Birthmarks From Above

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That's our prayer this morning.

God, will you be yourself in this space?

Would you be powerful in this space like you always are?

Lord, let our lives be platforms for your amazingness.

Let our hearts be surrendered and let our heart our lives be platforms for your goodness.

Oh, that everything we do shine a spotlight on your goodness.

Holy Spirit, now I ask that you do something supernatural as you usually do through the teaching of your word.

Your words are timeless, therefore they're timely.

How would you open up our hearts to hear from you?

Open up our minds to think of you.

How would you help me proclaim these truths?

Give me strength to proclaim these truths.

Be yourself in this space, Lord.

It's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Go morning.

How are we good?

Good morning.

Love it.

You have your Bibles?

We're going to grab it and go to 1 John chapter 5.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

Okay, 1 John chapter 5.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

We're gonna be in those first five verses of 1 John chapter 5.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, just relax as the text is gonna appear on the screen, but we're gonna be in those first five verses.

I would love for you to follow along with us.

Now, we've had several visitors since the last time I preached, I feel the need to introduce myself.

My name is Leo Almeida.

I'm one of the teaching pastors here at Graham Parkway.

And I just want to say, man, it's always an honor to be up here teaching to you.

I always find it that I'm circling my calendar to be up here.

It's fun getting to preach to you.

So at the six-month mark, um, I I love, I love getting to preach to you.

Um a little bit about me.

Uh most of us know about this, but I was born in Angola, Africa.

Okay, and I moved here, okay, and I actually grew up uh in the mean, rugged, violent streets of uh Katy, Texas.

Okay, so um I went, that's where I went to elementary.

I went to Creech Elementary, I went to um Beck Junior High, go Bulldogs, and then I went to Seven Lakes High School.

And friends, that was a different Leo.

Okay, so I I came to know Jesus towards the end of high school.

So uh a lot of that time in Katy from 8 to 18, a lot of that, okay, a lot of that, that was BC Leo.

And one thing you need to know about BC Leo is that BC Leo thought that looking cool slash being cool was the meaning of life.

Okay, therefore, because I thought that way, the first day of school was the most important day of school.

Okay, the last day was the most relieving, it was the most fun, but that first day of school, when it comes to your social status, your first day of school is the is a critical day of school.

So I regret to inform you, I was the type of guy who would lay his clothes out on the bed and then sleep awkwardly right next to his clothes.

Okay, that was me.

Okay, with the shoes at the bottom and everything.

Okay, and that was actually the most critical part for me, my friends.

What shoes were you wearing?

Are they Jordans?

Are they real or are they fake?

Are they real or are they that was a critical question?

Okay, so for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, so this right here is the Jordan emblem, okay?

This is what we cried about, this is what we begged mom and dad for, this is what we spent birthday money on.

If your shoes had this, you're golden.

But there are certain people who found it a little bit cheaper to get something more like this, okay?

So that was these are not Jordans.

This is Jerome or something else.

Okay.

So there's nothing wrong with knockoffs intrinsically, knockoffs were cheaper, they're more accessible, and they're basically the same thing.

But if you're boasting that you have the new Jordans and one of the big kids goes, Hey, let me see your shoes real quick, and they find this, transfer schools.

It's gonna be a long few weeks.

Okay, it's gonna be a very long few weeks.

Are they real or are they fake?

And me, um, by the grace of God, met my parents grace me with new pair of shoes right before school every year.

And um, very anxious kid growing up, very anxious.

I thought my job was to wake up and worry.

But when kids that first day would walk up to me and they would come near me, check out my shoes, even though my legs were way too skinny for shoes that big, and even though I would have to maneuver through the hallways like a penguin because I didn't want to get them scuffed up, okay, my my assurance that they were authentic gave me confidence in that test.

My assurance that they were authentic gave me joy as I walk down the hallway.

Imagine a 60-pound kid with gigantic Jordan just walking down the hallway.

Now that's a shallow world I I lived in, but if they were an authentic, you could walk with confidence, but if they were fake, you would kind of you would kind of cower away.

Why do I tell you that?

Well, friends, we've hit one of the checkpoints in the book of John where he's about to ask us, is it real or fake?

Okay, John's about to get up real close and ask us, is it real or fake?

This epistle has a lot to say about the authenticity of your faith.

A few weeks ago, Pastor Neil mentioned that this group, this letter was um shot at or it's aimed at four groups of people.

One, Christians who were assured.

Two, Christians who are struggling with assurance.

Three, okay, non-Christians who were deceived into thinking they were Christians, and four, okay, people who were Christians and they were not Christians and they they knew they were not Christians.

And we've hit one of those checkpoints where John is about to ask us, is our new birth real?

Have you been born again?

