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Well let's get into 1 John chapter 2. On Wednesday I did start on 1 John chapter 1. And just a quick summary, just because 1 John chapter 2 needs that bit summary. The first part, we saw in chapter number 1 that the reason 1 John was written is that our joy would be full. And the fullness of joy comes with having fellowship with believers, but more importantly of course, fellowship with our Father and fellowship with His Son. And so the book of 1 John is not a book that's written primarily as a teach on how to be saved. It's primarily a book written on how to maintain a close walk, a close fellowship with our Lord God. And you need to keep that in mind because then we start in chapter number 2 verse number 1, it says, my little children. Now I'll stop there for a moment. John is writing to a church and I'll prove that later on when we get to 2 John and 3 John. He's referring to the believers as little children and then later on, he does mention the word little children again, but he's actually referring to actual little children. And I just want to separate that to you right now. But what he's saying here is, 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. And so what we see here is he's telling his little children, he's telling the believers of a church, look, don't continue to sin. Have victory in sin, okay? And we saw on Wednesday that when we sin against the Lord, we walk in darkness and we break the fellowship that we have in our daily walk and fellowship with the Lord. And so in order for you to maintain a close walk with the Lord, in order for you to be in the light and not be walking in darkness, you must find victory over sin. You see, like we teach that salvation is not a turning from sins. It's not a repenting from sins. It's your full faith on the finished work of Jesus Christ. The work is done when it comes to salvation. If you're trying to do something, it's what you're doing in order to be saved. No, salvation is done on the finished work of Christ and all you need to do is place your faith and trust on what Christ has done for you. And now that you are saved, there's something you need to do, all right, in order for you to maintain a fellowship and a walk with the Lord. And that's overcoming sin in your life. You see, many times when we preach that salvation is by faith alone, people have this crazy idea, oh, therefore you're teaching that you're just free to go ahead and sin. We don't teach that. You know, if anything, most of our preaching is living a holy life, living a clean life, you know, obeying the commandments that God has set before us. All we're saying is that's not how you get saved. Nobody can keep the commandments well enough in order to be saved, which is why Christ had to keep all the law of God. This is why he had to be the perfect sacrifice and we go to heaven based on his righteousness, not our righteousness. But now that you are a child of God, you've trusted Christ, the Lord wants to walk with you. And in order for him to walk with you closely, in order for you to have more time with the Lord in the short period of hours that you have a day, you need to find victory over sin. You know, the last thing I want you to do is to feel comfortable, okay, salvation is not by sinning, therefore I'm just going to go ahead with my life and continue to sin. Look, the Bible is a big book and a lot of it is about salvation, but most of it is about how to live a clean and holy life that pleases the Lord. Most of it is how you can continue to abide in Christ's fellowship, in the fellowship of the Lord. And so I do want to make sure that is clearly understood when we read 1 John chapter 2. I didn't give you the title for the sermon, I forgot. Just drop down to verse number 15, drop down to verse number 15. It says, love not the world, that's how it starts. The title for the sermon this morning is love not the world. You see, if we're in fellowship with the Lord, we are demonstrating our love toward him. And as, while you're saved, you have a choice. You say, Lord, you know, am I going to love the Lord the way that I ought to, am I going to abide in him, am I going to be in sweet fellowship with him? There's a reason why we sang that song in the garden. You know, am I going to walk in the garden with my Lord God, am I going to commune with him and be close to him, am I going to love my Lord, or am I going to love the world? And you got a choice, you know, and sometimes you will love the Lord and you walk according to his ways. You know, maybe this morning you're doing that right now, you're hitting the house of the Lord. But come Monday morning, you might very well be loving the world and seeking to walk in the steps of the world. Well brethren, if you love the world, you don't love the Father the way that you ought to. Okay? You know, you either love the world or you love God. Okay? And again, this is not how you get saved. But what kind of walk do you want to have with God now that he has saved you? I mean, he's given you his son, he's given you salvation. He sacrificed his son for you. Jesus Christ died for you. He paid for your sins. He was punished. He faced the wrath of God for every sin you've committed. So all I'm asking of you is just to be encouraged, well, if God loved me that much, then I want to love him in return. Isn't that the right thing? We love him because he first loved us, isn't that what the Bible says? I want you to love the Lord. So how do I love the Lord? That's what this chapter is about. Okay? You need to overcome the sins in your life. Let's keep going there, verse number two. And he is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, I love this, but also for the sins of the whole world. Look, the propitiation means that it satisfies the judgment of God. It is a similar word to the word atonement. Okay? Christ's sacrifice has paid not just for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world, even the unbelieving world. Christ tasted death and punishment for their sins. This verse immediately flies in the face of Calvinism. You know, Reform theology that says Christ only died for some. Christ only died for his believers. There's that teaching out there, believe it or not. This makes it very clear, no, Christ died for the sins of the whole world. This is why we have been given the task to preach the gospel. Because the person that we talk to, their sins were crucified on the cross with Christ. And all they need to do now is to put their faith and trust in Jesus. Say Jesus, yes, I believe you did that for me. I accept your free gift of salvation. Save me and give me everlasting life. And the moment someone does that, they put their faith in Christ, they are saved. Christ has done the work. You see, the Lord has died for the sins of the whole world. Verse number three. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we what? Keep his commandments. Is keeping commandments a requirement for salvation? No. Again, just to make it very clear, this is not about salvation. And we say, why do you keep saying this, pastor? Because the amount of confusion, I get phone calls every week, people confused on salvation. And so many of them turn to 1 John and say, but he says, you've got to keep the commandments. It says in verse number one, that I got to sin not. So this must be how I get saved. This is your walk now. Now that you have been delivered, you see, the moment you get saved, what does God want from you? He wants you to know him more, right? Hereby we do know that we know him. How do you know how well you know God, if we keep his commandments? You can't say to me, pastor, I know God. You know, I fellowship with him. You know, I know his heart. And you're just out there just breaking his laws, breaking his commandments, openly just sin against the Lord, living a wicked lifestyle against the Lord. You can't say to me, I know God. If you want to know God, you have to open his word, know who he is, know his righteousness, know his wrath. You need to know what God loves, and you need to know what God hates. And you need to say, you know what, Lord, I need to change my will to your will. I need to change my mind to your mind. I need to think like you think, Lord. I need to live a life that is like you, Lord. And the more you open his word, the more you know him. You know what he requires from you. You know what his will is in your life. You know that he wants you to win souls for him. So keeping his commandments, you know, helps you know him better. Right? Then he says in verse number four, he that saith, I know him, he said, I know God, pastor, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Again, the only way for you to know God. I'm not talking about salvation again. I'm talking about your walk. Okay? It's like, you know, the moment you got saved, the Bible calls it being born again. My wife is about to give birth to a child in August. Do I really know that child when the child's born? Not really. I know the child's come from our loins. I know the child's our family, but I don't really know the child's personality. I haven't developed a walk, a relationship, a fellowship with that child until that child comes into the family and we spend time together. And as my children mature and get older and become teenagers, I realize sometimes I need to get to know them all over again, because they're changing. Their real personalities are coming through, you know, and they're trying to understand the world at large. You see, getting to know someone is your walk, is your fellowship, is your relationship. But being born requires no knowing. It's just a child that's born into the world. Or the moment that you're born again, the moment that you've trusted Christ, you know, all you really know is the gospel. All you really know is that God loves you enough to give you salvation, to offer you his son as a sacrifice. Okay, praise God. It's a free gift. You get that. But now he wants you to know him. He wants to develop a walk, a close walk, a close fellowship with God. How well do you know God? How do I judge that? How well do you keep his commandments? How well do you live a clean and holy life? Or can you go days and weeks and months living in sin, never opening his word, never asking for forgiveness, never seeking the close fellowship with him? If that's you, you don't know God. You don't know him the way you ought to know him. This is very similar to what Christ says. Keep your finger there. Can we meet to John 14? Can we meet to John 14 and verse number 15? And as I said on Wednesday, there's a lot of similarities, you know. First John builds on what we learned from the book of John. But John 14, 15. John 14, 15. The words of Christ. Jesus says, if ye love me, keep my commandments. Do you love Jesus? Say, pastor, I love Jesus. All right, keep his commandments. How can you say that you love him? How can you say that you know him? When you don't try to find victory over your sins. How do I get victory over sins, pastor? Didn't you say we're going to sin till the day we die? Unfortunately, yes, we are. But you can find victory. You can find more time walking in the light of the Lord in his fellowship by knowing his word, by being in fellowship with God. The closer you are with God, the easier it's going to be for you to overcome temptations when they come. Easier. I'm not saying you're going to overcome every temptation. Otherwise you'll never sin. But you'll find greater victory. Okay. You know, before David took on Goliath, he took on the bear, he took on the lion. He took on smaller enemies before he took on Goliath. There might be some sins in your life that are like Goliath's. You're like, I always lose. I always give in to that sin. Well, you know what? Just work a little bit by little. We all have different challenges, different sins in our life. We're breaking God's laws. Find victory just in some areas of your life. And then in that process, as you walk with the Lord, you'll find yourself having greater victory over the things that are larger. It's a process, brethren. You can't go from being saved, I'm never going to sin again. That's ridiculous. It's impossible. In fact, it's never going to truly develop until the Lord God gives you a new resurrected body at the rapture. And then your body will be without sin, finally. Finally your body will be complete without sin. And in the righteousness completely of Christ. Verse number five in 1 John, 1 John 2, verse number five. You can keep a finger in John if you want. I think I do come back to it a few times. It says in verse number five, but whoso keepeth his word, again, keeping the commandments, keeping his word. It's the same way of looking at it, right? But whoso keepeth his word in him, look at this, verily is the love of God perfected, whereby know we that we are in him. So how can we perfect our love toward God? How can the love of God be perfected within us? By keeping his word. And when you keep his word, you're keeping his commandments. You need to spend time in the word of God. What does it mean to keep something? You know, very quickly, if you can keep a finger in there, come with me to Revelation chapter three. Come with me to Revelation chapter three. But I'll just quickly read to you from, just a basic understanding of what it means to keep something. In Psalm 113 verse nine, it says, He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children, praise ye the Lord. So it makes a barren woman to keep house. What does that mean? We often refer to that occupation as a housekeeper. It doesn't mean that you just live in a house or that you observe a house. It means that you maintain the house. You're putting some effort in, you know, to make sure that house is in proper order. When the Bible speaks about keeping his word, it's not just, I went to church, I heard a good sermon. It's okay. How