John’s Spiritual Checkup | Sunday Message (Pastor Jonathan Laurie)

A New Beginning presents a book about the greatest evangelist of the 20th century, Billy Graham, written by his friend, Pastor Greg Laurie. I bring insights that maybe other books have not really touched on.

I also weave in a lot of my personal experiences, one-on-one with Billy, things he said to me, and things I gleaned by watching him. So if you want to learn more about this man that changed the world, get your copy of Billy Graham, The Man I Knew. Yours for a gift of any amount at Harvest.org. Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners. I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you.

If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to Harvest.org. Amen. Let's all pray together. Lord, we thank you for who you are. We thank you, God, that you are our Father. That, Lord, you have made a way for us so that we can be close to you, we can hear from you. Lord, we thank you for this time of worship, getting to sing these timeless truths. Lord, that you are for us, that you have us in mind when you do these amazing works for us, sending your son to die in our place.

Lord, we are just forever grateful. And so now as we open up the Bible, this book that you have given to us with timeless truths so that we can see who you are, see your plan for our lives. Lord, we pray that you would speak to us. We pray that you would speak through me.

Lord, that you would bless this time. Lord, you have seen kingdoms rise and you have seen kingdoms fall, but your word lasts forever. And Father, we are thankful that the church will continue on for all of eternity, Lord. You said that heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will by no means pass away. Lord, we hold on to something that is steadfast and sure, and that is comforting in a time when we're surrounded by all kinds of crazy stuff happening every time we open up the news and see what's happening, Lord. It can be alarming, but Lord, we can have peace because you are in control of all things.

We don't know what the future holds, but we know you, and you hold the future in your hands. So we thank you, Father. We love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray together. Amen. Amen. Good afternoon, everybody. Good to see you all.

You can have a seat. We are continuing in our series called Unshakeable, our study in 1 John. Last week, if you remember, my dad taught the first chapter, and his message title was When Faith Feels Fragile, right? When Faith Feels Fragile. And our message title today is John's Spiritual Checkup. John's Spiritual Checkup. And we'll be in 1 John chapter 2 if you want to turn there. I've got to be honest. One of the pivotal moments in my Christian walk is when I started serving, is when I started volunteering.

You know why? Because it actually took me out of my comfort zone and got me to do some things that I didn't want to do, didn't feel qualified to do. But I found that when I took a step of faith, God met me where I was at and gave me what I needed when I needed it. And so, thereby, He stretched me and helped me grow into a more mature relationship with Him and gave me more gifts.

It is so amazing. I want to tell you, whatever your gifting is, whatever you feel that you can provide, listen, that's great. We have a place for you. From the brand new Christian to the seasoned saint and theologian, we would love to have you serve in some capacity. And so I would just encourage you, take a step of faith today. See that the Lord, as we go through this study, especially talking about spiritual maturity, see that the Lord would not press on your heart a place for you to serve and volunteer in the church.

I promise, you are the one that is missing out if you don't, and you will be the one who is blessed the most when you take this step of faith. All right. Well, one of the other things I love to do. Amen. Hey, that's great.

I'm glad you guys are clapping for that. One of the other things I like to do alongside serving is surfing. See what I did there? I do like to surf. It's one of my favorite pastimes. I love being in the water. I love going to the beach. We're paying for it, right, with these California taxes.

Ridiculous. And so we better take advantage of it. And I love spending time surfing, body surfing. I like taking pictures in the water. I have a housing for my camera. And so all kinds of fun stuff at the beach.

It's free, which is always good. And so I've invested in all kinds of equipment. I've got single fins. I've got twin fins. I've got thrusters. I've got quads. I've got short boards, mid lengths, long boards, boogie boards, body surfing fins, wetsuits. Oh, my goodness. I have so many wetsuits.

My wife can tell you. I feel like every year I justify to myself, I want to get a new wetsuit. That way that it motivates me to get in the water. Also because when you buy a wetsuit and you don't wear it for a while, it loses some of its elasticity. And so getting into it is just a nightmare. And it's also like a year old.

So you're like 10 pounds heavier. And so it never is a good look. And so I like just getting a fresh wetsuit every season.

Every two years or so, I try and do that. But one thing that I hate about it is when someone records video of me surfing and then sends it to me. That is the one thing that makes me want to give up on life is when I actually see footage of myself surfing. And I think that's because so many of my friends that I like to go surf with are really good. I've got friends that are professional, that are sponsored, that are shapers and, you know, all kinds of stuff. And they're so good. And so because I'm with them, in my mind I'm like, OK, I know I'm not as good as them.

