Introduction:
Forgiven People... (1 John 2:1-6)
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Take SIN SERIOUSLY (1 John 2:1a)
1 John 1:8,10 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ...
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. -
Trust in the ONLY RIGHTEOUS ONE (1 John 2:1b-2)
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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Obey WITHOUT EXCUSE (1 John 2:3-5a)
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Follow the EXAMPLE OF CHRIST (1 John 2:5b-6)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Well, please open your Bibles to 1 John 2, verses 1-6. 1 John 2, verses 1-6.
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Do you ever struggle with figuring out if someone is mad at you or not?
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By your laughter, I'm assuming yes. As a child, you misbehaved big time, so your dad gave you a real passionate talking to, and for the rest of the day, you're walking on eggshells, and you couldn't figure out, is dad still?
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mad at me.
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Maybe someone at the office seems aggravated.
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And you're not sure, did I do something wrong?
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Did I say something?
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And you check around the office to see if you did something wrong.
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Someone at church acts weird around you.
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They seem off.
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And you can't tell if you're the reason that they're off.
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You have an argument with your spouse.
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And you can't tell if it's over or not.
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You can't tell if it's resolved You feel like you're in limbo You feel like you're in relationship monopoly jail And you don't know if you've pulled the jail free card just yet Especially the men in the room So what do you do?
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You kind of tiptoe around the house You're on your best behavior You throw out conversational bait Seeing if the fight is over Talk about the kids You talk about work You'll even sink as low as talking about the weather to see if you're still in an argument or not. All of us can relate to wondering if someone else in our lives is mad at us or not and not knowing what to do about it. What about God? Do you ever wonder if God is mad at you? Do you ever struggle with figuring out if God is angry with you or not? You're not sure what to do about it.
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I just struck a nerve with some of you and you're thinking that is on my mind all the time. I feel like I am tiptoeing through life with this dark storm cloud above me and I'm just waiting for the lightning bolt to strike me. While others of you are thinking I've never considered that in my life. Why would God be mad at me? I didn't do anything to him. Some of you are worried about that God is mad at you when he isn't. While others of you are not concerned that God is mad at you while he is. You realize God does get angry. God is wrathful. He hates sin. He hates that which dishonors him and destroys lives. The Bible couldn't be any clearer that God is angry about sin. And he is mad.
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at sinners.
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But praise the Lord that Scripture is equally clear that God is loving and He cares for sinners.
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God shows unconditional grace. He shows undeserved mercy.
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God made a way for His anger towards sin to be satisfied and for sinners to be forgiven.
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You cannot afford to be uncertain of where you stand with God.
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You cannot afford to be ignorant of God's attitude towards you and your sin because the consequences are irreversible and eternal once this life is over. So I ask you again, are you sure that God isn't mad at you? Are you sure that God isn't angry about your sin? Are you sure that you are forgiven?
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This is the third week of our newest series, Are You Sure? We're studying 1 John and unpacking some very important yet uncomfortable aspects of our faith and our personal lives. Two weeks ago, Pastor Jeff asked the very important yet uncomfortable question, Are You Sure that You Know Jesus? You must know Jesus Christ as a personal friend. It's not enough to know a lot of facts.
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about him.
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And last week he asked the question, are you sure that you're not self-deceived?
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It's so easy to pretend that everything is okay on the outside when nothing is okay on the inside.
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And the question you and I must face this morning from 1 John 2, verses 1-6 is, are you sure you are forgiven?
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In this passage, John gives you a snapshot of what forgiven people look like and how forgiven people live. Forgiven people can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is not mad at them. Forgiven people should possess a blessed assurance that God is no longer angry about their sin. I hope that you will be refreshed this morning by God's past forgiveness or that you will experience His forgiveness.
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for the very first time. I pray that you will walk away from this sermon with blessed assurance because your sin has been dealt with in God's chosen way by God's chosen Savior. So before we continue, let's go to the Lord and ask for His help. Please pray that I will faithfully represent God's Word and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive God's Word.
