Things We Must Remember

We'll take your Bibles and let's go to 1 John chapter 5.

We not long ago finished 1 Timothy, and now I'm finishing my second run through 1 John and how very, very rich it has been. I was just particularly blessed by these concluding remarks the aged Apostle John gives to the church, and I'm entitling this section, 1 John 5, 14 through 21, some things we must remember because it's as if John is saying, okay, in conclusion, church, don't lose this. In conclusion, make sure you remember these things, and that's precisely what he's doing. And I believe to really grasp the proper interpretation here, you've got to go beyond the great grammar.

You've got to know the context. You've got to know where John's been going before he got here. And even the context of his gospel helps. Of course, he wrote the gospel of John and then these epistles.

Let's look at it together. I'll read 1 John 5, 14 through 21. This is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. Now to a different kind of subject, verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death.

I do not say that he should make requests for this. All in righteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. We know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Now think about that in the context of our world today. We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Verse 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

I want to organize the text in this way. Three main points here. First of all, you must remember that we are of God. Verse 19. I believe that's the centerpiece of all that John is saying here.

Everything builds off of that foundation. We are of God. Look at it in verse 19. Again, we know that we are of God.

Notice there's a confidence in that. Of course, that's in contrast to all the other teachings that are out there. Many who claim to be Christians and claim to have a new spin on Christianity would contradict John's doctrine and contradict John's teaching and contradict the truth of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone. And he says, but you know those of us who hold to that, we are the ones who are truly of God. Child of God, our origin is in God. Now, everyone has their origin in God in the sense that he's creator of all things, but that's not where John's going here. John's emphasizing is we are God's not just by the first creation, but by recreation.

If you're a Christian, you're born again, you're of the new creation. We are of God by origin. We are of God, which means we belong to him.

We are his prized and precious possession. We are of God in the sense that we are citizens of God's kingdom. We are of God in the sense that we are members of God's family. We are of God and therefore possess the righteousness of God's sons, even the righteousness of the Son of God.

And we could go on and on and on, those two words are very pregnant with rich, rich meaning. He says, little children, remember we're of God. Everyone else with any doctrine that contradicts the doctrine I've given you, of faith in Christ alone, are outside of those who are of God.

But you hold to him, you are of God. And then he gives us the contrast, verse 19, but the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So he makes that a distinction, we're in the world, but we're not of the world, we're of God. And the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, which means as Christians, we are otherworldly.

We're not of this world. Now, mind you, we don't always stand against the culture, we stand for God, but that very often does put us against the culture, though that's not our goal. Too many professing Christians today go out in the culture, particularly perhaps in political arenas, and try to prove all that they can be against. Well, make sure you have your things in order, your thoughts in order there, that you're for God, and that just happens to put you against the culture on many points. But we need to remind ourselves this morning that being of God means we are naturally in contradiction, naturally come out on the opposite end of the spectrum of this world that lies under the power of the evil one. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and reminded them, remember, you're of the Spirit and the things of the Spirit are foolishness to the natural man. The things you and I say are right and true and best, it's common that the world would say, well, that's foolish, that's so wrong. And in today's culture, they'll say, well, you're bigoted, you're prejudiced, you're racist, you're practicing injustice if you hold to that. Don't expect the world to embrace or understand the other world principles we live by. When you're saved, you begin to embrace the higher principles of a higher kingdom because we are of God.

There's so very, very many of those. The one I think that is so foundational and was so revolutionary in my own life was the principle of honoring authority because God has set up authority structures that mankind is to function by. And when you're not of God, you naturally rebel against those, you resist those, you push against those. Children rebelling against their parents' authority. Wives rebelling against their husbands' authority. Citizens rebelling against governing authorities. Though we never agree with any evil the government promotes, but we are still under authority. Church members who rebel against church elders' authority. God has an orderly, functional way for humankind to function, and we resist this until the seed of the new birth comes in and we begin to grasp God's wiser than man.