This is not to add doubt, this is not even to condemn, or to add confusion, but this is to add clarity because that clarity gives us confidence.

That's what assurance does.

Assurance leads to confidence, assurance leads to joy, assurance leads to hope.

Have you been born again?

In a room this big, I'm not gonna assume that every single person here knows what being born again means, but this is the graphic metaphor that the Bible uses to describe.

So think of a birth, right?

There's nothing clean or quiet about a birth, okay?

It's a very messy thing, but that's the graphic metaphor that Jesus uses to describe new life that's only found in him.

Okay, this is cleansing of sin and spiritual transformation.

This is transformation of the deepest part of who you are.

This is not cosmetic.

You're not just adding waving to your arsenal of niceness or small talk with the cashier to your arsenal of being a good person.

No, this is transformation of the deepest parts of who you are.

Have you been born again?

Let's look at verses one through five.

It says this.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God.

When we love God and obey his commandments, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

And this is, and his commandments are not burdensome.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

It's the word of the Lord.

In an age where everyone is a Christian, put that in a heavy quotation, in an age when everyone is a Christian, friends, I believe this passage is asking us a timeless and timely question.

What are the supernatural birthmarks that one has been born for of God?

What are the supernatural birthmarks that one has been born of God?

The first one's right there in verse 1a, okay?

Believing Jesus for who he is.

Believing Jesus for who he is.

Look at verse 1a.

It says this.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

Okay, so what I have to do, I have to do some work on that word uh everyone.

I'm gonna flip the coin, show you both sides of the word um everyone.

I think that's important.

Friends, on one hand, the gospel is for everyone.

On one hand, it's for everyone.

If you actually study like the way that the Bible ends, it's describing the new Jerusalem, and you notice that the new Jerusalem has gates all over each side.

That's for maximum access.

Come, it's the gospel is for everyone.

In fact, in the book of John, John says like this, okay?

Um, but to all who did receive him, all to everyone who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood, nor the will of man, or the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

Friends, the gospel is for everyone.

It doesn't matter your financial or socioeconomic standing, the gospel is for you.

Yes, Jesus had some wealthy followers.

But if you look at where Jesus spent his time, what you'll find is Jesus spent most of his time in towns that were too small and insignificant to be on a map.

Okay, there's no oil under Bethany.

Okay, Nazareth is not this booming city.

He spent the majority of his time in places like that, and he laid the kingdom down there because the gospel is for everyone.

Friends, it doesn't matter your age, the gospel is for you.

So, recovering youth pastor, I have to do this.

If you are here and you are under the sound of my voice and you are in junior high or elementary, okay, I was just you.

The temptation in a room like this is to think, I'll care later.

This is for mom and dad.

This is for grandma and grandpa, I'll care later.

Listen, the gospel is for you.

Okay, you are invited to feast on God with the rest of us.

In fact, we need you.

Jesus was so unbelievably winsome that demons ran away from him, kids ran towards him and chanted his name.

So it doesn't matter what age group you land in, the gospel is for you.

The Bible says, though you do not see him, you love him.

So if you're in elementary or junior high, that that that goes for you too.

Furthermore, it doesn't matter your family background, the gospel is for you.

If you track Jesus' bloodline, whether it's in Matthew 1 or it's in Luke chapter 3, if you're familiar with those names and the stories of some of the people in his bloodline, you would know, you know, it's a little Jerry Springery in those bloodline, right?

Luke 3 · chapter mention

Can I say that?

And yet, the savior of the planet comes through there.

Okay?

This is not like Hinduism.

We have to be born in a specific system to get blessing, or born in a specific family to get blessing.

No, no, no.

The gospel is for everyone.

In fact, Colossians 3.11 puts it like this here, there is no Greek and Jew, circumcised, uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

Okay, the gospel doesn't favor a race, an age, an nationality, class, culture, or ethnicity.

The gospel is for everyone.

It's one side of the coin.

The other side, even though all are invited, there is a distinction in those who are actually his.

Everyone who truly belongs to God believes that Jesus is the Christ.

Okay, everyone who's actually in the family of God shares that birthmark.

They believe that Jesus is the Christ.

There is, in the family of God, there is no mutation or genetic defects that would lead one to be born of God and yet reject Jesus.

Okay, that does not exist.

Every two years, um, ligonier ministries and um uh life way research, they partner up to get the spiritual temperature of America.

So, what they do is they they survey thousands and thousands and thousands of people, and they have like 35 statements, and they ask people do you agree or disagree with this statement?

And this uh they did it in 2020.

Um, statement number seven was shocking because the question or the statement was Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.

Okay, this is the this is a statement right here.

Thirty percent of evangelicals agree with this statement.

Thirty percent of evangelicals agreed.