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Father, I come before you and admit that I am not up to the task of preaching such a marvelous text. I stand amazed in the presence of 1 John 2, 1 through 6. Lord, may you speak through me, Father. May you preach a much better sermon in the hearts of those listening than I ever could with my mouth. Lord, do what only you can do. Seek and save the lost. Bring the dead to life. Bring blessed assurance.
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where there is doubt.
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And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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So on your outline, we're going to be talking about forgiven people.
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What they look like and how they live.
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So on your outline, forgiven people, number one, take sin seriously.
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Forgiven people take sin seriously.
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Let's read the first sentence of chapter 2, verse 1.
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John writes, My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. John addresses his audience as my little children. This isn't a derogatory put down. He isn't saying, listen up you little snot nosed punks, I got some stuff to tell you. No, no, he's not doing that. It's not a put down. It's not a annoying nickname like when the waitress who is your age or younger calls you honey, sweetie, or sugar. She has everything besides ruffle your hair to make you feel like a little boy. You just want to say, ma'am, I am a grown man. Please treat me as such. That's not what John is doing here. At the time of this letter, John is 80 to 90 years old. He is a spiritual father who loves those who are under his care. This is a term of deep affection. Just imagine John putting his arm around his readers and telling them as their dad what they need to hear. And as a dad, You tell your kids what they need to hear even when it's hard. Even when it's challenging. And John gives a challenging word. He says, I am writing these things so that you may not sin. Let's press the pause button for a minute because this verse can be easily used and abused. At first glance, it may look like John is saying that Christians can be perfect and sinless in this life.
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Is that what John is saying in this passage? How do we know that? The sermon last week from Pastor Jeff, if you go up a few lines in your Bible, John says this, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Forgiven people will sin. It's going to happen.
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But John wants forgiven people to avoid sinning with their thoughts, words, actions, and reactions. He wants God's people to take their sin very seriously. In this verse, John is putting his arm around all of us to say, kids, sin is a big deal. Don't just shrug your shoulders at it. Don't act like you're helpless against it. Aim to not sin.
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Will you miss that mark? Very often. But failure shouldn't change your aim. Failure shouldn't change your goal. My family has a seven-month-old golden retriever puppy named Parker. She's the most beautiful dog I've ever seen. She has this white set of denture-looking teeth that just astound me every single day. Her fur is so beautiful, but she uses those beautiful teeth to get into things that she shouldn't.
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She messes up her beautiful fur all the time. In particular, I have grass seed under my deck that I'm trying to grow and water, and she gets into it every single day. Every single day, we're wiping dirt off her nose, wiping dirt off her paws, we're picking topsoil out of her teeth, and in those moments, I want to yell at her, stop that! Then what does she do as soon as we clean her up?
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It's back out to the mess again. And once again, I want to yell at her and say, Parker, I didn't clean you up so you could go back to the mess. I didn't clean you up just so you can get messy again. I'm not going to yell at you like I want to yell at my dog, but I do want to take a page out of John's book and put my arm around you as one of your pastors to say to you, God didn't clean you up from the mess of sin so that you can go back to the mess again.
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God didn't clean you up just so you could keep getting dirty over and over and over again. If you are forgiven, you must understand that God saved you from your sin. He didn't save you to sin. God saved you from the sin of watching pornography. He didn't save you so you could wallow in the sin of watching pornography. God saved you from the sin of pride. He didn't save Assaulting yourself at work, at home, and in this church. God saved you from the sin of laziness. He didn't save you so that you could stay lazy. To be clear, the goal to aim for is not sinless perfection, because that is impossible this side of heaven. The goal to aim for is spiritual progress. Not sinless perfection, spiritual progress. Are you taking steps forward in your Christian life? Are you seeing victory over sin? Are you trying to flee sin or are you constantly waving the white flag and giving in? If you need help today, please talk to me. Talk to Pastor Jeff, Brian Behe, Justin, Katie. Talk to one of our elders. We would love to help you.
