Guaranteed An Answer and the Sin That Leads to Death | Wade Branch

Well, good morning, everyone. It's great to see everyone who's

here today. Good to have our visitors with

us. And we want you to know that

you're welcome anytime you can be here.

We are continuing through a study in First John this

morning. So if you want to flip open your

Bibles, we'll be in Chapter 5 of First John finishing up this

letter and this final sermon. This will be lesson #8 as we

cover this topics of guaranteed an answer and the sin that leads

to death. It has been a great study to

walk through this and I appreciate you being willing to

listen to a young buck like me. Many of you have way more

knowledge and wisdom than me. So as I present God's word, I

appreciate you being willing to hear it and I continue to ask

that you will show me how to apply it in your continued

example and your wisdom as you show me the way.

As I'm a young Christian, I get to stand up here and and teach

from God's word, but you are providing such a great example

for me. So we have things to learn today

and I have to still learn how to apply them because they're

always challenging in a good way.

So first John chapter 5, Part 2, we're going to pick up in verse

1 John 5 · chapter mention

9. We finished up after verse 9,

but let's get ourselves a running start here.

From where he was writing, it says if we receive the witness

of men, the witness of God is greater.

For this is the witness of God which he has testified of his

Son. So he's trying to convince them

of why they need to trust and how faith that Jesus came and

did what he did, not to follow the Gnostic teachings that he

really wasn't who he said he was.

And maybe their faith isn't what they think it is.

He said, no, you need to believe God's witness because if you're

going to take the witness of two or three as it was in the Old

Testament, two or three, three witnesses could establish a

claim. He says, if you believe the

witness of men, God's witnesses much greater.

He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself.

So we are one of the witnesses. We can testify to the truth of

the gospel. He who does not believe God has

made him a liar, because he does not believe the testimony that

God has given of his Son. Verse 11 And this is the

testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in

His Son. He who has the Son has life.

Don't forget that verse. That's going to be important

later. He who has the Son has life.

He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the

Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and

that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

So what's implied there? That you can believe in God and

you can have faith in Him, but that you can not be sure that

you have eternal life? We've already talked about that.

We've been over assurance, but it's possible to not have that

assurance, and it's also possible that we don't continue

to believe. That's why He has to encourage

them. That's why he's writing this,

and that's why we need to hold on to our faith and not drift.

So that's where we left off last time, and we're going to pick up

with the same flow of thought beginning in verse 14.

So our context here is so far we have confidence established in

what He said in verse one. We know that we have Him because

you believe in the name of the Son of God.

That disestablishes confidence #2 we establish confidence

because we have belief or because we obey His commands.

He said that's how you know you're in Him when you follow

his commands. So we have faith, confidence

established in these things and he says it's like I'm missing a

slide, where'd it go? So we have confidence in our

belief, confidence in that we obey his commands.

We have confidence from the Holy Spirit that he is his witness.

We have confidence from our own witness.

We have confidence from the apostles witness.

He's been building a case for confidence in him.

And so he says now this is the confidence that we have in him,

that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears

us. All of these things He laid

before the apostles, their own experience, the waters that were

testifying to Jesus, his baptism and his life, his ministry, the

blood he shed, the Holy Spirit. All these things give us

confidence. And that confidence allows us to

know that when we talk to God, if we ask him anything according

to his will, he hears us. That is a bold statement.

And you know, it's easy with prayer to start to lose

confidence in it. Why?

Because we're talking to someone we can't see, sometimes the

answer is delayed, or maybe the answer is no and we don't see a

physical checklist in front of us.

Of all the things that God has answered yes or no, sometimes

we're just asking. There's no poof.

There is no glimmer in the sky. There's just a prayer that gets

left and then we walk away. Prayer by nature is easy to lose

confidence in. But he says here we do have

confidence that we ask anything according to His will.

This is going to be important. God does not ignore prayers, He

says. And if that word if is, as I

understand, better translated since and since we know that He

hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions

that we have asked of Him. So because we know that he hears

us because we're asking things that are in his name.

What does it mean to ask things that are according to his will

or in his name? It means what are his goals?

We're praying about those things.

What is his purpose? We're praying about those things

and we can align ourselves with God's purpose to the point that

there were things that we want are also the things that he

wants. Let's look at some examples.

