The Untouchables

0:00 Father, we come before you and thank you for your word. And this message that we have before us, I pray would bolster our faith. Lord, that when we leave here, we would be so confident in what we believe that we'd go outside these walls and live it and not worry about what the world thinks about us. Not that we should ever, but I just pray, especially after today's message, would you empower us to live for you confident in what we believe. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the last time we were together, we looked at a message and a conversation that I think is one of the most remarkable conversations in scripture, and that was between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus, of course, being a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, and Jesus stopped him dead in his tracks in the middle of the conversation and said, Nicodemus, you must be born again.

0:54 Perhaps at that last message, you realized it was necessary to become born again. And I want you to remember that it wasn't just that God wants you to be different, like he wants you to change your behavior. He wants you to be an entirely new creation. I know that many of you prayed to receive Christ that day. And today, I want you to know that becoming born again is more secure and more permanent and more powerful than you even realize. because today we're not just talking about how to become a child of God, we're talking about what it means to be one. John, the same apostle who recorded the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3, wrote a letter late in his life to a congregation wrestling with doubt, false teaching, and spiritual attack. And in the closing verses of that letter, he wants them to know something, not guess, not hope, but to know. So today it's a lay the foundation, open your Bibles to 1 John chapter 5, and we're gonna lay the foundation of what it is to know that you are a child of God.

1:57 In 1 John chapter five, verse one, John writes, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And you should circle those two words is that whoever believes Jesus is the Christ, circle it, is born of God. And everyone who loves him, who begot also loves him, who is begotten of him. By this, look at what he says, and you're going to see this word throughout this study today. We know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. Notice the connection. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome for whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God? So whoever believes that Jesus Christ is born of God is born again.

2:52 That's the first step. You're born again. Now, how do you know if you're born again? The second question is, do you love God? Do you love God? Okay, now here comes the tougher question. Do you love others? Not so confident, huh? Yes, I love God. Do you love others? Well, that's the hard part. Growing up in our bathroom, my dad had a little sign of Linus. He said, I love mankind. It's people I can't stand. So how do you know if you really love God? Well, do you keep his commandments? He says his commandments are not burdensome. Now, you might be thinking of the Ten Commandments, but here I would say there's two commandments. The first commandment, found in Matthew 22, verse 36, Jesus is asked, which is the greatest commandment?

3:50 The first commandment, he says, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind. This is the first, and the great commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, meaning all the law and the prophets sum up in these two things, love God and love your neighbor as yourself. So you don't, I mean, it is good to go memorize the 10 commandments, but to live this way, I need to love God with all my being. How do you know if you're loving God with all your being? Well, the test is, do you love others? How do you treat others? Now, you might say, I think I'm pretty loving. Well, if we were to go over to some of the local establishments right after Second Service lets out, and we were to ask the waitresses and the waiters how they were treated by Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, what do you think their answer would be?

4:48 I would hope they would say, wow, we can't wait till church lets out. we have never been so loved in our entire lives. And on top of it, we make really good money and great tips. You say, well, if they aren't good servers, I am going to let them know. Okay, how about every other day of the week, you might let them know, but maybe not on a Sunday right after church lets out. Because they know the waves of people that come into these establishments right after church, by and large, are mostly church people. And I get it. We can be a little cranky. It's a little warm outside today. Maybe you haven't eaten yet. Whose fault is that? but be nice. Now, let's look at what makes us untouchable, okay? Because the title of the message is The Untouchables. Number one, we are untouchable because we are born again. Being born again is absolutely amazing in a lot of different ways. Number one, we're going to heaven when we die. That's like the first and the most important thing. We've passed from death to life. But then it changes something in the way we live here and how we operate in the world. So he says in 1 John 5, 18, we know that whoever is born of God, number one, does not sin. But he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him.

6:13 So it's important that we see three things under this, three things that we know. Number one, we know whoever is born of God does not sin. Number two, that we are of God. And number three, we know the Son of God has come. Those three things. So number one, let's look at born again just briefly. John 3, 3, Jesus said, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Obviously, that's the first and the most important thing that takes place when someone is born again, that they move from death to life in this sense that we know when we die in this physical body, that part of us, that's eternal, will live forever in what the Bible calls heaven. That's a place I want to go as soon as possible. And by the way, if you think for the Christian dying and going to heaven is the worst thing that can happen to them, you don't understand your Bible. It's like the best, are you, is anybody traveling and going anywhere this summer? Where are you going? Where are you going?

7:14 Where? St. Martin. I heard that's very nice. I've never been there. Anybody going to Hawaii or anything like that? Are you guys going anywhere? I mean, you raise your hands and now you're acting like, uh, I guess, yeah. I mean, it's a real drag, but we're going to Hawaii. You know, I saw the pictures and it looks beautiful, but I'd rather stay in Chino.

7:38 I mean, I'll miss the smell of cow in the morning. I mean, are you dreading vacation? You wake up in the morning. It's like, isn't that what you live for? You go to work. You save your money so you can go on vacation, right? And you could have a house and all this stuff. And I don't know what it's going to take to get you people excited about heaven, but apparently this is not working. Because heaven is better than any destination. Yesterday I was, yeah, exactly. Thank you. Finally, my word. Man, you people. So yesterday we were scrolling through Instagram, and because I look at a lot of beach stuff, surfing, did you guys see the waves this past week down in Newport Beach? Big waves. People ask me, did you go out in that? And I'm like, no, I want to live. I did not go out in those waves.