And God's certainly wiser than my fallen, selfish heart. This world lives for money and for power and for sexual pleasure. I've said it before, but it is an ungodly culture that begins to define everything by their sexual lust. Well, I'm this, and I'm that, and I'm bi, and I'm homosexual, and I'm this, and it's just bizarre. It's animalistic.

It's beneath the dignity of animals. That's not the way God created mankind. Good heavens, are we supposed to go out and just blast to the entire world? Whatever you feel, go for it.

That's a recipe to ruin yourselves. But we live by the higher principles of a higher world. Now, understand something. When the text says here that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one, it means that it's presently by God's sovereign permission under his control, but it does not belong to him. He didn't create it.

He cannot claim, lay claim to it, rather, because he did not make it, though he presently is allowed to have it under his control. So we see that there's a sense in which John wants to say, you've been plucked out of that, and you've been made one who is of God. His child, his citizen of his household, functioned according to his higher principles, honoring and glorifying him first. Now, I want you to add on verse 14 here, because I think it must build upon the truth of verse 19. Verse 14, this is the confidence which we have before him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

It's quite simple here. But what I want to point out is I think John's point here is not to teach on prayer so much as to preach on parentage. The reason if you ask God according to his will, he hears you is because he's your father and you're his child.

That's the point John's making. That's something you have that the false teachers of the day, even though many of them claim to be Christian, John's saying that's something you have that they don't have. That's something that you have that the rest of the world does not have, that he is your father. Not in the sense that he just created you, but that he personally, lovingly claims you as his eternal people. You are God's for time and eternity, so of course, when you pray, you pray as best you understand according to God's will and God who is your father, who is your Abba, your daddy, your papa, as the text says, hears your prayer and will answer it if it's in God's will. Therefore, we can have confidence before God. In other words, we know we have an audience with God.

No one else under the, in the world that lies under the power of the evil one has this, but we have this. We can therefore ask him, our father, as his sons and daughters, anything according to his will. Now, by the way, the point is here, if you belong to him, if you love your father, you want to please your father. Maturity in Christianity is learning not how to get things from God like a spoiled child, but father, what is your will?

I want to line up with you. So the point is, John is saying, as you mature in Christ, God's will is your will. God's will is your will. And I've preached it so much through the years. As a matter of fact, very redundantly through the years, repetitively through the years, that the church cannot be what we want. Well, I don't like that kind of church.

It doesn't matter what I like or you like. I want to go to this kind of church. It doesn't matter what, it's Christ's church.

That's what I want to go to. And where that bothers me, I just got to get right in that area. And where that troubles me, I need to repent in that area because I want it to be pleasing to Christ. I want his will in his church and I want his will in my life. So God's will, as I mature, becomes my will. And when God's will is my will, I can be confident whatever I ask, I'll get it. And that's why I've challenged you through the years to join me in pressing forward in the passion and the pursuit of being a biblical church, God might use as a model for others because I know that's God's will.

I have a question about that. I know God will answer that prayer in his timing and in his way. So as John talks about prayer here, I think guys make a mistake when they jump in here and try to form a theology on prayer. Yes, there's something about prayer, but it's more about parentage than prayer. He's making a point through talking about our praying to God.

Now look at verse 15, if you will. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. In other words, he's very able when we ask according to the will of God because the Spirit of God is in us and gives us the desire to be pleasing to our fathers, then we know he's able, know he hears.

And in his infinite ability, we know we have, matter of fact, we know we have whatever we ask if we ask in God's will. I remember my pilgrimage of becoming your senior pastor and remember praying. I had some opportunities, some doors that opened to me before I became the senior pastor here. And quite honestly, some very, very large and humanly speaking attractive opportunities, and Pam and I prayed about it and said, God, we want your will, we want what's pleasing to you. And it is amazing how God slammed those doors. And I thought, well, what am I supposed to do? And then our senior pastor, whom I loved and supported, honored his authority in every way I knew how to honor his authority over me, he goes to another church and I become the senior pastor here. And you know what? I found God's will.

