Signs of Life, Part 2

1 John 5
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Pastor Colin Smith highlights that being a Christian is more than a collection of beliefs, behaviours, or relationships; it involves a supernatural transformation that comes from God’s life within one’s soul. Pastor Colin puts forth the critical question: “Have you been regenerated by the Spirit of God?” urging listeners to consider whether they have experienced this miracle of grace.

The sermon then delves into six distinguishing marks of an authentic Christian, as outlined in the first letter of John. These include: doing what is right, showing repentance, demonstrating love, having faith that Jesus is the Christ, overcoming the world, and being kept safe from the evil one. Pastor Colin explains each mark, offering both encouragement and conviction to help believers examine their spiritual condition.

Throughout the sermon, Pastor Colin reassures listeners of the power and presence of Christ within them, which gives them the ability to overcome sin and the world. He encourages Christians to live in the awareness of their security in Christ, who will never let them go.

The sermon concludes with a call to prayer, inviting those who have not experienced regeneration to seek it earnestly from God, and for those who have, to rejoice and be thankful for the new life they have in Christ.

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.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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