8:31 Those are like Hawaii-sized waves in California, and on average, California waves are very, very small and mushy. They're not like that. That's completely different. So I'm scrolling through Instagram, and this beach comes up. And I'm like, well, I don't know where that is, but man, would I love to go there. It's turquoise, gorgeous. So I looked. It's in Bali. And I'm like, I don't know where Bali is, but I want to go to that beach. And I just think that in some small way, it's a little reflection of what heaven's going to be like. So when people are like, oh, I don't want to die and go to heaven, I don't know who you are or why you think that way, but heaven is an amazing place. That's the biggest thing, but not the only thing. Yeah, because we're not dead yet. I don't know if, I mean, I know some people live like they're dead now, but the reality is, it's like William Wallace said, you know, all men die, few men really live.

9:31 and that should be we should be the best at living because we pass from death to life when people look at us they should say i don't know what it is about you but i want what you have but some christians walk around like so what do you i'm going to go to heaven when i die i guess shouldn't be like that john 3 5 jesus said unless one is born of water in the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of god that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the spirit is spirit. 1 Corinthians 15 50. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now the new birth results in new behavior. We see in 2 Corinthians 5 17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Isn't that gorgeous? Because that old life that I used to live that I thought was really living before Jesus is gone. That's a life of death and sin, but the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, and I have a completely new life. I have a completely new direction. I have a completely new outlook, and everything is new. Now, the next thing is he says that we don't sin. Now, just so you think correctly about this, it's that we don't make plans or we don't practice sin any longer.

10:55 It's not that we're incapable of sinning, to be clear. Look at 1 John 1.8. He says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. When God looks at us, he sees us as sinless, right? But I still live in this body that can still be influenced by sin. Okay, I'll use donuts as an example. Like, well, can't you use something else? I don't like donuts as much as I like ice cream, so I'll use donuts. But if you're like, I'm going to take a break from eating donuts, and let's just say that donuts represent sin, and you really like donuts, right? The way to get away from donuts is to, number one, not be around them, not think about them. But the reality is, as a believer, donuts have no power over me where they used to. Before Jesus, I had no control.

11:53 I saw a donut, I ate it. And it didn't matter what time of day, right? Anywhere you go. As a matter of fact, you will go out of your way for donuts. You'll drive all the way across the state to get a donut. But after Jesus, you're like, I want to be as far away from a donut as I possibly can. You don't want any part of it. But sometimes you could be walking around and all of a sudden there's a donut. And you could say, I know I shouldn't. but nobody's looking. But who's always looking? God, yeah. And you could take a little bite, and then I'd take a bite. You're like, oh, why did I eat the donut? I feel so awful. I know better than that. You can't even sin good as a Christian anymore. You used to enjoy donuts, but now they're repulsive. Some of you are going to leave here and be like, I never want a donut again. 1 John 2 1 John says my little children these things I write to you so that you may not sin and if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father that's amazing advocate is like defense attorney with the father the bible says that satan is the accuser of the brethren he's constantly looking for reasons to accuse you you took a little bite of the donut he's like ah see that God? You see that? That's your child right there. Look at what they just did. See that? They got the crumb right there on the side of their cheek. And that's when Jesus steps up. Yes, Father, they did. And he shows the nails and the blood. Done. Of course, when we do, yeah, amen.

13:32 When we do, we do need to confess it. Father, forgive me. I have sinned. I did that thing. I know you told me not to. You are still a child of God, but you've broken fellowship. To restore fellowship, 1 John 1, 9. Confess it. He's faithful and just to cleanse it. He'll wipe that donut right off the corner of your cheek and treat you as though you never snuck a bite of the donut. Isn't that amazing? I love it. Now, we no longer practice in 1 John 5, 18. We know that God's children do not make a practice of sinning. And then in Romans 6, 7, we see because we are free from the power of sin, I'm free from the power of it. I no longer have the desire. I'm no longer under its power. I'm free from it. I'm free not to sin. Isn't that great? Presented the choice and the option, I'm free not to. I can walk away from it. Now, as a believer, it's your choice. Are you going to walk away from it or not? Are you going to give in to it or not? You see? But we're no longer under its power. Romans 6, 7, he who has died has been freed from sin. And that's what happens when I become born again, then I have died to the old ways. I'm to reckon the old man dead. Romans 6, 10, the death that he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. God doesn't want you just living every day to try not to sin.

15:16 And I know a lot of people live that way. They just wake up and they spend their whole day trying not to sin. Well, the problem is that you keep thinking about the sin and then you're trying not to do it. The better thing is to focus on God. Look, when I was a young man, my dad took me motorcycle riding, and we would be out in the desert, and I would be riding a little motorcycle, and I would see a rock, and I'd be like, Dad, there's a rock, and he'd say, look away from the rock. Do you know why? Because if you're riding, and you're looking at the rock, where are you going to go on the motorcycle? Right into the rock. So he'd say, look where you want to go, okay? And so you're riding, and I'd see the rock, and my temptation when I was little is like, oh here it comes here it comes and I go okay look away look away and then I would get past it and I was like oh but then as you get older and more advanced you just ride and you you just you're not even paying attention to all that stuff you're riding and you're looking where you want to go and you could just lean and it becomes easier you see and that's the way it is as a believer when you first come to Christ you might be like whoa I got to get away from this you know what keeps you away from it? Staying in love with Jesus. Keeping your eyes on the author and the finisher of your faith.