I got really what I asked, though I didn't know it was going to be like this. I didn't know you would have to put up with me for all these years. I didn't know that. But it was God's will. And so maybe you can rejoice in that, amen? I didn't know if I wanted to say amen there or not, but you can rejoice that in the best of our understanding, according to Scripture, for this time, God's given you the pastor you ought to have, and he's given me the people I ought to have. And I want to say this with honesty because I deal with pastors all the time and deal with churches all the time.

Matter of fact, pray for our church plant, brothers. There's some of them going through some real warfare. I wish I could keep them from having to go through it, but it's inevitable in all of them.

I've been at this too long. They just have to face stuff and get through it, but it's heartbreaking to them and to their wives. And I'm trying to help them, Brother Steve tries to help them all we can, encourage them and guide them.

And apart from going to these places with a baseball bat, that's the best I can do. But they're hurting, and it's a difficult journey. But they know they're in God's will because God's called them to that work. Well, John is saying to the church something about parentage, you're of God, and it's very special, and this is why you know in your prayers, you have an audience, and how you know in your prayers that your will is growingly or increasingly, I should say, lining up with God's will, and we know God's gonna answer those prayers. You men say, God, help me to be the kind of husband the Bible defines, I guarantee you that's God's will. You know you're gonna get an answer to that prayer. If your wives pray, God, help me to be the kind of submissive wife, honoring of my husband, your word teaches all to me. You know that's God's will.

God will honor that prayer request as he increasingly makes that your desire. Number two, John continues and says, secondly, remember, church, that no one who is born of God sins unto death. Now, there's some disagreements among scholars on this interpretation, but I'm convinced my interpretation's right, all right? And a matter of fact, the scholars whom I trust are really kind of non-defined here.

They're kind of open to, could be a couple of things going on here, but let's look at it together. No one who is born of God sins unto death. Look at verse, I'm sorry, first at verse 18. We know no one that is born of God sins, but he who was born of God keeps him. Well, really, I'd like to say sub point A here, the Spirit keeps us. This is how we know we don't fall into a sin whereby we lose the presence of God, God's life in us, and whereby we lose eternal life that's promised to us in eternity future. How do we know this? Because God has placed a deposit of the Spirit at you when you are converted, and the Spirit keeps you from giving your heart and life to the evil one and to embracing sin. The Spirit keeps us, if you will. The word sins in verse 18, where he says, we know that no one who is born of God sins is a lineal, present, active, indicative. You know, if you don't know what that is, ask Dr. Seale.

He'll tell you. What that means, though, is it's the idea of a continual action, a purpose and a pattern of sinning. And I've used that phrase, and I've never found it in the Scripture, a reason to change that. If you're God, if you're born of God, then there is something in you that resists and cannot embrace a purpose and a pattern of sinning against your God. Now, you do sin, but you don't sin like those who are of death. You sin like a child of God who has life. Your sin can't bring you to the state of losing God out of your life and losing eternal life. So John states the well-known principle that the one who is born of God cannot continue in embracing and joying and celebrating and living in sin.

That's one of the things that grieves us about our culture. Yeah, we always know there's been wickedness and ungodliness out in the dark corners, out in the dark rooms. I remember a boy got saved in our church years ago, and he was a bouncer at one of the local honky-tonks. And he said, Brother Jeff, you know it's interesting.

We had to close up at 2 o'clock according to city ordinance. And I mean, those people would be out there dancing and drinking and loud and partying, and then 2 o'clock hits, the music stops, we turn on the lights. He said, they run like roaches when the lights come on.

They light the darkness. You know what, there's some hope for a people when they still feel ashamed of their sin. But what's wrong and what the child of God cannot do is openly promote and embrace and walk in sin. Brother Jeff, did you hear about this brother in Christ? He was doing this, and nobody really knew it.

