1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,160 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,990 Well, all right, we're going to go ahead and continue our Bible 10 00:00:27,990 --> 00:00:29,470 study here in First John. 11 00:00:29,470 --> 00:00:32,630 So if you have your Bibles, turn there with me. 12 00:00:32,630 --> 00:00:34,110 First John, chapter five. 13 00:00:34,190 --> 00:00:40,230 We left off at verse number 12 last week, and what verse number 14 00:00:40,230 --> 00:00:48,510 12 was telling us is how we as humans can find life, not just life 15 00:00:48,510 --> 00:00:52,200 that we talk about right now with living and breathing but everlasting 16 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:52,440 life. 17 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,600 And he's talking here in First John about having a, a knowledge 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,400 of who God is, but more than just a knowledge of who God is, having 19 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,360 a personal relationship with him. 20 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,960 And so the, the book of First John is all about fellowship, fellowship 21 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:07,560 with God. 22 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,320 And then when we have that relationship with God in our salvation, 23 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,040 it will be manifested by our fellowship with others, other believers. 24 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,240 And so fellowship with God and fellowship with others. 25 00:01:19,970 --> 00:01:23,490 And so here in this passage, he's concluding his thoughts with 26 00:01:23,490 --> 00:01:28,490 the understanding of reminding us who has that type of confidence, 27 00:01:28,490 --> 00:01:31,930 who has that type of fellowship, who has that type of 28 00:01:31,930 --> 00:01:32,170 hope. 29 00:01:32,170 --> 00:01:37,810 And verse 12, he that hath the son hath life, and he that hath not 30 00:01:37,810 --> 00:01:39,170 the Son hath not life. 31 00:01:39,650 --> 00:01:44,450 So he makes it very clear that the person who puts his or her faith 32 00:01:44,450 --> 00:01:49,340 in Jesus Christ and him alone for salvation is the one who has 33 00:01:49,340 --> 00:01:50,300 received life. 34 00:01:50,780 --> 00:01:54,740 If you want to cross reference that passage, you could look in the 35 00:01:54,740 --> 00:01:55,660 Gospel of John. 36 00:01:55,980 --> 00:01:59,060 It's amazing how the Gospel of John ties together right in with 37 00:01:59,060 --> 00:02:00,020 first, second and Third John. 38 00:02:00,020 --> 00:02:03,220 But if you look at the Gospel of John and you look at a John, chapter 39 00:02:03,220 --> 00:02:10,140 one, verse number 12, we see the same reiteration of the fact 40 00:02:10,140 --> 00:02:14,280 that those who believe, those who receive those are the ones who 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,600 are adopted into the family of God. 42 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,080 So for Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 12. 43 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:24,800 But as many as received him to them gave he power to be the sons 44 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,240 of God, even to them that believe on his name. 45 00:02:29,039 --> 00:02:33,040 And so it's this idea that it's not just somebody who has good 46 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:33,680 intentions. 47 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,960 It's not just someone who is a good person, who does good works 48 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,930 or goes to church or, or tries to give money to a good cause. 49 00:02:42,090 --> 00:02:46,770 It says very clearly here in First John, those who can start in 50 00:02:46,770 --> 00:02:49,050 that fellowship with God must start in faith. 51 00:02:49,370 --> 00:02:51,970 Faith is the Starting point to having fellowship with God. 52 00:02:51,970 --> 00:02:55,410 It's not the end because many of us believe that, hey, you know 53 00:02:55,410 --> 00:02:55,570 what? 54 00:02:55,570 --> 00:02:57,730 I've trusted in Jesus and now I'm good now. 55 00:02:57,730 --> 00:02:58,970 I don't need to change anything. 56 00:02:59,130 --> 00:03:01,010 That's, that's in our human nature, what we believe. 57 00:03:01,010 --> 00:03:03,650 We believe sometimes, well, I've got my ticket to heaven now. 58 00:03:03,650 --> 00:03:04,490 I can just coast. 59 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:06,600 But the Bible says no, there's something else. 60 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,560 Because now that we have faith in God, we have access to God. 61 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,560 Hebrews chapter four tells us that we have access to God in that 62 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:14,280 relationship. 63 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,280 And now it's that growth process. 64 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,040 So we have salvation that that starts that relationship. 65 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,880 And then we have something called sanctification, that is that 66 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,840 spiritual growth that happens after our justification, after our 67 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:27,640 transformation. 68 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,030 And so he says, he that hath the Son hath life, everlasting life. 69 00:03:32,590 --> 00:03:34,070 You guys know John 3:16? 70 00:03:34,070 --> 00:03:36,510 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 71 00:03:36,510 --> 00:03:39,950 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting 72 00:03:39,950 --> 00:03:40,270 life. 73 00:03:40,430 --> 00:03:44,350 And so he's talking about not just having a good life now, even 74 00:03:44,350 --> 00:03:47,870 though being a believer does bring confidence and does bring hope, 75 00:03:48,750 --> 00:03:50,910 it doesn't necessarily bring good circumstances. 76 00:03:51,070 --> 00:03:53,710 I wish I could tell you that if you trust in Jesus Christ today, 77 00:03:54,110 --> 00:03:56,550 everything in your life is just become smooth. 78 00:03:56,550 --> 00:03:57,350 It's going to be easy. 79 00:03:57,350 --> 00:03:58,590 But that's not what the Bible teaches. 80 00:03:59,380 --> 00:04:01,740 But the Bible doesn't teach that, hey, once I get saved, all 81 00:04:01,740 --> 00:04:03,260 my circumstances will be okay. 82 00:04:03,260 --> 00:04:06,540 But it does teach that once I'm saved and I have that relationship 83 00:04:06,540 --> 00:04:09,500 with God, no matter what my circumstances are, I have hope in 84 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:12,740 him because of the confidence that I have in my everlasting life 85 00:04:12,900 --> 00:04:16,740 and in his presence and his power and his provisions in my life 86 00:04:16,740 --> 00:04:18,100 now as a child of the King. 87 00:04:18,820 --> 00:04:22,580 So what we're looking at here tonight is a verse that I take is 88 00:04:22,580 --> 00:04:23,700 one of my favorite verses. 89 00:04:23,700 --> 00:04:27,230 Because this verse is a passage of scripture that we can 90 00:04:27,230 --> 00:04:30,910 point people to to say that the Bible says that we can have confidence 91 00:04:30,910 --> 00:04:31,310 in him. 92 00:04:31,310 --> 00:04:33,630 We can know that we have everlasting life. 93 00:04:33,950 --> 00:04:37,510 I don't know if any of you have ever talked to somebody and 94 00:04:37,510 --> 00:04:40,030 maybe you were talking about eternal things, maybe you're talking 95 00:04:40,030 --> 00:04:40,750 about salvation. 96 00:04:40,750 --> 00:04:43,390 Maybe you were even trying to share the gospel with somebody. 97 00:04:44,110 --> 00:04:48,270 And they said, well, how could I really know for sure if I'm going 98 00:04:48,270 --> 00:04:48,830 to heaven? 99 00:04:48,910 --> 00:04:50,240 How could I really. 100 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,680 No, I, I, I hope that I'm going to heaven one day. 101 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,120 I, I hope that God will smile upon me and, and forgive me of my 102 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:57,400 sins. 103 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,800 But I, I don't really know how we could know a hundred percent, 104 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,160 with 100% certainty that I'm going to heaven. 105 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,720 Well, verse 13 tells us in, in First John, chapter 5, these things 106 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:09,960 have I written unto you. 107 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:13,080 And so he's referencing all the things that are here in First 108 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,120 John, all the things about who Jesus is, what he has done, what 109 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:18,360 it means to have faith in him. 110 00:05:18,700 --> 00:05:22,300 And he says, these things have I written unto you that believe on 111 00:05:22,620 --> 00:05:23,980 the name of the Son of God. 112 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:27,500 So he reiterates, this is written to Christians. 113 00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:29,980 This is written to people who believe in God. 114 00:05:30,220 --> 00:05:32,260 So we need to stop here. 115 00:05:32,260 --> 00:05:35,420 This is not a confidence for every single person that walks this 116 00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:35,820 earth. 