Christian Certainties - Frank Brancato

I want to invite your attention to a passage found in the book

of First John, the fifth chapter and I want to begin reading

there in verse 13. First John, chapter 5 in

1 John 5 · chapter mention

beginning there, in verse 13, John said these things.

I have written to you, who believe, in the name of the son

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

continue to believe in the name of the son of God.

Now, this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask

anything according Adding to his will he hears us?

And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we

have the petitions that we have asked of him.

If anyone sees his brother, sinning, his sin, which does not

lead to death, he will ask and he will give him Life For Those

who commit sin, not leading to death.

There's a sin leading to death and I do not say that he should

pray about. That all unrighteousness is sin

and there is a sin not leading to death for a little I don't

want to talk from these passages as found in the Epistle of John.

But first of all I want to just say this that we live in a world

that is filled with uncertainties we are unsure

what's going to happen from moment to moment day to day week

to week, we have no idea. There are many things in our

life that are completely uncertain.

In fact, we live in a world that's filled with uncertainty

as a society for example. We are so concerned about

circumstances and we are so uncertain about them that many

times, we spend large sums and large percentages of our money

on insurance policies warranties and guarantees all with the

possible contingency in life. In the back of our mind, to

cover every one of those. There's even people today that

spend large sums of money on mediums astrologers and fortune.

Tellers, all for the List of trying to grasp some insight

into the otherwise, unknown future, and all of this is for

the purpose of removing, some of the fear of uncertainty.

I haven't seen it in a very long time, but when I was a kid, I

remember seeing bumper stickers, maybe you've seen them too, but

I remember seeing bumper stickers and signs, that Sid,

the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes,

remember that we used to see that from time to time.

Time and all of. That's because we live in a

world. That's filled with uncertainty

but the Christian has around him because it's found in the word

of God, the child of God because of the Bible has certainties

that we can hang our hat on in this life.

For example, we are certain How the Universe began and we are

certain how it will end. We are certain why, and how God

created everything that in the very beginning, he literally

spoke Thing into existence and it was so we are certain why

people behave the way that they do we are certain about what is

right and what is wrong. We are certain about the

elements that make for good Human Relationships.

We are certain about how to get to heaven.

We are certain that he'll waits for the disobedient.

And for the ungodly, we are certain about God's promises

were certain about his son and our savior.

We are certain about His substitutionary death on the

cross, his literal resurrection. And we are certain that one day

he will come again in God's appointed time.

So in a world of uncertainty we the child of God Lives by a

standard of absolutes. For a little while tonight I

want to talk about two things, two, great certainties for the

child of God. Now, I want to say this,

somebody said one time that in the writings of John they are

filled with encouraging words. In fact, once said one time that

the great news of the Gospel is the great news and in The Gospel

according to John because it's a message of salvation.

But the Epistle of John is also great news because it's Message

of assurance. Look at verse 13 of our text

really quickly, and we're going to notice our first point.

And by the way, if we don't have this, we don't have anything.

If we don't have this, then nothing else in our life

matters, it doesn't matter what we achieve.

It doesn't matter all of accolades that may come our way.

Nothing in the world will matter.

If we do not have this but the child of God has an assurance

and a certainty. The number one here, it is to

know that we are saved and verse 13 of our text.

John said these things. I have 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. John right here is telling

Christians why he's writing. He's telling them, he's writing

to give them an assurance of eternal life.

Now I To say there are sometimes things in our life that we come

to know over a period of time. I was a painting contractor for

24 years. I don't know how it is in the

state of Missouri, but I'm going to tell you how it is in the

state of California. If you go into the Union's, for

example, you start off as a first period apprentice and it

is a five it has a 10. Apprenticeship 9 and out and

what it is over a period of five years.

A person starts learning at the very beginning as the first

period of Prentiss. And by the way, if you're a

first period of Prentice painter, you don't get to hold a

paintbrush. Rush, you don't even get to hold

a caulking gun, you hold a piece of sandpaper and a couple of

buckets and that's it. And then you kind of gradually

learn a little bit more and they let you handle a caulking gun.

And then one day, all of a sudden you spent all this time

and some journeyman hands, you a paint brush and you get the

prime something big stuff. My point is you learn the trade

over a period of time and there are many things in our life that

we have knowledge of today that we didn't have knowledge of a

year ago. Why?

Because we've come to learn them over time.

