1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,100 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,100 –> 00:00:16,600 To contact us, call us at 1-877-Open-365 or visit our website, OpentheBible.org. 3 00:00:16,600 –> 00:00:17,740 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,740 –> 00:00:20,100 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:20,100 –> 00:00:26,700 We continue our series Regeneration How Christ Changes Your Soul. 6 00:00:27,379 –> 00:00:28,840 It is a marvelous subject. 7 00:00:28,840 –> 00:00:35,299 It is full of encouragement and I am finding great joy and great good for my own soul just 8 00:00:35,299 –> 00:00:37,459 in studying this marvelous truth. 9 00:00:37,459 –> 00:00:42,099 Now a quick recap of what we’ve been learning together. 10 00:00:42,099 –> 00:00:49,220 Behind all believing, behind your believing if you’re a Christian lies a miracle of God’s 11 00:00:49,220 –> 00:00:50,360 regenerating grace. 12 00:00:50,360 –> 00:00:55,139 In which he takes folks like us, sinners like us, who by nature love ourselves more than 13 00:00:55,900 –> 00:00:57,380 darkness more than light. 14 00:00:57,380 –> 00:00:59,160 And he gives us new birth. 15 00:00:59,160 –> 00:01:01,180 He gives us new life. 16 00:01:01,180 –> 00:01:04,540 If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. 17 00:01:04,540 –> 00:01:06,320 The old has gone. 18 00:01:06,320 –> 00:01:07,820 It’s done. 19 00:01:07,820 –> 00:01:09,260 It’s gone. 20 00:01:09,260 –> 00:01:10,860 And the new has come. 21 00:01:10,860 –> 00:01:16,760 And we’ve been learning that this regeneration is the work by which God changes your soul 22 00:01:16,760 –> 00:01:22,620 so that with a new mind and with a new heart you love him and you trust him and you follow 23 00:01:22,620 –> 00:01:24,660 him freely. 24 00:01:24,739 –> 00:01:29,139 We’ve been learning that regeneration is an event, not a process. 25 00:01:29,139 –> 00:01:31,120 That’s very important to grasp. 26 00:01:31,120 –> 00:01:37,779 The new birth is something that must happen if you are to become a Christian and it has 27 00:01:37,779 –> 00:01:41,059 happened if you are a Christian. 28 00:01:41,059 –> 00:01:46,000 First Peter chapter one and verse twenty three, You have been born again by the living and 29 00:01:46,000 –> 00:01:50,580 enduring word of God, Peter says to Christian believers. 30 00:01:50,580 –> 00:01:52,440 Regeneration is complete at conversion. 31 00:01:52,440 –> 00:01:57,139 It’s not a process, it’s an event, and just as a healthy baby is born with everything 32 00:01:57,139 –> 00:02:03,260 needed for life and for growth, so when a person is born again regenerated by the spirit 33 00:02:03,260 –> 00:02:10,919 of God, that person has everything that they need for life and growth as a Christian believer. 34 00:02:10,919 –> 00:02:15,539 Then we’ve been learning that this regeneration, the new life that God gives is what makes 35 00:02:15,539 –> 00:02:20,380 sanctification or growth in the Christian life possible. 36 00:02:20,500 –> 00:02:23,300 In order to grow, you’ve got to be alive. 37 00:02:23,300 –> 00:02:27,759 But the life that comes from above, the life of God, is what makes growth as a Christian 38 00:02:27,759 –> 00:02:28,759 possible. 39 00:02:28,759 –> 00:02:32,380 If you’re not alive as a Christian, if you’ve not been regenerated, you can’t grow. 40 00:02:32,380 –> 00:02:34,380 What’s dead doesn’t grow. 41 00:02:34,380 –> 00:02:39,059 But where there is life, there will be growth, guaranteed. 42 00:02:39,059 –> 00:02:46,779 So we’re learning then that being a Christian is more than beliefs and behaviors and relationships. 43 00:02:46,860 –> 00:02:51,960 So many folks have the idea that Christians just believe certain things and behave certain 44 00:02:51,960 –> 00:02:56,460 ways, and engage in certain relationships within the body of Christ, are part of a distinct 45 00:02:56,460 –> 00:02:57,460 community. 46 00:02:57,460 –> 00:03:02,419 And we’re seeing from the Bible, all that’s true, but there’s more. 47 00:03:02,419 –> 00:03:05,139 There’s something more to being a Christian. 48 00:03:05,139 –> 00:03:10,100 Behind that, beyond belief, behavior, and relationships, there is something supernatural 49 00:03:10,100 –> 00:03:12,899 about every Christian. 50 00:03:12,899 –> 00:03:19,059 A man with the delightful name of Henry Schugel I like saying his name, he had a wonderful 51 00:03:19,059 –> 00:03:26,020 phrase, he said, it’s the life of God in the soul of a man or a woman. 52 00:03:26,020 –> 00:03:28,279 That’s what being a Christian is. 53 00:03:28,279 –> 00:03:36,960 It’s the life of God in your soul, it’s beyond beliefs, behaviors, and relationships. 54 00:03:37,119 –> 00:03:43,380 And so we come to what obviously then is the most important question. 55 00:03:43,380 –> 00:03:51,520 Has this miracle of God’s grace actually happened in your soul? 56 00:03:51,520 –> 00:03:55,039 I can’t think of a more important question than that right now. 57 00:03:55,039 –> 00:04:00,559 Have you been regenerated by the Spirit of God? 58 00:04:00,559 –> 00:04:05,539 Have you been born again? 59 00:04:06,360 –> 00:04:09,580 That’s the question. 60 00:04:09,580 –> 00:04:15,259 Now I want to put the question as bluntly as I possibly can today, and I make no apology 61 00:04:15,259 –> 00:04:16,260 for doing that. 62 00:04:16,260 –> 00:04:23,059 I want to put it bluntly because you need to be able to answer it clearly. 63 00:04:23,059 –> 00:04:30,540 If you are regenerate, you need to know that you are, so that you can answer the devil 64 00:04:30,540 –> 00:04:35,500 when he says to you, you’re the most useless pathetic apology for a Christian that ever 65 00:04:35,500 –> 00:04:36,500 was. 66 00:04:36,500 –> 00:04:39,420 And if you’re a believer you know that he sometimes says that to you. 67 00:04:39,420 –> 00:04:43,500 You need to know that you’re a regenerate so that you can answer him. 68 00:04:43,500 –> 00:04:48,200 And if you are not regenerate, to take the only other logical alternative, you need to 69 00:04:48,200 –> 00:04:50,739 know that too. 70 00:04:50,739 –> 00:04:56,859 Because nothing would be more tragic than for you to go through your life thinking that 71 00:04:56,859 –> 00:05:00,339 you’re a Christian when in reality you’re not. 72 00:05:01,019 –> 00:05:05,940 See, there are many people who miss the life in Christ that could be theirs. 73 00:05:05,940 –> 00:05:07,980 And here’s how they miss it. 74 00:05:07,980 –> 00:05:13,820 They do not find because they do not seek. 75 00:05:13,820 –> 00:05:20,980 And they do not seek because they think they already have. 76 00:05:20,980 –> 00:05:27,339 And Satan’s power, it’s important to understand that Satan’s power lies largely in creating 77 00:05:27,339 –> 00:05:28,579 confusion. 