do I maintain my life? How do I take the words that I've heard at church or the words that are read in the Bible? How then do I maintain my life? How do I conform my life to what God requires of me? That would be keeping his word because it's easy to forget. But when you put it into practice, when you do what the Bible says, you're keeping his word. The reason I asked you to turn to Revelation chapter three is because we are working through the books of John. And in Revelation chapter three verse number 10, we have this idea of keeping the word once again here. Okay. Again, the book of Revelation was written by John. It says in Revelation chapter three verse 10, because thou has kept the word of my patience. So because this church has kept the word of God patiently, okay, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. So does God want to help you in a time of temptation? First of all, temptation is not a sin. We're all tempted. The sin is when you give in to the temptation. Remember what Jesus Christ taught when he was teaching his disciples how to pray? He says, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The Lord God can help you out of temptation. You know, either when the temptation comes, the Lord God will open a way for you to escape that temptation, or the Lord can just divert your walk, divert your ways around the temptation, so you don't have to deal with as many temptations as you normally would deal with. But how does the Lord keep us from the hour of temptation? Because thou has kept the word of my patience. When God sees you in his word, when God sees you keeping his commandments, applying the word of God into your life, he says, you know what, I'm going to help you when the temptations come. And when God is helping you when the temptations come, guess what's going to happen? You're not going to give into those temptations as readily. You're going to find yourself more so in the light of God. You're going to find yourself more time spending in fellowship, in a close walk, loving God, knowing him, desiring to please him in your life. Come back with me to 1 John chapter 2. Another passage, just very quickly, you may remember the parable of the sower, right, when Christ gives that parable, very famous parable of the sower, and he gives us the last illustration in that parable. I want you to pay attention to what he says. But that on the good ground are they, so the seed has landed on the good ground. That represents someone's heart, right? It says, which is an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. Reverend, you want to bring forth fruit? You want to have a greater success in your soul-willing efforts, where you can bring forth other believers, other Christians, where it's great that you hear God's word, but you've got to keep it. You've got to do it. You've got to keep his commandments. You're going to find a correlation between your success, soul-willing, with your keeping the commandments of God. The more you know his word, the more you keep it, the more you keep his commandments, the closer walk you have with God in fellowship, you'll find the fruits that God wants to develop in your life. Yes, even the fruits of the spirit, but also the fruits of soul-willing, bringing forth abundantly will increase the more you know God. But there in 1 John chapter 2 verse number 6, he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked. Even as who walked? Christ walked. We ought to walk even as Christ walked. I remember when I was a teenager, people had those bands on their arms. What did Jesus, no, what would Jesus do? It's okay. What would Jesus do? But the thing about what would Jesus, it's good, the idea is what would Jesus do in a situation like this, so you do likewise. It's a good idea. But the problem with what would Jesus do, it's open to interpretation. What's better than what would Jesus do is what did Jesus do? If I can only open God's Word and see what Jesus did, then that's the life that I need to walk according by. That's how I can continue to abide in my Saviour. And brethren, Jesus never sinned. He was righteous. He made the right decision every time in his ministry. That's a big standard. That's a high standard. But he's come to set us an example. See, if we didn't have Christ as our example, we just wouldn't know what to do. You know, we'd be challenged with some problem or some decision-making situation, just, I don't know what to do, Lord, but what did Jesus do? How did he walk? Okay, open, I don't know, open your Bible and find out then. And when you find out, keep his Word, keep his commandments, and now you'll be walking like Christ. Now you continue to abide in Christ in terms of fellowship, in terms of your walk. Now, I'm going to read verses 7 to 11 to you. Well, I'll read verse number 7 first. And this, for me, in this chapter, this is probably the most confusing part of the chapter. It's not really confusing once you understand it, but I remember reading it quite a few times before I really got what he was saying. But let's start there in verse number 7. It says, brethren, I write no new commandment unto you. So what is writing here is not a new commandment. And this is what's confusing is if you just dropped into verse 8, again, a new commandment I write unto you. It's like, well, hold on, is it new or is it not new? You said it wasn't new, now you're saying it's new, and that's kind of where the confusion kind of lies. But let me just start with verse number 7. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. So it says, look, I'm not writing anything new. You've already heard this from the beginning. So what are we covering here? One thing I started to understand, because then it says, again, in verse number 8, again, a new commandment. So verse number 7 is about an old commandment. Verse number 8 is about a new commandment. Let's deal with the old commandment first. He says this is an old commandment that you would have known from the beginning. Now what did we just cover in verse number 6? Being able to walk as Christ walked. Maintain our walk and fellowship with the Lord is what it's all about that we've covered so far. Now, when we think about what the beginning is, when you think about the Bible, and you think of the book of beginnings, what's that book? Genesis. Genesis means beginnings. So it says this is something you've known from the very beginning. This is an old commandment. So I started to think about this. Okay, what could we be referring to here? We know that the context here is about walking with the Lord or walking as Christ. And then if you want, you can turn there, otherwise you can just listen in. But you know, you've got Genesis 5, 24, for example, the book of beginnings, Genesis 5, 24. It says an Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. Enoch was known as a man who walked with God. And so the Lord takes him to heaven. You know, he gets an early exit out of the world. God