117 00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:39,660 This is, this is not a type of confidence that can be extended to 118 00:05:39,660 --> 00:05:43,820 somebody who does not believe in Jesus who is living his or her 119 00:05:43,820 --> 00:05:47,240 life in the flesh, living his or her life in rebellion. 120 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:51,400 And, and so he says this type of confidence that you're about to 121 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:55,640 hear about comes through those that believe on the name of the Son 122 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:56,120 of God. 123 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,000 And so John is basically expressing his confidence in God 124 00:06:01,639 --> 00:06:04,400 and he says, this is my confidence in God, and this is the 125 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:07,200 type of confidence that you should have in God when you trust 126 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:07,720 in him. 127 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,400 And so he's stating a, a very plain message, and he's trying to 128 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,400 persuade the reader here that is, is. 129 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,960 Is believing in Jesus, that they can be confident, that they 130 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,360 can have assurance in what God has said when it comes to our salvation. 131 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,520 And so we need to hear the gospel message initially. 132 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:29,760 And I think a lot of times what happens with Christians is we 133 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,120 think that the gospel is for people who are not saved. 134 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,560 And once we're saved, now we don't need the gospel, but we need 135 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,920 to be reminded of the gospel on a regular basis. 136 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,010 Even if we've been saved for 50 years, we need to be reminded 137 00:06:41,010 --> 00:06:41,610 of the gospel. 138 00:06:41,610 --> 00:06:41,890 Why? 139 00:06:41,890 --> 00:06:46,850 Because sometimes we're tempted to doubt things about God's 140 00:06:46,850 --> 00:06:47,090 word. 141 00:06:47,090 --> 00:06:50,730 Sometimes we're tempted to doubt, maybe you've never doubted 142 00:06:50,730 --> 00:06:51,930 this, but some people have. 143 00:06:52,090 --> 00:06:53,450 They've doubted their salvation. 144 00:06:53,450 --> 00:06:55,090 They've doubted if they've done enough. 145 00:06:55,090 --> 00:06:56,770 They've doubted if they've lost it. 146 00:06:56,770 --> 00:07:01,010 They've doubted if this sin has caused a division between God 147 00:07:01,010 --> 00:07:01,770 and, and man. 148 00:07:01,770 --> 00:07:05,410 And so what we see here in this case is that he says, no, remember 149 00:07:05,410 --> 00:07:07,370 what your salvation is based off of. 150 00:07:08,350 --> 00:07:10,910 Your salvation is not based off of your good works. 151 00:07:11,150 --> 00:07:13,510 You were not saved by your good works, and you don't keep your 152 00:07:13,510 --> 00:07:14,910 salvation by your good works. 153 00:07:15,390 --> 00:07:19,190 You're not saved by being a person who is a member of A church, 154 00:07:19,190 --> 00:07:21,870 you're saved through faith in Jesus Christ. 155 00:07:23,150 --> 00:07:26,990 And so John's confidence here is the confidence that all believers 156 00:07:26,990 --> 00:07:27,470 should have. 157 00:07:27,550 --> 00:07:31,150 And he wants us to know that we have eternal life. 158 00:07:31,150 --> 00:07:32,510 Remember that word confidence. 159 00:07:32,510 --> 00:07:36,370 We're going to talk about that here in a few minutes, but remember 160 00:07:36,370 --> 00:07:38,130 that word confidence, because we're going to come back to that. 161 00:07:38,130 --> 00:07:41,090 But he says, these things have I written unto you that believe on 162 00:07:41,090 --> 00:07:45,330 the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal 163 00:07:45,330 --> 00:07:48,090 life, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. 164 00:07:48,090 --> 00:07:50,970 So he says, it's not a guessing game, it's not a wish. 165 00:07:50,970 --> 00:07:53,370 It's not crossing my fingers and hoping. 166 00:07:53,370 --> 00:07:56,170 By the way, when the Bible uses the word hope, it's not talking 167 00:07:56,170 --> 00:07:58,890 about crossing our fingers and saying, well, maybe this is going 168 00:07:58,890 --> 00:07:59,290 to happen. 169 00:07:59,450 --> 00:08:02,340 Because in, in our English language, when we use the word hope, 170 00:08:02,340 --> 00:08:06,500 sometimes there's a lack of certainty, like, I hope that it doesn't 171 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:09,580 rain tomorrow, and it may rain or it might not rain, depending on 172 00:08:09,580 --> 00:08:10,460 the weather forecast. 173 00:08:10,460 --> 00:08:11,540 And sometimes that's wrong. 174 00:08:11,700 --> 00:08:14,340 Actually, most of the time the weather forecast is wrong. 175 00:08:14,500 --> 00:08:16,660 And so we can have hope in something in this world. 176 00:08:16,660 --> 00:08:20,020 And that we understand means like, well, maybe that will happen, 177 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:21,060 maybe that won't happen. 178 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:24,700 But biblical hope, if you dig deeper into the meaning of biblical 179 00:08:24,700 --> 00:08:27,900 hope, it's a confident expectation that God is going to 180 00:08:27,900 --> 00:08:28,580 keep his word. 181 00:08:29,290 --> 00:08:32,330 A confident expectation that God is going to keep his word. 182 00:08:32,330 --> 00:08:35,330 So when we say that we have hope in God, what we are basically 183 00:08:35,330 --> 00:08:36,090 saying is this. 184 00:08:36,090 --> 00:08:40,730 We confidently believe that God is going to do what he says he 185 00:08:40,730 --> 00:08:41,210 will do. 186 00:08:41,770 --> 00:08:45,970 And so he says these things, I write to you so that you can have 187 00:08:45,970 --> 00:08:47,130 confidence in God. 188 00:08:47,530 --> 00:08:51,450 Now, that word confidence is a word that we get in our English language 189 00:08:51,450 --> 00:08:52,610 from a Latin word. 190 00:08:52,610 --> 00:08:56,510 Two words, confide, con, meaning with fide, meaning faith. 191 00:08:56,510 --> 00:08:59,790 It essentially means to be with faith, to live with faith, to 192 00:08:59,950 --> 00:09:01,150 stand in our faith. 193 00:09:01,150 --> 00:09:04,310 And so he says, here, I've written you these things, not so 194 00:09:04,310 --> 00:09:07,790 that you can just read it and check a box, but I've written this 195 00:09:07,790 --> 00:09:10,870 to you so that you can come back to it and have confidence when 196 00:09:10,870 --> 00:09:12,430 you're tempted to doubt, when you have. 197 00:09:12,510 --> 00:09:14,030 When you have those feelings. 198 00:09:14,030 --> 00:09:16,750 And by the way, sometimes feelings will dictate our. 199 00:09:17,070 --> 00:09:20,830 Our beliefs, sometimes feelings will dictate our emotions. 200 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,760 And sometimes our feelings will tell us. 201 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,360 Though feelings are valid, feelings aren't necessarily objectively 202 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:29,040 always true. 203 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,560 And sometimes circumstances can happen to drive our feelings 204 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:34,760 to a place where we're doubting whether or not God loves 205 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:39,080 us or whether or not God is even there or whether or not we're 206 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:39,680 even saved. 207 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,120 And so what he's basically telling us in this passage is this. 208 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,600 Don't go by what the world is telling you. 209 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,140 Don't go by what your flesh is telling you. 210 00:09:48,140 --> 00:09:49,900 Don't even go by what your heart is telling you. 211 00:09:49,900 --> 00:09:52,500 Because a lot of people will say this, well, just trust your heart. 212 00:09:52,500 --> 00:09:54,500 What is your heart telling you right now in this moment? 213 00:09:54,900 --> 00:09:55,820 And that sounds good. 214 00:09:55,820 --> 00:09:57,620 That sounds like a good tagline for a movie. 215 00:09:57,620 --> 00:09:58,420 Trust your heart. 216 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:02,100 But the Bible says in the book of Jeremiah that your heart is desperately 217 00:10:02,100 --> 00:10:02,580 wicked. 218 00:10:02,659 --> 00:10:05,940 It will deceive you because it's made of flesh. 219 00:10:06,260 --> 00:10:08,340 And so what do we go to for our confidence? 220 00:10:08,340 --> 00:10:11,820 What do we go to when we're tempted to doubt, when we're tempted 221 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:12,580 to be confused? 222 00:10:12,740 --> 00:10:14,100 We go back to the Word. 223 00:10:14,100 --> 00:10:17,380 We go back to the objective truth that never changes. 224 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:18,420 We, we. 225 00:10:18,420 --> 00:10:20,900 We go back to God and His power. 226 00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:22,980 And we realize that God never fails. 