But I'm holding my own. And there's a website that I subscribe to that allows you to look at the surf forecast, what swell is coming. And I'm able to actually look at cameras at different beaches.

And I can rewind those cameras and actually find myself surfing in some of these clips. And it is just the biggest bummer when you see yourself and it's like, oh my gosh, that is me. I thought that I was like going so fast.

I nailed that turn. It's like you just are flailing. You know, you look like you have no idea what you're doing.

It's enough for me to like want to give up and just sell all my surf stuff, like move to the desert and ride a horse or like a dirt bike or something. But I'm sure some of you have felt the same way. Maybe you think you're like looking so good. You're out with your girlfriends and you take the group photo and you're like, oh, where am I? Then you zoom in. You're like, I look like Shrek.

Like what? What happened here? I thought I was looking so good. Or maybe you thought you nailed that presentation at work.

Right. You had to give in front of your teammates and then you go back and review it and you're like, oh man, that was just horrible. That was so hard to listen to.

I did a terrible job. Well, having a video of yourself actually provides you with a really valuable resource. It's an undeniable source of truth. It tells you how you're really doing, whether you like it or not. If you're a professional athlete, especially if you're if you're a golfer, seeing your golf swing in real time, slow motion, slow down. That can provide you with valuable information on how to get better if you're a baseball player.

Same thing, your swing or a basketball player, your technique, whatever it might be, seeing yourself on video, though it may be hard. It is really valuable to see. It shows you something that you would not be able to otherwise. Well, in a similar way, when we look into a mirror, we see a reflection of ourselves. We don't always like what we see, but it is undeniable. It helps when you have food in your teeth or when you've got something on your face. You think that you're really impressing that girl on your first date and then you go to the bathroom and you realize you've got food all over your face.

That's not a good thing. And so you go and you clean it up. Well, in a similar way, John, who was writing to us in First John, writing to the church, is kind of holding up a spiritual mirror. He's saying, here's what you look like. Here's who you are. And he's actually, in a way, kind of acting like a doctor because he's really telling us, here's where you should be. Here's where you are and here's where you should be. This is where you need to get to.

This is what you need to do. And like a mirror, John isn't trying to shame his audience or discourage us, but ultimately to inform us, to help us, to point out the areas that we may be deficit in. And like a skillful doctor points to a diagram to show you what's going on in your body, he, too, holds up this diagram.

Here's where you need to be. Again, my message title today is Unshakeable, John's Spiritual Checkup. And we're going to be reading in First John, chapter two, if you want to read with me now. I'm reading from the New King James Version. John says this, My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins.

If you haven't underlined that word in your Bible, I would encourage you to. He himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. Now, by this, we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says, I know him and doesn't keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly love, truly the love of the Father is perfected in him. Again, by this, we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought to him ought himself also to walk just as he walked. And so let's pause there.

That brings us to point number one. How's your walk? How's your walk? Over Thanksgiving this last year, I was the sickest that I've ever been in my life. Now, I'm not talking about just like a bad cold. I thought I had a bad cold at first, but I ended up with pneumonia and I think I actually had double pneumonia.

They told me so it was like it was really bad. It started just feeling under the weather, really, you know, lethargic feeling like I just need to go to sleep. And I went to sleep for three days. I slept pretty much and was only awoken when I needed to sit up and cough this stuff out of my lungs.

It was terrible. I felt so bad, so weak. And finally, I told my wife after like three and a half or four days of this, I need to go to the urgent care. And she's like, can't you drive yourself? And I'm like, no, I think I need you to drive me to the urgent care.

I think I'm dying. When we got to the urgent care, they took my blood oxygen. I was eighty nine. My blood oxygen percent, which is very low. You should not be below ninety five. Generally, you're ninety eight and above if you're healthy. And so I was eighty nine.

Not good. They probably should have admitted me, but hey, health care systems, I'm not sure what happened there. But some of the questions the doctor asked me were about my basic bodily functions. She asked me about my breathing. Obviously, she took out that stethoscope thing and she listened to my lungs and and breathing in and breathing out. She asked me about my sleep, my appetite, my energy, my stability, you know, my equilibrium.

All of these things were brought into question. Now, she wasn't asking these things because she wanted to embarrass me. Haha, you're unhealthy.