He was doing that. And I said, well, I don't approve that, and he must repent and even be held accountable, but at least he was ashamed about it. Can I get amen there? Mankind's lost our ability to blush. We're the only creatures that's capable of blushing, and yet we've lost our ability to blush.

We've paraded that which we ought to be ashamed of. But the child of God can't go there, and that's what John's saying. He can't continue in sin. He can't embrace and make it the purpose and pattern of his life. Now, instead of embracing sin, he's a repenter of sin. You ever heard that before? Now, once you're saved, you become a repenter?

That's not new to you, is it? You become a fainter in Jesus Christ and a repenter. If you're not, you need to seek God for your soul. If you're comfortable in sin, you need to ask God, do you belong to him?

Are you of God? Because the one who is born of God can't sin in that way as if he's one who is of death. In verse 18, the phrase, the one who is born of God keeps him, the scholars tell us that that most likely must be understood that it is God's keeping him from that ultimatum. God's keeping him from that fallen dead to God in dead eternal condition.

God keeps him from going that far. The regenerate nature, rather, within him keeps him. God keeps him, or Jesus keeps his own.

They cannot stay in a condition of embracing and walking in sin. 1 John 3, 9 reminds us, a little simple phrase, his seed abides in him. And that's the seed that keeps us from losing God.

God is the light that is in us and facing eternal death away from God. John 18, 9, of those whom you have given me, I lost nothing. God keeps his own.

And verse 18 says, continuing on, the last phrase, and the evil one does not touch him. God says, those who are born of God, God keeps them, or you could say the Spirit of God generates in them and keeps them from being capable of embracing sin and walking out into sin without repentance. You're not capable of sinning and enjoying it like you used to. You're not capable of embracing sin like you used to. The Spirit of God in you, the seed is in you, and it has changed the way you view your sin. I've cautioned you before as a church, let me caution you again, be very careful judging one another because this person's past and predispositions towards certain sins is different from this person's and different from that one's and different from that one's and that one's and that one's.

You may have real victory in these three or four areas. I don't think my wife's ever said a dirty word. I can't find dirty words and non-dirty words in the Bible because the Bible does more with the heart condition, but nevertheless, I don't think she's just good in that area. I'm not as good.

Depends on the football game, I guess. But I might have an area too that she just naturally struggles with, and so it is. So be careful, Brother Pharisee. If you happen to have an easy time with some very open, prominent public stuff, but God knows your heart. Furthermore, He knows if you're glorying in those seven public sins that you don't do, that your heart's proud about it, isn't it interesting? We all just get humbled before the cross, Brother Jeff and all of us. So be careful measuring, well, how much can one sin and still know God?

It's just not measured that way. It's the heart intent. It's where you come from. I told you the story before.

It's not a story. It's a true happening in our church. We had a dear lady that was saved here and baptized, and she came out of horrible, horrible, horrible background. And she told me one day, Pastor, my earliest memory as an infant, as a baby, is sitting in my living room and seeing my parents and others passed out from drugs and alcohol.

That's what I remember as a child. She'll have different struggles that you may not know about, but she may be progressing in sanctification as well as you, according to where she started and what she's growing through. So let's be careful judging one another. God's looking, I as your pastor am looking and I'm looking at me and I'm looking at all of us that we are humbled, not excusing, and we are repentant. Anyway, verse 18, he continues on, and the evil one does not touch him. Literally means not to hurt him. It means that Satan has no handle on your life to use you in order to hurt you as far as your standing with God and your eternity with God.

My goodness is that not shouting ground. Satan has nothing he can grab a hold of and use in you to cause you to become something that would make God depart your life or keep you out of his eternal heaven. Satan has no handle on those who are of God. He can touch them, but he cannot drive God out of them or keep them out of God's eternity. Glory to God, praise his name.

I don't care what the new president does or does not do. He cannot take God and my eternal redemption away from me, nor Satan or any of his doings or beings. Satan desires to lead us away from God and bring us into death, but Satan can't do that.