227 00:10:23,300 --> 00:10:26,260 We realize that God is not going to separate us from his love. 228 00:10:26,340 --> 00:10:29,100 We realize that God is never going to leave us nor forsake us. 229 00:10:29,100 --> 00:10:30,420 And so what he says here is this. 230 00:10:30,500 --> 00:10:32,780 Go back to what is written. 231 00:10:32,780 --> 00:10:35,060 Go back to the Word for your confidence. 232 00:10:35,860 --> 00:10:40,660 If any of us here or those that are watching online have been 233 00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:45,510 tempted to doubt your salvation, don't go to your feelings 234 00:10:45,510 --> 00:10:46,070 right now. 235 00:10:47,030 --> 00:10:48,550 Don't go to your circumstances. 236 00:10:48,550 --> 00:10:50,510 Go to what you put your faith in. 237 00:10:50,510 --> 00:10:54,470 In the initial part, what was the initial thing that saved you? 238 00:10:54,630 --> 00:10:55,710 Faith in Jesus Christ. 239 00:10:55,710 --> 00:10:59,390 For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. 240 00:10:59,390 --> 00:11:02,070 It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 241 00:11:02,470 --> 00:11:04,150 And so what we can see here is this. 242 00:11:04,630 --> 00:11:09,030 He's essentially reminding the believer that our salvation does 243 00:11:09,030 --> 00:11:10,230 not depend on us. 244 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,560 Our salvation depends on what Jesus Christ has done for us. 245 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:17,240 And so we can know that we have assurance. 246 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,480 Because when we trust in Jesus, we trust in the One who always 247 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,600 keeps his word, the One who is all powerful, the One who knows all 248 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:24,920 things. 249 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,800 If I'm trusting in myself for my salvation, of course I'm going 250 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:29,480 to doubt it. 251 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:35,560 If I'm trusting in myself for clarity and for truth and for power 252 00:11:36,290 --> 00:11:40,370 and for whatever we might be needing in our life, eventually my 253 00:11:40,370 --> 00:11:42,010 well is going to run dry. 254 00:11:42,010 --> 00:11:45,410 Eventually my gas tank is going to be on E. And eventually 255 00:11:45,410 --> 00:11:49,410 I'm going to stop and I'm going to be stuck and I'm going to 256 00:11:49,410 --> 00:11:53,250 be in a place to doubt God when really I should be doubting 257 00:11:53,250 --> 00:11:55,010 myself and relying on God more. 258 00:11:55,650 --> 00:12:00,850 There's a passage of Scripture that I really was meditating upon, 259 00:12:01,010 --> 00:12:03,230 during, as. 260 00:12:03,230 --> 00:12:06,910 As some of you know, some of you don't know, almost two years 261 00:12:06,910 --> 00:12:10,310 ago when our son was born, there was a lot of difficulty with 262 00:12:10,310 --> 00:12:13,310 that, and I felt powerless. 263 00:12:14,670 --> 00:12:18,149 And, and the reality is, is that I really was powerless prior 264 00:12:18,149 --> 00:12:19,110 to my son being born. 265 00:12:19,110 --> 00:12:22,670 I realized that now, but at some degree, I thought that I had 266 00:12:22,670 --> 00:12:22,990 control. 267 00:12:24,190 --> 00:12:26,750 And, and I think I've been thinking about that word control 268 00:12:26,830 --> 00:12:30,870 a lot recently because all of us to some degree, want to have some 269 00:12:30,870 --> 00:12:34,510 type of control over something in our life, and some people actually 270 00:12:34,510 --> 00:12:36,990 take it even too far, and they want to control every element of 271 00:12:36,990 --> 00:12:37,470 their life. 272 00:12:38,670 --> 00:12:41,630 And, and as a believer, I think that we have to rethink what 273 00:12:41,630 --> 00:12:43,070 that word control is all about. 274 00:12:43,070 --> 00:12:47,230 Because for me, I might be under the illusion that I am under 275 00:12:47,550 --> 00:12:50,910 my own control and that I do have all things handled, and I do 276 00:12:50,910 --> 00:12:53,390 have everything going the way that I think it should go. 277 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,720 But that's sometimes an illusion when we are. 278 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,200 God opens our eyes to really what the truth is and that he is 279 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:03,640 in control and that when we're powerless. 280 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:05,680 So, so when I felt powerless, I was. 281 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:06,640 I was struggling with that. 282 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,800 I said, lord, why do I feel powerless? 283 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:10,840 Why do I feel like I'm lost? 284 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,680 Why do I feel like you've pulled your hand off of me? 285 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:17,440 And what, what really God spoke to me through His Word was 286 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:17,640 this. 287 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,080 It was this idea that I am powerless. 288 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,610 And when I try to control something with my powerlessness, 289 00:13:23,930 --> 00:13:26,410 I'm going to find doubt, I'm going to find hopelessness. 290 00:13:26,410 --> 00:13:27,770 I'm going to find confusion. 291 00:13:27,930 --> 00:13:32,690 But when I realize that I have completely lost control, but God 292 00:13:32,690 --> 00:13:33,450 can take control. 293 00:13:33,690 --> 00:13:37,290 We see this amazing thing happening, and, and we see it in 294 00:13:37,290 --> 00:13:39,130 Second Corinthians, chapter nine. 295 00:13:40,490 --> 00:13:42,090 And, and I think that it's something that. 296 00:13:43,210 --> 00:13:45,130 And I think that it's something that we should all see 297 00:13:45,130 --> 00:13:45,850 in our own life. 298 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:56,740 And, and, and I think that as a believer, I, I struggle sometimes. 299 00:13:57,540 --> 00:14:00,820 And I think if we're all honest, we all struggle with this 300 00:14:00,820 --> 00:14:02,500 sense of, like, I, I feel powerless. 301 00:14:02,500 --> 00:14:04,660 I, I don't feel like I know what's going on. 302 00:14:04,660 --> 00:14:05,700 Like, look at the news. 303 00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:08,300 Like, some of us are just like, what's going on? 304 00:14:08,300 --> 00:14:09,300 It just seems like. 305 00:14:09,860 --> 00:14:12,820 Seems like the whole world is burning up. 306 00:14:13,620 --> 00:14:14,860 And I, and I agree with that. 307 00:14:14,860 --> 00:14:15,140 I think. 308 00:14:15,140 --> 00:14:16,740 I think that there are points in our. 309 00:14:16,740 --> 00:14:20,820 Our life that we have to realize that there is around us, 310 00:14:20,820 --> 00:14:23,980 circumstantially speaking, a lot of things going on that we can't 311 00:14:23,980 --> 00:14:25,220 explain, that we can't control. 312 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:27,180 I said second Corinthians, chapter nine. 313 00:14:27,180 --> 00:14:28,820 I meant second Corinthians, chapter 12. 314 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:31,140 And you go to verse number nine. 315 00:14:32,420 --> 00:14:35,860 And if you know the context of this passage of Scripture, Paul is 316 00:14:35,860 --> 00:14:39,930 talking about a thorn in his flesh, and he's asking God to remove 317 00:14:39,930 --> 00:14:42,050 that thorn, to remove that circumstance. 318 00:14:42,050 --> 00:14:47,530 And God answers him, but does not answer him the way that probably 319 00:14:47,530 --> 00:14:50,850 he was praying for initially, because we know he was praying for 320 00:14:50,850 --> 00:14:52,090 the thorn to be removed. 321 00:14:52,570 --> 00:14:54,010 And sometimes that's how we pray. 322 00:14:54,010 --> 00:14:57,850 And we're going to talk about prayer here in a minute, but we pray, 323 00:14:57,850 --> 00:15:00,690 lord, get this away from me, because this is what's causing me 324 00:15:00,690 --> 00:15:01,290 to struggle. 325 00:15:01,930 --> 00:15:05,770 And sometimes God's answer is, well, it's not my will for that thorn 326 00:15:05,770 --> 00:15:06,730 to be removed. 327 00:15:07,220 --> 00:15:12,180 It's there for you to learn about your role in this relationship. 328 00:15:12,180 --> 00:15:15,660 And in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 9, this is God's 329 00:15:15,660 --> 00:15:16,980 response to Paul. 330 00:15:17,460 --> 00:15:22,260 When Paul is pleading with God to remove this thorn, he says, my 331 00:15:22,500 --> 00:15:25,220 grace is sufficient for thee. 332 00:15:25,460 --> 00:15:28,580 God says to Paul, my grace is sufficient. 333 00:15:28,580 --> 00:15:29,980 All you need is my grace. 334 00:15:29,980 --> 00:15:31,260 You don't need the thorn to be gone. 335 00:15:31,260 --> 00:15:32,660 You might want the thorn to be gone. 336 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:33,880 What do you need? 337 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:34,840 You need my grace. 338 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:36,760 You need my presence. 339 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:38,680 My grace is sufficient. 340 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,680 If I pull that out of your life, nothing changes. 341 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,240 My grace is still sufficient because that removal of that thorn 342 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,320 would be his grace. 