The word no, In this passage is found 39 times in the Epistle of

John and it does not mean to learn gradually.

He said I'm writing these things to you that believe in the name

of the son, Son of God that you may know you have eternal life

that word. No means to know for certain.

It means to know in the here and now got to make a point though.

There's a difference between assurance and arrogance and

there's a difference between confidence and conceit.

I'm not saying that we are saved by our own meritorious works.

I'm not saying that at all and all the things that I will do in

my life, you know what, if I keep everything, if I do

everything, you know what I am. The Bible says that I'm an

unprofitable servant saved by grace.

You have always spin that I have on that is really kind of like

this to practically apply it. What does that mean?

I've heard people say you see if I do everything that the Bible

says I'm just gonna barely make it does that sound like Peter

said, having an abundant entrance into the Everlasting

Kingdom one day? It doesn't sound like that.

To me, it doesn't mean that if I'm a unprofitable servant saved

by grace, it doesn't mean that if I keep the Commandments of

God, I'm going to barely squeak in that.

I mean that at all, what that means is and I think that's what

started out about the idea of being an unprofitable servant if

I hire shot. Hey, and I pay shot.

Hey, ten dollars an hour and I sub him out to somebody else for

the services that I've contracted out and I charge $20

an hour on chai. Hey, you know what Shah he is?

He is a profitable servant. Now, I will never become a

profitable. A servant to Jesus because I

will never mean more to Jesus than he means to me, I'm still

going to be an unprofitable servant.

Still not going to deserve it. It still will be a gift and it

still will be Grace, but it doesn't mean I'm going to barely

squeak in. I'm going to tell you if I make

it to Heaven, we're going to kick the doors down.

We're going in with an abundant entrance.

The Bible says, if we make it To know for certain start says that

this does not mean that we gradually grow in certainty, but

that we will possess it in the here and now, A present

certainty that we are saved. I have to make another point.

I am not saying a doctor and I don't believe in a Doctrine, you

know, this already of once saved, always saved.

I'm not saying that at all. And the Bible is clear that if I

don't keep the Commandments and I don't keep living the

Christian Life as I should, I Fall From Grace.

And if I do not make those things right, I'll be lost.

I know that I'm not preaching a doctrine of once saved, always

saved. But please understand this.

Sometimes our people believe in the concept of what saved

forever lost. We can have an assurance in a

confidence that we have eternal life.

Now the Same author. The same author that gave.

The Assurance is the same author that gave the conditions.

There are conditions to our Salvation, you know, we can

basically sum it up this way. There are two things that we

have to fit or fill conditions. Wise, number one, we have to

break with sin. And number two, we have to obey

the truth for the rest of our lives.

Everything in the, in the Christian Life falls into that

category. There are conditions on

Fellowship, we have to break with sin and we have to obey the

truth. And first John chapter 1 and

1 John 1 · chapter mention

verse 6, the conditions of fellowship.

If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in

darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth now.

Taste some folks You know how we know if we're in fellowship with

somebody. Here it is.

How do you know how do I know if I'm in Fellowship?

I'm talking about spiritual Fellowship.

I'm not talking about just being friends.

I'm talking about spiritual Fellowship.

How do I know, the only way that I can know?

If I'm in fellowship with somebody else?

Is these conditions, number one, if I am in fellowship with God

because I do not walk in darkness, I walk in the light if

I am in fellowship with God. And another person is in

fellowship with God, then we are in fellowship with each other,

but if I'm in fellowship with God and this other person over

here is not in spiritual fellowship with God.

There's no way we can be in fellowship with each other.

We are not, we are divided. We are separate.

How do we know if we say? We have fellowship with him and

walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

All right, listen to this in verse 9, First John 1:9, if we

1 John 1:9

confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,

and number two to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now, Maybe you've heard brother, Joe, hisle over the years.

Use this example, he used the example.

There was a sister in Christ, and he was holding a meeting

somewhere and he offered the invitation.

And here comes this sister, walking down the aisle with

tears streaming down her face. She came up in the song was over

and she's sitting down next to brother Joe and she tells

brother, Joe, I have sinned and I've been asking God to forgive

me for 20 years. I've been asking for forgiveness

for 20 years and I'm scared to death.

I'm not forgiving Did you know that she was forgiven the first

time? We read the passage, again,

listen to this. If we confess our sins, he's

faithful and just to do two things.

One, forgive us, our sins and to cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. Now what is the word confess

mean the word confess does not mean reluctant admission.