James chapter 4 verse 3 says you ask and you do not receive

James 4:3

because you ask a miss that you may spend it on your pleasures.

When you and I get an instinct to pray for something, we just

need to investigate it a little bit.

We need to take it a little bit further and say OK, why do I

want this? Does it align with God and His

desires? And if it does, great, go for

it. But sometimes we can ask things

and maybe they're good things, but we're asking it for a

selfish reason. He says you're asking it so that

you can spend it on your pleasures.

Solomon, I think of his example in First Kings chapter 3.

1 Kings 3 · chapter mention

It says now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh, king of

Egypt and married Pharaoh's daughter.

Then he brought, then he brought her to the city, brought her to

the city of David until he had finished building his own house

and the House of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.

Solomon is taking over the Kingdom from his father David

and he's establishing, he's married another influential high

up person. And so he's he's setting up his

life as the leader of this great nation.

Verse 2. Meanwhile, the people sacrificed

at the high places because there was no house built for the name

of the Lord until those days. Basically, there were other

locations set up for worship that were not prescribed, and

Solomon loved the Lord walking in the statutes of his father

David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high

places. Side note, as we're looking at

Solomon real quick, there was a way that he loved the Lord, but

he wasn't fully following a pattern that was set aside.

And the Bible makes a point to note that.

The Bible makes a point to note this error of worshiping in the

high places. Verse 4.

Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was

the great high place. Solomon offered 1000 burnt

offerings on that altar at Gibeon.

The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.

And God said, ask what shall I give you?

And Solomon said, You have shown great mercy to your servant

David, my father, because he walked before you in truth and

righteousness and uprightness of heart with you.

You have continued this great kindness for him, and you have

given his his, and you have given him a son to sit on his

throne as it is this day. Now, O Lord, my God, you've made

your servant king instead of my father David.

But I'm a little child. I don't know how to go out or

how to come in. And your servant is in the midst

of your people whom you have chosen, a great people too

numerous to be numbered or counted.

Therefore give your servant an understanding heart to judge

your people, that I may discern between good and evil.

For who is able to judge this great people of yours?

The speech please the Lord that Solomon asked this thing.

Then God said to him, Because you've asked this thing and have

not asked for long life for yourself, nor have you asked for

riches for yourself, nor have you asked the life of your

enemies, but I've asked for yourself understanding to

discern justice. Behold, I have done according to

your word. See, I have given you a wise and

understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like

you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.

And I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches

and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the

kings all your days. So if you walk in my ways to

keep my commandments, my statutes, and my commandments as

your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.

So the message is Solomon asked God for things that matter to

God and to lead God's people with a purpose.

The things he asked for weren't selfish things.

And God responded by saying absolutely.

James says ask God for wisdom and he'll give you liberally and

without reproach, without making fun of you, and he'll give it to

you freely. And that was God's response.

But God is a good God. And he says, you know what?

Because you didn't ask for the other stuff, I'm going to give

you that anyway. I remember when I was a little

kid, I asked my dad. I said, so trying to understand

this here, If I want a new video game console, should I be asking

for something else to try to get this over here?

And he said, well, that's not the point.

We don't, we don't try to get other things by trying to

manipulate God into something that we really want over here on

the side. The point is God's going to take

care of us. God's going to give us what we

need and often times more than we even ask for or even deserve.

But we need to align with his ways first.

1 Samuel 1:10

Samuel 1 verse 10. Just one more example of this.

We read of a woman named Hannah who is having a a difficult

situation to say the least. In her life.

She was married to a man, Al Qaeda, and that man had another

wife and this man had children with the other wife and things

were going well for them in that regard.

But Al Qaeda really loved Hannah.

So you have this kind of really strange dynamic where you've

already got two spouses that's or you've already got 2 wives in

the next. That's a whole problem in itself

that that God did not set up for us, we were not designed to

handle right. And so Elkanah loves one wife,

but his other wife is giving him children.

And so he's just, he's caught in the middle.

Hannah's upset because she wants children more than anything.

And that's the thing that she can't have.

And it says she was in bitterness of soul and prayed to

the Lord and wept in anguish. She wanted this so bad.

It was the purpose she was looking for.

It was the meaning. It was maybe even some of the

social standing she wanted. It was all she wanted.

And she goes on and and she's, she's going to the temple and

she says, O Lord of hosts, if you will heed, if you will

indeed look on the affliction of your maidservant and Remember Me

and not forget your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a

male child. Then I will give him to the Lord

all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.