says, I want to spend more time with you, Enoch, in our walk together, okay. And then you've got Genesis 6, 9, which says these are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Okay, so you start to see this pattern develop in Genesis. From the very beginning, Enoch, Noah, you know, these men that God loves, these men that God was able to do some great things with, what's the common factor? Of course they were saved, don't get me wrong. But the most common factor here is that they walked. They walked with God. They spent time with God. They fellowshipped with God. They spoke with God. They prayed to God. And then just another one, Genesis 48, 15. Genesis 48, 15 says, and he blessed Joseph and said, God before whom my father's, look what Joseph says, my father's Abraham, I'm sorry, yeah, sorry, my father's Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day. What do we learn here? Abraham and Isaac walked with God. These are the great men of faith, of course. So John is telling his New Testament church here, look guys, this is not a new commandment. We've known this from the very beginning, and the very beginning, the book of Genesis. We see these saints walking with God. And again we see God able to do amazing things with his people. I believe that God can do amazing things in your life, things beyond your comprehension. I believe God can utilize in a mighty way for his kingdom. But you're missing out if you're not walking with him. You want to please God, you want to love God, you want to abide with him. Walk with God. Spend time with him. Have your heart toward him. You know there's this common thing that is said amongst churches and believers. We know that within a church often people leave the church. They get this heartened, they get backslidden, and they leave the church. And it would break my heart if young people leave our church. You know, I'll be heartbroken if my kids leave the church. It happens though, doesn't it, pastors, children, people in church. They love the world rather than loving God. And they know, young people know, I have a choice to make here. Am I going to love the world? I'm going to love God. And they love the world so much that they don't even feel right coming to the house of God. They know within them, you know, it's really one or the other. Which way do I go in life? I forgot what I was going to say. Talking about young people, oh yeah. And then you hear stories, people say, yeah, you know, young Johnny, sorry Johnny, Johnny is a common word, right? Young Johnny's left the church, yeah, young Johnny's, you know, he's not walking with the Lord. You hear this stuff, right? He's not walking with the Lord anymore. But he loves God. Have you heard that? He loves God. No, he doesn't love God. I know that makes you feel better by saying he loves God. But if someone's not walking with God, if they're far from him, they love the world. I'm not saying they're not saved because we're not salvations based on Christ. Let me just say, you know, you cannot sin your way out of salvation. It's everlasting life. You cannot be bad enough to lose it because you're never good enough to get it in the first place. It's not about you, it's about Christ. But then people can be in church and they love the world too much. And in their heart they say, look, I'm just being a hypocrite coming to church. I love the world. Why am I turning up to church? Because they know in their hearts they don't love God. And so they're out, they're out. Oh, but they love God. Look, stop lying to yourself, they don't love God. If they love God, they will keep his commandments. If they love God, they will keep his word. If they love God, they will do what God requires of them. And children, again, your parents can measure your love toward them by how well you keep the commandments of your parents. You know, when you rebel against your parents, you're not showing them that you love them. You say, but I do love them. Alright, keep their commandments. It's the same standard. You know, you won't always want to keep the rules around the house. But instead of loving your rebellious nature, how about you love your parents enough to say if I do what my parents want, I'm showing them that I love them. I'm not just saying that I love you, out the door, love you mom, love you dad. How about you show them that you love them by doing what your parents ask of you. And brethren, how about we show God that we love him by keeping his words, by keeping his commandments. You know, by putting some effort to overcome temptation, then to just go, okay, temptation has come my way, I'm a sinner anyway, I'm going to go ahead and do my sin. How about you seek the Lord a little bit? How about you desire some victory in your life, instead of just giving into the flesh time and time again. Verse number eight, please. Now he says again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth, hear that say if he is in the light and hate of his brother is in darkness even until now. Brethren, we are not to hate each other, we are not to hate our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And I can tell you honestly that I love each one of you, like I do, you know, like I want to feed you God's word, there's not much that I can do for you, I'm not a very skillful man in many ways, but I can preach you and teach you God's word, and this is one way that I can show you that I love you, okay, that I'm not just putting some five minute sermon together, and I spend time in God's word because I love my brethren, and I'm not just trying to grow a church, I actually love you guys, I do, and I want you to do well for the Lord. And even if I don't get along with you, even if we don't see eye to eye on every little thing in life, I still want you to do well for the Lord, you know, there have been times that I've had to kick Christians out of church, but I still love them, like I still want them to do great things for God, if not in this church, somewhere else, I mean ideally they come and apologise and get right with God and get right with the church, but I still want them to do well in life, like if you guys get more rewards in heaven than me, I'll be happy for you, I'm not going to be mad, I want you to do great things for God because He's done so many great things for us, but if we hate our brethren, we're in darkness, if you come to church and you hate someone here, you can't say to me, pastor, I'm in fellowship with the Lord, hate's a pretty strong emotion, a pretty strong desire against someone in church, and say I don't like them, can you at least love them and serve them as a saved child of God, maybe they need your encouragement, maybe they need your friendship, maybe they're a bit socially awkward, they need you to just come alongside them and just lift them up a little bit, but we're talking about loving our brothers, and then verse number 10 it says, hear that love of his brother abideth in the light, that's an