Look at you. No, she wanted to understand my body, what was going on and make a diagnosis. She wanted to make me healthy. And so after four weeks and two rounds of antibiotics later, I was finally healthy enough to pretty much get back to normal. Well, John opens up chapter two, kind of like a physician. I love it. He says, my little children, you know, it's fatherly, it's caring, it's good bedside manner.

You know, my little children and he's compassionate and he's showing us love. You ever been to a doctor that has bad bedside manner? It's the worst, right? Before I went to the doctor in person, I actually did one of those FaceTime things where you talk to a doctor over the phone and I was telling him my symptoms. I'm just laying in bed. I'm really sick.

I don't generally most like most guys and jumping out of bed to go to the doctor for whatever reason. And so I did this FaceTime thing with it and they're asking me questions. And oh, how long have you had your symptoms?

Oh, I've had them. I don't know. It started on Monday. Today's Tuesday. And so it's been like, you know, 48 hours or however long. Oh, OK. Well, we can't make any diagnosis or give you any prescription after it's been 72 hours.

OK, great. Well, I almost died after that day. And so that was not a good diagnosis. But he was so blunt, so direct. No, you know, bedside manner.

And I was kind of like, OK, well, maybe he's right. I'll trust him. The worst is when you have a doctor with a bad bedside manner. But when you have a guy that's compassionate, he cares about what you're saying.

It can make a big difference, make you feel heard. John here has a great bedside manner. My little children, my little children, he has a vested interest in your spiritual health here. He wants you healthy. He wants you to succeed. He wants you to do well.

He wants you to be strong. And so he lays it out very clearly in our text. And he basically tells us sin is serious, but Jesus is our advocate. Sin is serious, but Jesus is our advocate.

Eugene Peterson renders it this way in the Message translation. He says this in verse 1, I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a priest friend in the presence of the Father, Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus.

I like that John is honest here. He basically tells us, hey, it's not if you sin, it's when. When you sin, the question is this, how will you respond? When you sin, how will you respond? This is so obvious when all of us live our lives. We all sin in different ways. We all fall short. Maybe it's not as dramatic as when we first came to the Lord, but we all sin in different ways.

And the question is for all of us, and this is the real diagnosis. This is how you figure out where you're at. When you sin, do you hide it?

Do you justify it? Do you run from God like Adam and Eve when they're in the Garden of Eden and they sinned and they were hiding from God? Some kind of crazy game of hide and go seek, right? God's like, where are you, Adam? I was like, oh, I was hiding because I was naked. It's like, dude, you weren't hiding. God knew exactly where you were. And in the same way, when we sin and we run from God, we're not hiding.

He's already aware. And so do you run? Do you hide?

Do you justify or do you recognize it? Do you confess it? Do you repent of it?

Do you call out to God? Oh, God, I blew it again. I'm so sorry. Help me overcome this. You know, I don't do the things I want to do and I do the things I don't want to do. God, help me.

Which one do you do? Do you run or do you run to him? You know, this is good parenting as well. I feel like your kids, they're going to make mistakes, right? They're they're going to spill milk. They're going to trample the flower bed. They're going to break the vase and knock the lamp over. And the question is not if they make a mistake, it's when, how are they going to respond?

How are they going to respond to it? You know, I try and have, you know, a role, not a role, but I try and have like an approach to this. Where if my kids will tell me the thing that they did wrong, the accident that they had or the thing they broke and they come to me, I'm not going to get them in trouble for an accident. Dad, I'm sorry. I spilled milk all over the couch. OK, well, you know, you probably shouldn't have milk on the couch, right? OK, well, let's get this cleaned up. But the fact that they came to me rather than trying to clean it up myself and I find out a week later when the couch is growing, you know, and some new life form on it, it helps me address the issue earlier, but also it helps them know to come to me with their problems.

Come to me when they fall short rather than running from me. Some of you are thinking, that sounds like gentle parenting to me. OK, well, some of you were probably beat too much as children to start with.

All right. I was, hey, I was, I was punished. I was disciplined.

And it seems, you know, hey, look how great I turned out, right? No, but I want my kids to say, oh, shoot, I messed up. I need to talk to my dad rather than, oh, shoot, I messed up. My dad's going to kill me.