343 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,640 But even if God allows that thorn to still be in our life and 344 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,280 that struggle to be in our life, and that. 345 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,400 That problem in our life, whatever that problem might be that's 346 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:58,960 causing us to feel like we've lost control, he says, my grace is 347 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:00,200 sufficient for thee. 348 00:16:00,490 --> 00:16:04,570 And then I read these words, and it cut me to the core when I 349 00:16:04,570 --> 00:16:05,010 read these. 350 00:16:05,010 --> 00:16:06,330 But it's true. 351 00:16:06,490 --> 00:16:10,530 He says, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength 352 00:16:10,530 --> 00:16:12,650 is made perfect in weakness. 353 00:16:14,570 --> 00:16:21,130 God says it's when you realize that you are powerless without him. 354 00:16:22,010 --> 00:16:24,010 Because we're going to talk about the power that we do have. 355 00:16:24,010 --> 00:16:26,250 Because, by the way, we do have power as believers, but it's 356 00:16:26,250 --> 00:16:26,810 not our power. 357 00:16:27,590 --> 00:16:30,710 So in our humanity, in our flesh, we are powerless. 358 00:16:30,710 --> 00:16:34,670 But the Bible says it's in that moment when we recognize that 359 00:16:34,670 --> 00:16:39,430 weakness where God can have his power be on display. 360 00:16:40,150 --> 00:16:42,710 God says, my strength is made perfect in weakness. 361 00:16:43,590 --> 00:16:46,430 And so it's when we relinquish our control and say, lord, I know 362 00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:47,190 I'm not in control. 363 00:16:47,510 --> 00:16:49,430 I. I know that I'm limited. 364 00:16:49,430 --> 00:16:53,510 I know that I am going to lose my salvation if I could lose it. 365 00:16:53,780 --> 00:16:56,820 And then that's the moment when God's power can rest upon us. 366 00:16:56,820 --> 00:17:00,540 And we can be used by him through way of testimony, through 367 00:17:00,540 --> 00:17:02,500 way of reaching people for. 368 00:17:02,500 --> 00:17:04,820 For Christ, for way of being a. 369 00:17:04,980 --> 00:17:07,180 A beacon of light to a dark world. 370 00:17:07,180 --> 00:17:09,780 Because the world is looking for answers right now. 371 00:17:11,380 --> 00:17:12,340 It's a reality. 372 00:17:12,900 --> 00:17:15,540 The church is looking for answers, but we have the answer. 373 00:17:15,940 --> 00:17:18,940 And sometimes the church is struggling with things and we need 374 00:17:18,940 --> 00:17:19,980 to just go back to the truth. 375 00:17:19,980 --> 00:17:21,220 We need to go back to the Word. 376 00:17:21,409 --> 00:17:22,569 We need to go back to the gospel. 377 00:17:22,569 --> 00:17:23,969 That's the answer for all of this. 378 00:17:24,209 --> 00:17:25,769 And so the world is looking for answers. 379 00:17:25,769 --> 00:17:26,569 And so what do we do? 380 00:17:26,569 --> 00:17:29,449 We don't just complain about all the bad things going on. 381 00:17:29,449 --> 00:17:31,889 We tell them we have hope in Jesus Christ. 382 00:17:32,449 --> 00:17:33,889 We have everlasting life. 383 00:17:34,049 --> 00:17:37,328 And so these things have I written unto you that believe on 384 00:17:37,328 --> 00:17:39,769 the name of the Son of God that you might know that you have 385 00:17:39,769 --> 00:17:40,609 everlasting life. 386 00:17:41,169 --> 00:17:45,969 As Christians, we have to live like we know that we have everlasting 387 00:17:45,969 --> 00:17:46,289 life. 388 00:17:47,980 --> 00:17:53,940 If we act like we're not living for an everlasting life, what 389 00:17:53,940 --> 00:17:54,820 are we going to be living for? 390 00:17:54,820 --> 00:17:56,900 Well, if we're not living for everlasting life, we're living for 391 00:17:56,900 --> 00:17:57,420 this life. 392 00:17:57,900 --> 00:17:59,980 And if we're living for this life, this life is a. 393 00:18:00,060 --> 00:18:01,660 Is a miserable place to live for. 394 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:04,220 If it's living for just getting more and more things. 395 00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:07,940 You know, the classic adage is this, the one who dies with the most 396 00:18:07,940 --> 00:18:08,540 toys wins. 397 00:18:08,540 --> 00:18:10,860 I mean, that's a terrible way to live, right? 398 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:12,060 That's a terrible way to live. 399 00:18:12,630 --> 00:18:14,750 I mean, it's nice to have things in this world. 400 00:18:14,750 --> 00:18:17,550 And I don't think God is against us having things, but if 401 00:18:17,550 --> 00:18:20,070 that's what we're living for, then we're missing the point. 402 00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:24,910 And many Christians are living for the here and now only and missing 403 00:18:24,910 --> 00:18:26,270 the hope that we have in eternity. 404 00:18:26,270 --> 00:18:30,870 So it's easy to understand why a Christian who has hope in the everlasting 405 00:18:30,870 --> 00:18:35,270 life will turn on the TV or the phone and see news in the world 406 00:18:35,270 --> 00:18:37,550 and go, oh, no, the sky is falling. 407 00:18:37,550 --> 00:18:39,350 Maybe even literally the sky is falling. 408 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:40,740 And now we have no hope. 409 00:18:40,820 --> 00:18:41,940 And now we have to live. 410 00:18:41,940 --> 00:18:44,620 And, and then what happens is, is when we live that way with no 411 00:18:44,620 --> 00:18:47,340 hope, then we're living just like the world lives, and we're no 412 00:18:47,340 --> 00:18:48,180 different than them. 413 00:18:48,980 --> 00:18:50,780 And as Christians, we have to be the light. 414 00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:54,780 The Bible says, be salt and light to a lost and dying world. 415 00:18:54,780 --> 00:18:55,140 Why? 416 00:18:56,260 --> 00:18:59,660 So that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which 417 00:18:59,660 --> 00:19:00,500 is in heaven. 418 00:19:01,380 --> 00:19:05,180 So living with confidence is not for me, even though that's what 419 00:19:05,180 --> 00:19:05,620 we would. 420 00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:08,460 Because selfishly, we think everything's about us, right? 421 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:12,820 But to live with confidence is not just for me, so that I can live 422 00:19:12,820 --> 00:19:16,220 with peace, even though there is a blessing in that, but it's also 423 00:19:16,220 --> 00:19:18,660 so that we can live confidently and boldly in front of 424 00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:21,900 people for the cause of the gospel, so that people will see the 425 00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:24,860 truth and that more people will have that hope and that confidence 426 00:19:24,860 --> 00:19:25,980 in the Lord. 427 00:19:25,980 --> 00:19:28,700 And so I want you to think about that here this evening. 428 00:19:28,940 --> 00:19:33,260 Am I, as a believer who believes that I have everlasting 429 00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:36,180 life, Am I living confidently? 430 00:19:36,260 --> 00:19:40,900 Am I living with that eternal focus enough to say, no matter what 431 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:44,340 happens around me, God is victorious? 432 00:19:44,580 --> 00:19:47,220 No matter what happens around me, God's going to get the glory? 433 00:19:48,260 --> 00:19:50,900 And that's uncomfortable because we like things our way. 434 00:19:50,980 --> 00:19:52,020 I don't like change. 435 00:19:52,020 --> 00:19:55,180 I like things the way that they are, and I don't want that to 436 00:19:55,180 --> 00:19:55,460 change. 437 00:19:56,020 --> 00:19:59,220 I mean, it was a huge thing for us to move to Delaware. 438 00:20:00,030 --> 00:20:00,630 That was huge. 439 00:20:00,630 --> 00:20:01,070 Like, I. 440 00:20:01,310 --> 00:20:03,710 That is not a natural thing that I would want to do. 441 00:20:03,790 --> 00:20:05,430 I never want to move from Delaware. 442 00:20:05,430 --> 00:20:06,990 I told someone recently, someone's like, don't you want to 443 00:20:06,990 --> 00:20:07,670 move back to Florida? 444 00:20:07,670 --> 00:20:09,630 I said, no, because you see how much is in my house. 445 00:20:09,630 --> 00:20:10,990 I'd have to pack that all up. 446 00:20:11,070 --> 00:20:12,550 I don't want to move for many reasons. 447 00:20:12,550 --> 00:20:14,110 One of them is just that's an inconvenience. 448 00:20:14,110 --> 00:20:15,630 I'm uncomfortable with change. 449 00:20:16,110 --> 00:20:20,310 And so when changes happen around us, we can act a bunch of 450 00:20:20,310 --> 00:20:20,990 different ways. 451 00:20:21,310 --> 00:20:22,390 We can, you know, there's. 452 00:20:22,390 --> 00:20:25,350 There's fight, there's flight, there's being petrified and just 453 00:20:25,350 --> 00:20:26,190 not moving at all. 454 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:27,160 But what do we do? 455 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:27,360 We. 456 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:32,560 We don't allow the outward stimuli of the world and of our circumstance, 457 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,880 of our workplace, of our home, to dictate what's happening on the 458 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:39,000 inside with the confidence that we have in God. 459 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:44,400 And so going back to First John, Chapter 5, he very clearly 460 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,720 says, here, I've written these things so that you can have confidence 461 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,280 to be with faith, to stand in the truth. 