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[88.66 --> 93.86] If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie, and we do not |
[93.86 --> 94.76] live out the truth. |
[94.76 --> 99.52] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, |
[99.76 --> 103.18] and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. |
[104.14 --> 108.72] If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. |
[109.28 --> 114.66] If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify |
[114.66 --> 116.36] us from all unrighteousness. |
[116.36 --> 123.00] If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. |
[123.90 --> 128.22] My dear children, I write this so that you will not sin. |
[128.96 --> 134.56] But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous |
[134.56 --> 134.96] one. |
[135.56 --> 141.42] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours, but also for the sins of |
[141.42 --> 142.42] the whole world. |
[142.98 --> 143.92] This is God's word. |
[146.36 --> 149.76] Let me just remind us where we're coming from in this series. |
[150.44 --> 153.94] We have been saying from the beginning of this Lent series that the life of the church, |
[154.06 --> 159.62] the life of believers, is not one of passive comfort, passive safety. |
[159.84 --> 160.66] It's one of battle. |
[161.40 --> 166.28] It's one of battling the flesh, battling the idols of our culture, and battling Satan's |
[166.28 --> 166.72] temptation. |
[167.50 --> 170.88] And this morning, I'm going to continue where Sid started last week by looking at the way |
[170.88 --> 172.58] in which we battle against the flesh. |
[172.58 --> 178.34] Now, this week, I happened to be listening to a podcast by a woman named Rebecca McLaughlin. |
[179.14 --> 181.24] She wrote a book called Confronting Christianity. |
[181.38 --> 183.64] In fact, I think one of our small groups is working through that book. |
[183.94 --> 186.82] And she has a podcast that actually works its way through the questions. |
[187.26 --> 190.52] And they're all these big questions that people ask about the Christian faith. |
[191.10 --> 194.80] The question that she was tackling in the podcast and the book is this. |
[194.80 --> 200.36] And she asked another professor this one, why is it that God doesn't save everyone? |
[201.14 --> 206.18] Why isn't salvation just everyone's to have and everyone gets into heaven at the end, so |
[206.18 --> 206.62] to speak? |
[207.98 --> 209.62] And then she posed this to the professor. |
[209.72 --> 213.28] I'm not going to go into his very nuanced response, but I thought his initial response |
[213.28 --> 214.68] was so perceptive. |
[215.32 --> 217.04] He said, you know, I get that question a lot. |
[217.68 --> 221.80] A lot of people, when they're engaging Christianity, they think, well, what's this limited salvation |
[221.80 --> 222.00] thing? |
[222.00 --> 224.08] Why isn't everyone just get to be saved? |
[224.52 --> 227.28] And he said, what's behind the question is two assumptions. |
[227.44 --> 230.90] Number one, that God is a loving God, but we forget about His justice. |
[231.00 --> 235.68] But number two, and more to the point of this series, we often think of humans as good and |
[235.68 --> 238.22] loving people who have nothing but good for the world. |
[238.54 --> 243.04] And he said, if you read through the biblical account of how the human nature is described, |
[243.56 --> 244.86] he said, it's not good news. |
[245.22 --> 249.66] Ever since Genesis 3, there's a rebellious heart, there's twisted desires, there's destructive |
[249.66 --> 250.04] habits. |
[250.04 --> 252.72] There's a rejection of God's ways in the world. |
[253.04 --> 255.52] And he said, a better way to frame the question is this. |
[256.20 --> 261.92] In light of the human nature, our rebellious hearts, why would God save anyone? |
[263.34 --> 265.88] Then in the course of the conversation, Rebecca made this comment. |
[265.98 --> 268.16] It's actually just been working its way in my head ever since. |
[268.22 --> 273.60] She said, you know, I'm convinced that every friendship would die within a week if we could |
[273.60 --> 274.88] read each other's thoughts. |
[274.88 --> 277.54] What do you think? |
[279.30 --> 280.80] It's a good thing we don't have that, right? |
[281.72 --> 284.98] There's a sense in which if people really knew what was going on in your heart and your |
[284.98 --> 288.90] mind, your imagination and your desires, like marriages would fracture, friendships would |
[288.90 --> 295.40] fall apart, family systems would go into disarray because we know how much brokenness and distorted |
[295.40 --> 298.20] stuff just rattles around the imagination and the heart. |
[298.20 --> 302.14] We know if we're honest with ourselves how bad it is. |
[303.82 --> 305.88] John wants to talk about that. |
[306.58 --> 312.06] He wants us to circle around this question of like the sinful nature, the nature of self-deception, |
[312.06 --> 315.72] and maybe more importantly, we're going to focus the second half of our time together on this. |
[315.72 --> 322.02] What do we do once we become somewhat aware of the mess within, the distorted desires, the |
[322.02 --> 323.84] very destructive habits? |
[323.92 --> 324.92] What do we do with those? |
[325.64 --> 326.88] John's got good news for us. |
[328.02 --> 331.50] Now, one of the things I love about John, and I think we're going to come back to this in |
[331.50 --> 335.52] a sermon series because I was just like drinking up the richness of this book, and the little |
[335.52 --> 338.94] Johns at the back of the Bible, you know, first, second, third John, they get neglected. |
[339.54 --> 345.10] But you need to know that his big aim is that Christians have fellowship with God. |
[345.10 --> 351.56] Like what John sees is so rich about the gospel is that Jesus brings people into deep, meaningful, |
[351.80 --> 354.82] active fellowship with the living God. |
[355.54 --> 360.50] We were created for a rich, conversational relating to our Heavenly Father, and I hope |
[360.50 --> 364.70] we never get tired of talking about this and worshiping a God who wants to be known. |
[365.62 --> 368.12] He's not some wooden, disinterested deity at a distance. |
[368.48 --> 373.56] He's a loving Father who reveals His heart, who reveals His love, who reveals His grace. |
[373.56 --> 375.30] That's at the heart of Christianity. |
[376.18 --> 380.38] And the reason sin matters so much in John is that it breaks fellowship. |
[381.42 --> 383.56] You know this in your family, in your marriage, with your kids. |
[383.90 --> 388.80] When something sinful happens, when trust is broken, there's a rupture in that relationship. |
[388.96 --> 391.58] There's a distance that is created by that act of sin. |
[391.76 --> 392.54] Fellowship is broken. |
[392.94 --> 394.80] And the same is true with our relationship with God. |
[395.66 --> 397.36] Sin destroys fellowship. |
[397.36 --> 403.64] Now, the specific reason John writes this book is because there is a group in the church |
[403.64 --> 404.50] of false teachers. |
[405.32 --> 407.60] They're described, the fancy name for them is early Gnostics. |
[407.98 --> 410.28] They sort of have gone beyond the teaching of Jesus. |
[410.52 --> 414.70] They have spiritual experiences and emerging philosophies that sort of relegate the scriptures |
[414.70 --> 415.32] to secondary. |
[415.90 --> 419.52] They've got all sorts of ideas, and they're shaping and influencing and bringing Christians |
[419.52 --> 421.32] away from the truth of Jesus. |
[421.32 --> 429.02] And these false teachers make some huge, bold claims that John is very ready to respond |
[429.02 --> 429.86] to and speak into. |
[429.92 --> 431.60] He's got some strong words about these claims. |
[431.70 --> 435.08] And so we're going to look at them in order, and then we're going to look at John's antidote, |
[435.18 --> 437.74] as you might say, to what we do with the sin within. |
[439.10 --> 440.48] Look at verse 6 with me. |
[441.24 --> 443.48] In verse 6, this is what John says, if we claim. |
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