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You may be in a bad place, but you do not need to stay there. Forgiven people do not take sin lightly. Forgiven people take sin seriously. Secondly, forgiven people trust in the only righteous one. Forgiven people trust in the only righteous one. Check out the rest of verse one.
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But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Again, at a first glance, it may look like John is kind of sort of saying that Christians will never ever sin. It may look like he's presenting this hypothetical scenario of this Christian who somehow does sin, but don't worry, most Christians won't.
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But again, that is not what he's saying. In the original Greek, this sentence is definite, not unlikely. The word if can also be translated as when. And that really changes how you view the verse. But when anyone does sin. For parents in the room, you know it's not a matter of if your kids will disobey. It's a matter of when you're kids are going to disobey. It's the same with kids in the family of God. Sin will come. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. So if you are a forgiven child of God, what is your source of hope when you do sin? Look at the end of verse 1 again. But when anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.
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the righteous.
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Jesus Christ is the only perfect man to ever walk the face of this planet.
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During his earthly ministry, Jesus only had right thoughts.
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He only spoke right words.
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He only did right actions.
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He only had right re-actions.
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Jesus never sinned, and he never even came close to sinning.
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Not even once.
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Even though he was tempted in all the ways that you and I are. Forgiven people do not trust in themselves and their own righteousness. Forgiven people trust in Jesus Christ, the only righteous one. Forgiven people are not righteous in and of themselves. Forgiven people are only righteous because they are given the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a free gift.
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And John says that Jesus Christ the righteous is also the advocate of those who are forgiven. What is an advocate? An advocate is a mediator, an intercessor, a go-between. To use modern language, an advocate is a defense attorney. When do you hire a defense attorney? When you need someone to stand in the gap for you and represent you in court.
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of a crime, you need someone to defend you.
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And you realize that every single sin is a crime against God.
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And there is a prosecutor who is trying to accuse you of that crime every single time that you sin.
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And who is that prosecutor?
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Satan.
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Do you realize that Satan's not in hell right now?
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That's not his home right now.
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The Bible says he is roaming the earth looking for lives to destroy. He is accusing true believers day and night before the Lord. Your enemy tries to throw your sins in God the Father's face. Satan tries to convince the divine judge of heaven that he should lock you up and throw away the key. Satan is a heavyweight prosecutor.
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against the one who is defending you, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus is not a lame ambulance chaser whose picture you see all over billboards and bus benches. He has never lost a case and he will never lose a case. You could never afford Jesus defending you so he takes you on as a client free of charge by paying the fee himself. If you are forgiven, Jesus is defending you in the courts of right now.
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When Satan accuses you, your defense attorney objects, and the case is thrown out. The charges are dismissed.
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He says, you cannot hold that sin against him or her.
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The penalty has already been paid.
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And God the Father, the judge, throws the case out, and Satan gets no chance at an appeal.
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There is no retrial.
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Satan loses every time because Jesus wins every time. But how has the penalty been paid? How exactly does Jesus get the case dismissed? How did Jesus become the undefeatable defense attorney? Well, John answers these questions in verse 2 by showing you that Jesus Christ the righteous is your advocate because he is first your propitiation.
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verse 2. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
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When was the last time you used propitiation in a sentence? When was the last time you used that word outside of a Bible study? Probably never. It doesn't get much use beyond the four times it is mentioned in the New Testament. What is a propitiation? A propitiation is a wrath-appeasing sacrifice.
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It goes back to the day of atonement when a bull and a goat were killed and their blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat on the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle and later the temple. But this sacrificial blood of animals was never enough to fully appease and satisfy the wrath of God. The sacrificial blood of animals pointed forward to the sacrificial blood of the Son of God which was shed upon the cross. If you are forgiven, Jesus not only paid the penalty for your sin, he became your sin upon the cross. He bore the fiery, wrathful punishment of God in your place, on your behalf. Jesus was treated as if he lived every sinful day you've ever lived. And now you are treated as if you lived every sinless day that he ever lived. Jesus received your garbage of unrighteousness.