462 00:20:55,970 --> 00:20:58,810 You ever looked at someone and said, I don't know how they have 463 00:20:58,810 --> 00:20:59,930 that type of hope right now. 464 00:20:59,930 --> 00:21:03,210 I don't know how they have that type of demeanor in the midst 465 00:21:03,210 --> 00:21:04,130 of this difficulty. 466 00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:07,090 Well, if they're trusting in Jesus Christ as their Savior, we 467 00:21:07,090 --> 00:21:08,290 know how they can do that. 468 00:21:08,290 --> 00:21:11,810 God is giving them grace, grace that we might not understand 469 00:21:11,810 --> 00:21:13,570 in that moment because we're not going through it. 470 00:21:13,970 --> 00:21:15,970 It's a unique grace to them in that moment. 471 00:21:17,010 --> 00:21:19,650 And so when we see a situation of someone Going through such a hard 472 00:21:19,650 --> 00:21:21,490 trial and, and then they keep their eyes on Christ. 473 00:21:21,490 --> 00:21:22,610 That's a beautiful thing. 474 00:21:22,610 --> 00:21:27,010 And that's an example of how God's peace and confidence can rest 475 00:21:27,010 --> 00:21:28,650 upon someone's life. 476 00:21:29,930 --> 00:21:32,330 And so that's what John is talking about here. 477 00:21:32,330 --> 00:21:35,050 John says there is a full assurance in Jesus. 478 00:21:35,210 --> 00:21:41,050 Not full assurance in myself, not full assurance in, in a church, 479 00:21:41,450 --> 00:21:42,810 not even a full assurance in. 480 00:21:42,810 --> 00:21:48,100 Like, for example, I want you to trust me as, as your, as a pastor, 481 00:21:48,420 --> 00:21:49,420 as a man of God. 482 00:21:49,420 --> 00:21:50,380 I want you to trust me. 483 00:21:50,380 --> 00:21:51,860 I want my children to trust me. 484 00:21:51,860 --> 00:21:53,140 I want my wife to trust me. 485 00:21:53,140 --> 00:21:55,460 And I'm going to do everything I possibly can to prove that. 486 00:21:55,700 --> 00:22:00,380 But realize, at the end of the day, a man is a man and every man 487 00:22:00,380 --> 00:22:02,100 is flawed in every way. 488 00:22:02,260 --> 00:22:03,660 And so what we need to see is this. 489 00:22:03,660 --> 00:22:07,340 When we keep our eyes on a person outside of Jesus Christ, or 490 00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:11,020 we keep our eyes on a program, or we keep our eyes on a movement, 491 00:22:11,020 --> 00:22:14,110 or we keep our eyes on anything outside of Jesus, eventually 492 00:22:14,110 --> 00:22:15,350 that will fail us. 493 00:22:16,310 --> 00:22:19,390 Now, we hope that someone that we love doesn't fail us, but the 494 00:22:19,390 --> 00:22:23,070 reality is, is that there is the probability that someone will 495 00:22:23,070 --> 00:22:23,670 fail us. 496 00:22:24,870 --> 00:22:28,550 And I've seen a lot of people, maybe you have as well, that have 497 00:22:29,350 --> 00:22:32,710 walked away from church or walked away from the faith because 498 00:22:32,710 --> 00:22:37,030 another human, another individual, either fell into sin 499 00:22:37,030 --> 00:22:38,110 or wronged them. 500 00:22:38,110 --> 00:22:42,450 And then there's that struggle of identifying that sin of that person 501 00:22:42,450 --> 00:22:45,210 and, and then equating that to God. 502 00:22:45,610 --> 00:22:47,890 But what we have to understand is that that person, even though 503 00:22:47,890 --> 00:22:49,850 they sinned against me, and that's wrong. 504 00:22:49,850 --> 00:22:52,170 And there's a whole other study that we could deal with when 505 00:22:52,170 --> 00:22:55,170 it comes to forgiveness and restoration and justice and all of 506 00:22:55,170 --> 00:22:55,410 that. 507 00:22:55,410 --> 00:23:01,490 But at the end of the day, I cannot look at someone else's flaws 508 00:23:01,490 --> 00:23:04,770 and then attribute that to God because God's word says that he is 509 00:23:04,770 --> 00:23:06,650 perfect, that he keeps his word, and he always does. 510 00:23:07,940 --> 00:23:10,220 So these things have I written unto you that believe on the name 511 00:23:10,220 --> 00:23:14,020 of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and 512 00:23:14,180 --> 00:23:16,420 that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 513 00:23:16,420 --> 00:23:17,220 You might say what? 514 00:23:17,220 --> 00:23:18,460 That kind of seems redundant. 515 00:23:18,460 --> 00:23:19,540 What is he saying here? 516 00:23:20,820 --> 00:23:27,300 Well, he says, we start our faith, we start our sanctification 517 00:23:27,460 --> 00:23:29,860 path through believing on the name of the Son of God. 518 00:23:29,860 --> 00:23:31,380 And how do we continue in on that? 519 00:23:31,620 --> 00:23:33,900 We continue with believing on the name of the Son of God. 520 00:23:33,900 --> 00:23:35,380 We must go back to that. 521 00:23:35,970 --> 00:23:38,450 We have to go back to the well that never runs dry. 522 00:23:39,330 --> 00:23:42,450 And so for a Christian, it's not just I believed in Jesus 20 years 523 00:23:42,450 --> 00:23:44,930 ago and now I'm hoping everything's okay. 524 00:23:45,010 --> 00:23:45,410 It's. 525 00:23:45,410 --> 00:23:49,930 I believe in Jesus not only 20 years ago, but today, this very moment, 526 00:23:49,930 --> 00:23:53,530 I'm believing in Jesus to keep my salvation, to keep me secure, 527 00:23:53,530 --> 00:23:57,570 to hold me in his hand, to protect me from the evil one. 528 00:23:57,570 --> 00:23:59,970 And the truth is, is that there's going to be times in our 529 00:23:59,970 --> 00:24:02,050 life where God does allow temptations to come. 530 00:24:02,410 --> 00:24:04,090 God's going to allow struggles to come. 531 00:24:04,250 --> 00:24:06,970 God's going to allow us to deal with certain things. 532 00:24:07,210 --> 00:24:10,410 And many times what we do is we think that that's God judging 533 00:24:10,410 --> 00:24:13,210 us or God upset with us, but really, at the end of the day, it's 534 00:24:13,210 --> 00:24:14,570 a test in many ways. 535 00:24:14,570 --> 00:24:16,170 It's a test to see if we're faithful. 536 00:24:17,290 --> 00:24:19,850 I see this with my own children. 537 00:24:21,450 --> 00:24:22,890 I want to protect my children. 538 00:24:22,890 --> 00:24:24,730 I never want to see my child hurt. 539 00:24:26,490 --> 00:24:29,530 But I also don't have them walk around in a bubble wrap suit. 540 00:24:30,140 --> 00:24:30,380 Okay? 541 00:24:30,380 --> 00:24:31,940 Some of you say, well, we did that with our kids. 542 00:24:31,940 --> 00:24:33,580 Okay, maybe that's a smart thing. 543 00:24:33,580 --> 00:24:36,460 But the reality is, is I want my children to be able to experience 544 00:24:36,540 --> 00:24:36,900 things. 545 00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:41,060 And through their growth, there might be some pain, there might 546 00:24:41,060 --> 00:24:42,060 be some struggles. 547 00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:46,580 So I can't protect my children from all pain and struggles, but 548 00:24:46,580 --> 00:24:47,980 I still want what's best for them. 549 00:24:49,100 --> 00:24:51,380 And so God can protect us from struggles. 550 00:24:51,380 --> 00:24:54,740 I mean, God is completely capable of never allowing us to go 551 00:24:54,740 --> 00:24:55,500 through a hardship. 552 00:24:55,780 --> 00:24:58,580 But the Bible says very clearly that it's through those difficulties 553 00:24:58,580 --> 00:25:03,500 that brings confidence in him, brings assurance in him, bring, brings 554 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:03,860 growth. 555 00:25:04,420 --> 00:25:07,660 And so he knows that we learn through those struggles. 556 00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:11,180 And so it could be this that God would say, you know what, I saved 557 00:25:11,180 --> 00:25:11,340 you. 558 00:25:11,340 --> 00:25:13,420 Now I'm just going to leave you alone, figure it out, and one 559 00:25:13,420 --> 00:25:14,540 day you're going to come back with me. 560 00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:16,660 But no, look what the next verse says. 561 00:25:17,300 --> 00:25:20,100 It says, and this is the confidence that we have in Him. 562 00:25:20,100 --> 00:25:22,340 So he's not just saying have blind confidence. 563 00:25:22,340 --> 00:25:24,900 He says, this is the confidence that we have in him, that 564 00:25:25,210 --> 00:25:29,290 if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. 565 00:25:30,410 --> 00:25:33,810 So there's so much that we could say with this verse, but it's 566 00:25:33,810 --> 00:25:37,610 saying that when we're walking in fellowship with God, we have that 567 00:25:37,610 --> 00:25:39,890 personal relationship with him and we can ask him anything. 568 00:25:39,890 --> 00:25:41,770 We can come to him for anything. 569 00:25:43,130 --> 00:25:48,610 Now I used to read this and I used to think that I can ask him 570 00:25:48,610 --> 00:25:51,850 anything and he'll give me every answer that I want in the affirmative. 571 00:25:51,850 --> 00:25:53,110 But that's not what it says here. 572 00:25:53,270 --> 00:25:57,710 It says if we if we are walking with him and if we have confidence 573 00:25:57,710 --> 00:26:02,830 in him and if we believe in him, we have the access to ask anything 574 00:26:02,830 --> 00:26:03,350 we want. 575 00:26:04,310 --> 00:26:08,590 We, we, we, we have that throne room of grace that we're able 576 00:26:08,590 --> 00:26:10,550 to enter because of the blood of Jesus Christ. 577 00:26:11,430 --> 00:26:12,310 We had more time. 578 00:26:12,310 --> 00:26:16,350 I would take you to Hebrews chapter four, and it speaks of we 579 00:26:16,350 --> 00:26:18,630 can come in boldly into the throne of grace. 