and they become a Roman Catholic. That proves, not that they're just confused, it proves that they were never of us. They were never of the faith. They never believed in Jesus Christ. They were always an antichrist. And again, it's hard. I've had those people come and go in my church. I'm not thinking this church, I think. I'm thinking about New Life Baptist Church, where someone has gone, has left a good Baptist church that we thought, hey, he was plugged in and everything. He goes off to the Roman Catholic Church. He goes, this is the real faith. This is the real Christianity. He was never of us. Okay? As much as it's a pain to me to say it, he is an antichrist. Okay? He's against the Lord Jesus Christ. He's against the true Christ of the Bible. This same person now no longer believes that Jesus Christ is God. Okay? No longer believes he's God. So there are people like this. People will come in our church. And again, don't think just because someone's left or been kicked out because of discipline, they can come back. Those people can say sorry and be back in God's house. Doesn't mean they're an antichrist. I'm saying those that have left the faith. Okay? Verse number 20. But ye have an unction from the Holy One and ye know all things. The word unction means anointing. Same thing. Okay? Same as anointing. And what this is referring to is the Holy Spirit. If you're saved, we've all been given the anointing by God of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost lives in each one of us. Verse number 21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. So what is he saying? He's saying, look, John doesn't have to write all this stuff down, really. I don't really have to preach this sermon. Really. Okay? Because if you have the Holy Spirit of God, you already know the truth. When you hear Bible preaching, there is something within you, like if it's true Bible preaching, there's going to be something in you, that's the anointing, that's the Holy Spirit, that confirms and says, yes, this is truth. I know this is true. It's coming from God's Word. There's confirmation within yourself that this is true. But isn't it true that sometimes maybe you've heard preaching from some other church, some false prophet, some false religion, and you listen to what, there's something in you that goes, this is a lie. This is false. This is rubbish. Again, that's just the Holy Spirit confirming to you, no, this is a lie. Now look, there might be things that I'm preaching that are new to you, but if you have the Holy Spirit, and if I'm preaching what is true within yourself, the Holy Spirit's going to say, this is true. Okay? This is true. This is how we know that the preaching is coming from the Lord. Okay? Now let's keep going. Verse number 22. Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. So who's an Antichrist? Another one, another Antichrist is one that denies that Jesus is the Christ. What is the Christ? Messiah. Okay? Now immediately we think of Judaism, right? Because Judaism believes there is a Messiah to come, but they don't believe that Messiah or Christ is Jesus. Judaism, the Jews are Antichrist. They're against Jesus. Judaism is an Antichrist religion. It's crazy. Oh, they're God's chosen people. According to the Bible, they're Antichrist. They're against the Lord. They're looking for someone else to take the place of Christ. And of course that will be the actual Antichrist, the beast of Revelation. But it's not just that. Notice that it says once again, but he that denieth that Jesus Christ, he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. And I've been talking about this a lot recently again, but we believe in the Trinity. We believe that God is free persons. Okay? We believe that God is Father. There is Father. There is Son. And then there's the unction, the anointing, the Holy Spirit. Now all three are basically being mentioned in this passage together. Okay? But there's the Father and the Son. It's not that the Father is the Son and the Son is the Father, because if that's the case, you don't have Father and the Son. Okay? There are more. God is not one person. God is free persons. Okay? The Trinity. And I'm telling you, oneness theology, those that believe that Jesus is the Father is the Son is the Holy Spirit, that the Father is the Son, that the Holy Spirit is the Son, the Son is the Holy Spirit, the Son is the Father. They are Antichrists. They don't have the Father. They don't have the Son. They're not saved. It's an Antichrist faith. It's an Antichrist alternate God that people have created in their minds. These people are not of us. Okay? And again, it pains me to say that because I know people that actually do care about to some level that believe this nonsense. But it's an Antichrist faith. They are without Christ. They are not of us. Okay? They are not of us. Verse number 23. Whosoever denyeth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Again, you notice the multiple persons here. Okay? It's not saying you acknowledge the Son is the Father. Okay? No. Okay? If you acknowledge the Son, have the Father also. Okay? And Judaism denies the Son. You know, I've heard Christian brethren say, oh yeah, the Jews, they don't believe in Jesus, but they worship the Father. They cannot worship the Father. They do not have the Father. If they don't acknowledge the Son, Jesus Christ, then they don't have the Father either. Okay? Their God is a false God. Okay? It has nothing to do with Biblical Christianity. It has nothing to do with the books of Moses. Okay? Nothing to do with the Lord God of the Bible whatsoever. They worship a false God. Okay? Judaism. Verse number 24. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning, if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. Okay? So you can't say, well, these people that believe in oneness, they were saved because at one point, they did believe the Son and the Father were separate. No. Because if they did, they would have continued in that, right? You notice that they did not continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He have promised us, even eternal life. So if you remain an understanding, the true nature of God, the Son, the Father, the Holy Ghost, you will receive that promise of eternal life. But those that deny the Father and the Son, those combined rule or whatever, they deny Jesus the Messiah, they don't have eternal life. They don't have the promise. The promise, they'll never receive that promise. Okay? The fact that they've turned away from that truth means they were never saved to begin with. It's not that they lost the salvation. They were not of us from the very beginning. Verse number 26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. People that try to come with another Jesus. People that come with other theologies. Okay? Oneness theology, these kinds of things is to seduce you. It's to deceive you. Okay? Now, this is why I separate people that teach this stuff and I'll say, yeah, they're unsaved, they're reprobate even, okay, the Antichrist. I separate them from those that got seduced, those that got deceived. We can all get deceived. We can all get messed up in our minds and not understand the importance of certain doctrines. Okay? So please, just as my church members, always remember, if someone's messed up in an area, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're unsaved or wicked or they're reprobate, they just might be deceived. Okay? And our job is to come alongside that and deceived. You know, if they're not saved, give them the gospel. If they are saved, clear out the cobwebs or the things that they were seduced about. Okay? Verse number 27. But the anointing, again, that's the unction, that's the Holy Spirit, but the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not any man teach you. So, brother, I don't need to actually teach you. Now, should I teach you? Yes. Did God create the church so we can learn the Word? Yes. Did God appoint pastors to feed people the Word of God? Yes. It's not saying let's do away with church. No, it's not saying that. Okay? But it's saying that you don't need other people to teach you things because you can learn them for yourself, actually. Okay? It says you don't need that any man teach you, but as the same anointing, teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. So in other words, there's nothing that you can't learn on your own walk in fellowship with God, reading his Word, with the Holy Ghost teaching you things that you wouldn't have otherwise learned, sorry, that you wouldn't, sorry, that you, there's nothing that you can learn with the Holy Ghost that I can't teach you. Is that right? Well, there's nothing that I will teach you that you could not have learnt from the Holy Ghost. I'm getting mixed up in my words. You know what I'm talking about. Okay? In other words, if I come here with like some strange doctrine, unusual, that doesn't come from the Word of God, just because, hold on, that's not truth. That's a lie. Because the nonsense that you're teaching me now, that's not in the Bible. That doesn't come from God's Word. The Holy Spirit didn't teach me that. And that's false preaching. That's false, you know, when you teach false things, you're basically saying that God is a liar. You're putting lies in the Word of God. So preaching God's Word is a serious matter. And as you hear a preacher talk, you ought to be in touch with the Holy Spirit of God. That's why we say that the Lord with his Holy Spirit will teach us things, and not just to preach and the preaching of God's Word, but the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts and our minds to bring to thought the things that are true. Okay? To filter out anything that might potentially be lies. And so if you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God, the Word of God should not be impossible for you. Can it be challenging? Can it be difficult? Yes. Does it take time to learn things? Absolutely. Do I know everything in the Bible? No. Okay? We're going to continually grow, but, you know, to say that you open the Bible and you just don't understand a word? You can't read the book of John and not understand anything. You know, if you're really at that point where you just open the Bible, you just don't understand a single word, that's probably proof that you're not saved. Okay? Because you don't have the Holy Ghost teaching you that, enlightening your understanding of His Word. Verse number 28. And now little children abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. So we don't want to be ashamed when Christ comes. We know Christ is coming one day, I don't know when that is, I don't know if it'll be in my lifetime. Okay? But when He does come, we don't want to be ashamed. We want to know the truth. We want to be grounded in His Word. We want to be able to go to the Lord Jesus Christ and be like, well, Lord, you made it, Lord. We've been in fellowship together, we've been praying together, reading your Word. I've been so winning for you. I've been in church, Lord. Praise God, you're here. We don't want to be ashamed. Oh, man, Jesus is here. I've not been in fellowship with God. I've not been picking up my Bible. I've been doing nothing for the Lord. Now, someone like that will be ashamed at the coming of Christ. Okay? Verse number 29. And you know that He is righteous. You know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. Look, I haven't got time to expand verse number 29 on its own. But I want you to remember for next week, this term, at the end of verse 29, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. I want you to keep remembering that, the idea of being born of Him, being born of God, because then chapter three basically starts to build upon that understanding. But let's keep that in remembrance for chapter number three. So brethren, in summary, in summary, love not this world. Let the love of God be perfected in you as you fellowship with Him, as you learn the things that God loves. Your mindset will change. Your love for things will change. Things that you used to love in the past, sinful things, wicked things, or even just vanity, things that have no meaning, no purpose in life, may not be sinful in and of themselves. You're going to find yourself becoming less attached to those things as you know the Lord God more. The more you know the Lord, the greater your love will become for the Lord, and the more you'll understand who God is. You know, I hope that you learn to love the Lord, you learn to love the Lord, know the Lord even more, and love this world less and less as time goes on. Okay, let's pray.