I skipped through to save some time of all the suffering she

was going through. She goes up to the temple and

this is her prayer. And it happened as she continued

praying before the Lord that Eli watched her mouth.

Now Hannah spoke her spoke in her heart only.

Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.

Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.

So Eli said to her, How long will you be drunk?

Put away your wine from you. But Hannah answered and said,

no, my Lord, I'm a woman of sorrowful spirit.

I'm neither drunk wine, I'm neither drunk, neither wine nor

intoxicating drink. But I've poured out my soul

before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant

a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and

grief, I've spoken until now. Hannah is hurting, Hannah is

miserable, but she came to the Lord with this prayer.

Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel

grant your petition which you have asked of him.

Then they rose early in the morning and worship before the

Lord, and returned and came to the House of Rama.

And al Qaeda knew his wife, and the Lord remembered her.

So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah

conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel, saying,

because I have asked for him from the Lord.

Why did I give these examples? Because both of these people

either were longing for something deeply, or maybe it's

something that they were missing deeply, and they came to God

with a prayer that was focused on God's goals in a good way.

Hannah asked. So that she would give this son

to the Lord all the days of his life.

I don't know all of God's ways, but what I do know is she

developed a goal that was aligned with God's and God gave

it to her. And the message for you and me

is from first John the same. If we ask anything according to

His will, He hears us. So may we search for things that

align with God's will, Maybe look for those things because

often times you're going to get a feeling of something you want,

but you're going to have to search to find, OK, how can I

use this? How can I ask this in a way

that's going to be not just for me?

And maybe you've stopped hoping for things all together.

Maybe you feel like when we started this, when we said

prayer can be kind of open-ended sometimes and we don't always

have a direct understanding of what's going on.

And so maybe you feel like my hands have been empty for a long

time. God's rung all out of me that

he's going to get and I'm going to dried up on the vine.

Maybe you've gotten so used to the feeling of empty hands and

maybe that's we can feel like we have empty hands even when we

don't. But maybe you've got so used to

that feeling that you've stopped hoping for something that is

beyond what you can see right now.

Satan can cripple your effort and your fruit by making you

feel like you're dried up on the vine.

If you think you've reached your limit, your Max, God's not going

to get anything more out of your life or your potential or the

things that you would ask of him.

You've used all your credits, so to speak.

Then Satan can cripple you. He can cripple your mind and

your spirit. We need to be asking for things

even that we desire. If you want something great, if

you want friends, if you want better relationships, maybe a

prayer. You could praise God.

Please give me some strong relationships.

Give me more connections. Give me more people so that I

can spread your word to them or help me to build more

connections in the body of Christ so I can build up other

people. And maybe you need that strength

for yourself, and that's fair. You need to be built up.

Maybe you need more connections in here so you feel stronger.

But how about thinking about a way you can build others up?

Maybe there's someone else who's sitting in the same position

you're in who needs the strength and he needs you to be support

for them. Maybe that's the case.

Maybe it's money. Maybe you want more money.

Maybe you want a better income. That doesn't have to be wrong,

but what are you going to use it for?

God, please give me the funds so that I can give back to you, so

that I can support those in need, so that I can build your

purposes with that money so that I can host people and have

people in my home and to show hospitality.

Maybe if you want a spouse, do you just want a spouse for

yourself? Or do you want a spouse so that

you can raise a godly family or so that you can share and

support others together? Career.

Do you want a career that's good for you or good for God's

Kingdom? Children, even as we learn from

Hannah, can be something that could be selfish, like the other

woman in the picture was holding it over her and making fun of

her. But Hannah wanted them for the

Lord. Even health.

You know, I know of people in this room who have prayed

prayers for health, not for themselves, but for their

families, so their families can have what they need and so the

church could continue to benefit from their service.

Even health can have a selfish or a selfless request.

But maybe sometimes we just need to look ahead.

Maybe we need to look in ways that God could actually use us

and look ahead and plan. Now just remember in this

process that Jesus does say that the rain falls on the just and

the unjust. So as you pray and as you see

people getting things that they wanted, Jesus says good things

happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

It's not always a result of God saying I'm going to give them

this because they had the right mindset.

That's it's not always as simple as that.