580 00:26:18,870 --> 00:26:21,820 That just means confidently, meaning that we can have access to 581 00:26:21,820 --> 00:26:22,020 God. 582 00:26:22,020 --> 00:26:25,900 And it says that we can ask him for help in time of need, to 583 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:28,060 have mercy and grace in time of need. 584 00:26:28,460 --> 00:26:32,300 That's that beauty of God being Abba Father and we being his 585 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:33,980 children and we can come to Him. 586 00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:36,339 It doesn't mean that God's going to say yes to us every time 587 00:26:36,339 --> 00:26:37,900 we ask him something that we want. 588 00:26:38,460 --> 00:26:42,180 You know, God, I want this day to be selfishly. 589 00:26:42,180 --> 00:26:44,580 I could ask him for, you know, I want, I want a million dollars 590 00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:44,780 today. 591 00:26:44,780 --> 00:26:46,860 Well, I might have a God's will for me today to have a million 592 00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:49,080 dollars, but I could come to him and ask him that. 593 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:50,560 I have the access to ask Him. 594 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:55,520 The Bible talks all about the selfishness, selfish, sinful prayers. 595 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:57,320 But we go back here and he says, okay. 596 00:26:57,320 --> 00:26:58,240 Then he says verse 16. 597 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:00,560 If any man sees, or, excuse me, verse 15. 598 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,480 And if we know that he hear us, so we have, we're confident that 599 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:05,120 he hears us. 600 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,040 We have to believe that he hears us. 601 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,160 Whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we 602 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:13,000 desire of Him. 603 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,810 Now you might say, well, Pastor Josh, I thought you said that 604 00:27:15,810 --> 00:27:18,610 we, we can get, we, we don't get everything that we want. 605 00:27:19,090 --> 00:27:22,250 Well, we see that other passages of Scripture where he speaks 606 00:27:22,250 --> 00:27:26,010 to this idea that if we ask in accordance to his will, right? 607 00:27:26,010 --> 00:27:28,850 So, so there's a specific way that we are supposed to pray. 608 00:27:30,290 --> 00:27:32,730 And, and I think that that's sometimes one of the things that 609 00:27:32,730 --> 00:27:35,410 we forget about is we pray for our, our will. 610 00:27:35,890 --> 00:27:38,570 And instead of praying for our will, the Bible says, let's pray 611 00:27:38,570 --> 00:27:39,170 for his will. 612 00:27:39,750 --> 00:27:45,470 And the greatest example of that I, I believe is when Jesus is 613 00:27:45,470 --> 00:27:49,870 in the garden and he's praying to the Father and he's asking the 614 00:27:49,870 --> 00:27:53,350 Father for, you know, he says, let, if any, if this be possible, 615 00:27:53,350 --> 00:27:56,790 let this cup pass, but then nevertheless, thy will be done. 616 00:27:58,310 --> 00:28:01,550 And so in that case, if we were thinking from our terms, right, 617 00:28:01,550 --> 00:28:01,830 if. 618 00:28:02,150 --> 00:28:05,940 Did Jesus have access to the Father, we, we know, course he did. 619 00:28:07,060 --> 00:28:09,540 And, and that's a whole other study for another day when we talk 620 00:28:09,540 --> 00:28:10,340 about the Trinity. 621 00:28:10,900 --> 00:28:13,740 But the reality is, is in that moment Jesus asked for that cup to 622 00:28:13,740 --> 00:28:14,020 pass. 623 00:28:14,020 --> 00:28:17,500 God's will was that it did not pass and that he would drink of that 624 00:28:17,500 --> 00:28:17,780 cup. 625 00:28:19,060 --> 00:28:21,300 And so, so technically God did not. 626 00:28:21,620 --> 00:28:24,460 God the Father did not respond to Jesus in the way that he asked, 627 00:28:24,460 --> 00:28:26,580 but Jesus said, nevertheless, thy will be done. 628 00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:30,220 And so I'm not saying that that's something that we tag on to 629 00:28:30,220 --> 00:28:31,060 the end of our prayers. 630 00:28:31,060 --> 00:28:32,460 Well, nevertheless, I will be done. 631 00:28:32,460 --> 00:28:36,230 But what I am saying is that as we become more and more aligned 632 00:28:36,230 --> 00:28:40,350 with God in our lives, we become more in line with our desires 633 00:28:40,350 --> 00:28:41,830 for what he wants for our life. 634 00:28:42,790 --> 00:28:45,710 And so if God tells me no, it actually might be the best result 635 00:28:45,710 --> 00:28:46,550 I've ever had. 636 00:28:47,750 --> 00:28:49,430 I don't understand that sometimes. 637 00:28:49,430 --> 00:28:52,030 I mean, there have been times in my life where I've prayed for 638 00:28:52,030 --> 00:28:54,390 God to heal people and he has not healed them. 639 00:28:54,470 --> 00:28:55,830 What, what does that mean? 640 00:28:55,830 --> 00:28:57,430 Does that mean that I didn't pray hard enough? 641 00:28:57,670 --> 00:28:58,430 I don't think so. 642 00:28:58,430 --> 00:29:01,550 I think that God has different plans and God's plans are above my 643 00:29:01,550 --> 00:29:01,830 plans. 644 00:29:01,830 --> 00:29:03,030 And I don't know the answer to that. 645 00:29:03,330 --> 00:29:06,210 And who am I to ever question God's goodness and his character? 646 00:29:06,770 --> 00:29:09,930 But we go to that verse and he says, if we know that he hears us, 647 00:29:09,930 --> 00:29:13,530 and we do know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that 648 00:29:13,530 --> 00:29:15,810 we have the petitions that we desired of Him. 649 00:29:17,410 --> 00:29:19,810 I think that there's another passage of scripture that we could 650 00:29:20,850 --> 00:29:21,650 equate to this. 651 00:29:21,650 --> 00:29:26,770 In John 15, again, obviously the same human author and same spiritual 652 00:29:27,810 --> 00:29:31,380 guide, obviously through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John 653 00:29:31,380 --> 00:29:38,860 15:7 says, if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall 654 00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:41,900 ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. 655 00:29:43,660 --> 00:29:46,980 But the caveat to that is that we have to be abiding in him and 656 00:29:46,980 --> 00:29:48,020 abiding in his words. 657 00:29:48,020 --> 00:29:51,380 We can't be living selfish flesh filled lives and just expect 658 00:29:51,380 --> 00:29:52,860 God to give us everything that we want. 659 00:29:52,860 --> 00:29:56,440 But when we're walking with God and we're desiring his will and, 660 00:29:56,510 --> 00:29:59,950 and we pray in his will, he will answer our request. 661 00:30:00,510 --> 00:30:04,590 He, he will answer those questions and those desires that 662 00:30:04,590 --> 00:30:06,750 we have in our life when we're asking God's will. 663 00:30:07,230 --> 00:30:13,390 Now the other side of this coin would be that God, God doesn't 664 00:30:13,390 --> 00:30:18,030 want to be using us separate from Him. 665 00:30:18,030 --> 00:30:19,430 He wants to be partnering with us. 666 00:30:19,430 --> 00:30:23,630 And the verse that I think we could go to on that is second Corinthians, 667 00:30:23,630 --> 00:30:27,080 chapter six, verse one, says, we then as workers together with 668 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,280 him, beseech you that you receive not the grace of God in vain, 669 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,960 meaning God wants to work alongside of us and God. 670 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,840 God could work without us. 671 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,920 The reality is, is that God doesn't need us. 672 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,880 The reality is, is that God could do all of his work without 673 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:42,120 us. 674 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:43,880 But God wants to partner with us. 675 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,160 And that sounds weird, and that's not a word that we use quite 676 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:48,360 frequently, partner with God. 677 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,720 But what it is is that God wants to use us. 678 00:30:51,050 --> 00:30:52,890 He doesn't have to use us, but he wants to. 679 00:30:52,970 --> 00:30:56,450 And so what we do is as, as believers is say, lord, how can I 680 00:30:56,450 --> 00:30:57,450 be used by you? 681 00:30:57,610 --> 00:30:59,130 What's your will in this situation? 682 00:30:59,530 --> 00:31:02,450 And obviously, you know, the passage of scripture that speaks 683 00:31:02,450 --> 00:31:06,490 to the idea that as God will give us the desires of our heart. 684 00:31:06,889 --> 00:31:09,490 And that's a passage of scripture that gets skewed so often 685 00:31:09,490 --> 00:31:12,570 and misused when it comes to prosperity. 686 00:31:12,570 --> 00:31:14,930 Preachers that say, you know, if you just want a Ferrari and you 687 00:31:14,930 --> 00:31:16,530 want it enough, just keep going after it. 688 00:31:16,530 --> 00:31:20,970 Okay, I'm not saying that that's what it says, but my personal 689 00:31:20,970 --> 00:31:24,250 belief on that is that God changes our desires to the things 690 00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:25,490 that he wants for our life. 691 00:31:26,130 --> 00:31:29,490 So if my desires are aligned with his desires, my, My desires 692 00:31:29,490 --> 00:31:31,610 are always going to be filled because God's will is going to be 693 00:31:31,610 --> 00:31:31,890 done. 694 00:31:32,450 --> 00:31:35,210 And so when we see this passage of scripture, we, we have 695 00:31:35,210 --> 00:31:37,450 to wrap our minds around a bigger picture. 