easy way to continue fellowship with the Lord, loving your brethren, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him, but hear the hate of his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes, it's about loving your brother, hating your brother, so if you hate a brother in the Lord, you're in darkness, you're blinded, you can't even go about life properly, you don't even know which way you're going, is that what you want in your life brethren, do you want to be blind to it, I don't know what to do with life, I don't know what decisions to make, pastor I've heard so many sermons, I still don't know what to do with my life, maybe stop for a moment, maybe there's a brother or sister in the Lord that you hate, and if you hate them you're not in the light, how about you just forgive them, get over it, you've done worse things to God, all the sins you've committed against him, much worse than what your brother or sister did to you, and you don't even have to die for their sins, Christ died for you, so this is the new commandment, so how was it new pastor, how was it new, and I did cover this when we went through the book of John, but if you can keep your finger there and come with me to John 13, let me just show you, John is just teaching once again what Christ taught in the book of John 13, John chapter 13 please, John chapter 13, John 13, 34, John 13, 34, the words of Christ, he says, a new commandment I give unto you, so you can see that John is also giving that new commandment, okay, a new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another, you got pastor that doesn't seem like a new commandment, to love one another, I mean shouldn't that be a pretty basic thing, but it's not just loving, it's a standard by which you are to love one another, this is the new commandment, 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 see it's not just loving one another, that's the commandment, the new commandment is to love one another as I have loved you, by the same standard that Jesus loved you, that he died for you, that he gave himself for you, that's the standard, you see loving one another is not the new commandment, because I'll just quickly read to you from Leviticus 19-18, Leviticus 19-18 that says, thou shall not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself, I am the Lord, you see the standard from the Old Testament was to love one another as thyself, you know the same care and attention that you give to yourself, or that you want others to give towards you, or to be the standard that you love other people, that's a high standard, that's a very good standard, but like many things in the New Testament, Christ comes and he just lifts the bar even greater, oh not just as much as you love yourself, or take care of yourself, as much as I have loved you, whoa, that's a high standard, that's the new commandments, you know loving someone as much as you love yourself or want others to love you, that's a good standard, but can you truly love each other, can you look around this building and say I love sister so and so, and I love brother so and so as much as Christ loved me, and if you say pastor I can't really say that honestly, then work on it, you know it's not going to come from your own love, and we'll soon see later on, this is a love that comes from God, where God gives you this love, it's in you, and now you can share that love to other people, you know having fullness of joy again does not come from you, it's a joy that God gives you, and then that joy can come out and bless other people, see the source of this joy and the source of this love must come from God, and the only way it's going to come from God is if you spend time with him, walking with him, fellowshiping with God. Verse number 12, 1 John chapter 2, verse number 12, I write unto you little children, and I do believe now he's just referring to little children in the church, let's say 12 and under, okay, because your sins are forgiven you for your name's sake, say why is that just little children, because in verse number 13 he says, I write unto you fathers, he's kind of comparing different age groups here, and then he says young men in verse number 13, we'll go verse number 13 in a moment, but what I love about verse number 12, I write unto you little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake, brethren can little children be saved, can little children have their sins forgiven, that's what John just said right, he knows there are people in the church, little children that have called upon the Lord, I was 4 years old, so that seems pretty young, look most of my kids got saved when they were about 5 or 6, it's not because I pushed them, I just say this prayer, no, we let them alone, they come to church, they come soul winning, they've heard the gospel, right, and then when they decided, since I had a go at little Johnny before, you know even little Johnny shared with Liliana when they were little, Liliana I know I'm saved and going to heaven, you need to get saved also, sometimes it's the talk between the siblings, and then when the children have come up to me or mum and said, you know dad, I want to go to heaven, I want to be sure of heaven, can you please explain it to me, how can I be sure, that's the time that we've given the gospel, because now they're actually seeking it, they're trying to fully grasp it themselves, and that age for us has been 5 or 6, Sebastian got saved at 4 years old like me, because it's a simple message, like a little child understands a birthday gift, you don't have to explain a birthday gift to them, just give it to them, yeah, open and rush, you know, like little Elias, you know it's hard to control little little children, they just want to rip that present open, you know, and that's what salvation is, here's the gift, yeah I want it lord, give it to me, that's all it is, I remember I had a phone call, and I've shared these stories before, I'm sorry, but I remember having a phone call with this guy, and he said to me, you know I don't believe little children can be saved, you know the bible says that unless you be converted and become as little children, they shall not enter into the kingdom of God, I don't know if I said that verse exactly, but everybody has to become like a little child first, in order to be saved, when you humble yourself and go you know what father, yes I'll just do it your way, I'll just accept your free gift, your way of Jesus Christ, it's that's how easy it is, salvation, he said to me I don't believe little children can get saved because they've not sinned enough, and this person on the phone knew he was saved because he was a grave sinner before and now he doesn't sin much, and I said to him look I got saved when I was four years old, and the sins that I've committed after four are much greater than the sins that I committed when I was one or two or three years old, I guess I'll never know that I'm saved because my life has