He's unable to do that. Well, the Spirit keeps us. No one who is born of God sins unto death. The Spirit keeps us. Secondly, prayer helps us.

Prayer helps us. Look at verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not leading to death, he shall ask God, and God will for him give life to the those who commit sin, not leading to death. Christians can sin, but their sin is not the sin leading to spiritual death, including eternal death. The Christian is of God. The Christian is the possessor of eternal life. When the Christian sins, he breaks fellowship nod, but not the relationship to God. Now listen to me, an unbeliever may commit the same specific sin, but he sins as an enemy of God, striking out against God. There's difference between a disobedient son and the strike of a rebel.

That's what I think we're seeing here. The brother can commit the sin, but he cannot commit the sin leading to spiritual death. Why? Verse 18. We know that no one who is born of God sins, but he who was born of God keeps him. God keeps him. So here's the point to those who would like to say somehow this text teaches a Christian can lose his salvation.

Well, my question to you is, does God keep him or does God not keep him? It's not talking about losing your salvation. It's talking about sinning in such a way that could cause you to lose God's presence in your life and lose eternal life together with it. But note as it's constructed in verse 16, he doesn't say the word brother in the last half. He says there is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make requests for this.

Interesting. He said there are those who are of death, who sin and their sin therefore further qualifies them for the spiritual death they have and the eternal death they will face. But he's not talking about a brother here. He's talking about those, listen to me, who are not of God. He said don't pray for their sin to be worked upon or repented of out of their lives because they don't even have life at all. They don't even, you should pray for their regeneration. You should pray for their salvation, not for their ability to deal with specific sins. You've got to become a child before you pray to act like a child. Are you hearing me, church?

I'll start over if I need to. This is too important. But he said, I'm telling you, don't pray. It doesn't mean we don't pray for the lost. You don't pray for the lost the way you pray for brothers and sisters who have life that can't be taken away.

Are you getting it? We pray for them differently. You have a lost man who's committing adultery.

Oh God, help him stop committing adultery. John would say basically, I'm not saying John would say that's evil, but John would say you got the cart before the horse, pray. God convicted him that he's sinning against you and needs to be forgiven and saved through Christ Jesus.

Let me ask you something. If a man who's not of God or a woman who's not of God cleans up three or four sins in their life but still goes to hell, what have you accomplished? If you pray they don't become those sins, it doesn't do anything. But if a child of God's sinning and you pray for them, they're not of death, they can overcome the victory and have more spiritual life in them and flowing through them and be a better testimony for Christ, a better church member, a better family member at home, whatever it is, and bring more glory to God. That's a good thing to pray for. But we don't pray for lost people that way. I've told you before, I'm not interested in Satan's people being a little better than they were before. I don't want them to be Satan's people.

We're not here to clean people up. We're here to change people with the gospel. Matter of fact, verse 17. All in righteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death, and I believe the point is that's the sin the child of God commits. It does not cause his spiritual or eternal death. But all sin is serious. There's no way, shape, or fashion John is diminishing the seriousness of Christian sinning against God. He's just saying because God keeps us, we cannot sin our way out of our salvation. And by the way, because God saved me, he's also changed me and I don't want to sin.

I don't want to hurt my father. I don't want to dishonor him because the heart has changed. The lost can commit the sin leading to death, and there are many, and John's dealt with this quite thoroughly, by the way, in the epistle, there are many pretenders in the church, John teaches. He doesn't use the word pretenders, but he uses the word, he uses the principle of the truth. There are many pretenders who by the way, they embrace and glory in sin, prove they're not of us.

And when we deal with them, John said in chapter 2, they go out from us because they never were really of us. So there are those who claim to be Christians who don't have the life, but true Christians who have the life cannot commit the sin leading unto death. Now, an alternate understanding, I just want to throw this out, is that this means a Christian can sin against God to such an extent God will remove him from the earth. He don't lose his salvation, but God just takes him. The Bible does teach that, but I don't think that's the intent of John's teaching here. All right, but I do think it's interesting, John has the specific phrase in verse 16, is this not interesting? Look at verse 16, there is a sin leading to death, I do not say that he should make requests for this. First of all, how are you in heaven's name going to know if a Christian has committed a sin to the degree that God's going to remove him from the earth? You can't know that. You and I can't measure that. We don't know men's hearts, but we can know if somebody's not a true believer, therefore they reside in death, and their sin are the sins that lead to death.