OK, so if we know, and since we know that he hears us, whatever

we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of

him, maybe the answer is no. Hannah's heart was shaped during

the time or no or not yet was the current answer.

Verse 16. Moving on, if anyone sees his

brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask

and he will give him life for those commit sin not leading to

death. So what's the line of thought So

far He's built our confidence through all the witnesses.

Now we told them we have so much confidence that God will even

answer our prayers. And what could be more

important, what could be more valuable to us to ask God in

prayer than for spiritual life? I think that's the flow of

thought here. What could be more important

that we could ask God for than forgiveness, than for renewal,

for a spiritual life, for someone who is not right with

God? He says, goes on to say there is

sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray

about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and

there is sin not leading to death.

OK, so let's back up. What is this sin that leads to

death? So we know he's talking about a

brother. So this is someone who is a

Christian and he says this is a sin that does not lead to death,

but he can be given life. So what is the context of the

life here? What is the life under

consideration? You know, some people think that

he's talking about physical life here.

There are people who say he's a brother so he can't lose his

salvation because once he's a brother, then Saints do not ever

lose their salvation. And so they have to impose a

meaning that this is physical death.

They have to say that this is a sin that will cause you to die.

Don't pray about that. Well, there are things that I've

seen in people's lives where if they would have kept going down

that path, they would have died. Or I can read examples in the

Bible, people would have died had God not provided them

support. So I think for it to be physical

death doesn't even make sense. We pray especially in scenarios

where people's lives are in danger because that's dire.

So physical life here I do not believe is the context.

And as long as you believe that, hey, we, we can lose our

salvation, that this next consideration is, I believe, the

only logical conclusion. If we back up in verse 12, he

said he who has the son has life.

So the context of the life here is the life given by the Son.

What life is given by the Son? Spiritual life.

So he who has the Son has life. So whoever is committing a sin

that does not lead to death, I believe what he's saying is if

he sees a sin which does not lead to spiritual death, he will

ask and he will give him life, spiritual life for those who

commit sin but not leading to death.

OK, so there are still other questions.

So he says he will ask. So this is the person seeing the

sinning brother happening. He will ask and God the capital,

he will give life. OK, well, let's look at a

parallel passage because I think James offers a pretty similar

set of statements here. James 513 If anyone among, is

anyone among you suffering, let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of

the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil

in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will

save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

I believe that's the sickness he's talking about.

It's a sickness of sin. Confess your trespasses one

another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

So this process of asking for forgiveness starts with somebody

confessing it and asking for help.

And here's another example of that.

In Acts 8, verse 19, we read of a man, Simon the sorcerer.

Acts 8:19

It says he who previously practiced sorcery in the city

and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was

someone great. Simon was supposed to be this

great sorcerer to whom they all gave heed from the least to the

greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.

And they heeded him, because he had astonished them with his

sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip as

he preached the things concerning the Kingdom of God

and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were

baptized. Then Simon himself also believed

and when he was baptized he continued with Philip.

I believe the Holy Spirit said those things to make sure we

know he is a Christian. He believed he was baptized and

what is the response after he makes a mistake?

So he was amazed seeing the miracles and signs which are

done. So he had this faith proven.

Verse 18 goes on to say, and when Simon saw that through the

laying on of the apostles hands and the Holy Spirit was given,

he offered them money. I want to buy that from you.

That looks good saying give me this power also that anyone on

whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

OK, there's his mistake. Peter said damn your money,

perish with you because you thought that the gift of God can

be purchased with money. Wait, he just said he believed

and he was baptized. So this man is about to perish.

Well, consequence of sin, because you thought that the

gift of God could be purpose with money.

You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your

heart is not right in the sight of God.

Here is the response, and here's the recipe he gives him.

Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and pray if God

perhaps, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be

forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned

by bitterness and bound by iniquity.

We started by talking about somebody who is in a sin leading

to death. When you are poisoned, that's a

sickness of sin and it's bitterness and he's bound in the

iniquity. That is the state of someone who

is in sin before they repent. Simon answered and said, Pray to

the Lord for me that none of the things which you have spoken may

come upon me. I think this is a great example

of what first John is getting. At first John writes in a little

bit of a different style, so it's maybe a little bit more

black and white, higher level view, but that's what he's

saying. Ask and you will give him life

as long as the person's sin does not lead to death, because this

was on its way to death. He said your money perish with

you. So if there was ever a case

where it was leading to death, it would have been this one.