been greater sins since I got saved than before I got saved, based on your judgment, based on you thinking that your life has to be this complete change, that's how you know you're saved, then I guess I'm never saved, because my sins have been greater since I was four years, what sins did I commit when I was two, did I rob a bank, you know was I given into the lust of the flesh when I was two years old, you know, when I was one year old was I just taking drugs and getting drunk and drinking alcohol, little children what do they know much, what I love about this it just confirms the fact that little children can be saved, you know please don't withhold the gospel from your children, don't force it, don't get to you know just to say some prayer because your child will just say a prayer if you force them, okay, prayer doesn't you know it's the one we're praying to, the one that we're trusting, the one we're believing, that's the one who saves, but little children can be saved and John here is just rejoicing the fact that little children in the church have been saved, verse number 13 says I write unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning, so you know fathers are a little bit more mature, they've had more time to know God, you know and then he says I write unto you young men, so these are like your teenagers or your young adults, I write unto young men, look at this, because you have overcome the wicked one, I write unto you little children because you have known the father, again little children, but I want to touch upon young men right here, what differentiates the young men from the older and the younger group there, because you have overcome the wicked one, the wicked one is the devil, teenagers, young adults, I'm telling you now the devil's going to attack you, okay, you're the age group, for us that are older, well I'm not saying the devil doesn't attack us, but we've had time to know God, you know we've had time to grow and mature and to realise that life without God is rubbish, it's a failure, it doesn't work without God, you know we've had battles with Satan, we've had battles with the wicked one and we've lost sometimes and we've won sometimes, but the devil knows that in a church like ours, you know getting the more mature Christians offside is not going to be so easy and when it comes to little children because they're under the protection of their parents, they're not going to be such an easy target, again the two year old's not going to be out there at the pub drinking and getting drunk or something like that, right, you know little children are not such an easy target, mature believers they're not such an easy target, but young people, teenagers, young adults, you are the easiest target for the devil and you need to understand your life will be a battle with the forces of wickedness, with the forces of the devil as you mature and grow, you're going to lose sometimes, you're going to lose sometimes, but you're going to win sometimes and that's why it says here because you have overcome the wicked one, there are probably battles you've already had with the devil, where the devil's brought some temptations to you, we've had peer pressure, you know someone's asked you to take some drugs or to drink some alcohol or to do some wicked acts and you've gone to a point and said no, I'm not going to do that because I'm a child of God, I'm not going to do that because I love God, I'm not going to do that because I'm going to keep his word, I'm not going to love the world and when you've made that decision and you've overcome that temptation, you've overcome the wicked one, keep fighting young people, you are the target, you need to understand that, the devil's going to attack you because he knows you guys are the ones that are growing, your mindsets are changing, you're becoming adults, you're revisiting your ideas and your upbringing, you're going to be revisiting what the world is about, you're going to be trying to find answers that you felt maybe your parents did not provide for you and you might be seeking your answers from a very worldly or wicked system, the devil's going to attack you. Verse number 14, I have written unto you fathers because ye have known him that is from the beginning, 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. There it is again, young men, ye have overcome the wicked one. Because you are strong, young people, you are strong, you know, when you're a little babe in Christ, you're kind of weak, right? And as you get older in the Lord, you get a bit weaker, like I'm not as strong as I used to be, I used to love playing basketball, basketball requires a lot of jumping, you know, I jump now, my body hurts, you're strongest when you're young, you're strongest when you're a teen or a young adult, alright, and the Lord's asking me, hey, use your strength. You know, we heard the testimonies, hey, go soul winning, young people, go soul winning, you've got the strength, there's some hilly areas, like where I live, Malayney and Nambool, there's some really hilly areas, it's much easier if we can just send the teenagers to these hilly areas because you're strong, you've got energy, you don't have as many pains in your body as much as the adults do, that's what we should send the young people, go to the hilly areas please, we'll take the flat areas, there's a lot of hilly areas in Bridgetown wasn't there, but don't waste your strength, young people, you're strong now, use it to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, verse number 15, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, this is not saying that if you love the world, the Father does not love you, it's saying the love that you give to the world is not coming from the Father, the love of the Father is not in you, okay, that love is not coming, look, how do I overcome the world, how do I stop love in the world, keep his word, keep his commandments, stay in fellowship with God, let God fill you with his love, let the Father fill you with his love, and when you have the love of the Father in you, you can't help but love the things that God loves, say what are the things of the world, well we do have a list of it here in verse number 16, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world, this is just a very general list, the lust of the flesh, that's seeking temporal pleasures, seeking something that your body wants, your flesh wants, you know it can be fornication, adultery, it can be alcohol, drugs, something that the flesh might want or desire, that's the lust of the flesh, seeking temporal pleasures, it's temporal, it never gives you full satisfaction, that's love in the world, it's as the lust of the eyes, it's covetousness, wanting things that does not belong to you, the pride of life, you know thinking that you know all things, you don't need to be taught self-pride, maybe seeking recognition from man, rather than seeking to please God, you want to please