78 00:05:28,579 –> 00:05:32,540 And this is his primary strategy, always has been, always will be. 79 00:05:32,540 –> 00:05:36,700 If you really are a Christian, his strategy with you will be to try and make you think 80 00:05:36,700 –> 00:05:38,100 you’re not. 81 00:05:38,100 –> 00:05:41,920 And if you’re really not a Christian, his primary strategy with you will probably be 82 00:05:41,920 –> 00:05:44,500 to make you think that you really are. 83 00:05:44,500 –> 00:05:48,100 We are not, Paul says, on one occasion unaware of his schemes. 84 00:05:48,100 –> 00:05:53,579 So I make no apology for putting this question today as bluntly as I possibly can. 85 00:05:53,579 –> 00:05:57,220 Have you been born again? 86 00:05:57,220 –> 00:05:58,480 Are you regenerate? 87 00:05:58,480 –> 00:06:00,079 Why is it? 88 00:06:00,079 –> 00:06:06,959 Because whatever the answer to that question, you need to know it with crystal clarity. 89 00:06:06,959 –> 00:06:15,160 Now that then leads us to this place of saying, well now, how can I know if I am born again? 90 00:06:15,160 –> 00:06:20,920 How can I possibly answer this obviously important question? 91 00:06:20,920 –> 00:06:26,640 And that’s why we’re coming to this first letter of John because in this one short letter, 92 00:06:26,679 –> 00:06:33,720 the Apostle John gives us no less than six distinguishing marks of an authentic 93 00:06:33,720 –> 00:06:35,239 Christian. 94 00:06:35,239 –> 00:06:40,559 And we started last time looking through them together and we’re going to continue with 95 00:06:40,559 –> 00:06:43,200 these six today. 96 00:06:43,200 –> 00:06:49,040 Let me just, before we get into them, give you some direction with how to hear them. 97 00:06:49,040 –> 00:06:53,880 I’m kind of giving you the application at the beginning of the sermon here, rather than 98 00:06:53,920 –> 00:06:55,040 at the end. 99 00:06:55,040 –> 00:06:59,519 I want you to know how to listen to these distinguishing marks that are here in the 100 00:06:59,519 –> 00:07:00,899 Word of God. 101 00:07:00,899 –> 00:07:06,779 See, as you listen to these, as you process them in your mind, you’re going to be saying 102 00:07:06,779 –> 00:07:08,600 one of two things. 103 00:07:08,600 –> 00:07:15,720 Either you will say, this is the life that God has given me. 104 00:07:15,720 –> 00:07:19,019 And you will say, I want to thank Him for it. 105 00:07:19,019 –> 00:07:25,179 And the outcome of today’s service for you will be joy, thanksgiving, and praise. 106 00:07:25,179 –> 00:07:29,299 So for many of us, it’s going in that direction. 107 00:07:29,299 –> 00:07:34,220 For others of us, you may be hearing these six distinguishing marks, and you may be saying, 108 00:07:34,220 –> 00:07:36,299 I don’t have this life. 109 00:07:36,299 –> 00:07:40,440 I think of myself as a good person, as a religious person, but I don’t have what John is talking 110 00:07:40,440 –> 00:07:42,359 about here. 111 00:07:42,359 –> 00:07:47,779 And if that’s what’s happening, you hear these distinguishing marks, I want you to understand 112 00:07:47,779 –> 00:07:49,619 where to go with that. 113 00:07:49,619 –> 00:07:55,040 This is the life that God is offering to you in Jesus Christ. 114 00:07:55,040 –> 00:07:58,700 So if you don’t have it, then the outcome of today’s message for you should be that 115 00:07:58,700 –> 00:08:02,579 you would want to come to Him and ask Him for it. 116 00:08:02,579 –> 00:08:08,559 Why would you not do that if you do not have it already? 117 00:08:08,559 –> 00:08:11,380 So there’s no loss with this. 118 00:08:11,380 –> 00:08:15,619 If you have this new life, there is every reason for joy. 119 00:08:15,619 –> 00:08:19,820 If you do not yet have this new life, you have every reason for hope because it is what 120 00:08:19,820 –> 00:08:23,399 it is offered to you in Jesus Christ. 121 00:08:23,399 –> 00:08:27,359 If you begin seeking after Him today, that will be the most marvelous thing that has 122 00:08:27,359 –> 00:08:31,119 ever happened in your life. 123 00:08:31,119 –> 00:08:32,859 So six distinguishing marks, then. 124 00:08:32,859 –> 00:08:38,840 I hope, then, you have reason to open your Bible and to follow this most important theme 125 00:08:38,840 –> 00:08:41,000 from the first letter of John. 126 00:08:41,659 –> 00:08:45,960 And we looked at the first three last time, so just very briefly by way of review. 127 00:08:45,960 –> 00:08:50,580 Let’s start in chapter 2 and verse 29. 128 00:08:50,580 –> 00:08:56,820 The first distinguishing mark of an authentic Christian, a genuine Christian, is that he 129 00:08:56,820 –> 00:08:58,580 or she does what is right. 130 00:08:58,580 –> 00:09:01,320 It is the mark of righteousness. 131 00:09:01,320 –> 00:09:05,059 One John 2, 29, notice what he says about the new birth. 132 00:09:05,380 –> 00:09:15,539 Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him, that is, born of God. 133 00:09:15,539 –> 00:09:20,520 So very clearly John lays this out, that the evidence of the new birth is seen in doing 134 00:09:20,520 –> 00:09:22,520 what is right. 135 00:09:22,520 –> 00:09:26,619 When you are truly born again, you have a new desire that is implanted by God within 136 00:09:26,619 –> 00:09:28,799 you, a desire to please the Lord. 137 00:09:28,799 –> 00:09:32,780 As Paul puts it in one place, we make it our aim to please Him. 138 00:09:32,780 –> 00:09:34,719 That’s what you really want to do. 139 00:09:35,599 –> 00:09:38,400 And we seek to do that by pursuing what is right. 140 00:09:38,400 –> 00:09:40,159 That takes courage. 141 00:09:40,159 –> 00:09:42,840 None of us does it perfectly. 142 00:09:42,840 –> 00:09:49,640 But if you have been born again, there is in your heart today a desire to please Christ, 143 00:09:49,640 –> 00:09:55,419 a dissatisfaction with any way in which you displease Christ, a desire therefore to follow 144 00:09:55,419 –> 00:09:56,419 what is right. 145 00:09:56,419 –> 00:10:00,960 It is the evidence of the new birth, it involves a change and a pattern of behavior. 146 00:10:00,960 –> 00:10:04,679 So, never let anyone tell you, or never think that it is just a feeling or an experience. 147 00:10:04,679 –> 00:10:09,039 It changes the way you behave, doing what is right. 148 00:10:09,039 –> 00:10:13,919 Second mark, distinguishing mark of a genuine believer, someone who is born again, 1 John 149 00:10:13,919 –> 00:10:20,419 3, 9, I like to mark these in your Bible, as I’ve numbered them and mark them in mine, 150 00:10:20,419 –> 00:10:25,000 Second Mark, repentance, turning from sin. 151 00:10:25,000 –> 00:10:30,520 1 John 3, 9, no one who is born of God will continue to sin. 152 00:10:30,719 –> 00:10:35,280 Because God’s seed remains in him. 153 00:10:35,280 –> 00:10:42,479 He cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 154 00:10:42,479 –> 00:10:46,159 So, this is the second distinguishing mark of this new birth. 155 00:10:46,159 –> 00:10:48,780 Now, this is simply a statement of fact. 156 00:10:48,780 –> 00:10:53,559 John says, this person who is born of God cannot go on sinning. 