696 00:31:37,450 --> 00:31:40,050 And the bigger picture is, is that we are not the center of the 697 00:31:40,050 --> 00:31:40,530 universe. 698 00:31:41,810 --> 00:31:42,930 God is the focus. 699 00:31:44,230 --> 00:31:47,830 And so when we ask according to God's will, when we pray. 700 00:31:48,310 --> 00:31:49,790 And by the way, he's. 701 00:31:49,790 --> 00:31:54,016 I believe he's specifically talking about if you go to John 15, 702 00:31:54,084 --> 00:31:57,030 7, resting in his Word, resting in his will. 703 00:31:57,110 --> 00:31:59,349 I believe that it's claiming the promises of God. 704 00:31:59,349 --> 00:32:02,190 I believe we should pray the promises of God in accordance to 705 00:32:02,190 --> 00:32:02,710 His Word. 706 00:32:03,270 --> 00:32:06,150 What has God clearly stated in His Word? 707 00:32:06,870 --> 00:32:08,590 That he's never going to leave us nor forsake us. 708 00:32:08,590 --> 00:32:09,990 So we pray for God's presence. 709 00:32:11,220 --> 00:32:11,620 We believe. 710 00:32:11,700 --> 00:32:12,020 We. 711 00:32:12,020 --> 00:32:14,540 We pray that God will keep his word. 712 00:32:14,540 --> 00:32:17,540 When he says that He's Jehovah Jireh, the one who provides. 713 00:32:18,500 --> 00:32:19,540 We claim His Word. 714 00:32:19,540 --> 00:32:22,660 When it gets to a place in our life where we're feeling doubts in 715 00:32:22,660 --> 00:32:22,980 our mind. 716 00:32:22,980 --> 00:32:23,780 Remember the context. 717 00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:25,300 It's the confidence of our salvation. 718 00:32:25,540 --> 00:32:29,020 We go back to the confidence of God being the one who holds us 719 00:32:29,020 --> 00:32:31,620 fast and not we ourselves holding ourselves fast. 720 00:32:32,100 --> 00:32:35,620 And so I, I believe the context of this passage is this. 721 00:32:36,030 --> 00:32:39,550 When we ask God according to his will, when we pray the promises 722 00:32:39,550 --> 00:32:41,950 of God that we find in Scripture, we can have confidence 723 00:32:42,110 --> 00:32:45,350 and we can pray in faith like so. 724 00:32:45,350 --> 00:32:47,550 What it means is that we have to know the word of God. 725 00:32:47,550 --> 00:32:49,310 We have to know what God has promised us. 726 00:32:49,310 --> 00:32:52,390 Because we can't claim the promises of God unless we know the 727 00:32:52,390 --> 00:32:53,390 promises of God. 728 00:32:53,710 --> 00:32:57,910 And so I think that there's an emphasis upon knowing the word of 729 00:32:57,910 --> 00:33:01,870 God, not just to have head knowledge, but to hide his word in 730 00:33:01,870 --> 00:33:03,710 our hearts that we won't sin against Him. 731 00:33:04,260 --> 00:33:07,460 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. 732 00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:11,780 So practically speaking, okay, and I'll. 733 00:33:11,780 --> 00:33:12,740 I'll end it right here. 734 00:33:12,980 --> 00:33:15,220 But practically speaking, what does this look like? 735 00:33:15,220 --> 00:33:16,260 Like I'm sitting here. 736 00:33:16,420 --> 00:33:16,980 Okay. 737 00:33:16,980 --> 00:33:18,100 And circumstance. 738 00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:21,140 A pops up, and that makes me nervous and I'm doubting something 739 00:33:21,140 --> 00:33:21,940 about God. 740 00:33:22,340 --> 00:33:23,220 What do I do? 741 00:33:24,660 --> 00:33:25,860 Well, pray. 742 00:33:27,060 --> 00:33:30,330 Bible says in James, chapter one, ask God for wisdom and he'll 743 00:33:30,330 --> 00:33:31,410 give it to us liberally. 744 00:33:31,410 --> 00:33:32,890 He will not hold it against us. 745 00:33:34,090 --> 00:33:34,930 But pray what? 746 00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:35,570 Well, pray. 747 00:33:35,570 --> 00:33:36,170 Lord, help me. 748 00:33:36,170 --> 00:33:37,130 Help me get out of this. 749 00:33:37,610 --> 00:33:38,330 That's how I. 750 00:33:38,330 --> 00:33:39,730 That's how I used to pray all the time. 751 00:33:39,730 --> 00:33:41,210 Lord, help me get out of the situation. 752 00:33:41,450 --> 00:33:43,450 Like I wanted to squirm out of every situation. 753 00:33:43,450 --> 00:33:44,570 But now it's this. 754 00:33:45,130 --> 00:33:48,930 I believe, biblically speaking, we should claim a passage 755 00:33:48,930 --> 00:33:51,850 of scripture that God has promised in His Word and hide those 756 00:33:51,850 --> 00:33:55,290 words in our heart so that we're able to go back to that well 757 00:33:55,290 --> 00:33:58,330 that never runs dry in His Word, that it can be a lamp unto 758 00:33:58,330 --> 00:33:59,890 our feet and a light into our path. 759 00:34:00,610 --> 00:34:03,090 I believe it's God's Word that gives us that confidence. 760 00:34:03,250 --> 00:34:04,490 The presence of God is there. 761 00:34:04,490 --> 00:34:06,970 But how do we know about the presence of God without the word 762 00:34:06,970 --> 00:34:07,410 of God? 763 00:34:07,970 --> 00:34:09,450 How do we know about the love of God? 764 00:34:09,450 --> 00:34:11,530 Even though the love of God is there, when you're a believer, the 765 00:34:11,530 --> 00:34:12,370 love of God is there. 766 00:34:12,370 --> 00:34:14,650 But how can we grow in our love for God? 767 00:34:14,650 --> 00:34:17,330 How can we know more about the love of God through His Word? 768 00:34:17,970 --> 00:34:21,730 How can we know more about our future as believers through His Word? 769 00:34:22,130 --> 00:34:25,290 And so I think that what we're seeing here in this passage of scripture 770 00:34:25,290 --> 00:34:26,640 is, yes, we, we have confidence. 771 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:27,800 But go back to verse 13. 772 00:34:27,800 --> 00:34:29,360 These things have I written unto you. 773 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:32,280 So he says, I've. 774 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,200 I've written you these things so that you can go back and reference 775 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:36,560 these passages of scripture. 776 00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:40,120 And so one commentator put it this way. 777 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,640 The most powerful prayers in the Bible are always prayers which 778 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:45,920 understand the will of God and ask him to perform it. 779 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,480 We may be annoyed when one of our children says, daddy, this is 780 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:50,480 what you promised. 781 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,990 Now please do it, man. 782 00:34:53,470 --> 00:34:54,790 My son gets me on that. 783 00:34:54,790 --> 00:34:55,150 My. 784 00:34:55,550 --> 00:34:57,310 My oldest son gets Me on that all the time. 785 00:34:57,470 --> 00:35:01,790 He's, dad, you said we were gonna go buy the ice cream shop after 786 00:35:01,790 --> 00:35:02,350 this, and I. 787 00:35:02,350 --> 00:35:03,470 Man, I thought he forgot. 788 00:35:03,630 --> 00:35:05,110 He keeps me to my word, okay? 789 00:35:05,110 --> 00:35:07,590 Micah keeps me to my word, and he will never. 790 00:35:07,590 --> 00:35:09,550 He will not let me get away with it, okay? 791 00:35:09,790 --> 00:35:12,550 And that frustrates me to no end because I'm like, man, he's. 792 00:35:12,550 --> 00:35:14,910 I keep my word, but. 793 00:35:15,150 --> 00:35:16,350 But I think on, like. 794 00:35:16,350 --> 00:35:17,310 And that's my flesh. 795 00:35:17,390 --> 00:35:18,750 That's my annoyance as a. 796 00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:19,310 As a human. 797 00:35:19,850 --> 00:35:23,130 God doesn't get annoyed with us when we say, keep your word, dad. 798 00:35:23,930 --> 00:35:24,330 He. 799 00:35:24,330 --> 00:35:27,290 That brings him joy because we're trusting in Him. 800 00:35:28,090 --> 00:35:28,410 So. 801 00:35:28,410 --> 00:35:30,850 So when we're going through that problem and we go, lord, you 802 00:35:30,850 --> 00:35:32,010 said you'd be with me here. 803 00:35:32,410 --> 00:35:32,970 That's not. 804 00:35:32,970 --> 00:35:35,690 I don't think that's disrespect if it's not with a different 805 00:35:35,690 --> 00:35:38,170 disrespectful spirit if you're believing in what he has said. 806 00:35:38,330 --> 00:35:39,610 I believe in faith. 807 00:35:39,690 --> 00:35:41,050 God is joyful. 808 00:35:41,050 --> 00:35:44,250 And it shows that we're aligned with him, and it shows our 809 00:35:44,490 --> 00:35:47,960 dependence in him that we take His Word seriously. 810 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:50,360 And so I don't think it's. 811 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:54,600 It's wrong to ask God for something that he hasn't specifically 812 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:55,440 promised in Scripture. 813 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:56,520 I don't think that's sinful. 814 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:03,600 But I do believe that we need to realize the specific promises 815 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,320 of God in context to the different things that we're dealing 816 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:07,000 with in our life. 817 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:11,440 Because God speaks to many things that most people, if they 818 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,720 would just go to His Word, would get the answers. 819 00:36:14,910 --> 00:36:17,910 The problem is, is that we might even know what God's Word says, 820 00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:20,470 but we aren't necessarily willing to believe it and to heed 821 00:36:20,470 --> 00:36:23,070 it and to obey it and to apply it to our lives. 