I need to hide this from him. I want them to come to me because isn't that what God wants us to do? Isn't that what John is saying here in our text? When you mess up, come to God. When you mess up, when you sin, you have an advocate in Jesus Christ, the propitiation for your sins. He's not saying don't worry about your sin because you have Jesus as an advocate and a blank spiritual check called grace.

He's definitely not saying that. No, what John is telling us here is when we sin, bring it to God, confess it, recognize it and turn from it and take comfort because Jesus is your advocate. He goes on and he says in verse three, now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

I like that. I like that John says you can know that you know him. Do you know that you know Jesus today? Do you know that you know Jesus? Like I know that I know my wife. I know that I know her. I know that I know my parents.

I know that I know many of you. I know a lot of you would say I know Jesus, but can you say I know that I know him? John says the way that you can know that you know Jesus is by what? Verse three, if you keep his commandments, if you keep his commandments. Verse four, he says anyone who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

Oof, that cuts straight to the heart, doesn't it? Anybody who says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. Now some might say, yeah, I know Jesus. He approves of my sin. He forgives my sin.

Yeah, he's my advocate. So I keep on sinning and I don't stop this behavior. I keep repeating it, right? John says if that's you, then you are on the spiritual scale. You're not looking so hot. Dr. John holding up that diagram, did you drink a gallon of honey mustard, he's saying.

My thousand pound sister, sorry, quote. He pulls no punches, does he? He pulls no punches.

He holds it up very clearly. You are a liar and the truth is not in you. Your spiritual health, listen to this, your spiritual health is not a matter of perfection but direction. Your spiritual health is not a matter of perfection but direction. Are you walking toward Jesus? Are you walking alongside Jesus? Or are you name dropping him as you walk the other way completely contrary to everything he's told you to do? Are you rude to your neighbors? Do you steal from your employer?

Are you abusive to your family? Then you might need to take a look in the mirror and hold yourself to this account that John is showing us here. So John's first question in this checkup, how's your walk?

How's your walk? Are you walking with Jesus or are you just saying you're walking with Jesus? If you're just saying you're walking with Jesus, refer back to verse 4, do not pass go and do not collect $200. If you are keeping his commandments and you are pursuing him and you find yourself doing so imperfectly and falling short and messing up and not living the way that you want to and the way that you know that you should and it scares you every time you sin and every time you're tempted, you run to God and you're asking him for help, guess what? That is a great sign of spiritual health.

Take comfort that Christ is your advocate and he is the propitiation for your sins. Now propitiation, some of us are like, what does that word mean, right? That is an interesting theological term and you know what? It's one of the most beautiful words in all of the Bible. Propitiation. It basically just means that Jesus is the bridge between a broken and sinful humanity and a perfect God. In the Greek dictionary, it's defined this way, propitiation, the means by which sins are forgiven. Jesus is the propitiation.

Isn't that beautiful? That's the word that you should underline in your Bible and you should highlight in your margins and remind yourself of. Jesus is the sacrifice. He is the bridge between you and God. But John's not done with the exam yet.

He brings up another wellness check this time. It's not about our vertical obedience to God. It's about our horizontal love for fellow believers and other people in our lives. That brings us to verse 7 of 1 John 2.

Let's read together. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.

Again, a new commandment I write to you. Which thing is true in him and in you? Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Wow, let's stop there. Point number two, how's your heart? How's your heart? One of the first things that the doctor will do when you go to the office is they'll check your heart, right? They pull that little stethoscope out. They listen to your heart. They put the blood pressure monitor on you.

They check your pulse and your blood oxygen, all that stuff. They are all indicators of your vitality and strength. Your heart health is incredibly important and from it, really everything else does well or does bad, depending. Now my wife, she has like a resting heart rate of like 50, like super low. She's athletic, she's strong, great cardio. My resting heart rate is like 150, okay? Like I'm like laying in bed and it's like my heart rate is way up there.

Not good. I already told you I hate being hot and I like surfing which is part of the reason I like being in the water is being cold. And so you probably know where I'm at on that scale. Lance Armstrong, the guy who won the Tour de France seven times and is an absolute beast, right? Okay, whatever, doping, whatever, all that stuff. Keep that aside.

Seven-time champion, you know, the haters, they're just jealous. He has a resting heart rate of 50, no, excuse me, he has a resting heart rate of 32. A resting heart rate of 32 and his max heart rate when he's at full sprint, 200.