157 00:10:53,559 –> 00:10:58,280 And the fact that this person cannot go on sinning is a mark of the new birth. 158 00:10:58,539 –> 00:11:02,520 Now, we all know, and John says in chapter one and verse eight, we looked at that last 159 00:11:02,520 –> 00:11:05,299 time, that Christians sin, and we all feel in many ways. 160 00:11:05,299 –> 00:11:09,960 If anyone thinks he’s without sin, he’s deceived and the truth is not in him. 161 00:11:09,960 –> 00:11:12,280 But here’s the reality. 162 00:11:12,280 –> 00:11:16,340 If you have been born again, you hate your sin. 163 00:11:16,340 –> 00:11:18,719 You grieve your sin. 164 00:11:18,719 –> 00:11:22,820 What grieves you most about your sin is the way that it hurts and grieves the Lord Jesus 165 00:11:22,820 –> 00:11:25,299 Christ. 166 00:11:25,299 –> 00:11:29,859 If you are born again, there is a spirit of repentance with regards to your sin. 167 00:11:29,859 –> 00:11:33,659 You cannot stay in your sin, that’s what he’s saying. 168 00:11:33,659 –> 00:11:42,340 You just cannot carry on regardless, unchanged, because a new love for Christ is within you. 169 00:11:42,340 –> 00:11:48,080 And if you can be comfortable in sin, you’re not a Christian. 170 00:11:48,080 –> 00:11:50,159 That’s what John is saying. 171 00:11:50,159 –> 00:11:54,380 It doesn’t bother you if you’re not born again. 172 00:11:54,419 –> 00:11:59,059 So, righteousness and repentance, the first two marks of a genuine believer. 173 00:11:59,059 –> 00:12:01,020 Third mark, love. 174 00:12:01,760 –> 00:12:07,919 The supreme mark that distinguishes a person who has the presence of God, who is love in 175 00:12:07,919 –> 00:12:09,619 his or her life. 176 00:12:09,619 –> 00:12:22,299 Chapter 4, in verse 7, Chapter 4, and verse 7, everyone who loves has been born of God. 177 00:12:23,119 –> 00:12:29,099 Regeneration, in other words, brings you into the life that God is calling you to live. 178 00:12:29,099 –> 00:12:30,440 And what is that life? 179 00:12:30,440 –> 00:12:32,659 Well, Jesus stated it so clearly, didn’t he? 180 00:12:32,659 –> 00:12:36,500 It is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love 181 00:12:36,500 –> 00:12:38,619 your neighbor as yourself. 182 00:12:38,619 –> 00:12:43,900 And regeneration, which brings the presence of the Spirit of God, who is love into your 183 00:12:44,900 –> 00:12:52,059 to life, is evidenced by that love towards God and that love towards others that is the 184 00:12:52,059 –> 00:12:58,400 growing character of a genuinely converted man or woman. 185 00:12:58,400 –> 00:13:00,299 Begin to learn to love. 186 00:13:00,299 –> 00:13:03,200 That’s another reason why becoming a Christian is such a wonderful thing. 187 00:13:03,200 –> 00:13:04,859 It expands your soul. 188 00:13:04,859 –> 00:13:13,580 It cuts the root of living for self that is so deeply buried within us in the fallenness 189 00:13:14,140 –> 00:13:15,140 of our sinful nature. 190 00:13:15,140 –> 00:13:17,780 Now these were the first three that we looked at last time. 191 00:13:17,780 –> 00:13:20,020 You ready to go for the remaining three? 192 00:13:20,020 –> 00:13:22,940 They’re all in 1 John in chapter five. 193 00:13:22,940 –> 00:13:25,479 So let’s go to the fourth distinguishing mark. 194 00:13:25,479 –> 00:13:28,400 It’s right there in the first verse of the chapter. 195 00:13:28,400 –> 00:13:36,039 Faith is a distinguishing mark of every person who is born of God and not just faith in general 196 00:13:36,039 –> 00:13:41,119 but particularly believing that Jesus is the Christ. 197 00:13:41,119 –> 00:13:42,219 One John, five one. 198 00:13:42,599 –> 00:13:44,359 Look at what he says. 199 00:13:44,359 –> 00:13:56,260 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. 200 00:13:57,280 –> 00:14:04,679 Now notice that the mark of a genuine Christian here is not simply a general faith in God. 201 00:14:04,679 –> 00:14:05,979 Many people are confused here. 202 00:14:05,979 –> 00:14:08,700 They think you know if you have a faith in God that makes you a Christian. 203 00:14:08,700 –> 00:14:11,979 That’s not what John says. 204 00:14:11,979 –> 00:14:16,820 What makes you a Christian, the evidence of the new life from above being in you is not 205 00:14:16,820 –> 00:14:23,340 just a general faith about God but a specific faith in regard to Jesus Christ. 206 00:14:23,340 –> 00:14:27,760 We believe that Jesus is the Christ. 207 00:14:28,400 –> 00:14:32,280 Remember how Jesus asked Peter and the disciples who do people say that I am. 208 00:14:32,280 –> 00:14:34,419 Peter says you are the Christ. 209 00:14:34,419 –> 00:14:39,280 Now that is the distinctive Christian confession. 210 00:14:39,280 –> 00:14:45,799 And John is saying that anybody who truly confesses that Jesus is the Christ has been 211 00:14:45,799 –> 00:14:48,619 born of God. 212 00:14:48,619 –> 00:14:51,299 Now what does this mean? 213 00:14:51,299 –> 00:14:59,559 This word Christ does not mean, it’s not like a last name, it’s not like Smith or something. 214 00:14:59,559 –> 00:15:02,559 Some folks have the idea, is this a last name. 215 00:15:02,559 –> 00:15:03,559 No. 216 00:15:04,080 –> 00:15:09,739 The word Christ very simply means anointed one. 217 00:15:09,739 –> 00:15:18,099 And in the Old Testament, God anointed various people for particular tasks that reflected 218 00:15:18,099 –> 00:15:22,020 the work that God was doing and is doing in the world. 219 00:15:22,020 –> 00:15:23,260 What is God’s work in the world? 220 00:15:23,260 –> 00:15:25,679 Well, three things, essentially. 221 00:15:25,679 –> 00:15:27,280 Revealing himself. 222 00:15:27,280 –> 00:15:28,960 Redeeming sinners. 223 00:15:28,960 –> 00:15:31,479 And reigning over his people. 224 00:15:31,539 –> 00:15:35,760 Now, if you think about the Old Testament, there were different groups of people who 225 00:15:35,760 –> 00:15:39,320 were anointed for these tasks. 226 00:15:39,320 –> 00:15:42,760 Prophets were anointed to speak the word of God. 227 00:15:42,760 –> 00:15:46,440 Priests were anointed to offer sacrifices to God. 228 00:15:46,440 –> 00:15:50,760 And kings, of course, were the ones who were anointed—flask of oil poured over them and 229 00:15:50,760 –> 00:15:54,219 so forth—anointed to rule the people of God. 230 00:15:54,219 –> 00:16:01,039 Now, these anointed ministries in the Old Testament, prophet, priest and king, all pointed 231 00:16:01,039 –> 00:16:07,359 forward to one person who would, as it were, wrap all of them up together and fulfill everything 232 00:16:07,359 –> 00:16:09,640 to which they pointed. 233 00:16:09,640 –> 00:16:14,020 Someone who would be THE anointed one. 234 00:16:14,020 –> 00:16:15,979 THE Christ. 