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In exchange, you receive his treasure of righteousness. On that Friday, Jesus heard guilty so that you could hear not guilty forever and ever and ever. His body was broken so that you could be made whole. I can't put it any better than Paul in 2 Corinthians 5.21. He, God the Father, made him, Jesus, to be, who knew no sin, so that in him, in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God.
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Jesus is the perfect defense attorney because he is the perfect propitiation.
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Jesus is your defender and your deflector.
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He is your advocate and your absorber.
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Jesus defends you in the courts of heaven because he already deflected the angry wrath of God that you deserved. He deflected your eternal punishment in hell upon himself while he hung upon that cross. Jesus advocates your case because he absorbed that wrath himself. If you are forgiven, what is your only hope when you sin? Your only hope is not a what.
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Your only hope is a who. Your hope is Jesus Christ, the righteous. Forgiven people do not trust in themselves. Forgiven people trust in the only righteous one. Thirdly, forgiven people obey without excuse. Forgiven people obey without excuse. In verses 3 through 4, John gives an objective test.
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of your faith.
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He gives a surefire way to know if you are a faithful, forgiven man or woman of God, or if you're an unforgiven pretender.
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Look at what He says in verses 3 through 4.
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And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
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Whoever says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
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That's pretty clear cut, isn't it? There is no wiggle room with John. Unforgiven people prove they are unforgiven by refusing to do what Jesus says. Unforgiven people do not think obedience is important. Unforgiven people make excuse after excuse about why the commands of God do not pertain to them. While forgiven people do what Jesus says without To be clear, John isn't saying that you should view the commandments of God as a list of to-dos that you have to do. Instead, you should view the commands of God as things that you want to keep. John talks about keeping the commandments. And this word keep means to look upon something as your treasure and therefore to guard it.
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as your treasure.
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You take care of what you treasure.
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You guard what you value.
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What in your possession do you treasure or guard the most?
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Maybe for you it's your car or your truck.
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You spend a lot of time, a lot of money on this truck, and you want it to be pristine.
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You want it to be perfect.
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You're constantly washing it and waxing it.
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You park far away at Giant Eagle so nobody dents your precious baby. You treasure your truck so you guard your truck. Maybe for you it's your house. It's your biggest physical investment so you take care of it. You do repairs. You make improvements. You treasure your house so you guard your house. For me it's books. For my entire life I have treasured the sanctity of the I do not dog your pages. I do not read hardcovers with a dust jacket on. If you do that, you have problems and you need help. I am very particular about my books whenever I receive them. I check them for damage. I actually keep my Bible in its original box when I take it anywhere. If I need to go somewhere with a book and it's raining, I put it in a Ziploc bag.
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I'm also particular about who I lend my books to. If you do not return my book, if you return my book not as it was given to you, with dents and sand falling out of the pages, that's actually happened before. I opened the book and sand just fell out. Do you know what I thought about that person whenever I opened the book? No more books for you! The Taylor Brown Lending Library is closed to you.
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my books. If you treasure God's word, you will guard God's word. If you love this book, you will live in light of this book. If you love the Lord, you will prove that you love him by doing what he says, by keeping his commandments. And obeying God's word won't just be your duty, it will be your delight.
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Evangelism, making disciples, won't be chores to get past. Evangelism, making disciples, will be joys that you want to live into. Serving your church won't be a, yeah, if I have time, I'll do it kind of task. Serving your church will be a, I will make time for it kind of assignment. Investing in the spiritual well-being of your family and your friends won't be on the back burner of your mind. Instead, those things will be at the front of your mind because what could matter?
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more than investing in the people you love the most. John says that unforgiven people expose themselves as liars who do not possess the truth. In verse 5, listen to what he says about forgiven people who do possess the truth. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.