16:28 That's what keeps you away from it. So I don't wake up in the morning and go, oh, I hope I don't sin today. I wake up and say, okay, Lord, I need to keep my eyes on you. I know that in me, no good thing dwells. So I need to keep my eyes on you. And I pray that I'll follow you wherever you go is where I want to go. I don't want to be anywhere that you're not. And that's a willful determination right when you wake up first thing in the morning. In Romans 6.14, it says, sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace. In Ephesians 2.1, it says, you, he made alive, notice, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world. That's how I used to live. I don't live that way anymore. I used to plan to sin on the weekend. So I'd call my friends. Hey, what are we doing this weekend? We're going to go sin. We didn't use the word sin, but it's like, we're going to go sin. All right, how much sin are we going to sin? Oh, we're going to sin a lot of sin. I want to have a lot of fun sinning.

17:37 You get my point? But that was the old man. Then I come to Christ, and I didn't immediately have new friends. I still had my same friends. And so they'd be like, all right, let's go sin. And I was like, I don't want to. And they're like, what's the matter with you? I'm like, I don't know. Everything's changed. I don't want to do that anymore. And I remember being, they would be in the room sinning. And I would be like, I mean, come on, sin with us. And I was like, no, I don't want to sin with you. And they're like, come on, sin with us. Sin with us. And I was like, no. And there's just one thing about me is if I determine not to do something, I'm not going to do it. And there is no amount of persuasion because that's how stubborn I am. Stubbornness can be a good thing when you are stubborn for the right things in the right way. So I'm just like, nope. The more they do it, the more I'd be like, okay, I'm going to punch you in the face in a second if you keep it up. And so they finally, after a while, they had a little meeting.

18:41 They got together. They made me wait outside. They did. And they went in and had a little meeting. My friends came out. My best friend came out crying, gave me a hug, and they said, don't come around here anymore. Praise the Lord. Yeah, it was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. I was like, I mean, I was a little hurt, but I understood what was happening. It was like just weird. I hadn't read a verse yet to understand it really, but I knew deep inside, I'm like, I think this is okay. And I went a whole year. I didn't have a single friend, not one whole year. And you know what God taught me in that year was that he's my best friend. I didn't need anybody else. I didn't need anybody else. I learned to be okay by myself. And you have to understand something. For me, when I was younger, I could never be alone. I could never be, I had to always be around people. It's like if I was alone, I got lonely, you know?

19:35 And then the Lord taught me how to be alone with him. Because as a believer, if you only have him only, you're never alone, and you actually have more than you ever did before Jesus. So just keep that in mind. So I used to walk that way, and then the Lord changed everything. All of a sudden, I had this new life, and I was free from it all. Romans 6, 2 says, how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? There's too many Bible teachers out there today teaching it's okay to do certain sins, and they're teaching that the grace of God, well, go read the beginning of Romans 6. He's like, how can we live any longer in this sin where grace abounds, or sin abounds, grace abounds more? So then they're like, well, then we can just go send up a storm because God's grace will outdo our sinning. But he's like, this is wrong thinking. We're not to think that way. We are to live for him as clean, holy, usable vessels. Now, we're untouchable because he, Jesus, keeps him the believer. Now, the word does not touch. The word is stronger than toucheth, rather graspeth or layeth hold of. It means to lay hold of or to grasp rather than a mere superficial touch. It means he's got us. Colossians 1.13, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

21:15 The word conveyed means moved out of the jurisdiction of. Isn't that awesome? So though my physical body still dwells in this physical realm, spiritually, I have been conveyed. I have been moved out of the jurisdiction of this world, and I have been placed into his kingdom. That's radical. That means that whatever's going on in this world, I don't have to worry about it. This world has no power over me. This world has no power over you. Satan has no power over you. The world has no power over you, and that's what John wants you to know. Look at what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, verse 15. He says, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world. That's why when you become born again, you don't just instantly die and go to heaven. he leaves you in the world. he says but that you should keep them from the evil one they are not of the world just as i am not of the world sanctify them by your truth your word is true we're set apart by god's word and when you read god's word it sets you apart and you've noticed this if you spend any time in god's word you've noticed i'm no longer like everybody else in the world without jesus you've noticed that right? Look at the world's going nuts. The debauchery going on in the world. The world has absolutely lost their mind. They don't know what a boy is. They don't know what a girl is. And if you say you know what a boy is or you know what a girl is, you're the cuckoo one. Okay? And so I look at what's happening in the world around me and I read God's word and I realize I'm the sane one. But the world's like, you're nuts. You haters. We don't hate anybody. We love everybody.

23:01 but see they don't know what real love is. Did you understand that? The world's definition of love is not the biblical's definition of love. It's completely different. Now as a child of God and with what we just looked at, I do want to make it clear we're not immune to spiritual warfare because though we're taken out of the world, conveyed into the kingdom of the son of his love, we still live in the world we are kept from the evil one but there are times and maybe daily at different levels we're dealing with spiritual warfare i'll just point to job you guys can go read it later on but job 1 verses 8 to 12 god asks satan if he's considered his servant job and in this satan's basically like oh yeah i've considered him like meaning yeah i would like to go do stuff to him. I'd like to mess with him a little bit, but you've placed a hedge of protection around him and I can't get to him. So God begins to remove at different levels some amount of protection that he placed around Job so that Satan's allowed to do stuff to him. And so we read the whole book and then we see in the end, God blesses Job with twice as much as he ever had before, including children. Did you know that? Including children. Because the children that he lost, The number of children he had, I think it was seven.