man, you want men to applaud you, you want men to look well upon you, that's filling yourself up with pride, all of that is of the world, it's not of the Father. When you give in to these type of temptations, it's because the love of the Father is not in you, you're not loving what God loves, you're loving what God hates, you're loving the world, again how do I overcome, you need the love of God, you need the love of the Father, how do I get that, walk with him, keep his word, keep his commandments, it's the only way, you can't do it on your own, we are all weak, our flesh is selfish, our flesh loves, the lust of the flesh, our flesh loves wicked things, you can't do it on your own, so you need God, you've got a God, God you give me your love, look at verse 17, and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, you know you seek the world, it's all going to dissolve, it's all going to be destroyed, there's no eternal value in the things of the world, it's a waste of your time, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever, you do God's will, you keep his ways, look that will abide forever, when you do what God asks of you, he's going to reward you, you know when Christ comes back, he comes with his reward, those rewards abide forever, you're giving to the world, you're giving to some temple pleasures, it's all going to be wiped out, it's all going to be destroyed, it's going to be a waste of life, don't waste your life, love what God loves, do his will, and it's never a waste of time, because that's going to abide for all eternity, verse number 18, little children, it is the last time, as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time, I'm going to speed through these verses, but we know that there's an antichrist to come, okay, the beast, the beast of the book of Revelation, and it's good to know about the end times, and to yes understand what's going on, but instead of just being focused on the beast or the antichrist to come, let's not lose sight of the present, there are antichrists now, antichrists means in the place of Christ or against Christ, okay, there are many in the world right now, and then we get some sad news in verse number 19, they went out from us, who went out from us? Some of these antichrists, some of these antichrists were in the church, they went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would know that have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us, I hope this doesn't really happen in our church, we have a brother or sister in the Lord, and we just have the confidence that we know they're saved, and you know, they say the right things, and they do the right things, and then we find out later on, they leave, I'm not saying about leaving the church, I'm just like because that happens right, I'm saying they go out, they depart from the faith, they start believing some crazy things, I mean we had a bit of an example like that, but there was always a bit of doubts about this individual a little bit, but he claimed to understand salvation, and claimed to have put his faith and trust on Christ alone, and then you find out he leaves our church, and joins the Roman Catholic Church, that's pretty different, and then we find out later that he denies the deity of Christ, doesn't even believe that Christ is God, so at that point you know he was never of us, to begin with, okay, but these Antichrists, they do like to creep into churches, you know, they try to defile people, they try to change doctrine, they try to complicate salvation, they try to bring you under the law, or they start teaching of another Christ, other Jesus's, other Gospels, other spirits, verse number 20, but you have an unction, the word unction means anointing, but you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things, the Bible says here that you've been anointed by God, you've got anointing in you, that's the Holy Spirit of God, you've seen see later where it's talking about Holy Spirit, but because we have the Holy Spirit of God in us as safe people, we can know all things, Reverend you can open the Bible and learn for yourself, you don't need just church, that church is good, you know God's instructed us to be in the house of the Lord, the pillar and the ground of truth, but don't let that be the only way you receive God's Word, make sure you read the Bible yourself at home, make sure you spend time with God, and the unction, the anointing that God has given you, he is going to teach you all things, you have the ability to know the Bible as well as anybody else in this room, verse number 21, I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth, who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son, we see a few things here, who's an Antichrist, one that denies that Jesus is the Christ, does anyone here deny that Jesus is the Christ, very unlikely, but there is a religion that is upheld by many Baptist churches, I say well they're God's chosen people, those of the Jews religion, those of Judaism, look the Jews, they do believe in I mean Messiah, don't they, but they don't believe the Messiah is Christ, sorry Christ means Messiah, they don't believe Christ or Messiah is Jesus, what does it say there, it says verse number 22, who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, if you deny that Jesus is the Christ, if you deny that Jesus is the Messiah, you are a liar, you are an Antichrist, Judaism denies that Jesus is the Messiah, it's an Antichrist religion, and how many times have I heard behind the pulpit, oh they worship the Father, they just don't know the Son, it's an Antichrist religion, in fact it says there in verse number, he is an Antichrist, he that denyeth the Father and the Son, you can't say they worship the Father, if they don't have the Son, they don't have the Father either, and you guys know some of my history, my sending church started to believe in oneness theology, with Jesus the Son is also the Father, the Father is the Son, the Son is the Father, the Father is the Holy Spirit, this is not Trinitarian beliefs, it's a belief called oneness, where Jesus is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that is a lie, because it says here, he that denyeth the Father and the Son, there's the Father and there's the Son, you know the Trinity, where is there is one God, but one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, that is the true God, that is the God of the Bible, the Son is the one that was sacrificed, that was sent by the Father to die on the cross, I don't know how people start believing, I do know, because they're Antichrist, they were not of us, they can make it look like they're of us, for a long time, and then you realize, no they're Antichrist, they appear, they exist, they exist in independent fundamental Baptist churches, they exist all over the world these Antichrists, what John is saying here, yes it's important to know about the end times, and be aware of what's