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Whose love is John talking about in this verse? Is he talking about God's love for you if you're forgiven? That's not possible. God's love for you cannot be perfected because it is already fully perfect. John is obviously talking about your love for God. Raise your hand if you think your love for God is perfect. Not one hand raised.
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you'll be wondering, Pastor Taylor, what does it even mean that my love for God can be perfected?
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Well, a child's love for his parents, his or her parents, is very strong. It's real.
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But a child's love for his or her parents is also immature. It's also self-serving. If you went back to Harvest Academy and pulled one of the kids out and you said, why do you love your mommy and your daddy?
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That boy or girl would probably say something like, well, my daddy takes care of me. He gives me nice stuff. My mommy takes care of me whenever I'm sick. Are those great answers? Yeah. Are those cute answers? Sure. But those answers are also self-serving. They're also about what your parents can do for you, not who they are as people. And as you get older, as you begin to develop greater affection for your parents. You begin to love them not just for what they do for you, but who they are as people. Young married couples truly love each other. But that love is immature. It's very young and it needs to grow and be perfected. I love my wife way more today than I did on July 26, 2014.
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when I first said I do. We have gone through so much since then. We have become parents together. We've done ministry together. My love for her has been, is being perfected. It's growing. It's maturing. And hopefully in 10, 25, 50 years from now, my love for her will be even more perfected, more mature, more down the road. When you truly love someone, that love shouldn't stay immature. That love shouldn't be stagnant.
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It should be stunted. It should be developing and deepening with each passing day.
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What about your love for God?
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Is your love for God being perfected right now?
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Is your love for God growing or is it plateauing?
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Could it be that your love for God is not being perfected right now because you're not applying His Word to your life?
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Maybe that flame of passion is flickering in your heart because you know what the Bible says, but you don't do what the Bible says. Maybe your passion is dwindling because you sit in a seat Sunday after Sunday listening to sermons you do nothing with. You have a fat theological head, but you have a malnourished heart and lazy hands and feet.
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Have I described you at all? If I have, I have some questions for you. Don't you miss the way you used to feel about the Lord? Don't you long for the days when you couldn't wait to get in Scripture and just do what it said? Don't you want to get back to where you used to be? If that's you, take the first step this morning by crying out to God.
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Admit that you have lost your first love. Tell him, God, I don't want to just go back to where I used to be. I want to go far beyond where I used to be. Talk to your small group about your lack of passion. Ask for their prayer. Ask for their help. If you don't have a small group, get in one and find accountability in your life. Continue to make strides forward day by day, week by week, month by month, instead of backsliding into the rut of the same old, same old.
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Let the love of God be perfected in you by keeping the word of God that has been given to you. Forgiven people treasure and guard God's word. Forgiven people obey without excuse. Finally, forgiven people follow the example of Christ. Forgiven people follow the example of Christ.
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At this point in the message, you may be overwhelmed.
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You may be thinking, Pastor Taylor, John's level of obedience is ridiculously impossible.
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No one can do this. I just don't have it in me.
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This is too hard.
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I understand your concerns, and I even share your concerns.
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There are times when I look at pastoral qualifications in the Bible and I think, this is just too hard for me. I can't do this. Let me give you the counsel that I preached my own heart in those moments. Stop looking at yourself. Start looking at the one who has forgiven you. Start looking at Jesus Christ. That's not my own original thought, by the way. I just ripped off what John says in verses 5 through 6.
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He says, by this we know that we are in Him. Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. When you don't know how to do something in particular, it's a good idea to imitate someone who does know how to do that particular thing. When my son is stuck on a video game level, he hands me the controller and says, Dad, show me what to do. I show him. He grabs the controller back.
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and he imitates me. He follows my example. If you don't know how to do a certain repair project at home, what do you do? YouTube. You just imitate what the guy or gal on the video is doing because they know way more than you do. You follow his or her example. 14 years ago, I had no idea how to write sermons or shepherd people's souls. So what did I do?