24:28 I don't remember exactly. But he received the same number of children again. And God was proven true. And Satan was able to see God knows the future. And he knew what Job was capable of. And Job, through it all, never cursed God. So he allowed him to face trials. He allowed him to face difficulties. He's going to allow you to face trials. And he's going to allow you to face difficulties so that your faith can be tested because a faith that isn't tested cannot be trusted. Plus, it proves to me where I really am. You've been learning, learning, learning, learning. And the Lord's like, time for a test. Now, I don't know what it is about the test that I have to learn every Monday on the 91 freeway. and I'm like, there's no way that I am going to get upset at all, even in the slightest bit, and then, you know, now it used to be like, now it's like, again, what is it about my car? It's like a magnet. There must be a sign. Someone put a spiritual sign on the front of my car.

25:35 It's like, everybody cut him off. I know. But you have your trials. But for most men, it's probably the car ride, right? I remember early when my wife and I, we were praying about buying a house. We lived in South Orange County. We were renting an apartment. And we looked to buy a house in Orange County, but at the time, we could not afford one. So we had to move inland. But one place I told God I would never live was Riverside. One thing I learned is you don't tell God what you're going to do. Because he put me in Riverside City and Riverside County. I got double Riverside.

26:24 He's like, you want one or two helpings of Riverside, Shadrach? So I'm traveling to work, it's 35 miles one direction, and I'm listening to Bible studies and worship music and everything, and I turned my car into like a little Bible college as I would travel back and forth because it would be between an hour to two hours, depending on the day of the week, in that commute, and I would be in the middle of worshiping the Lord, and I would think, wow, I've really grown until someone would cut me off out of nowhere. And I'd be like, you know, the kind that you just hold it on until they go insane. And everybody around you is like, did his horn break? And you're like, I'm just not, I mean, I've gone this far. I might as well keep, I just hold it for five minutes. And so the Lord would be like, see, Shadrach, there's still some work there to do. And I'd be like, man, I thought that I was, and he's like, well, that's the problem you thought.

27:26 Now, Satan can tempt us, but he cannot control us. He cannot make us sin. He can't do anything to you in this way that you don't want to do, right? He can come along and tempt you. And by the way, the Bible says in James, we're tempted when we're drawn away by our own desires and then enticed. So if there's a desire that I have, oh, man, I remember the good old days of the donut, you know. And then next thing you know, I'm somewhere and someone brings out a box of donuts. And I'm like, oh, man, it's been a while. You know, a donut would be good. But the Bible says with every temptation, God makes a way of escape. You know, use your Chevrolet legs and just walk away. Just get out of there. You know, you can do that. It's not like, oh, I'm powerless. I've got to do it. No, you don't. No, you don't.

28:18 But it would be better to kill the desire. Kill the desire. Don't let it, don't let that thought run around in your head. Like, so, for example, is anyone in here hungry? Raise your hand if you're hungry. Oh, most of you are hungry. Do you guys wait till after a second to go eat? You're going to be nice to the waitresses and the waiters wherever you go, right? So imagine I said, whatever you do, don't think about In-N-Out burgers.

28:45 Don't think about a double-double animal style. Don't think about animal fries. Don't think about it. Don't think about a hamburger. Don't think about a double-double hamburger animal style. What are you thinking about? Hamburger, right? Did anyone in here not think about a hamburger? Raise your hand. Okay. My guess is you didn't think about a hamburger because you thought really hard as I was talking because my voice is overpowering on the microphone, you thought about something else, right? The whole time that was happening, you were thinking, I don't know, what were you thinking? El pollo loco, el pollo loco, el pollo loco. You were thinking of something else. You're thinking salad, salad.

29:38 You see, that's the way it works. So the enemy comes along and he's like, think about this. And you're like, and your flesh goes, yeah, let's go. And your brain says, uh-uh, hold on. No, no, no. That's not pleasing to God. I'm not going to do that. And so you focus on the Lord. Now, point number two, we're untouchable because we are of God. Again, he says in verse 19, we know, here's the word again, we know that we are of God. And the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. So out of God means out of God or birthed by him. This is consistent language throughout the epistle. 1 John 2.29, everyone who practices righteousness is born of God. 1 John 3.9, whoever has been born of God does not sin for his seed remains in him. 1 John 4.4, you are of God little children. Notice the correlation. Now, when you get a little baby and they start growing up, initially they don't act exactly like mom and dad, but they do as they begin to grow up, don't they? Because they pick up your mannerisms. They begin talking like you.

30:44 They begin to act like you. You might tell them, do as I say, not as I do. But they do as you do and not as you say, because they're better at mimicking and imitating, especially when the message is overpowering and constant. You see, so it's important that we understand that we will mimic who we are around the most. You see, if we're around the Lord the most and around his people who are also in turn trying to reflect and imitate him, then we can do like Paul said, imitate me as I imitate Christ. You understand? But if you are out and around the world a lot, you will begin to act like and imitate and talk like the world. I understand you may work in the world, but remember you're not of the world. We're not to imitate or mimic the world, we're to imitate Christ. And that's the way we remain different. Whoever is born of God does not sin and practices righteousness. We are little children, 1 John 4, 6. We are of God. He who knows God hears us, 1 John 4, 7. Love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God. And we're talking about true biblical love. Now, look at John chapter 8, verse 41. John 8, verse 41. Because here, the Pharisees, they really slam Jesus. They say, we were not born of fornication. We have one father. They're saying their father is God. They're saying, because we're Jews, we're born of the seed of Abraham, then we have one God. And they're slamming Jesus by saying, we weren't born in fornication.