Maybe physical death. There's people in the New

Testament who were smote by God for it, but also spiritual

death. This was a sin that could have

led to death unless he repented. I think that's the key.

He says there is a sin leading to death.

I do not say that you should pray about that.

So why? Why should someone not pray

about a sin leading to death? I believe is because there's no

point. Why is there no point?

Because the person doesn't want to repent.

The person doesn't really care. There's no point in praying for

someone who doesn't want forgiveness.

There's no point in praying for someone who doesn't want to

change. It's an empty prayer.

You're trying and you're feeling stressed and you're anxious, but

they don't care. So what's the point?

I believe that's what he's saying here.

I do not say that he should pray about that.

So I believe the sin that leads to death is a sin that you will

not repent of. Now, someone, some might say

this is the sin of unbelief. There is.

I think there's a way to connect these things to where if you

don't believe, then you're not going to repent.

So they're all kind of connected when you start to think about it

that way. Hebrews 10 verse 26 supports

Hebrews 10:26

this. For if we sin willfully after we

have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer

remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful

expectation of judgment and firing indignation which will

devour the adversaries. OK, willful sin does not have a

sacrifice. Is he saying that if I make a

sin that was willful that I'll never be forgiven of it?

No, he's saying there is a sacrifice for a sin that you

will repent of. But if you're just going to keep

on going, there's no forgiveness for that.

There is a way to be forgiven for things that you'll be

repented of. There is no way to be forgiven

for things that you don't want to change.

I think that's pretty common sense in our relationships.

If a spouse is committing a an error that the other one is

saying this is wrong, you need to stop and they won't change.

There's no way to fix that. There's no way to fix something

that someone does not want to fix.

Now, if they do change from that willful sin, it can be fixed.

We repented of and changed, but in the moment and in the time

that is willful and the time that they don't want to give it

up, there's nothing for that. Now, we do know that we still

make mistakes. First, John one verse eight and

eight through 10 says that we've we've had if we say we have no

sin, we're a liar. So that's not the case.

It's not that you never sin. It's not that you would never

make mistakes. Verse 17, he says all

unrighteousness is sin and there is sin not leading to death.

I think this statement even proves more clearly that he's

not saying it's this specific sin that leads to death.

Like there's some like type of sin that will lead you to death

unlike any others. I think he clarifies right here.

He says all unrighteousness is sin.

He's putting it under the same scope, the same bag, but there

is a sin that does not lead to death.

The sin that someone is willing to change.

From verse 18, we know that whoever is born of God does not

sin. OK, let's continue to talk about

the verb tense. I know we said this before,

you've heard it before. Does not sin is talking about

the present active. It's a willful thing.

The present active is this person does not continue to sin

the same way. Now, it doesn't mean you don't

continue to mess up. It means you're not just

floating in the river cruising through this sin that you're

happy to be doing and happy to be living in it is the present

active. Whoever born of God does not

continue to live in their sin is what he's saying.

But he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked 1

does not touch him. So as I understand some people

translate this maybe in a little bit of a different way, but I

think they both are true statements.

So I'll show you both just just for getting the whole

perspective potentially. So he who has been born of God

keeps himself. If I am a child of God, and if

God is really living in me, I will continue to keep myself and

Him. I believe that's true 100%.

And the Wicked 1 does not touch him.

If I stay out of the realm of the devil, and if I stay out of

the area where He has authority and He has power over me, He

can't touch me. Some people translate this

though. They say that he who is born of

God, that's supposed to say he who is begotten of God, meaning

Jesus. And he's saying that Jesus keeps

Jesus is the keeper. And the wicked 1 does not touch

him. Now I think there is a nice

contrast there when you read it that way, because Jesus is the

keeper and the devil has no power because of that.

I think regardless, they're both true.

We stay with him. He keeps us safe.

Both are true. Praise God.

Someone said it this way. The Christian who sets his mind

to refrain from sin and puts his trust totally in the keeping

power of Christ. Remember, trust me the

obedience. I can't say I trust God if I

don't obey him and puts his trust totally in the keeping

power of Christ is free from the grasp of the devil.