That is a crazy, crazy spread. But that is also, tells you what his health is. He is incredibly strong, incredibly athletic and so in the same way we look at our hearts, we look at our love for fellow believers, this is an incredibly important indicator in our spiritual health. John here again shifts the focus from vertical relationship and vertical obedience to God and now looks at horizontal love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Again, Eugene Peterson renders it this way in the message in verses seven and nine. My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new to you here. This is the oldest commandment in the book and you've known it from day one.

It's always been implicit in the message that you've heard. On the other hand, he says, Perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you, the darkness on its way out and the true light already blazing. Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark.

That's tough. Anyone who hates or excuse me, anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. And you know why that is? Sometimes it's easier to love a God you can't see than it is to love the person next to you. It's easy to love a God you can't see easier than it is to love the person next to you. You can do all the Bible studies, you can do all the small groups, all the verse of the days, all the podcasting, gratitude at the top of your lungs with tears in your eyes. But, verse nine, anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark.

Why is this? I believe that it's a picture of our redemption. It's a picture of our redemption. If we are aware of our sin and we're confessing it and we're sensitive to it and we recognize it for what it is and we're calling out our imperfections to God and asking him for help as we ought to. And we're accepting the grace and mercy and forgiveness of Jesus, our advocate, which is promised to us in scripture. We are not going to hate other imperfect people.

We will instead reflect those attributes, won't we? The grace that has been shown to us, the love that has been shown to us, we will be able to show to other people that are also facing difficulty, that are also sinning. We will be gracious. We will be merciful and forgiving to those around us. Redemption means giving the love you never received because God gave it to you first. It means giving others the type of love that maybe you never received because God showed it to you best.

So when that person slanders you or doesn't pay you back or falls off the wagon after you've spent hours on the phone with them talking them off the edge and they fall off the wagon and, you know, they've completely relapsed out of their sobriety and you're so frustrated with them. We will be gracious. We will be merciful. We will show compassion because ultimately the compassion Jesus showed us is the same compassion we are called to show them. The compassion that Jesus showed all of us is the same compassion we are called to show them. Do you understand this? This can be a little bit difficult to figure out, a little bit difficult to follow for sure.

Awesome. I'm glad five of you agree with that. But God has, he has truly shown us what true love is. He has truly shown us what compassion is, hasn't he? It's very difficult, maybe impossible to show love to someone that you have not experienced yourself. This is sometimes what we call like the generational curses, right? If you grow up in a family that's abusive and it's just, you know, filled with addiction or whatever else, it's very likely that you are going to repeat that behavior.

And then it's very likely that if you exercise that behavior in your home that your children are going to follow that behavior. This is how we see it happen. The father was abused and so the kids and then the wife and so on and the tragic and sinful cycle goes on.

It's devastating. But when God comes into your life and floods it with love and peace, that suffering, that trauma can stop with you. It can stop with you. You then can stop that pattern and now live out something that you never had before. You can be the godly father. You can be the godly mother. You can be the productive employee, the good student, the grandparent, whatever, because ultimately you were shown by a loving father and that is your father in heaven. This is how you know that you know that you are walking with God, as it says in verse three, when you are able to offer a depth of love that does not come from you.

And you're the first one to know that. The forgiveness, the compassion you may feel towards somebody after you've been walking with the Lord. You'll be the first one to say, this isn't how I felt about people five years ago, right? That's not how I felt about that person on the freeway before, you know? Now you see people and you have compassion and you have love.

This is a great indicator of spiritual health. When I think of, honestly, the childhood that my dad had, being raised in the home of a woman who was married and divorced seven times, boyfriends in between, a raging alcoholic. He had to endure abuse. He had to endure neglect and trauma ever since he was a little boy. I think of this photo of him when he was sitting under the Christmas tree. He was happy.

He was hopeful. He's probably only seven, eight, nine years old there. And I see so much of my son in him and it's just, it breaks my heart thinking that Christmas his mom was passed out drunk under the Christmas tree. Once again, left to fend for himself, trying to pretend everything is OK, not having a father growing up. And then his mom marrying a guy and the guy adopts my dad, gives us our name, Laurie.

That's right. He was adopted. And then for his mom to divorce this guy and then pull my dad away from him, tear him away only for him to never have another father type figure in his life.

It breaks my heart. And so easily, my dad could have repeated that behavior towards his own family. He could have repeated that abuse, that neglect, that mean spirit towards his own sons. But when he was 17, he heard the gospel message and Jesus came into his life. And the love that God has shown him, he has now been able to, in turn, show it to the people in his life. How else, except for the gospel, could a guy like my dad, you know, show a generous, sacrificial and steadfast love, except that he was first shown it by God. There is no other way.