32:32 They're saying, obviously your mom fooled around on Joseph, and that's how you came here. You understand? Yeah. It's pretty bad. Now listen to what Jesus says to them. This is, imagine you're one of the disciples standing there or just someone standing by listening. You might at this time be like, wow, look at the time. I think I've got to go. Jesus says, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Because you were not able to listen to my word. you are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do he was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him when he speaks a lie he speaks from his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it but because i tell you the truth you do not believe me which of you convicts me of sin and if i tell you the truth why do you not believe me he who is of god hears god's words therefore you do not hear because you are not of God. Wow. Talk about getting torched. So the world lies under the influence of the wicked one. The word that's used here is the sway, which means to recline or be laid out.

33:50 It's like they're lounging in it. Like they have no problem with it, but they also don't understand the consequences of it. To be under the sway of the wicked one or the influence of the wicked when. Those without Christ are under his, that's the prince of the power of the air, his influence. Look at Ephesians 2.3. We're told here, you he made alive. That's us, believers, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world. You know, you were born with a certain software, let's say, and it was SIN 1.0. And as you grew, you migrated from 1.0 to 1.9 to 2.0 to 10.0. You know, you would get upgrades as you became more fluent in your sinning.

34:46 But the moment that you became born again, God overwrote that software by the Holy Spirit. And now, you start out as a brand new believer, look at it like heaven 1.0. And the more time you spend with Jesus, you get software updates regularly. Isn't that awesome? Every day that you spend with God in his word, through his word and by the Holy Spirit, you constantly are getting upgrades. Now you can downgrade sometimes. You know, if you just stop reading, you don't just stay where you are, you go backwards. It's called backsliding. So you wanna make sure that you're constantly moving forward. Look, even if it's just small incremental steps, because something's better than nothing. You understand? Small incremental steps. He says, you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air.

35:45 The spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we also once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But we're not anymore. You're not anymore. We're new. We have new software. We know where we're going to go when we die. And until we get there, we're trying to take as many people with us into heaven as we possibly can. When you look at the world around you, and you can't figure out why it's so bad, just understand, because the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one and they love it. They like it. They have no problem with it. You know, it's interesting, out of all of the religions in the world, this ought to tell you something. How does the LGBTQ movement support Islam? Does that make any sense to you? But we're the haters, the Christian, the Christian who actually loves them. And they're like, linking arms. It's like, well, I don't know if you've, and people are trying to get them to see, in other countries, they throw gay folks off of roofs to kill them. And here in the United States, it's like they don't have access to the news or the truth. And you're like, what's going on?

37:04 Why can't you see this? We love you. We're telling you the truth. We want you to come to your senses. We want you to come to the truth that you might be saved. We want you to go to heaven with us. Isn't that wild that we would want you in heaven with us? You don't even like us. You don't want to go have coffee with us, but we want you in heaven with us. Isn't that wild? How would that be?

37:31 Because we are no longer under the sway of the wicked one, who governs the kingdom of darkness with the power of darkness? Colossians 1.13 says that we have been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom, right? Spiritual blindness, moral corruption, satanic dominion, this is the character and the atmosphere of Satan's kingdom. Corruption, spiritual blindness, satanic dominion. How is it that so much satanic worship is on the rise? Because this is his kingdom. This is his world, temporarily, of course, right? but we're no longer under its influence and we're no longer under its control. And by the way, he blinds the minds of those who do not believe. If you are sitting in here and you've been, you know, like, well, I don't know, I'm checking this Christianity thing out, just know if you stay there and you go out those doors and you don't receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you don't come to your senses and a knowledge of the truth, then you go out and remain blind and it will get worse because he will do whatever he can to keep you right where you're at because the ultimate goal for Satan is to get you to go to hell when you die, to be separated from God for eternity.

38:45 But we love you so much, we want you to know that God loves you and he died on the cross for you and rose from the dead for you that you might have eternal life. And he's not asking you to change something in your life. He's saying come to him just as you are and he'll change you and give you a new life. And by the way, all the folks sitting around you in this room right now, we all were once as you are. We didn't just get born into this world and we're automatically going to heaven because we went to church. No, every one of us had to go the same way you are right now. That same struggle of wondering, is there really a God and does he really love me? The answer is yes. Yes, he loves you. so much so he interrupted my whole message to tell you because this is the thought going through your mind right now just so that you might know that there is a God he's answering you right now and you are amazed that this is happening you can't believe it but God loves you and he wants you in heaven with him and he's done everything necessary he only asks that you believe him isn't that wild he's not asking you to give a bunch of money or to go out and beat yourself flog yourself or do something that's nearly impossible although it can be very difficult to simply repent from your sins and to believe but that's what he's asking you to do today so that you don't remain here blinded by the god of this world because you don't have belief and then under this point the third thing is he has taken them as prisoners and by the way if you don't receive christ today you remain his prisoner satan's prisoner second timothy 2 24 says a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth and come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. Satan wants to keep you dead in your sins and your trespasses,

40:51 but God wants you to have a brand new life, to be conveyed from the power of darkness into the power of light, and to have the newness of life, to become a new creation in Christ so that you could know what real life is all about. You know, sometimes I think we do a poor job as Christians of explaining the benefits of being a Christian. It's not just, I know where I'm going when I die. It's also having the assurance while I live. It's also knowing while I live that I have a relationship with the loving God of the universe, that as his child, I'm loved. That is like the greatest thing. Is there anything greater than knowing that you're loved? No, nothing, nothing, right? Because if you thought nobody loved you, would you continue to want to live? Or at least it would be very difficult, right? If you thought nobody loved you. Point number three under the untouchables. Untouchable because we have an understanding. First John 5 20.