235 00:16:15,979 –> 00:16:19,719 And you know if you know anything about the Bible that the whole of the Old Testament 236 00:16:19,719 –> 00:16:26,219 is kind of rustling with this anticipation of THE Christ who will come and fulfill the 237 00:16:26,219 –> 00:16:28,000 role of prophet, priest, and king. 238 00:16:28,000 –> 00:16:32,059 That is, the role of revealing God to us, of making the sacrifice that will reconcile 239 00:16:32,059 –> 00:16:37,539 us to God, and of reigning and ruling over the people of God. 240 00:16:37,539 –> 00:16:40,500 And then Jesus comes. 241 00:16:40,500 –> 00:16:47,539 And He is the Word made flesh, God made known among us and He says, Philip, if you have 242 00:16:47,539 –> 00:16:51,340 seen Me you have seen the Father. 243 00:16:51,340 –> 00:16:55,080 Who else could ever say a thing like that? 244 00:16:55,200 –> 00:16:59,119 He is the priest who offers Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. 245 00:16:59,119 –> 00:17:00,880 That’s the meaning of His death on the cross. 246 00:17:00,880 –> 00:17:05,839 He said, I’ve come to seek and save those who are lost, I have come to give My life 247 00:17:05,839 –> 00:17:13,540 as a ransom for many, came to lay My life down as a sacrifice, and He is the King who 248 00:17:13,540 –> 00:17:14,739 reigns over all. 249 00:17:14,739 –> 00:17:19,880 He says, you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds and all His holy angels with 250 00:17:19,880 –> 00:17:20,880 Him. 251 00:17:20,880 –> 00:17:24,640 He’s coming again in power and glory. 252 00:17:25,040 –> 00:17:34,040 What then does it mean for you, or for me, to believe that Jesus is the Christ? 253 00:17:34,040 –> 00:17:36,739 Well, what it means is simply this. 254 00:17:36,739 –> 00:17:43,239 That when you believe that Jesus is the Christ, what that means is that to you He is the prophet 255 00:17:43,239 –> 00:17:45,680 whose word you believe. 256 00:17:45,680 –> 00:17:46,680 That’s your position. 257 00:17:46,680 –> 00:17:50,339 You say, here’s my confession, here’s how I live my life. 258 00:17:50,339 –> 00:17:52,459 Jesus is the word made flesh. 259 00:17:52,459 –> 00:17:57,099 I believe that, and that means that He defines truth for me. 260 00:17:57,099 –> 00:18:02,900 I cannot any longer go around defining right and wrong for myself, and saying that truth 261 00:18:02,900 –> 00:18:06,300 is what I think it to be according to my own inclinations or opinions. 262 00:18:06,300 –> 00:18:14,099 No, truth for me is not defined by what I think, but by what He says. 263 00:18:14,099 –> 00:18:15,859 He’s the prophet whose word I believe. 264 00:18:15,859 –> 00:18:17,239 He’s the priest. 265 00:18:17,280 –> 00:18:21,459 If you believe that Jesus is The Christ, you’ll be saying he is the priest whose sacrifice 266 00:18:21,459 –> 00:18:23,040 I trust. 267 00:18:23,040 –> 00:18:27,760 When He died on that cross, I believe that He died therefore on my sins, and therefore 268 00:18:27,760 –> 00:18:32,119 my right standing before God doesn’t depend on how I am feeling today or tomorrow. 269 00:18:32,119 –> 00:18:34,359 It doesn’t depend on whether I had a good day, or a bad day. 270 00:18:34,359 –> 00:18:37,000 It doesn’t depend on my achievements, or my failures. 271 00:18:37,000 –> 00:18:43,599 No, peace with God is accomplished not by what I do, or am doing, but by what Jesus 272 00:18:43,599 –> 00:18:44,599 has done. 273 00:18:45,239 –> 00:18:50,760 So it means to trust Him as your priest, and to confess Jesus as the Christ, to believe 274 00:18:50,760 –> 00:18:56,420 that Jesus is the Christ means that you are owning Him as your King, recognizing Him as 275 00:18:56,420 –> 00:18:58,920 the King whose direction you obey. 276 00:18:58,920 –> 00:19:03,760 That He is the Risen Lord at the right hand of the Father, and you’re saying I belong 277 00:19:03,760 –> 00:19:05,339 to Him. 278 00:19:05,339 –> 00:19:07,859 I was purchased by His blood. 279 00:19:07,859 –> 00:19:10,959 So my life cannot now be about pleasing myself. 280 00:19:10,959 –> 00:19:17,119 It has to be whatever this means about fulfilling the purpose of the King that I serve. 281 00:19:17,119 –> 00:19:23,260 That’s what it means to say Jesus is the Christ, to believe it, to embrace Him as prophet, 282 00:19:23,260 –> 00:19:29,140 priest and King, Christ, Savior, Lord, Master, Teacher. 283 00:19:29,140 –> 00:19:35,420 John says everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. 284 00:19:35,420 –> 00:19:38,900 That’s the evidence of the new life within you. 285 00:19:38,939 –> 00:19:41,020 That is faith in the Lord Jesus. 286 00:19:41,020 –> 00:19:45,099 And notice the Christ, because there’s no other. 287 00:19:45,099 –> 00:19:49,479 When you have come to realize what God has done for you in Jesus Christ, you will realize 288 00:19:49,479 –> 00:19:55,939 there’s no one else who could possibly ever do for you what Jesus Christ has done for 289 00:19:55,939 –> 00:19:58,619 you and what He does for you even now. 290 00:19:58,619 –> 00:20:03,219 I want to read to you just a few sentences from Bishop Ryle. 291 00:20:03,219 –> 00:20:08,859 He has a comment on this that I think is so marvelous, because maybe you’re saying, 292 00:20:09,119 –> 00:20:13,859 Okay, faith, I sometimes have doubts, I sometimes have questions. 293 00:20:13,859 –> 00:20:17,839 Here’s Ryle’s answer to that, it’s so helpful. 294 00:20:17,839 –> 00:20:22,439 He says, the Christian may have his fears and his doubts. 295 00:20:22,439 –> 00:20:29,439 He may sometimes tell you that he feels as if he has no faith at all, but ask him, ask 296 00:20:29,439 –> 00:20:35,819 the Christian if he is willing to trust anything instead of Christ and see what he will say. 297 00:20:35,819 –> 00:20:39,939 Ask him whether he will rest his hopes of eternal life on his own goodness, his own 298 00:20:39,939 –> 00:20:45,199 amendments, his own prayers, his minister, his doings in the church and out of the church, 299 00:20:45,199 –> 00:20:49,520 either in whole or in part, you see what he will reply. 300 00:20:49,520 –> 00:20:55,079 Ask him if he will give up Christ and place his confidence in any other way of salvation. 301 00:20:55,079 –> 00:21:02,920 Depend upon it, he would say that though he does feel weak and bad, he would not give 302 00:21:03,000 –> 00:21:09,359 up Christ for all the world, is there anyone who agrees with that here? 303 00:21:09,359 –> 00:21:11,000 Amen. 304 00:21:11,000 –> 00:21:16,359 That’s the mark of a person who is born again, I mean, you say, boy, I wish I was a better 305 00:21:16,359 –> 00:21:20,479 Christian, but I tell you I wouldn’t change Christ for all the world. 306 00:21:20,479 –> 00:21:22,079 See that’s because you have faith in him. 307 00:21:22,079 –> 00:21:26,040 That’s the evidence of the work of the Spirit of God in your life. 308 00:21:26,040 –> 00:21:31,760 And thousands and millions of people regard his name as nothing more than a word of blasphemy. 309 00:21:32,199 –> 00:21:34,599 Thank God for it. 310 00:21:35,739 –> 00:21:43,119 So faith, mark number four, believing that Jesus is the Christ. 311 00:21:43,119 –> 00:21:45,300 Here’s number 5, and it is wonderful. 