It's kind of like when you're a kid and you get busted and your

parents are they got you dead to rights and you deny it until you

can't? And you reluctantly admit it's

kind of like these police shows, like these police shows.

I like the investigation shows and they get some guy in the hot

box in there and they start grilling this guy and they say,

we got you dead to rights. We saw you, we got all these

Witnesses in the what me? What me, what me, what me and

pretty soon after hours are wearing the guy down, you know,

he says, all right, I admit it, I confess.

That is not this word. This word confess is the word

human Leggio. It's a compound word comes from

two other words, homeless, and Lego, and it means to say the

same thing. In other words, when you confess

to God your sins, you do it in this fashion with Godly sorrow

with repentance and you do it in such a way.

That you literally are saying the same thing about that sin

that God says about that sin. And you know, What happens?

He forgives every sin and even cleanses you from all

unrighteousness. One scholar said that literally

means he removes the contamination.

Even of that sin, it's gone. Remember when Jesus gave the

example of the Pharisee, and the Publican, I'm not going to talk

about the Pharisee tonight. I just want to make a point

about the tax collector, You remember when Jesus describes

these two guys and you got the Pharisee over there and he's

basically thanking God for all the great things that he is.

And you know, really he might as well just say, praise God for

the way he did it, such a wonderful job on him and how I

turned out. So great did a great job on me,

might as well have said that. What about the flip side?

What about the guy that was a tax collector?

What about the guy that was guilty of extortion?

What about the guy that was a sinner and recognized it?

And the Bible says that Jesus describes this, man, this man

won't even look up toward the heavens.

He bows his head down, he smote his breath breasts, as an

outward sign of inward anguish. And he says what God, be

merciful to me. The original says this, The

Sinner You know what that is? That's Humalog.

Yo. That's saying the same thing

about your sin that God says about that sin.

That's confession of sins with repentance and godly sorrow and

when you do that you are forgiven like it never ever

happened chapter 2 and verse 1 of First John, 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 John pictures Jesus as our lawyer,

pleading our case, if you will, when we sin and we're going to

make mistakes, we certainly are. And when we do, we literally

throw our self as it were on the mercy of the court and beg for

God's forgiveness. And Jesus.

Who is our propitiation in that? He paid our fine for us and God

for Christ's sake. Forgives us.

All right. What if you went up to somebody

tomorrow? Row and you said, are you saved?

What if you went up to somebody and you ask them, are you saved?

You're going to get all kinds of ideas.

If you go up to people in the world, you say you saved

somebody might say well, yeah. Or somebody might say, well, I

think so. Somebody might say, well, I hope

so very few. People are going to say, nope.

Nope, not me. Going straight to hell.

The question is, can you know? The answer is, yes, you can.

Here it is. There's a three-fold test.

John gives it. Here's number one, The Obedience

test and it's found in first John chapter 2 and verse 3.

1 John 2 · chapter mention

Listen to this. Now by this we know there's that

word again to know for certain same word by this.

We know that we know him, that's a different word, that's a

relationship. We know that, we know him if we

keep his Commandments. Oh, let's just plug in the words

of what they mean by this, we are certain that we have a

Relationship with God if we keep his Commandments.

Now, the first thing that a person has to do is obey the

gospel. If a person does not obey the

gospel, That's The Obedience test that's first and foremost,

they're not going to be saved. That's the first thing.

Everybody must come to Jesus. Come believing in Jesus

repenting of their sins confess, his name as the Son of God and

be baptized in water for the remission of sins.

But it doesn't end there. The rest of our life is to be

filled with obedience, obedience to the word of God obedience.

By the way, that we worship obedience.

By the way, that we live, by the things that we teach by the

things that we practice, by the way, that we dress and on, and

on, and on, according to the word of God, The Obedience test.

Secondly though, secondly, is the disciple test and it's found

in 1st. John, Chapter 2 and verse 6.

John 2 · chapter mention

Here it is. He who says he abides in him?

Ought himself also to walk just as he walked.

So, first and foremost, I have to pass the obedience test.

Am I doing that first? Am I a Christian?

If I obeyed the gospel and a, my obedient to the word of God, in

my life, that's number one. Go to the next one.

Am I walking? As he walked if I say, I'm a

disciple of Christ, I need to be more like Christ in my life.

Now I'm going to tell you, you are never in your life going to

live it in sinless Perfection, you will not and neither will.