41:50 We know, here's the word again, we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. So let's look at four things we know under this, right? Number one, He says, we know the Son of God has come. This knowledge, when he says no, the knowledge is absolute, complete, and settled. Just like tomorrow, the sun is going to rise. It's settled. There's no debate about it, is there? None. I mean, someone said, well, what if the world blew up? It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. The sun's going to rise tomorrow. Now, you could not say with that same certainty that you will be here to see the sun rise tomorrow, could you? Nobody in this room can say that. I could say I'd like to believe that I will rise tomorrow to see the sun rise, but I don't know that for certain.

42:47 But I do know for certain the sun will rise tomorrow. In the same way, we know that the Son of God has come. Not even debatable. It's interesting because the atheists that have become believers that tried vehemently to disprove the resurrection ended up becoming believers because they could not deny the resurrection. there's enough evidence and a chain of evidence that you can't disprove it, period. Jesus rose from the dead, period. It's we know he rose from the dead, period. It's not even a question in my mind. Why? Because of the facts. Now, you could say, well, I don't know how much he loves me, but that's just because you don't know the word of God, because the fact is that In the same way we know Jesus rose from the dead, we know that God is love.

43:43 You see? Well, it's just, I don't know, I don't feel it. Do you feel like Jesus rose from the dead? Do you feel like gas prices should be $8? Do you feel like getting up in the morning sometimes? Like if we allowed what we feel to dictate truth, we would be like a lot of other people in the world today. Messed up. completely messed up because they're trying to align what they feel with truth and they can't they cannot so they change the truth to match their feelings and now they have a huge problem if we did that with physics i i feel like the plane shouldn't have wings like that yeah but the plane won't fly yeah but i just feel like it would look better are you going to fly on that airline no you're not because we want engineers who understand physics and science and laws of science to design things that go up in the sky or out on the water or down the freeway right we need people who live in absolutes and that's what this is talking about Job 19 verse 25, Job said, I know my Redeemer lives.

45:03 Not a doubt, not a question. I know my Redeemer lives. 2 Timothy 1, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. I know it. There's no debate about it. Then we see gives us an understanding. Now, in 2 Corinthians 3.17, it says, The Lord is spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord. Which means there's a process happening. I came to Christ at 19 years old. and I have over the years become more like him. I should say I look more like him now than I did at 19 years old.

46:00 But there might be some time in my life or on any given day you might say, well, you don't look as much today as you look like him the other day. But you could not say on that day that you didn't look as much like him. You definitely looked more like him than you did on the day that you came to Christ. You see, there's a progression happening. And as we're walking and living in this world and understanding his scripture, it's like we're going through this, we're seeing in a mirror dimly. But someday we will see everything as it is, perfectly, with perfect clarity, with HD like you've never experienced before. You think HD 8K is something? Have you been into the, I don't know, Best Buy or something and looked at the TVs or Costco and you see the TVs up there now. And you remember when they came out with a high-definition TV? Those of you that are old enough, do you remember the, was it four by three? Is that the square TVs we had? They weighed like 900 pounds.

47:01 Okay, my wife and I, we got one of those. It was 27 inches, I think. We got it with some honeymoon money and we got back to the apartment and I was like, this thing weighs about 150 pounds. I don't know how we're getting it upstairs, but we did. RCA TV, we got it upstairs, and we put it, and I was like, wow, this is the biggest TV I've ever owned. It was like that wide. I was like, it's like I feel immersed in the movie, but you remember how fuzzy everything was, and then all of a sudden, they came out with these flat screen TVs, and then the progression is just getting better, and better, and better. Now, if you go back, and you watch some of the shows that you watched back on that old TV, you're like wow it actually looks better than what it did on the tv because they shot it in a higher quality than it would actually produce on your tv but see you saw on your tv dimly but as it's progressed you've seen it clearer and clearer and clearer to the point that you're like i don't think that we should be getting this sharp and this clear anymore because wow those people have a lot of wrinkles and they put on too much makeup you can see the makeup line On that old fuzzy TV, it wasn't so apparent.

48:09 But now, see, that's with us. The more time that you spend with Jesus, the clearer and clearer things get. The more time you spend in God's word, you marinate in his word, and you begin to see things clearer. And you have more hope. And you don't look at the world around you and lose hope. You look at the world around you and say, man, Jesus is coming soon. Maybe today. So he's given us an understanding that we may know him. Knowledge, this knowledge, is knowledge that grows deeper by experience. God has revealed himself to us through his word and not only his desire for our lives. Look at Hosea 6 verse 3. It says, let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning. he will come to us like the rain, like the latter and the former rain to the earth.

49:05 Isn't that great? Psalm 46.10, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted among the earth. We just need to be still and to know that. Be still and remember that. As crazy as things are getting in the world, he is going to be exalted. Job said, I know my Redeemer lives. And he also said, I know one day he will stand on the earth. Jesus is coming again, and he's going to stand on this earth, and he's going to rule and reign from Israel. He's going to rule and reign with a rod of iron, and they will beat their swords into plowshares. They will not learn war anymore.

49:48 The whole world will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. and it will be a time of peace, a time for us as believers. It's gonna be very different. We'll be in resurrected bodies. I can't even imagine what that's gonna be like. I've wondered, like, how do we get around the earth? Do we just, like, think, like, well, let's see. I wanna go to Israel today. And you're just like, you're in Israel? Like, I don't know how it's gonna work, but you can imagine, right? We're gonna have a resurrected new body. Like, when Jesus had a resurrected new body, he appeared and disappeared. He came in and ate with the guys and then turn around and walk through a wall? Are we going to be able to do, this says in the Bible, when we see him, we'll be like him. Is that what it means? Does it mean, and don't go out here and say, Shadrach said we're going to be able to eat fish tacos and walk through walls. I am saying, I don't know, but we can think and wonder, right? Use your imagination. What will it be like? What will we be like to the people born naturally on the earth?