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I followed the example of Pastor Jeff who does know how to do those things.
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I followed his example.
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You may feel like the Christian life is too hard.
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And you just can't do this on your own.
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Guess what? You're right.
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You can't do this on your own.
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So look to the one who can.
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You may feel like this is too hard for me.
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Look to the one who the Christian life is a breeze for.
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Look to Jesus Christ.
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Follow his example.
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Walk in His footsteps. Love people like Jesus loved people. Pray as Jesus prayed. Resist temptation as Jesus resisted temptation. No imitation is exactly like the original example. At seven years old, Sam cannot play video games as well as I can, but he still tries his best. If you're looking up a video for a house project, as well as the guy in the video, but you should still make the attempt. I'll never be half the pastor that Pastor Jeff is, but I still give it my maximum effort to follow in his footsteps. In this life, you and I will not flawlessly imitate our Lord and Savior, but that shouldn't stop us from trying. That shouldn't stop us from giving maximum effort. Forgiven people imitate Jesus. Forgiven people follow the example of Christ.
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As we close this message, I want to re-ask the question that I asked at the beginning of this sermon. Are you sure that God is not mad at you? Are you sure that you are forgiven? Hopefully many of you in this room and watching online have been filled with blessed assurance from the Holy Spirit. You've been reassured that your sins are forgiven and have been taken If that's you, I want you to do something with me. I want you to inhale and take a deep breath. Now exhale. Take a sigh of relief because God is not mad at you. He will never be angry with you ever again. Every last drop of his anger was poured out upon Jesus Christ on the cross. Jesus is now your propitiation, your defender, and your your example. Here's another big thing. God is not disappointed with you. He's not in heaven wagging his finger at you. When he looks at you, he sees his own son with whom he is well pleased. God doesn't just tolerate you. He loves you just as much as he loves Jesus. And I would never say that unless God said so in his word.
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You being kicked out of the family of God is as impossible as Jesus Christ being kicked out of the family of God. Your spot in heaven is as secure as Jesus' spot in heaven. There is nothing better than this kind of blessed assurance of knowing your sins are forgiven and your name is written in heaven. Obeying so that God will love you is exhausting and it's pointless. Obeying because God loves you.
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is what you need.
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This blessed assurance is the only fuel in the tank for true obedience.
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For truly fighting your sin.
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However, I know that some of you in this room are not filled with blessed assurance because you have nothing to be assured about.
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At this moment, God is angry at you.
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God is mad about your sin.
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The wrath of God is hanging over your head.
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you're currently on a path to hell. That's the road you're on right now. But you can make a U-turn today. You can trust in Christ today. You can turn around and turn towards Jesus Christ. Call out to him and ask for his grace and his forgiveness and he will give it to you. He will not reject you.
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If you come to him in faith, trust in his wrath-absorbing sacrifice and blessed assurance can be yours this very moment and every moment after this. There is no more important decision than this. Jesus is ready and willing to forgive you. But are you ready and willing to ask for his forgiveness? Let's pray.
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Father, we thank you for your love that we do not deserve. We thank you that you not only give us eternal life, you want us to know that we have eternal life. And Lord, if there are believers in this room who don't have that assurance, Lord, comfort their hearts. Give them your peace. Remind them of the gospel. And Lord, for those of us in this room who do not know you, who do not love you may today be the day of salvation. May those who have no assurance possess that assurance as they walk out today. May they not leave without talking to one of the pastors or someone else here, Lord. Lord, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for all that you do for us and all that you will do for us in eternity. We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 John 2:1-6
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why do we struggle to take our sin seriously at times? What does it look like to take your sin seriously?
What does it mean that Jesus is our advocate and propitiation? Why are these terms so important for our faith and our obedience?
How is God calling you to keep His Word and imitate the example of Jesus in this season of life?
Breakout
Separate into mens and womens groups to share your personal sin struggles and pray for one another.