They're of death and they also lead to death. John, let's see, John 17 verse 9, is it on the string, brother 10? John 17, 9, I'm losing hope. I don't think it's coming. Sir, you don't have it?

I thought you had everything. He can't have what I didn't give him. Let's look at John 17, 9. John 17 verse 9, now here's Jesus in his high priestly prayer, and there are a lot of folks that like to super intend on Jesus that he's got to be the kind of Jesus they want him to be. I've got news for you, he's not the kind of Jesus you want him to be. He's not a tame lion, as C.S. Lewis would say.

He's who he is. In John 17, 9, Jesus is giving his high priestly prayer. Let me just go up to verse 8, for the words which you gave me I have given to them, that's his believers, and they receive them and truly understand that I came forth from you and they believe that you sent me. I ask on their behalf, who? The children, the believers. I do not ask on behalf of the world. That's what John's saying in his epistle.

By the way, these are the same guys, so you expect them to be consistent here. Jesus says, I do not ask, I'm not praying on behalf of those who are in the world, but I ask on behalf of those whom you have given me, for they are yours. I'm not going to suggest from this text Jesus does not pray for the lost of the world in the sense, I don't understand how that would work, but I do know the only specific we have is that Jesus says, I am praying, Father, that you would keep those who are mine, but I'm not praying for those who are not mine.

And we do know that's true. Who's Jesus interceding for at the right hand of the Father right now? Those that are his, those who've believed on him. From the godless perspective, those who are elect and predestined and chosen. Both are true, you have to believe, and the doctrine of election and predestined and choosing is true to the Scriptures also.

Number three, and I'll be quick here. John says, remember some things. Remember that you're of God.

That's the foundation to everything I'm saying here at the end. Remember that if you're of God, if you're truly his, no sin can remove you from God and having the life of God in you and from eternal life. And number three, you must remember that Jesus is the only way to the true God in eternal life. It's not Jesus and others. It's not Jesus plus the church. It's not Jesus plus Baptist aisle walking. It's not Jesus plus Catholic sacraments. It's not Jesus plus Presbyterian sprinkling of babies. It's Jesus. I got Presbyterians, Baptists, and Catholics. Am I okay with everybody now?

If I left yours out, remind me and I'll mention them later. It's just Jesus. All of us in organized religion tend to put baggage onto this thing as if Jesus is not sufficient.

It's just our nature to do it because we want to feel like we did something. I'll never forget Charles Haddon Spurgeon closing a sermon and saying, now you want me to tell you to do a certain thing because you want to feel like you're doing something to secure this thing, but he said, I will not do it. I will leave you with Christ. I will leave you with Christ. Because if I give you anything to do, vast numbers of you would do that thing and trust it instead of trusting Christ. That's why in Christ's ministry and in the Apostles' ministry, you have no formal system of how to get people saved just preaching the gospel, preaching Christ, preaching the gospel, preaching Christ. Until men, women, boys or girls come to faith in Jesus Christ.

He is the only way. Verse 20, I'm sorry, yes, verse 20, back to 1 John. And we know, that means by experience. You and I teach an experiential religion. God does something to us that we can discern has happened to us. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. Pastor, how's a person going to get to where they know Christ is their salvation and they're secure in that?

God gives them that. We know that the Son of God has come and he, who has? He has given us understanding. What understanding has he given? Rest of verse 20, so that we may know him who is true. I have this experience almost every week as I study to preach to you and I study the Word of God and the Spirit of God just unfolds a little more of the glories of Jesus, just the wonders of Christ, the glories of salvation.