312 00:21:45,300 –> 00:21:50,739 I hope it’s going to come as a real encouragement to many who are battling with sin and temptation 313 00:21:50,739 –> 00:21:52,000 today. 314 00:21:52,000 –> 00:21:53,000 Number 5. 315 00:21:53,000 –> 00:21:59,959 In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 4, we have this marvelous reference to the power that is given 316 00:22:00,119 –> 00:22:04,439 to a Christian believer by the new birth, by the presence of the Holy Spirit, that is 317 00:22:04,439 –> 00:22:07,099 the power to overcome the world. 318 00:22:07,099 –> 00:22:11,560 Look at John’s words here in verse 4. 319 00:22:11,560 –> 00:22:19,540 Everyone born of God overcomes the world. 320 00:22:19,540 –> 00:22:24,060 And that’s one of these great Bible statements, you feel like you just have to stop and try 321 00:22:24,060 –> 00:22:25,060 and take it in. 322 00:22:25,939 –> 00:22:33,459 Everyone born of God, so this is a distinguishing mark again, mark number 5 of a person who 323 00:22:33,459 –> 00:22:36,660 is regenerate, has been born again by the Spirit of God. 324 00:22:36,660 –> 00:22:44,180 Everyone born of God overcomes the world. 325 00:22:44,180 –> 00:22:48,780 Now, what does this mean? 326 00:22:48,780 –> 00:22:53,140 If you are a Christian, you will experience two things. 327 00:22:53,339 –> 00:22:56,459 In fact, it’s one of the ways you know you are a Christian, that you experience both 328 00:22:56,459 –> 00:22:59,060 of these at the same time. 329 00:22:59,060 –> 00:23:04,719 The first is that you know you’re in a struggle, anyone experienced that one, okay? 330 00:23:04,719 –> 00:23:11,000 We experience the struggle, the pool of temptation all around us, in fact when you become a Christian 331 00:23:11,000 –> 00:23:15,939 because conscience is activated, your awareness of temptation is heightened more than it was 332 00:23:15,939 –> 00:23:20,619 before, and you often feel your own weakness. 333 00:23:20,619 –> 00:23:21,619 That’s true of every Christian. 334 00:23:22,099 –> 00:23:25,300 First, you know you’re in a struggle if you’re a real Christian. 335 00:23:25,300 –> 00:23:28,300 You’re swimming against the tide. 336 00:23:28,300 –> 00:23:35,660 Second, if you’re a real Christian, you know that you have been given power. 337 00:23:35,660 –> 00:23:39,819 You know that you have been given power. 338 00:23:39,819 –> 00:23:41,060 What is it to be a Christian? 339 00:23:41,060 –> 00:23:46,219 Christ lives in you, you can’t have Christ living within you and not have power. 340 00:23:46,219 –> 00:23:49,800 There is no presence of Christ apart from the power of Christ. 341 00:23:49,800 –> 00:23:52,900 You know you are in a struggle and you know that you have power. 342 00:23:52,900 –> 00:23:56,439 You are not in the position that you were before you were converted. 343 00:23:56,439 –> 00:24:01,520 I just love the way that Paul puts this together in Colossians chapter 1, verse 29. 344 00:24:01,520 –> 00:24:05,839 He’s talking about the pressures of his life in ministry and notice his words, if 345 00:24:05,839 –> 00:24:07,920 you want to just turn to it. 346 00:24:07,920 –> 00:24:13,000 Colossians 1, verse 29. 347 00:24:13,339 –> 00:24:26,359 And he says here, notice how he puts this together, he says, to this end I labor, struggling 348 00:24:26,359 –> 00:24:30,300 with all his energy which so powerfully works in me. 349 00:24:30,300 –> 00:24:31,579 He put all that together. 350 00:24:31,579 –> 00:24:33,959 See what he’s saying. 351 00:24:33,959 –> 00:24:36,439 He says here’s what it’s like for me to lived a Christian life. 352 00:24:36,439 –> 00:24:39,459 This is Paul and you’ll relate to this. 353 00:24:39,500 –> 00:24:43,500 The Christian life isn’t easy, I labor at it. 354 00:24:43,500 –> 00:24:45,859 It’s a struggle for me. 355 00:24:45,859 –> 00:24:50,199 But the reason that I’m able to engage and persevere in this struggle is simply this, 356 00:24:50,199 –> 00:24:55,619 I’ve been given power, his energy which powerfully works in me. 357 00:24:55,619 –> 00:24:58,380 There’s the whole Christian life right there. 358 00:24:58,380 –> 00:25:01,920 You know you’re in a struggle, you know you have power. 359 00:25:01,920 –> 00:25:03,099 And that is always true. 360 00:25:03,099 –> 00:25:08,219 These are the twin experiences of the Christian believer and it will always be true from here 361 00:25:08,219 –> 00:25:13,319 until we enter into heaven itself and then our struggle will be over as we enter into 362 00:25:13,319 –> 00:25:16,339 the presence of the Lord. 363 00:25:16,339 –> 00:25:20,520 Now what then does John mean if we come back to Chapter 5 of his first letter, what does 364 00:25:20,520 –> 00:25:26,040 John mean when he says everyone born of God overcomes the world? 365 00:25:26,040 –> 00:25:32,199 Well if you look back to Chapter 2 and verse 16 of John’s letter, you’ll see that he lays 366 00:25:32,199 –> 00:25:39,680 out very, very clearly the struggle that we all experience in regards to the things 367 00:25:39,680 –> 00:25:47,540 of this world and looking at Chapter 2 and verse 16, in fact let’s just begin at 15, 368 00:25:47,540 –> 00:25:49,900 he says don’t love the world or anything in the world. 369 00:25:49,900 –> 00:25:54,599 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him so these are two different 370 00:25:54,599 –> 00:25:56,599 things. 371 00:25:56,640 –> 00:26:03,920 He then says for everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his 372 00:26:03,920 –> 00:26:13,520 eyes and the boasting of what he has and does, comes not from the Father but from the world. 373 00:26:13,520 –> 00:26:18,939 So he’s defining for us what the world’s all about right here. 374 00:26:18,939 –> 00:26:24,619 Everyone born of God, Chapter 5 and verse 4, overcomes the world and now back in Chapter 375 00:26:25,520 –> 00:26:29,260 He’s telling us what it is that we overcome. 376 00:26:29,260 –> 00:26:31,400 And this is therefore an amazing promise. 377 00:26:31,400 –> 00:26:38,500 What He’s saying is this, the new birth puts you in a position where you are able to deal 378 00:26:38,500 –> 00:26:43,219 with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. 379 00:26:43,219 –> 00:26:44,219 These three things. 380 00:26:44,219 –> 00:26:46,160 That’s the world right there. 381 00:26:46,160 –> 00:26:48,859 Let’s try and take this in. 382 00:26:48,859 –> 00:26:52,660 This is an amazing promise. 383 00:26:52,939 –> 00:26:55,040 Everyone born of God overcomes the world. 384 00:26:55,060 –> 00:27:00,180 Now it does not say that you will overcome the world instantly. 385 00:27:00,180 –> 00:27:04,739 It does not say that you will overcome the world completely. 386 00:27:04,739 –> 00:27:12,180 Through this life, you will always find yourself in a battle with sin and with temptation and 387 00:27:12,180 –> 00:27:16,180 especially with the lust of the flesh and especially with the lust of the eyes and especially 388 00:27:16,180 –> 00:27:19,219 with the pride of life. 389 00:27:19,219 –> 00:27:25,420 But, John says your warfare will lead to victory. 