822 00:36:25,070 --> 00:36:26,110 And so we'll stop there. 823 00:36:26,110 --> 00:36:27,390 We'll stop in verse number 15. 824 00:36:27,390 --> 00:36:30,750 Because actually, it starts with this idea that if we have confidence 825 00:36:30,750 --> 00:36:31,870 in God, we will pray. 826 00:36:32,830 --> 00:36:35,630 But secondly, if we have confidence in God, we're going to 827 00:36:35,630 --> 00:36:39,830 pray for our failing and struggling brothers and sisters in 828 00:36:39,830 --> 00:36:40,510 the fellowship. 829 00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:43,760 Because remember, the theme of First John is fellowship with God, 830 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:44,880 fellowship with others. 831 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:46,720 It's always mirrored, okay? 832 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:50,760 My love for God is mirrored and displayed through my love to 833 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:51,040 others. 834 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:57,080 So if I trust God and pray to God for my needs, if I'm doing that 835 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:02,440 properly and healthily, my heart will then turn to praying for 836 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:04,080 my fellow believers that are struggling. 837 00:37:04,720 --> 00:37:07,200 And we're going to talk more about that next time when we come 838 00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,440 back, when we talk about that dynamic between our prayer life and 839 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:12,280 our love for others. 840 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:17,000 Because it's very hard to be mad at somebody and hate somebody 841 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:18,120 if you're praying for them. 842 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:20,600 I'm going to tell you, that's a. 843 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:21,800 That's a blessing for me. 844 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,920 Like, if I'm struggling loving somebody, I just start praying for 845 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:25,080 them. 846 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,280 And my heart turns over time. 847 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:30,360 And that's not my flesh. 848 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,080 My flesh wants to get even. 849 00:37:34,290 --> 00:37:36,930 But the Spirit never says that. 850 00:37:36,930 --> 00:37:39,730 The Spirit says, love, joy, peace. 851 00:37:40,290 --> 00:37:42,690 It was that forgiveness, tender heart of forgiving one another. 852 00:37:43,090 --> 00:37:44,930 And so we'll talk more about that next week. 853 00:37:45,490 --> 00:37:47,490 But I think the answer to all of our. 854 00:37:47,570 --> 00:37:53,250 I know the answer to all of our problems is found in Jesus Christ. 855 00:37:54,290 --> 00:37:57,130 And the way that we find the truth of Jesus Christ. 856 00:37:57,130 --> 00:38:01,320 The Bible says in Romans 10:17, faith cometh by hearing and 857 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:02,680 hearing by the Word of God. 858 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:05,640 So see it this way. 859 00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:11,760 We have to overcome the struggles of this world with faith 860 00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:12,280 in God. 861 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,920 And faith in God is seen through knowing him, and knowing 862 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,240 him is knowing him through His Word and knowing him through the 863 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,920 Spirit and knowing him through his guidance. 864 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,320 But you cannot say, well, I'm walking with God, but I'm not walking 865 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:25,840 in His Word. 866 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,480 You cannot say, I'm growing in the Lord, but I'm not growing in 867 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:28,920 His Word. 868 00:38:29,330 --> 00:38:29,730 This is. 869 00:38:29,890 --> 00:38:30,250 They're. 870 00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:31,410 They're linked together. 871 00:38:31,890 --> 00:38:32,850 They're linked together. 872 00:38:33,010 --> 00:38:35,610 The Bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of God and 873 00:38:35,610 --> 00:38:39,210 is profitable for doctrine, for proof, for correction, and for 874 00:38:39,210 --> 00:38:40,290 instruction in righteousness. 875 00:38:41,410 --> 00:38:44,050 And so I think that we need to understand the connection between 876 00:38:44,130 --> 00:38:47,570 our relationship with God and our prayer lives and the word of 877 00:38:47,570 --> 00:38:47,810 God. 878 00:38:47,810 --> 00:38:49,930 They all need to be tied together and synchronized. 879 00:38:49,930 --> 00:38:51,730 And we walk together with him on that. 880 00:38:51,730 --> 00:38:58,260 So God has told us in His Word that we can know that we have everlasting 881 00:38:58,260 --> 00:38:58,460 life. 882 00:38:58,460 --> 00:39:01,180 If that's something that you're doubting or you're struggling 883 00:39:01,180 --> 00:39:04,700 with, maybe you got saved a long time ago, but you're struggling 884 00:39:04,700 --> 00:39:06,740 with this idea of like, does God still love me? 885 00:39:06,740 --> 00:39:08,740 Is God still with me? 886 00:39:08,740 --> 00:39:09,060 Did. 887 00:39:09,060 --> 00:39:10,260 Did he truly save me? 888 00:39:10,260 --> 00:39:11,820 Did he let go of me? 889 00:39:13,100 --> 00:39:14,500 Is this world too far gone? 890 00:39:14,500 --> 00:39:15,500 Is God going to lose? 891 00:39:15,500 --> 00:39:15,740 Is. 892 00:39:15,740 --> 00:39:16,020 Is. 893 00:39:16,020 --> 00:39:17,340 Is evil going to win? 894 00:39:17,420 --> 00:39:20,540 These are all questions that are real questions for us as human 895 00:39:20,540 --> 00:39:20,940 beings. 896 00:39:21,540 --> 00:39:25,660 But these things God has given us so that we can know that we have 897 00:39:25,660 --> 00:39:26,460 everlasting life. 898 00:39:26,460 --> 00:39:28,420 Those that believe on the name of the Son of God. 899 00:39:28,980 --> 00:39:31,660 And so I trust that this evening, if that's something that 900 00:39:31,660 --> 00:39:33,940 you're dealing with, that you're wrestling with or that someone 901 00:39:33,940 --> 00:39:36,420 that you know is wrestling with, go to Scripture. 902 00:39:37,380 --> 00:39:40,140 Or if you don't know the Scripture, go to someone who you 903 00:39:40,140 --> 00:39:41,460 believe does know the scripture. 904 00:39:42,100 --> 00:39:42,580 Okay. 905 00:39:42,580 --> 00:39:45,300 Because the reality is, is that I could be sitting here and 906 00:39:45,300 --> 00:39:47,620 I could say, lord, I know that you probably say something to me, 907 00:39:47,620 --> 00:39:51,850 lead me to it, but there are people that are set up in our lives 908 00:39:51,850 --> 00:39:54,690 that can get us a little faster to that passage of scripture. 909 00:39:54,690 --> 00:39:55,370 It's okay. 910 00:39:55,370 --> 00:39:56,410 It's okay to do that. 911 00:39:56,570 --> 00:39:58,570 Because actually the Bible doesn't ever say. 912 00:39:58,570 --> 00:40:00,010 Where does the Bible say to go? 913 00:40:00,410 --> 00:40:07,170 It doesn't say to go to Google or nowadays chat, GBT or whatever. 914 00:40:07,170 --> 00:40:07,730 The AI. 915 00:40:07,730 --> 00:40:08,930 You know, everyone's doing that. 916 00:40:08,930 --> 00:40:11,290 The millennials and younger. 917 00:40:11,290 --> 00:40:13,770 That's all they can do is think about, you know, AI. 918 00:40:14,180 --> 00:40:14,420 But. 919 00:40:14,420 --> 00:40:16,900 And I'm not saying all is bad, but I'm just saying you gotta be 920 00:40:16,900 --> 00:40:17,300 careful. 921 00:40:17,620 --> 00:40:19,220 But that's not where Scripture tells us to go. 922 00:40:19,220 --> 00:40:22,020 Scripture tells us to go to him for the first. 923 00:40:22,100 --> 00:40:26,660 The first response is to go to the Lord and then his word. 924 00:40:26,740 --> 00:40:29,460 And then the Bible does say in a, there's wisdom in a multitude 925 00:40:29,460 --> 00:40:30,020 of counsel, right? 926 00:40:30,020 --> 00:40:33,340 To go to someone that we trust and then that that's what God has 927 00:40:33,340 --> 00:40:33,660 ordained. 928 00:40:33,660 --> 00:40:35,620 So I encourage you to do that if that's something that you're going 929 00:40:35,620 --> 00:40:35,940 through. 930 00:40:37,220 --> 00:40:39,820 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 931 00:40:39,820 --> 00:40:40,420 podcast. 932 00:40:40,660 --> 00:40:42,700 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 933 00:40:42,850 --> 00:40:43,090 You. 934 00:40:43,730 --> 00:40:46,010 If you would like to find out more information about our church 935 00:40:46,010 --> 00:40:49,490 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 936 00:40:49,730 --> 00:40:52,290 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 937 00:40:53,010 --> 00:40:57,970 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaro, Middletown BaptistChurch.com 938 00:40:58,450 --> 00:41:01,930 if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 939 00:41:01,930 --> 00:41:04,770 along for future podcast and updates. 940 00:41:05,410 --> 00:41:06,370 Thank you so much. 941 00:41:06,610 --> 00:41:07,330 God bless. 942 00:41:07,570 --> 00:41:08,850 Have a wonderful day.