I but our goal. Jesus is the bar, Jesus is the

standard. We need to strive to be more

like Jesus in everything that we do in our life, the disciple

test. But thirdly, this is the hard

one. Sometimes we say, oh absolutely,

I have a, the word of God. Absolutely.

I'm trying to walk as he walked keeping sin out of my life and

all that. But then there comes the third

test, you know what it is? It's the love test. oh, people

misunderstand love In 1st John Chapter 2, beginning in verse 9.

John 2 · chapter mention

He who says he's in the light and hates his brother is in

darkness unto. Now he who loves his brother

abides in the light and there's 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's going because the

darkness has blinded his eyes. Now, I don't think I'm speaking

to anyone here that is guilty of not loving their brother.

What I've seen in a few days that I've been here is a

congregation filled with wonderful people.

And as an outsider looking in you appear to be people that

love each other and you demonstrate that with kindness

one to the other. So I don't think I'm talking to

anybody here tonight but let me just say there is a third test

and it's called the love test and if I say that I walk in the

light but I hate my brother, I'm a liar and I'm in darkness now,

what do we say a few nights ago? I think it was back Sunday

night. I made the point about love and

what love means and what hate means.

It all that the way that you demonstrate, whether you love or

hate, someone is, by the way that you treat someone.

I'm going to tell you, there are people that will not give you

the warm fuzzies. There are people that just don't

give you that warm sensation inside that you feel love for

and there are people in your life that you love without

having anyone command you to love them.

You love them naturally. That's not this word that is

phileo. I'm talking about agape love,

it's a love of service and sacrifice to others.

And by the way, it's always the love that's attributed to God.

And he gave the greatest sacrifice of all he gave his son

for the sins of the world. By the way, it's kind of hard

enough. Even it's hard enough even to

love your neighbor. I've had some neighbors that

really weren't worth loving. It's hard.

Sometimes to love your neighbor. But Jesus said, go a step

further and love your enemy. What's that mean, that means, by

the way that you treat them, but the greatest way that you can

demonstrate love to them, is that you still have a desire,

even though they're rotten rotten rotten.

You still have a desire that they go to heaven.

You want them to be saved to. You want their soul to be saved,

too. That's the epitome.

That's the highest point of your demonstration of love for them.

Am I saved and my past in the It's test.

Am I passing the disciple test? Am I passing the love test?

All right, there's something else.

That's great. And I want you to get this,

please, because this is a blessing that the world does not

have. Number one, a blessing, the

world doesn't have is to know that you have eternal life.

That's number one. Another Blessing the world

doesn't have its right now, you know what?

It is confidence in prayer. That God actually here's our

prayer. My talk about what that actually

means in a minute but I want to talk about confidence and

prayer. First, John 5:14, listen to this

John 5:14

Now, this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask

anything according to his, will he hears us?

The word confidence comes from the Greek word, which refers to

boldness and freedom with which one speaks.

It's in chapter 3, beginning in verse 21 and 22.

It speaks of boldness in our prayer life.

Notice beloved, if our heart, which is the mind.

If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward

God, that whatever we ask we receive from him.

Because why do things we keep his Commandments?

And We do those things that are pleasing in his sight, okay?

Verse John 5:14 that if we ask anything according to his will

John 5:14

he hears us? What is God's will?

What is it? It's what God Wills, what God

desires? What God wants or what God

allows and to pray. According to his will is to pray

with that provision when Jesus in Matthew 26, was in the

garden. He prayed to his father three

times. He said, if it's possible, let

this cup pass from me, but not my will, but thy will be done.

In other words, he poured his heart out to God, but he put it

all in the hands of God. He said if it really is your

will remember last night I said very quickly in passing that

when you pray according to God's will with that provision and you

say those words, you have to mean it and you have to actually

be okay with the answer. If you're not going to be okay

with the answer, don't pray if it's your will because you don't

mean it. If you pray according to God's

will and you say if it Be Your Will you have to mean it, you

have to be okay with the answer. All right, what does it mean to

hear? Listen.

God hears, the audible sound of everything.

To say that God cannot hear the audible sounds that are in the

world of a sinner praying is to limit.

God, I've heard people say that God can't even hear the audible

sound. In other words, it's blocked

off. He's not even capable of

hearing, the audible sound of a sinner.

That's not what that means. God hears everything.

So, what does it mean the promise to the child of God?