Satan has no power over us that we do not give him finishing up,

we know that we are of God. He's going to end this this book

with a couple statements of confirmation and of things that

we know and can be certain of. He says we know that we are of

God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked

one. Some might say you're arrogant

for saying that somebody's right and the person who's right has

to be confident in that. That's not arrogance, that's

reality. God said it.

There is a line dividing those who are of God and those who are

of the wicked. 1 He goes on to say, and we know another

statement of sure affirmation, that the Son of God has come.

He's already told them. Those Gnostics who said Jesus

didn't really come in the flesh, He was here for a little bit

then popped out of here before he really got into suffering.

He says, no, we know that the Son of God has come and the

verbiage he's using is he's here now and we continue to enjoy the

benefits of that. We know that the Son of God has

come and has given us an understanding.

Those Gnostics who claimed they had a special knowledge from

God, No, the Son of God came. He taught us and we have an

understanding. You don't have to wonder whether

it's true or not. Has given us an understanding

that we may know him who is true.

The writer started this whole thing by saying I'm testifying

to you. If someone that we saw, we

heard, we touched, and now I'm going to show you him so that we

can all have fellowship together.

We can know him who's true. Even when you can't see him,

when you're praying to Him, you can know that you know Him.

And we are in Him who is true in His Son, Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life.

Don't listen to the fake stuff. The Gnostics we're teaching

them. Don't listen for us to the fake

stuff. People want to tell you this is

the true God. He came in the form of a man.

He came as a child. He died for us and he suffered.

This is the true God in the last verse of this letter.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Amen To Him. They're all little children

because He was guiding them. He was offering them guidance

probably for a long time. And what's interesting to me is

after all this, maybe this statement struck me the most out

of everything he said in this chapter because we've been

through how much confidence do you remember?

We talked about eternity and how dangerous it is, how

intimidating it is, and yet how much confidence we can have in

judgement. We talked about having boldness

to know that you have eternal life.

We talked about how great it is and the fact that we can know

him. We talked about how he wrote

this so that we can have full joy and why we can have full

joy. We talked about walking in the

light and having boldness and judgement.

All those things are so wonderful, so exciting, so

awesome. There is nothing that can

steamroll that. Once you have that much joy,

that much security, that much hope, that much boldness as you

look at death in the face, nothing can run over that unless

something else takes your attention.

He's gone through so much assurance and the thing he

doesn't want to happen here is that all that work is missed

because this wonderful thing they're looking at, they turn

away and they look at something else.

Remember, an idol doesn't just have to be a a Pagan God.

An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our

allegiance, in our time, in our first place in our heart.

If anything steps into this place, it doesn't matter how

good the rest of this other things are.

It will cover our perspective and it will remove God from this

assuring awesome place in our heart.

So my challenge, even as I've been reading through this and

and studying this, is to watch out that I don't put something

else in front of my face that would take my attention.

Because there is nothing better song we sing today.

Take the world, but give me Jesus.

All this joys are but a name, but is love abideth ever through

eternal years the same? Take the world, but give me

Jesus in his cross. My trust shall be till the

clearer, brighter vision. Face to face, my Lord, I'll see.

Oh, the fullness of redemption, pledge of endless life above.

Oh, the height and depth of mercy.

Oh, the length and breadth of love.

There is nothing better than the things that we've studied, the

assurance, the confidence, my prayers that we can put Him

first. Do you know that you have

eternal life as we've studied in this book?

Do you know Him? Do you have full joy?

Do you know that you walk in the light?

Do you have boldness and judgement?

If you don't, let's reconsider the process.

Romans 10/17 Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word

of God. Do you have faith?

Great. Do you believe?

According to Mark 16 and 16, Have you repented?

Are you committing sins that lead to death because you're not

willing to repent? Acts 238, have you confessed

that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and there's no other name by

which you can be saved on earth or on heaven?

From Romans 10/9 and 10, have you been baptized for the

remission of your sins? According to Mark 16 and 16,

maybe you have done that. And I look at a lot of people in

here that I know have done that. Our call is to now walk in the

light. If you need to be started in

this walk, if you need this beginning in baptism, we would

be happy to take care of that today.

But if you've already done that and you need to get help, you

need to walk in the light. Remember, just like Simon said,

just like Simon was told, you can pray for the forgiveness for

your sins. But if you would like the

prayers of the brethren, just like Simon said, I need you to

pray with me. We'd be happy to take care of

that, to get confident today as we leave this place if let's

stand and sing the song of invitation.