390 00:27:25,420 –> 00:27:26,819 Isn’t that good news? 391 00:27:26,819 –> 00:27:28,280 That’s what he’s saying. 392 00:27:28,280 –> 00:27:33,060 Your warfare will lead to victory. 393 00:27:33,060 –> 00:27:39,180 When you’re engaging in the struggle against temptation, which can be very acute at times, 394 00:27:39,180 –> 00:27:41,739 that struggle is not going to end in ultimate failure. 395 00:27:41,739 –> 00:27:44,339 If you’re born of God, that struggle is going to lead to victory. 396 00:27:44,339 –> 00:27:46,800 That’s what he’s saying. 397 00:27:46,839 –> 00:27:52,079 That is the outcome of you engaging in this great struggle, with all the energy with which 398 00:27:52,079 –> 00:27:54,300 Christ works so powerfully in you. 399 00:27:54,300 –> 00:27:56,459 That’s what it means to be a Christian. 400 00:27:56,459 –> 00:27:57,459 The struggle is real. 401 00:27:57,459 –> 00:27:59,280 The struggle is continuing. 402 00:27:59,280 –> 00:28:05,359 But, the marvelous thing about being a Christian is that though at times you may say, oh, wretched 403 00:28:05,359 –> 00:28:10,180 man that I am, you will also say thanks be to God who gives me the victory through Jesus 404 00:28:10,180 –> 00:28:11,180 Christ. 405 00:28:11,180 –> 00:28:16,160 So, the Christian is never left in the position of saying, oh, how wretched I am. 406 00:28:16,599 –> 00:28:18,900 You are never consigned to failure. 407 00:28:18,900 –> 00:28:23,859 The spirit of God lives within you. 408 00:28:23,859 –> 00:28:30,260 Now, look back at chapter 5 here and notice what John says immediately afterward. 409 00:28:30,260 –> 00:28:37,719 He says, everyone born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome 410 00:28:37,719 –> 00:28:38,780 the world. 411 00:28:38,780 –> 00:28:42,260 Even our faith. 412 00:28:42,260 –> 00:28:44,819 Our faith. 413 00:28:44,819 –> 00:28:48,859 In other words, victory begins. 414 00:28:48,859 –> 00:28:53,439 Victory in your struggles with the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the 415 00:28:53,439 –> 00:28:54,439 pride of life. 416 00:28:54,439 –> 00:28:55,579 Where does victory begin? 417 00:28:55,579 –> 00:29:01,579 It begins for you, when you recognize that Jesus Christ has given you the power to overcome. 418 00:29:01,579 –> 00:29:02,939 That’s where it begins. 419 00:29:02,939 –> 00:29:08,040 Now, honestly and very practically, I’ve met many people over the years who say that they 420 00:29:08,040 –> 00:29:13,339 are Christians, and simply do not believe this. 421 00:29:13,540 –> 00:29:17,400 They insist that they are powerless. 422 00:29:17,400 –> 00:29:19,939 They say, pastor, you don’t understand. 423 00:29:19,939 –> 00:29:24,459 This temptation is too big for me. 424 00:29:24,459 –> 00:29:33,739 Friend, it may be too big for you, but it is not too big for Christ. 425 00:29:33,739 –> 00:29:39,180 And the whole point of the new birth is that the spirit of this, victorious Christ lives 426 00:29:39,180 –> 00:29:40,959 within you. 427 00:29:40,959 –> 00:29:42,099 Does that mean you won’t struggle? 428 00:29:42,140 –> 00:29:43,140 No, it doesn’t. 429 00:29:44,060 –> 00:29:48,439 What it does mean is that you can prevail. 430 00:29:48,439 –> 00:29:52,380 And the beginning of victory for you, this can be life-changing for a number of people 431 00:29:52,380 –> 00:29:53,859 right here today. 432 00:29:53,859 –> 00:30:00,560 The beginning of victory in this struggle in which you have been defeated so many times 433 00:30:00,560 –> 00:30:10,140 lies in you believing, recognizing that Jesus Christ has, by the new birth, put you in a 434 00:30:10,439 –> 00:30:13,439 position in which you can overcome. 435 00:30:13,439 –> 00:30:15,119 No matter how many times you have failed. 436 00:30:15,119 –> 00:30:16,579 No matter how recently you have failed. 437 00:30:16,579 –> 00:30:18,739 You gotta get up today. 438 00:30:18,739 –> 00:30:20,319 You gotta come back to Christ. 439 00:30:20,319 –> 00:30:25,680 You gotta say, let your cleansing blood cover that I am moving forward in faith in you the 440 00:30:25,680 –> 00:30:26,680 son of God. 441 00:30:26,680 –> 00:30:28,160 I am going to engage in this warfare 442 00:30:28,160 –> 00:30:33,439 I am going to put an end to this defeatist talk in which I believed the devil’s lie that 443 00:30:33,439 –> 00:30:35,119 I’m powerless. 444 00:30:35,119 –> 00:30:42,800 My friend, if you are powerless, come to Jesus Christ today and find new life. 445 00:30:42,800 –> 00:30:54,040 But if the Spirit of God lives in you, do not ever say under heaven that you are powerless 446 00:30:54,040 –> 00:30:59,439 if the Spirit of God lives within you. 447 00:30:59,439 –> 00:31:00,599 Isn’t that good news? 448 00:31:00,839 –> 00:31:05,780 Is that encouraging in relation to the battle of the Christian life? 449 00:31:05,780 –> 00:31:10,180 The only person who talks defeat to the Christian is the enemy. 450 00:31:10,180 –> 00:31:14,900 Some of us believe him more than we believe the Bible, and that’s why we can live for 451 00:31:14,900 –> 00:31:16,520 years in defeat. 452 00:31:16,520 –> 00:31:20,219 Now, here’s the evidence of the new birth. 453 00:31:20,219 –> 00:31:22,180 The Spirit of God lives within you. 454 00:31:22,180 –> 00:31:24,459 The Christian is not in despair. 455 00:31:24,459 –> 00:31:29,020 Listen, regeneration is what makes the Christian life possible. 456 00:31:29,020 –> 00:31:32,079 This is why it’s such good news. 457 00:31:32,079 –> 00:31:35,239 You can’t live this Christian life by turning over a new leaf. 458 00:31:35,239 –> 00:31:40,040 You can’t live the Christian life by adopting a new set of values, you live this life by 459 00:31:40,040 –> 00:31:43,040 becoming a new person. 460 00:31:43,040 –> 00:31:45,719 And that is what God offers to you in the gospel. 461 00:31:45,719 –> 00:31:47,739 It’s wonderful. 462 00:31:47,739 –> 00:31:53,880 The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, not the advice of 463 00:31:54,839 –> 00:32:00,079 God, not the instructions of God, not the expectations of God, the power of God for 464 00:32:00,079 –> 00:32:01,079 everyone who believes. 465 00:32:01,079 –> 00:32:02,680 That’s why it’s life changing. 466 00:32:02,680 –> 00:32:08,459 Because only life is changing when you believe it. 467 00:32:08,459 –> 00:32:09,959 Everyone born of God overcomes the world. 468 00:32:09,959 –> 00:32:10,959 Does that give you hope? 469 00:32:10,959 –> 00:32:11,959 Gives me hope. 470 00:32:11,959 –> 00:32:15,300 Makes me think, I’m going to keep going in the struggle like Paul. 471 00:32:15,300 –> 00:32:16,300 I’m going to labor. 