What does it mean that God Hears A Christians prayer?

Here it is. The very fact that he hears

prayer. We Vine says signifies that he

answers prayer. In other words, God hears, the

audible sound of everything, but he only answers his children.

That's the difference. That's a great blessing.

The word here, presupposes a response.

Remember that country song years ago, sometimes I thank God for

unanswered prayers. Interesting, isn't it?

It's the world. The concept that if you ask for

something and you don't get it that God didn't answer it.

Okay? I'm gonna tell you right now.

If you're a child of God and you ask in faith believing according

to God's will, God answers every single prayer, you pray.

I want to tell you a little story, just a little example.

Something happened to me years ago as a painting contractor,

when I was still doing that, you know, one of the things, one of

the challenges that you have in business, as, you know, no

doubt. You got to try to round up

enough work to keep your guys working all the time, but at the

same time, you have to have enough cash flow that you can

pay your bills and you have to have some good jobs that you

have some volume. So that the company gets, well,

you need all that. There's a hotel downtown

Bakersfield called the Padre Hotel years and years and years

ago, was a very famous hotel. Very nice had theme rooms and

all this. You know, what happened over

time, it became a home for slums, homeless people live

there, it was run down to nothing.

It was awful, disgusting. There was a company down south

in the Los Angeles area and you know what they did, they bought

the Padre Hotel and they said we are going to refurbish the whole

thing. We're going to restore the whole

thing and all that. I got to tell you, I wore my

knees out, praying that God would give me that job.

I wanted that job so bad. You know, why?

Cuz in my mind I'm thinking this is the job we're going to have

cash flow. It's going to keep my guys

working for a long, long time. It's going to be all that.

It's gonna be great. It's gonna take All this

pressure off, right? I prayed and I prayed and I

prayed, and I prayed, and the outside of the bid, the Outside

Alone was over a hundred thousand dollars worth of

painting. I didn't get it.

I was disappointed. Really disappointed.

You know, what happened? It was some new fellow that got

his license. You have to have a contractor's

license to contract in California.

His license. He went and got the job.

Oh, he was just absolutely just happy as can be when you talk to

him, you know what happened, he did the work and got beat out of

every dime. He got beat out of every penny

and it broke his company all. I'm saying it in my mind.

This is the job. And God said know, sometimes God

knows more than we know. Now, I'm not saying that is not

a testimonial, I don't do that a testimonial, I think it's wrong

because when you preach people give testimonials what they're

doing is they're attracting attention to themselves.

I'm just giving you a little example.

I thought I was wrong. I thought this was it.

God knew more than me. And I'm thankful now that God

said, no, he said no to my request in Mark chapter 11 and

Mark 11 · chapter mention

verse 24, we find also, we must ask in faith believing.

Therefore, I say to you, whatever you ask, when you pray

believe that you will have it and you will have them.

The blessings are for his children.

Only remember in John chapter 9, when Jesus heals, the man that

John 9 · chapter mention

was born blind, remember when they tried to say the Pharisees

tried to say, oh he's a sinner. And all that.

Remember what happens the man that was born blind said this.

Now we know that God does not hear that means answer, he does

not hear Sinner's but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does

his will him, he hears and that word simply means answers.

Look at first, John 5 and verse 15.

Watch this. And if and that word means since

since, we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we

have the petitions that we have asked of him.

In other words, we have so much confidence that God is going to

answer our prayers. Then when we bow the knee before

him and we pour our heart out to him and we prayed but not in

faith believing and we pray. According to God's will as we're

actually making the petition. We know that God's answering

that prayer. Great confidence.

Great blessings. For the child of God.

All right but now we got to come down to one final thing.

We got to talk about a passage found in verse 16 that sometimes

is really misunderstood. Let's talk about that verse, let

me read it first, break it down. First John 5:16 if anyone sees

1 John 5:16

his brother, sending us in, which does not lead to death, he

will ask and he will give him Life For Those who commit sin,

not leading to death. There's a sin leading to death,

and I do not say that he should. About that.

All right, you got two kinds of prayers.

That seems like two kinds of sins here.

It says one, you got to send that is not unto death and to

you got to send that is unto death.

And John says, if you see a brother and he sending a sin

that is not unto death, that's the King James.

The new King James, says leading to death.

You will ask and God will give strength, God will bless that

person. God will do that.

Give life for the one who's committed, a sin that is not

leading to death. All right?