The gospel changed him and transformed him into who he is. There's no way. And so then you look at this photo of us. This is my dad and me.

I'm probably two or three years old. Like, there it is. Look at, he's being the father he never had. He's showing the love and the compassion and the generosity that he was never shown as a child. And the only way that he could show something that he was never given is because he has a loving father in heaven that showed him the best version of it. And he was able to offer that. And so, when people in the church and we get hurt by them and they burn us, we should see them the way that God sees them.

Hopeful. Unsurprised. Gracious. Because ultimately, when we see sin, we should see ourselves. The Apostle Paul says, as such were some of you.

Don't forget who you were when Jesus called your name. You weren't perfect. You weren't shining. You weren't polished. You were messed up. You were imperfect. But he loved you and offered compassion to you. As such were some of you.

It may not be the same type of sin, but it's still sin and it's still missing the mark. My friend over on Maui sent me this direct message yesterday with a really great quote. Now, I'm not sure if he sent this to me because he's thinking of me or because he just thinks it's a good quote.

Probably the former. It said this. If you can't look back at your younger self and realize that you were an idiot, you are probably still an idiot. And you know what? That really hit. Like, some of you, you think that, like, you were never an idiot.

Like, what? No, I made all the right choices. And that tells you where you're at today.

You're still an idiot. I think when we look back at ourselves, we can all roll our eyes. Oh, my gosh, I can't believe I used to be like that. Oh, my goodness, I can't believe I said that. Oh, I can't believe I treated my friends that way.

And if you can't, hey, you're probably still there. I'm not doing a very good job of keeping point number two here, showing love, am I? But to recap, if your heart is cold and constantly cold towards other people, if your instinct is to isolate and criticize or cut people off, if you cling to your grudge, like an emotional support animal, maybe the problem is you.

Maybe the problem is you. Oh, my gosh, this person at work. Oh, this guy at school.

Oh, my friends. Oh, these people. They're all just such jerks. They're idiots.

They're so stupid. OK, maybe you're part of the problem. Maybe you're the common denominator. Did you ever think about that? Maybe it's not them.

It's you. John says in verse 10, anyone who causes a fellow believer in anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble, does not cause others to stumble. You know, we've all heard exhaustively about the judgment and hypocrisy that exists in the church and how it's turned people away and turn people off from Christianity.

I think there's a lot more to the story than what's being shared always. But God forbid, truly, that any of us should cause someone to stumble by hating them and by judging them and showing an attribute of God that he didn't even show to us. You think you're being righteous by being a legalist or because you're being a perfectionist. Does God do that with you?

Thank God, no. Thank God that he shows you grace. Thank God that he shows you compassion.

Thank God that he, yes, shows you a mirror of yourself. But he does it from a loving place. And so love isn't just a fruit of the Spirit. It is a vital sign. Love is not just a fruit of the Spirit.

Oh, that's nice. Some people just have love naturally, you know? OK. Yeah, true. Some people are just more loving than others. They have that compassion gene. But ultimately, all of us as believers are called to have love for fellow believers.

It is a vital sign. And so that brings us to 1 John 2. Let's continue on verse 12. He says this, I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you.

And you have overcome the wicked one. Verse 15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever. Let's stop there.

That brings us finally to point number three. What's got your heart? What's got your heart? So, so far, John, he's pointed out about our walk and our obedience. He's looked at our hearts and ultimately how we are to love other believers.

And now he leans in with one final big question. What's got your heart? What is your heart drawn towards?

Now, your walk may look solid. Your relationships are peaceful. You get along with people. But if your heart is quietly obsessed with all the wrong things, you are not spiritually healthy, as you may think.

Remember my statement earlier. Your spiritual health is not a matter of perfection, but direction. Your spiritual health is not a matter of perfection, but direction. This part of the checkup is less about what you're doing and more about what you're drawn to. It's less about what you're doing about more about what you're drawn to. Before John drops the hammer here or pulls out the scalpel as the doctor, he affirms us, children, your sins are forgiven.