472 00:32:16,300 –> 00:32:21,680 I’m going to struggle on with all his energy that works so powerfully in me. 473 00:32:21,680 –> 00:32:22,680 Verse six. 474 00:32:22,680 –> 00:32:25,479 Boy, they get ever more marvelous as we go. 475 00:32:25,479 –> 00:32:27,280 This one is the best of all. 476 00:32:27,280 –> 00:32:35,680 1 John 5 and verse 18, the sixth distinguishing mark of a genuine believer is that this person, 477 00:32:35,680 –> 00:32:44,380 he or she is utterly secure, kept safe from the evil one. 478 00:32:44,599 –> 00:32:47,520 Notice what he says here. 479 00:32:47,520 –> 00:32:48,520 Verse 18. 480 00:32:48,520 –> 00:32:54,319 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin. 481 00:32:54,319 –> 00:33:00,339 That’s what he said back in Chapter 3 and verse 9 we looked at before. 482 00:33:00,339 –> 00:33:13,119 Then what he adds here, the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot 483 00:33:13,119 –> 00:33:18,219 harm him. 484 00:33:18,219 –> 00:33:20,660 That is the most marvelous promise. 485 00:33:20,660 –> 00:33:25,579 The one who is born of God, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. 486 00:33:25,579 –> 00:33:32,959 And what John is saying here is that he keeps you safe if you are indeed a child of God. 487 00:33:32,959 –> 00:33:38,380 This is one of the distinguishing marks of one who is born again, Christ keeps his own 488 00:33:38,380 –> 00:33:39,380 safe. 489 00:33:39,380 –> 00:33:41,680 It’s the most marvelous truth! 490 00:33:42,180 –> 00:33:47,020 Now, what does Christ keep us safe from? 491 00:33:47,020 –> 00:33:52,099 That is a huge question. 492 00:33:52,099 –> 00:33:57,579 And if you’re confused about the answer, you’ll always be in difficulties over troubles 493 00:33:57,579 –> 00:33:59,500 in the world. 494 00:33:59,500 –> 00:34:05,260 Every time something goes wrong in your life, you’ll feel that you’re discombobulated. 495 00:34:05,260 –> 00:34:07,880 What is it that Christ keeps us safe from? 496 00:34:07,979 –> 00:34:16,040 I remember so vividly speaking to a lady the Sunday after September the 11th, 2001. 497 00:34:16,040 –> 00:34:17,320 I had never seen her before. 498 00:34:17,320 –> 00:34:19,300 To my knowledge, I’ve never seen her again. 499 00:34:19,300 –> 00:34:25,399 But she’d come on that Sunday, and she said to me, she was so distressed after the service, 500 00:34:25,399 –> 00:34:27,020 Sunday after September the 11th. 501 00:34:27,020 –> 00:34:28,659 She said to me, how? 502 00:34:28,659 –> 00:34:37,360 How, in all the world, can I tell my children that they are safe? 503 00:34:37,360 –> 00:34:41,239 She asked a good question. 504 00:34:41,239 –> 00:34:46,379 What safety can you promise your children in this world? 505 00:34:46,379 –> 00:34:47,459 What does the promise mean? 506 00:34:47,459 –> 00:34:53,020 What is it that Jesus Christ has said categorically he will keep us safe from? 507 00:34:53,020 –> 00:35:00,959 Because Christians get all the same cancers and all the same diseases as others who are 508 00:35:00,959 –> 00:35:04,439 not Christians. 509 00:35:04,620 –> 00:35:11,479 And Christians experience dangers on the roads and in travel and all the same experiences 510 00:35:11,479 –> 00:35:16,620 as others who are not Christians, right? 511 00:35:16,620 –> 00:35:20,100 So if we’re not just to shmooze over this as religious words, if we’re really to 512 00:35:20,100 –> 00:35:26,199 believe what’s being said here, we need to understand what exactly is it that Jesus 513 00:35:26,199 –> 00:35:29,659 Christ promises he will keep you safe from? 514 00:35:30,659 –> 00:35:34,840 Because if you know the answer to that, then you’ll have some joy from the promise, 515 00:35:34,840 –> 00:35:36,520 otherwise you just say, well, you know, it’s nice words. 516 00:35:39,260 –> 00:35:43,699 There are some extraordinary words of Jesus back in Luke chapter 21 that just kind of 517 00:35:43,699 –> 00:35:45,379 focused the problem, really. 518 00:35:46,699 –> 00:35:50,280 And you might like to just glance back at this for a moment. 519 00:35:50,280 –> 00:35:52,399 Luke’s Gospel chapter 21. 520 00:35:52,399 –> 00:35:55,020 It’s just amazing, really. 521 00:35:55,020 –> 00:35:58,899 If you put together what the Lord Jesus says to his disciples here—and remember he’s 522 00:35:59,120 –> 00:36:07,139 talking to his disciples—he says here in verse 11, He says there will be great earthquakes. 523 00:36:07,139 –> 00:36:09,020 There’ll be famines. 524 00:36:09,020 –> 00:36:16,399 There’ll be pestilences in various places and fearful events. 525 00:36:16,399 –> 00:36:21,760 So disciples of Jesus, according to the Lord’s own mouth, His own Word. 526 00:36:21,760 –> 00:36:25,919 We as disciples of Jesus must expect that in our lives, we’re going to experience some 527 00:36:25,959 –> 00:36:27,020 fearful events. 528 00:36:27,020 –> 00:36:30,060 And you will have experienced some as I have. 529 00:36:30,060 –> 00:36:31,580 He said that we would. 530 00:36:31,580 –> 00:36:36,879 And then He lays a few out just in case we haven’t got the idea. 531 00:36:36,879 –> 00:36:41,360 To the disciples there, verse 12, He says they’ll lay hands on you and they’ll persecute 532 00:36:41,360 –> 00:36:42,360 you. 533 00:36:42,360 –> 00:36:49,120 They’ll deliver you to the synagogues, which invariably meant being flogged, and prison. 534 00:36:49,120 –> 00:36:53,199 If you look on a couple of verses to verse 16, you’ll get the general tenor of where 535 00:36:53,199 –> 00:36:54,300 this is going. 536 00:36:54,419 –> 00:37:00,020 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. 537 00:37:00,020 –> 00:37:04,219 And they will put some of you to death. 538 00:37:04,219 –> 00:37:11,540 Then verse 18, but not a hair of your head will perish. 539 00:37:11,540 –> 00:37:14,879 You try and put these two things together, you say, what in the world is this? 540 00:37:14,879 –> 00:37:18,100 Some of you will be put to death but not a hair of your head will perish? 541 00:37:18,100 –> 00:37:23,860 How can I be put to death and not a hair of my head be perished? 542 00:37:23,899 –> 00:37:26,560 John tells us what Jesus is saying here. 543 00:37:26,560 –> 00:37:29,260 Look at what He says. 544 00:37:29,260 –> 00:37:42,439 The one born of God, that’s Jesus, keeps him safe and the evil one cannot harm him, literally 545 00:37:42,439 –> 00:37:43,719 lay hold of him. 546 00:37:43,719 –> 00:37:48,260 It’s a word that’s only used one other place in the New Testament where Jesus said to Mary, 547 00:37:48,260 –> 00:37:49,340 do not touch me. 548 00:37:49,340 –> 00:37:50,340 Do you remember? 549 00:37:50,340 –> 00:37:52,919 He said that, do not lay hold of me, because I’m not yet ascended to the Father. 550 00:37:52,919 –> 00:37:58,520 You can’t hold onto this physical relationship with Jesus, it has to be by faith. 551 00:37:58,520 –> 00:38:05,060 The one born of God keeps him safe and the evil one cannot lay hold of him. 552 00:38:05,060 –> 00:38:09,239 Listen, Satan wants to harm you. 553 00:38:09,239 –> 00:38:15,199 The Bible says, the devil is a roaring lion and he is prowling around looking to see who 554 00:38:15,199 –> 00:38:18,060 he can devour. 