And it's so otherworldly, so radically outside of everything of human logic and learning. And I just say again, I love Christ. I love Jesus. Does that happen to you? I'm not asking you to measure how much it happens, but that ought to happen to you. It ought to happen to you while I'm preaching to you some. That'll happen to you during your Bible study at home, son, that as Jesus comes off the pages of Scripture, you know that you know him.

You know that you know him. And something increasingly convinced you that he is the truth. And the true way, John saying here, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. The Son of God has come, by the way, is a contrast to the Gnostics who taught that Christ didn't come in the physical body, which is just rank heresy.

John says, no, you're not of them. You know, he's literally come and he's given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true in his son, Jesus Christ. Look at this statement on the deity of Christ. This is the true God. Jesus is God's son, but he's true God. And he's the one who gives us eternal life.

I'm looking at how much I need to skip here. Verse 21, he says, little children, guard yourself from idols. John says, goodness gracious, of all I've laid out for you in my letter to you, if nothing else, just these last few statements are so wondrously glorious and true. Little children, guard yourselves from ever, ever slightly leaning toward any other doctrine or teaching that in any way, in any way pulls you away from it is Christ and Christ alone that saves me. The greatest heartbreak of my whole life would be someone has sat under my preaching and goes to their death bed, believing that there's something, some behavior, some hoop jump, some sacrament, some ordinance, some cleaning up of their life, anything other than Christ. I want you to say, pastor, my hope is totally, only, absolutely Jesus Christ, then I'll be happy. Not your preaching of Christ. God can raise up rocks if he needs to, to crowd his truth, but it is Christ. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, no matter how they fashion it, teach it, it may seem wonderful. Don't trust it, but holy lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand.

You know what? Where else am I going to stand? He's done set me on this rock, and he put divine superglue on my feet. I'm shipwrecked on God and stranded on omnipotence. Little children, how could you dare let anybody?

I mean, be polite, but you be firm. If they start, if they start talking about Jesus and boom, I'm not listening. Don't give me a conjunction connected to Jesus. I don't want Jesus Christ, but I don't want Jesus Christ, and I want Christ and him crucified, buried for my sin, risen for my justification, faithfully interceding for me at the right hand of God the Father, and that's enough. That's enough.

That's it. Oh, church, anchor your soul right there, right there. Whether I preach to you again or whatever happens in this world doesn't matter, Jesus doesn't change.

He doesn't change. John 6, 66 through 69, as a result of this, many of his disciples, it mean they were following along like they were of God, but they weren't of God. They just acted like they were.

They looked like they were, but they weren't. Many of his disciples withdrew. We're not walking with him anymore.

Now, you know what the context is? Jesus had just powerfully taught them to listen to me, the onliness of Jesus, onliness of Jesus. Now, they loved him as a teacher. They loved him as the promised Messiah. They loved him as this great prophet of God, but when he'd begin to say, time out, I want you to understand this, it's me alone. You must be saved by, that you must honor, and you must worship. And then the disciples said, well, this ain't the kind of Christianity I signed up for. This ain't the kind of Jesus, I tell you what, you're just going your way, that's not what I want.

Well, fine, that just means you're not of God. So Jesus, verse 67, said to the 12, you know, the 12 apostles, you do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered. Now, Simon Peter sinned a lot, by the way.

But boy, he got it right here. Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God.

Here's what this means. Jesus, you know we are many, many, many, many generation descendants of Moses and Abraham. And our people have died thousands of deaths to defend their loyalty to the law of Moses and the unique election of Abraham as a people. Jesus, can you imagine what it was to put that down? In that cultural context, can you imagine what it was before all your brethren to say, as the apostle Paul said, I consider it all dung. Peter says, Jesus, we're laying aside all the idols, including our idolatry of our family, religion, and heritage, to turn Jesus and embrace you alone. That's what I'm charging you to do this morning. Repent from anything, anyone else, period. And say, this morning, I turned to Christ alone to be my Lord and my Savior.