What kind of death is that talking about?

You can pick up a commentary and it'll say, I read a commentator

one time. It said, well, that death is

physical death and what it means is, you can ask God to forgive

you of any kind of sin, except the one that leads to capital

punishment. Is that what he's talking about?

I've heard another say this though, it's physical death.

And therefore, as long as a person doesn't die, then they

still can be forgiven, but if they commit a sin, the takes

their life, they can't be forgiven.

That what that's talking about? Absolutely.

Not folks is talking about spiritual life and spiritual

death. The entire epistle is filled

with what spiritual life and spiritual death.

What does John already say? He says, we go from what from

Death to life. Now, he wasn't talking about

people, being raised from the dead, he's talking about,

spiritual death and spiritual life.

And when we come to Christ in Christ, we have Spiritual life.

So what he's talking about is he's talking about a sin that

does not lead to spiritual death.

You ask God, and God will give life for the one who commits

such a sin. All right, what's the sin unto

death? Then what is that?

What's the sin that is unto death?

What's the big, bad Sin? All kinds of ideas?

People think some say it's the unpardonable.

Anibal sin of Matthew 12 and Mark 3, some say it's the

willful sin of Hebrews chapter 10 and on and on and on what is

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

the sin that leads to spiritual death?

Here it is. Here's the big bad, terrible

rotten sin, here it is. And he sinned That you will not

make right? Any sin that you will not repent

of give you an example. Let's just say that brother.

So, and so here, I'll just create a guy, he's out of Duty,

he leaves the church, he goes out into the world of sin.

He doesn't want to make things, right?

He turns his back on everything he's ever known.

Own. He decides to go out into the

world and commit sins and be away from the church, guess

what? That is a sin that leads to

spiritual death or a separation from God.

He won't make it right. He won't repent.

John said if your brother is doing that kind of sin.

Don't pray for him now. That doesn't mean don't pray

that they come back. That means don't, pray that

they're forgiving in their sinful state.

I got loved ones, folks. I got family members some that

are out of Duty. I pray for him all the time.

I pray that they will repent and come back so that they can be

restored. And forgiven, I just don't pray

for their forgiveness while they're in that state because

until they come back, they are committing a sin that leads to

spiritual separation from God. That's the sin unto spiritual

death. Now, let me ask you, what if

somebody commits that kind of a sin, What if somebody actually

does that? Can they be forgiven?

Absolutely remember that passage found in first John chapter 1

1 John 1 · chapter mention

and verse 9 that is an absolute of any sin.

There's not a sin that you can commit, you cannot be forgiven

of watch this first, John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he's

John 1:9

faithful. And just to forgive us, our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Okay. These are great blessings for

the child of God. These are tremendous blessings

folks. And sometimes when you feel as

though you're getting discouraged because things are

not going your way in your life, remember something you have

something that the world doesn't have.

That's a fact. The world might think they have

it, they may think they want it. They may standing and encourage

one another with it, to make him feel better and days of sorrow

and sadness. Perhaps, when they stand over a

new Leaf. Grave of a loved one, I don't

know. But there's a difference.

There's a difference for the child of God.

The child of God can know for certain.

He is saved and know that when he asked God God will answer his

or her prayer. One final thing.

Remember last night, I closed with the word hope.

I want to tell you the difference between the world's

hope and our hope and then I'm finished.

There's a difference between the worlds.

Hope, you know what? The world's hope is the world

taupe is postponed. Disappointment, give you an

example, I love my sister. Loved her very much.

We're 11 months apart, where's close to being twins as you can

without being twins? I guess we're 11 months apart,

my sister and I, I remember growing up, we'd be watching a

football game on TV and our team was just getting whipped.

I don't know by 40 points with a minute left.

Left and my sister would say, well don't worry.

There's still hope. Yeah, no, there isn't.

That's postponed disappointment. Because guess what?

In one more minute we got to eat and swallow.

The fact that we just got waste, we got whipped.

Postponed disappointment. That's the world's hope.

The child of God has real hope. It's a belief in a trust in God,

that God is in total and thorough control in our life in

both Time. And Eternity that we can know

that when we pillow our head tonight, when we ask God to

please clean our slate and please forgive us of any sin

that is in our life. We can pillow our heads tonight

and know that if the Lord comes back we're going on.

That's a great blessing, know, were saved and that God answers.

Our prayers Christian certainties.

I'm through tonight.