Young men, you're fighting the good fight. Fathers, you've known him deeply and faithfully. And then he continues on, love not the world, nor the things in the world, nor the things of the world. The Apostle Paul kind of picks up on this same sentiment in Philippians 3.8 when he says, Yet indeed, I also count all things as loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered all things, the loss of all things, and count them all as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Now I love that because he's basically saying, my education, my accolades, my success, my wealth, my fame. He was a rising star in the Pharisees, likely a member of the Sanhedrin.

He was an important figure. He says, all of those things, everything in my former life, I count as rubbish in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ. That word rubbish that he uses, I love it because it is the Greek word skibala, which is used, translated a couple of different ways in the Bible, refuse, trash, rubbish, or literally poop. He is saying, yes, poop. Everything in comparison to knowing Jesus is literally poop.

You know, it's just, it's a great picture. And so what John is saying, he's saying, you're in the family. You're taking ground. You're doing well. Don't lose it chasing after poop.

A bunch of garbage, right? Nothing in comparison to Jesus is worth pursuing. And then comes the famous warning, and again, 1 John 2.15, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Man, that's heavy. Love not the world. Love not the world.

That is, that's a difficult thing, especially here in Southern California, right? Now, some will point to this verse as a sort of proof text that all Christians need to be poverty stricken, that we need to sell all of our possessions, live in one giant commune and wear burlap sacks. Nothing can be further from the truth. Wow, somebody clapped for that.

That's great. There is no spiritual command or blessing in being poor, specifically, not something that we need to go and pursue. Sure, you will find blessing as you are poor and you are struggling to make ends meet, because ultimately that should lead you to what? Dependence on the Lord.

And what a beautiful place to be. We should all be in consistent and perpetual dependence on God to provide for us. And help us in these areas. But just in the same way, this is ultimately, you find spiritual maturity doing that.

That's great. But a wealthy person could also do the exact same thing. Being fully dependent on the Lord to help them manage a large staff who they're responsible for. An organization that is facing a difficult financial season. I know many, many people who are business owners that are facing extremely difficult situations right now with the tariffs and with the economy. And they're asking for prayer and for provision.

We need to pray for our president. This is a reminder to have wisdom to navigate these waters as he seeks to have prosperity in America. But materialism, it is a ripoff. Materialism is a ripoff. It promises, but it doesn't deliver. It leaves you wanting more. And what keeps you hungry, chasing after it? Oh, that didn't fulfill. But no, maybe it'll be something else. Oh, that car. Oh, this house.

Oh, whatever it might be, that hunt, it never satisfies. Now, again, it might be easy to say, well, if we don't have wealth, then this won't be a hard thing to navigate. That's true. And after all, didn't Jesus himself say it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle? Yeah, that's impossible, isn't it? For a camel to enter the eye of a needle. Some commentators have speculated that there was a gate in Jerusalem that was called the eye of the needle.

And in order for a camel to get through it, he would have to kneel down and crouch through and make it through the other end. And they try and explain that that's true. And that may be fine.

You know, that may be true. But the reality is, what the point Jesus is trying to make, it is impossible. And so is Jesus saying that wealth is a barrier to eternal life? Like the rich young ruler, should we sell all that we have and give to the poor in order to follow Jesus?

Listen very carefully now. Jesus isn't saying that having wealth is the problem. He's saying being owned by it is. Being owned by your wealth is the problem. When your identity, your security, your joy and purpose and entire existence is tied to what you have, rather than who you have, you have a heart problem and not a wealth problem.

There's nothing wrong with having possessions, as long as your possessions do not possess you. If being wealthy was sinful, why would Jesus hang out with Mary, Martha and Lazarus? They were wealthy. They supported Jesus' ministry.

Of course, we remember the story of Mary, who went and anointed Jesus with that costly perfume, the spikenard, right? It's estimated that it was worth up to 300 denarii, basically a year's wages, a super extravagant gift. California minimum wage right now is $1650. That would be $32,000. A $32,000 gift broken over Jesus and there to ultimately bless him. Now, if you've got that in and out money, they're paying $22 an hour right now. That would come out to $47,000, plus you get double doubles and French fries and drinks on your break every day.

That's pretty good. No, wealth isn't the problem. Wealth isn't the problem. Love for the world and the things in the world is. The cravings of the flesh, John says, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

John's saying, if those things are what own you, then yes, you are spiritually compromised. And so again, you know, let's be honest, we're here in Southern California, over on the island of Maui, Orange County. We are surrounded by really nice things. You know, you pull out of the parking lot and you see, you know, the cost of your rent in somebody's car. You know, it's just insane. Or the cost of your mortgage or the cost of your entire home in one person's car, sometimes two homes in one car around here.