50:45 What are we going to look like? It's going to be interesting, isn't it? But this I know. my Redeemer lives, and one day, I know that for a fact, but as I live and I grow, I'm constantly learning His Word, and I'm constantly learning new things, which enables me to trust Him more. You see, as I read His Word, and I spend time with Him, and then I go through things in life, and I learn to let go, and I learn to trust Him, it becomes easier, and the next time around, when I see the trial coming, I don't have to get all flustered. You look, this morning, I wanted to just go right back home. Got out of the car, my water bottle got ejected, brand new Yeti water bottle, went right out of the car, started rolling. I picked it up and I had a plate in my hand that I had eggs in this morning and I like them a little runny. And so I had folded it and put it in the door of the car. I had that, my coffee cup, picked up my water bottle, grabbed this nice jacket, which you now see, and I don't even know how it got egg all over it. I egged myself this morning. You're like, well, that's funny. I was going to egg you after service.

51:51 Too late. I already egged myself. And you know what I thought? I thought, I should just get back in the car and go home. But you know what I knew immediately? I was like, man, just think of how quick I could be like, that's it. I quit over something so stupid. You know, we all go through that. But you know what? I was like, okay, Lord, this is what I did. Lord, I know you want to do something today. and for whatever reason and I don't know why you want to use me to do it because if I was picking people I wouldn't pick me I'd pick someone else as a matter of fact if there was a line of us and you said which one of you should do I'd say well pick one of them well they can't even talk well give them a typewriter then This knowledge grows deeper by experience and over time, right? And we know that we are in him.

52:44 Not we will be or we were, but we are. We are in him. Now, the Apostle Paul uses the exact phrase in Christ 80 to 85 times in his writing. If you combine in Christ with closely associated phrases like in him, in the Lord, in Christ Jesus, etc., it's between 160 and 165 times. Do you think that God wants you to know where you sit or where you stand as a believer? Do you think he wants you walking around wondering if you're a child of God? I mean, growing up, okay, my last name is Means. I'll use me as an example. If I did something dumb and I got in trouble, I didn't run to my dad and go, am I still a Means? are you gonna kick me out of the family now how many of you are parents yeah have your kids done stupid stuff oh yeah have they ever sinned oh yeah did they ever do something you told them not to do oh a lot did you say you know what that's it come on we're going to the courthouse what for I'm kidding you're getting your last name changed you're not my kid anymore now obviously it's very sad there are people who get emancipated because there are some really bad people out there but by and large if you grow up even with a kind of loving family the last thing anybody ever thought was we're removing you from the family my mom and dad never did and I never run around having to ask my mom Mom, do you still love me? Mom, do you still love me? Mom, do you still love me?

54:11 I knew my mom and dad loved me. It was never a question in my mind. Then why do we question God in this way? Who knew us before we ever even came to him. He knew us before he even made the world. Knew who you were, knew what you were going to do, knows what you're capable of. You don't even know what you're capable of. But he does.

54:32 Isn't that wild? That's called unconditional love. It's love with no strings attached. You and I cannot comprehend that because we cannot love in this way. Because we have strings attached. As much as you want to think that you love unconditionally, you and I, I don't even think, are fully capable of that. Even with God's help. Because we love with strings attached. We love those who love us. We greet those who greet us. But do we greet those who don't greet us? Do we go out of our way to minister to and love on those who can give us nothing in return? would we say to somebody if we saw, oh, that's so-and-so, oh, here, you come sit here, and to the other person, oh, we don't know you, we've never seen you before, you go sit in the back. or would we extend unconditional love? Would we imitate our Father in heaven as dear children?

55:35 This is the true God and eternal life. Jesus is God. Isaiah 7, 14, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. Isaiah 9, verse 6, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, notice Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. John 1, 1, In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And for those that you may hear claim Jesus never claimed to be God. They said, Jesus never claimed to be God, therefore I don't believe he's God. Here's Jesus claiming to be God in John chapter 10 verse 30. He said, I and my father are one. You're like, well that doesn't sound like a claim to be God. Oh yeah, look at what the Jews did.

56:31 They took up stones to stone him. Then he says, many good works I have shown you from my father. For which of those do you stone me? The Jews answered, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy because you, being a man, make yourself God. Jesus is God. Therefore, we have two closing points. Therefore, know what you believe. Know what you believe and know why you believe it and be able to defend it. One day, a preacher asked a man, what do you believe? The man said, well, I believe the same as the church. And what does the church believe? Well, the man said, I suppose they believe the same as me. Seeing he was getting nowhere, this is attributed to Whitfield, so that's why Whitfield's in there. Whether he said it or not is not provable. He says, and what is it that you both believe? Well, I suppose the same thing. You know how many people go to church like that?

57:24 What do you believe? What the church believes. What does the church believe? What I believe. What do you both believe? The same thing. Know what you believe. Why do you believe it? One of the best things Pastor Jack ever said to me early on staff, we were talking about the doctrine of the rapture, and he said to me, don't believe it because I believe it. Believe it because the Bible teaches it. And I said, I do believe it because the Bible teaches it. So I happen to be in agreement with you on that, and I, in 23 years, have not found a single doctrine that I disagree with him on in the entirety of the Bible.