happening, but you know, what's the book of Revelation, but don't lose sight of the Antichrist today, don't lose sight of the present, there are enough challenges to deal with today, than to be focused only on what's happening at the end times, verse number 23, whosoever deny of the Son, let me stop there for a moment, does Judaism deny the Son, yeah, so does Islam, they say God has no son, okay, whosoever deny of the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledge of the Son, hath the Father also, so we see that Islam and Judaism, they don't have the Father, they don't worship God, they don't know God, they're not saved, they're not chosen people or anything like this, if you deny the Son, you deny the Father, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father, the only way to the Father is for Jesus Christ, verse number 24, let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning, if that which you have heard from the beginning, shall remain in you, you shall continue in the Son and in the Father, and this is the promise, that you have promised us even eternal life, notice that, that what we heard from the beginning, Father and the Son, the Father sent the Son to be on the cross, if you believe that, then it says there, this is the promise, that you have promised us even eternal life, you see you have to have the right God, in order to be saved, you have to have the right Father, in order to be saved, you have to have the right Son, in order to be saved, if you believe in the Father, who sent the Son to die in our place, the Bible, Jesus, then you have everlasting life, you have eternal life, in other words, those that deny that, guess what, they don't have eternal life, they're not saved, they're Antichrist, verse number 26, these things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you, so John says, they're gonna be people in your church, they come into your church, seeking to seduce you, seeking to deceive you, seeking to have you believe in some Antichrist or Antichrist doctrine, see John is warning of this, because it can happen, it can happen in our church even, if we're not careful, verse number 27, but the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teach of you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as he have taught you, ye shall abide in him, once again, there is nothing that I'm preaching behind the pulpit this morning, or any time that you can't learn for yourself in God's Word, how do I learn that, walk with him, keep his commandments, meditate on his Word, okay, be in fellowship with God, that's how you learn all these things, God is such a good God, you know, this is not a cult, I'm not coming here and saying the only way you know God, the only way you know the Bible is to come to church and listen to me, that would be a lie, we all have the Holy Spirit of God, we all have been given that beautiful anointing, God living in each of us, and all we need to do is open his Word, say Lord teach me, and he will teach you all things, sometimes we become too dependent on church, we become too dependent on the pastor, don't be that way, okay, I want to learn from you too, I enjoy having, by the way brother Jason, appreciate you preaching last few Sundays, I enjoy having other people here, they have something to teach, they have the Holy Ghost within them also, don't teach you things that I'll never cover, because you can't cover all of the Bible in lifetime, it's so deep, people have different, you know, takes on certain doctrines or different ways they can apply it to your life, it's good to hear other preachers, it's good to talk about the Bible amongst ourselves, because we each have the Holy Spirit, we can learn from each other, there's a lot of things that I've learned about the Bible since being a pastor, just by talking to other people, and then sharing with me what they understand the Bible to say, and I'm like yeah, wow, that's true brother, okay, and then verse number 28 and 29, and now little children, again little children referring to everybody, okay, now the great group, and now little children abiding him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming, if you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him, so when Christ comes back, we want to be confident people, we don't want to be ashamed at his coming, Christ is coming back one day, you know when he comes back, I want to have the confidence to say, you know, Lord I've been walking with you, I've been keeping your ways, I've been doing your will, that'll give me confidence when Christ returns, but what's going to bring you to shame when Christ returns, when you've not been fellowship required, when you've not been doing his will, when you've been loving the world, when you've been chasing the world, and Christ appears, you're going to be, I mean you're going to be excited, you know, finally make it home to be with God in heaven, but couldn't you delay it just another day, Lord, where I got right with you, you know, where I gave myself to your will and your ways, look don't waste your time, God's given us a new day today, he's given us, you know, we don't know when the Lord's coming back, 100 years from now, 10 years from now, two years from now, I don't know, but it won't be two years from now, but five years from now, you know, we don't know, we don't know exactly when the Lord's coming back, let's not find ourselves ashamed and go, oh I don't even really know you Lord, like I know you saved me, but man I've just been walking my own ways, I've been going according to the lust of my flesh and lust of the eyes, the pride of life, I've been chasing the world and I'm just not ready to see you, I'm not ready to be with you Lord, that would be a great shame on your part, now let's have the confidence, let's be excited about his coming, all right, I say Lord I've been fulfilling your will, finally, yes, I get to be with you for all eternity, I get to see you face to face all the days of my life now Lord, that will be exciting and Lord what rewards have you got for me, because I've done my best for you, you'd be ashamed for things to go, oh man, I know there's not going to be many rewards, there might not even be any rewards, you know, but thankfully I've received the free gift, so gift and rewards are different right, gift is something God gives you, rewards is something he rewards you with, by the work that you do for him, with the walk, the fulfillment of his will that you do in your life, that's what he can reward you with, and so brethren let's not be ashamed that he's coming, title for the sermon was, what was it, love not the world, I believe, yeah love not the world, love not the world, and brethren you've got a choice once again, you want to love God, spend time with him, love the world, it's all going to be for nothing, it's all going to be vain, it's all going to be empty, it's all going to pass away, it has no value for eternity, let's pray.