It's insane. We're surrounded by affluence. And you know what I say to that?

Hey, work hard, save up, pursue a good education, one that will actually get you a degree that will get you that job and provide for your family. But just make sure that on your pathway to success, you don't neglect the God who gave you the intelligence, the opportunity and the drive that helps you get there. Amen.

So let's bring this to a close. Our first point, how is your walk? Are you obeying and walking with Jesus or just claiming his name as you walk all over the place? How's your heart? Are you showing others the love God has shown you?

What's got your heart? Is your life being driven by eternity or skibala? And that brings us lastly to 1 John 2 17. John reminds us the world is passing away and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these important reminders that we can hold ourselves up to in comparison. And Lord, I think every person in here, myself included, would recognize that we are lacking in some area, whether it's obedience, whether it's our love for others, or whether it's our rejection of what the world offers and the materialism. Lord, we pray that you would help all of us to be more like your son Jesus, who was perfect and was tempted in every point, just as we are tempted, except without sin.

He's perfect. And we look to him as our ultimate source of influence. And God, we pray you would give us the power. Give us your Holy Spirit.

Lord, help us, we pray. Well, our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together. It may be that as we've walked through this spiritual checkup, you've realized something deeper. That it's not just that your walk is off or that your love life is off or that your heart is chasing the wrong things. It may be that you've never truly started a relationship with Jesus. Listen, you can't live a spiritually healthy life without spiritual life to begin with. And that starts with not trying harder, but by trusting the one who gave his life for you. Jesus is more than a model to follow. He is a savior you need to receive.

He is a propitiation for your sins. It'd be like you're trying to be a better person, but you're just putting a Band-Aid on a corpse. It's futile. It's pointless.

There's no reason for it. What you need more than life improvement is to be born again, to become a new creation and to be forgiven. And so this afternoon at all of our campuses, Harvard, Orange County, Riverside, Maui, those watching online, if you would like to put your faith in Jesus Christ, if you would like to know that when you die, you'll go to heaven, if you'd like to be forgiven of your sin and have that burden of guilt and shame removed, would you just raise your hand up? And I want to lead you in a prayer.

That's right. Raise your hand up wherever you are. And I want to lead you in a prayer. Here at Harvest O.C.

or Riverside or Maui, raise your hand. I can't see some of you, but the Lord sees you. But you're saying yes to Jesus. You want to have that hope.

You want to have that hope. It could be that you never experienced love in this life, that you were raised in an environment where you didn't have the kind of love that you deserved and you recognize there's a hole in your heart. Listen, God, He defines love. Love does not define God. He defines love, the love that you feel for your family or for your friends or whatever it might be. That is a gift from God.

He is the source of it. So it could be that you're missing that in your life. Give your life to God and see that He will not flood you with His love and with His peace. Some of you deal with anxiety. You have fear about the future. You don't know what's going on and you're stressed out and what the future is going to be like.

You know what? God holds the future and you can come to Him. So if you want your anxiety, your fear removed, put your faith in His son, Jesus, and He'll help that remove from you. And so, again, if you'd like to put your faith in Jesus Christ, wherever you are, raise your hand up and I want to lead you in a prayer.

Raise it up where I can see you. God bless you. God bless you.

Anybody else? Raise your hand up. God bless you. All right. And for those of you that raised your hand or even if you did not, I'm going to ask that wherever you are, I want you to stand up, stand to your feet, and I want to lead you in a prayer.

That's right. Stand up right where you are and I'll lead you in this prayer. Jesus said, if you acknowledge Me before people, I'll acknowledge you before the Father and the angels in heaven.

But if you deny Me before people, I will deny you before the Father and the angels in heaven. Make a stand today. Stand now. You raised your hand or even if you did not, you want to pray this prayer with me.

Wherever you are, stand up. We'll pray. God bless you. Awesome.

Okay. For those of you that are standing, I'm going to ask that you would just pray this prayer out loud after me. You would mean it in your heart. This is you talking to God, your Father in heaven who loves you, who has compassion on you and can't wait to hear from you. So pray this now. Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that Jesus is the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. And I turn from that sin now from this moment forward. Help me to walk with you. Help me to love like you.

And help me to want the things that you want me to. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. God bless you that prayed just now. Congratulations. God bless you.

Hey, everybody. Thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God.