57:59 So I believe it because the Bible teaches it. You must believe it because the Bible teaches it. But once you believe, you can know that you have eternal life. This is the key. Because he says in 1 John 5, 13, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. He doesn't want you walking around wondering if you're going to go to heaven when you die. He wants you to know it. You know, when you know something, you're absolutely confident and certain of it. And when you talk to others, you talk to them with a certainty and a confidence because you know it. If you don't know it and you're like, yeah, I don't know, I think so. I mean, might, maybe, right? You ever gone and bought a car and you start asking questions about the car? Can this car do this?

58:50 And the salesman's like, oh, I don't know. Well, get me a salesman who knows. I have a question, man. because I'm thinking about everything, right? But if you're just like, oh, I just need a car that drives. I don't care what it does. Then you will know all of the things that it has. You know, I found out in one of our vehicles, just because I turned it on, it has cruise control. You're like, well, most cars have since like the 1950s, but no, no, no, this is different. So I have a 2018 vehicle and a 2023 vehicle. My 2018 vehicle has cruise control. It will not automatically brake. So I can't just sit there with my foot off the brake in traffic and cruise control. I'll rear in the car in front of me. But the 2023 car can also slow down. But not only slow down, it will stop. And then when the vehicle in front of me pulls forward, it will pull forward. That's pretty amazing. I didn't think to ask that, but I found that out later. It's like when you're born again and you have no idea all of the wonderful things waiting for you and what it means to be a child of God, and you find out. And then I was driving one day and Matt was driving with me and he's like, oh, see this button right here? This is a hold button. When you come up to a light, you just push the hold button each time you get in the car. Right when you get in, you push the hold button, and then every time you stop, you're at the light, you just take your foot off the gas, and the car will stay break for you. What? What is this witchcraft? It's a sorcery driving my car.

1:00:32 You see? It's like, I had no idea. I didn't know what the hold button was. I saw it, and I was like, I don't know what that means. I didn't think to look it up. I didn't really care. Once he told me, I still forget. It's like that with the Word of God. Sometimes, you know, you're learning stuff, And then pretty soon you're like, oh, wait, I forgot. I'm going to heaven when I die. Oh, yeah. Life is hard, but I'm going to heaven. You know, sometimes if that's what it takes, great. Great. Once you believe, you know you have eternal life. So in Ephesians 6, 17 and 1 Thessalonians 5, 8 to 11, there's a mention of the helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation is knowing you're saved. You put on a helmet to protect your brains. And this way, you put it on the helmet of salvation to guard what you think. To know that you're saved keeps you from living in that area of, I don't know if I'm going to go to heaven or not because of what I just did.

1:01:27 But see, then we're making salvation about what we do or we don't do. Oh, I didn't sin, therefore I'm going to heaven. Oh, I sinned, oh, I guess I'm not going to heaven. You think God's up in the sky with a big eraser? Like, ah, ah, erase their name. Oh, oh, oh, they repented. Write it back, quick. I didn't even get the whole name out. They did it again. Erase it. It's not what the Bible teaches. And then the last one here is, therefore, keep yourselves from idols. This seems so out of place. Because all of a sudden, he just ends, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

1:02:04 We went from all this knowing to all of a sudden just bam. Oh, you know why? Because it's what you know to what you do. It's the way it works. Okay, this is what you know. Now this is what you go do. So you're going to be burped out these doors in just a moment, but before you go out, you're going to remember this, you're going to keep yourselves from idols. Look at 1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Notice he says that in connection with the temptation. Colossians 3.5, Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

1:02:58 In the New Living Translation, it says, Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the things of this world. Don't get caught up worshiping things in this world. You know why? because he's a jealous God. He's an all-consuming fire and he loves you with a pure and a holy love. And he doesn't want to share your attention because he's in love with you.

1:03:23 When you get a chance, go and read Song of Solomon chapter 8 when the Shulamite talks about this love, this jealous love demanding as the grave. she says to Solomon set me as a seal upon your arm and what she's saying to Solomon is love me and never go after another woman you know it's sad because Solomon was warned just like all the children of Israel not to intermarry or go after all of these other women because their hearts would be led astray and the Bible says Solomon loved many foreign women 700 wives and 300 concubines and his heart left the Lord is God and he wasn't faithful in the end and then to add insult to injury he set up false idols and he began to worship and sacrifice to demons you see how he ended was worse than how he began because when he began when he was small in his own eyes he said I don't know anything When God said, what shall I give you?

1:04:30 He asked for wisdom. He said, I'm just a young man and I don't understand. And God said, not only will I give you wisdom, but since you didn't ask for it, I'll also give you riches. And he gave him fame. But in the end, it was women. Women is what destroyed him. And we're told to keep ourselves from idolatry. And John, as he wraps up, says, keep yourselves from idolatry. and I will tell you this in closing, loving God will keep you from idolatry. Loving him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind will keep you from idolatry because you will keep your eyes on him. When you love someone, you don't want to hurt them. Truly love them. You keep your eyes on loving them, not on hurting them and so in this way, when you walk out these doors, you need to keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.

1:05:37 And who is the joy that was set before him? When you have a chance, go look in the mirror. You're the joy that was set before him. Father, we come before you and we thank you because we do not deserve, we cannot earn this love that we know that you have exhibited for us. This love that you have for us as your children.

1:06:12 That we should live and walk in the newness of life that we would put the past behind us. As Paul said, one thing I do, I forget the things that are behind and then I press toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Lord, may your people do that today. As we close in a song of worship, may they be reminded that you are high and lifted up and that you love them. And may they go out and simply live in that love. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we bring you glory with all that we say, think, and do. In Jesus' name we pray.