555 00:38:18,199 –> 00:38:24,280 His objective is very clear, Jesus Christ has taken you from his clutches. 556 00:38:24,280 –> 00:38:26,260 So what do you think he wants to do now? 557 00:38:26,260 –> 00:38:29,360 He wants to get you back. 558 00:38:29,360 –> 00:38:35,040 He wants to lay hold of you, he wants to bring you back under his power. 559 00:38:35,040 –> 00:38:39,199 But this cannot happen, it is impossible. 560 00:38:39,199 –> 00:38:44,540 Once Christ has laid hold of you, once you have been born again, you belong to him. 561 00:38:44,560 –> 00:38:47,260 Jesus says, I’m quoting John 10, 28, 562 00:38:47,260 –> 00:38:53,120 I know my sheep, they follow me, I give them eternal life, and no one can snatch them out 563 00:38:53,120 –> 00:38:54,120 of my hand. 564 00:38:54,120 –> 00:38:57,040 Isn’t that a glorious promise? 565 00:38:57,040 –> 00:39:03,699 When you are in the hand of Christ, you are beyond Satan’s grasp. 566 00:39:03,699 –> 00:39:08,639 I love the way this is expressed in the words of Jesus to Peter. 567 00:39:08,639 –> 00:39:14,040 Do you remember just before the arrest of the Lord Jesus, just before the time when 568 00:39:14,080 –> 00:39:18,439 Peter actually denied the Lord. 569 00:39:18,439 –> 00:39:21,879 Jesus says this in Luke Chapter 22 in verse 31. 570 00:39:21,879 –> 00:39:30,860 He says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 571 00:39:30,860 –> 00:39:37,459 Notice, by the way, Satan has to ask. 572 00:39:37,459 –> 00:39:41,840 And notice from the story that God allowed in this case what Satan asked. 573 00:39:41,840 –> 00:39:48,239 Peter was rocked to the core and failed terribly. 574 00:39:48,239 –> 00:39:56,399 But Jesus says Luke 2231, but Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, Peter. 575 00:39:56,399 –> 00:40:03,639 But, I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. 576 00:40:03,639 –> 00:40:06,780 Which is why the New Testament Peter is an apostle, and you have two letters from Peter 577 00:40:06,780 –> 00:40:10,360 in the New Testament. 578 00:40:10,600 –> 00:40:18,360 One is when Satan does his worst and Peter’s failure is at its worst, Satan can tempt him. 579 00:40:18,379 –> 00:40:24,959 Oh, and we may fail in horrible ways. 580 00:40:24,979 –> 00:40:31,560 But Satan cannot grasp out of the hand of Christ one who is his redeemed child. 581 00:40:31,560 –> 00:40:34,000 That’s the promise. 582 00:40:34,000 –> 00:40:38,159 I cannot think of a greater promise that the Lord Jesus Christ could give to you or to 583 00:40:38,159 –> 00:40:39,979 me. 584 00:40:39,979 –> 00:40:42,699 The enemy may hurt you, but he can never destroy you. 585 00:40:42,699 –> 00:40:43,699 He may tempt you. 586 00:40:43,699 –> 00:40:45,459 He may cause you to fall into sin. 587 00:40:45,459 –> 00:40:51,379 But if I can invent a word, he cannot unregenerate you, right? 588 00:40:51,379 –> 00:40:53,360 He cannot unregenerate you. 589 00:40:53,360 –> 00:40:55,699 He cannot take you back to where you were before. 590 00:40:55,699 –> 00:41:01,199 When the life of God is in you, he can never own you again. 591 00:41:01,199 –> 00:41:04,979 The Christ who died to save you, lives to keep you and he intercedes for you at the 592 00:41:04,979 –> 00:41:06,419 right hand of the Father. 593 00:41:06,419 –> 00:41:12,899 He has purchased you with his blood and he will never, never, never let you go. 594 00:41:12,899 –> 00:41:18,659 And that’s why there’s a kind of confidence that comes to a Christian who understands 595 00:41:18,659 –> 00:41:19,659 this. 596 00:41:19,659 –> 00:41:24,500 I just love the way that when Paul is in prison and he writes to the Philippians, he doesn’t 597 00:41:24,500 –> 00:41:27,320 know if he’s going to die or live. 598 00:41:27,320 –> 00:41:33,979 And he says to them—in Philippians 1.27, whatever happens just live in a way that’s 599 00:41:33,979 –> 00:41:35,959 worthy of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 600 00:41:36,219 –> 00:41:39,820 See, this is a man who’s free, he’s not living his life worried about the next thing 601 00:41:39,820 –> 00:41:41,439 that might or might not happen. 602 00:41:41,439 –> 00:41:47,120 He has confidence because his life is in the hands of the Savior who will never let him 603 00:41:47,120 –> 00:41:51,260 go and whose purpose can never be defeated. 604 00:41:51,260 –> 00:41:57,020 What do you think of these great promises and gifts that God gives to it in regeneration? 605 00:41:57,020 –> 00:41:58,399 Aren’t they marvelous? 606 00:41:58,399 –> 00:42:04,699 That when life comes to you from God himself, it is marked by the pursuit of righteousness, 607 00:42:04,959 –> 00:42:10,080 the ongoing deepening of repentance, the gift of love, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, power 608 00:42:10,080 –> 00:42:15,120 to overcome the world, and a security in the hand of Jesus Christ who will never, never, 609 00:42:15,120 –> 00:42:16,780 never let you go. 610 00:42:16,780 –> 00:42:24,239 I cannot think of anything greater in all the world than to be born again of the Spirit 611 00:42:24,239 –> 00:42:36,080 of God, and either this life is yours, or friend in Christ, it can be yours. 612 00:42:36,080 –> 00:42:39,959 Let’s pray together, shall we? 613 00:42:39,959 –> 00:42:46,320 Many of us just want from the depths of our hearts to thank God for all that is ours in 614 00:42:46,320 –> 00:42:48,439 Jesus Christ. 615 00:42:48,860 –> 00:42:56,939 And some of us want to ask of God for what can be ours in Jesus Christ, and friend, you’ve 616 00:42:56,939 –> 00:42:59,560 got to begin in any relationship with being honest. 617 00:42:59,560 –> 00:43:02,020 So be real honest with God right now. 618 00:43:02,020 –> 00:43:07,060 Tell Him that you don’t have what He talks about in His word. 619 00:43:07,060 –> 00:43:12,620 Tell Him you can’t produce what He talks about in His word. 620 00:43:13,219 –> 00:43:18,639 And then you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the prophet, priest, and the 621 00:43:18,639 –> 00:43:22,699 King, who loved you and gave Himself for you. 622 00:43:22,699 –> 00:43:28,979 You ask of God that He would forgive you, that He would give you the life of the Spirit 623 00:43:28,979 –> 00:43:37,820 within you, that He would make you a new man, a new woman and offer yourself as you are 624 00:43:37,820 –> 00:43:45,100 into His hands, to be your Saviour, your Teacher from this day, your Master and your Lord, 625 00:43:45,100 –> 00:43:48,040 believe His promise. 626 00:43:48,040 –> 00:43:56,379 Father let the seeds of life from above spring up all over the place through Jesus Christ 627 00:43:56,379 –> 00:44:01,239 our Lord. 628 00:44:01,239 –> 00:44:04,939 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 629 00:44:04,939 –> 00:44:13,699 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website at openthebible.org.