These are people who own a Bible, who come to church, who call themselves Christians, and yet what they're saying is that Jesus is just one of us, he just taught real good.

Friends, I I I hope that number is wrong.

Listen, am I saying, is Leo is Pastor Leo am I saying that if since they don't believe that Jesus is the Christ, they're not born again.

Am I saying that?

No.

The Bible's saying that.

One of the consequences of having your heart changed is you see Jesus for who he is.

That's the climax of your life.

Not falling in love or getting the j the cli is seeing Christ for who he is.

Okay we're called to people who are born again, echo Peter.

Um, Jesus asks Peter, what's the word on the street about me?

And Peter goes, People think you're John the Baptist again, or Jeremiah, part two, or Elijah the sequel.

People think you're all sorts of things, and then Jesus says, What do you say?

Who do you say that I am?

And Peter says, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Friends, the word Christ is a title, and it comes from the Greek word Christos.

Okay, the Hebrew word is the word mesh, okay, which we get the word Messiah from, and all it means is the chosen one or the anointed one.

And in the left side of your Bible, in the Old Testament, the three people who were anointed were prophets, priests, and kings.

And friends, Jesus fulfilled all of those.

All three of those.

Okay, he is the great prophet.

Okay, um, in Deuteronomy, God promises Moses that he's gonna raise up a Moses 2.0, a better Moses.

And Jesus fulfills that not just by preaching the word of God, but by being the word of God.

Not just by having the final say, but by being the final say.

He is the great prophet.

Furthermore, he is the great priest.

All of the Old Testament priests were flawed in two ways.

One, they're all sinners, two, they're all dead.

Okay, Jesus, okay, he lives forever.

Okay, he lives forever.

Because there isn't a time when his forgiveness can stop.

He lives forever and ever and ever and ever and ever.

And friends, there are implications to him living forever.

There are implications to him being the high priest forever.

Okay, one of the passages that has been a warm blanket to my soul is Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25.

Hebrews 7:25

It says this.

Consequently, this is talking about him being the high priest forever.

It says, consequently, because of this, he is able to save to the uttermost.

Stop right there.

Utter, he's able to completely clean you.

Okay?

When Leo didn't want to take a shower, I'd go to the bathroom, stand over the sink, and I would just splash water on myself.

Okay, I came out kind of clean.

Okay, but my soul needs to be completely clean.

And because he lives forever, okay, he's able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.

Since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Friends, that is explosive.

Okay.

The justification that was bought for you is tied to an event in the past.

Okay, Jesus died on the cross for your sins and he rose again.

Okay, but what he's doing now is intercession.

It's as if God is in heaven hitting refresh on your justification every morning.

He's the great priest.

And lastly, he's the king, he's the ultimate king.

This is one of his last words.

All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to me.

He's the great king.

And for someone my age, I hear that and I'm saying, I'm thinking, so in heaven, there's no more elections, right?

So my mind goes.

But he is the Christ.

And everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

That word believes is referring to a continuous action.

It's not that you trusted Christ for your salvation, but you are continually trusting him for your salvation.

Is that you?

Is that you?

If not, what are you trusting in for your salvation?

Let me just warn you there is massive danger in trusting yourself for your salvation.

That is in your that is massively dangerous, trusting in your own goodness to get in.

Friends, think of it this way.

This is an old Francis Schaefer example.

Um, imagine that if you trust this is for people who are trusting in their own goodness for salvation.

Imagine that you you you died and you you stood before God, and the first thing God did is he snapped his fingers and he revealed to you that this entire time in your whole life, there's been an invisible tape recorder around your neck.

For you kids, a tape recorder, never mind, sudden.

This entire time there's been an invisible tape recorder around your neck.

It doesn't record everything, it wasn't recording everything you were saying the whole time.

But it hits record every time you use the word should.

When you tell someone, hey, you shouldn't do that, hey, you should do that.

You should be nice.

It only starts recording when you give somebody else advice, when you tell somebody else how to live.

And what if God goes, I'm not gonna judge you based on this gigantic book or on Christ or on the Ten Commandments?

I'm only gonna judge you based on the advice you're giving to other people.

Do you always follow your own advice?

Do you always live up to your own standards?

If the answer is yes, come on in.

Friends, no one is passing that test.

I've gotten to know you guys for the last six months.

No one in here is passing that test.

And think about it.

That was a Joe.

Was it a Joe?

Listen, those are your standards.

Those are yours.

Old, sinful, confused, weak you.

Those are your standards.

Imagine how much more God's holy standards are.

Who can stand on that day?

Okay, how much higher are his?

Friends, are you believing in him for your salvation?

Listen, if you hear that illustration and you exhale, if you hear me talk about that and you exhale, thinking, oh, thank God I have Jesus to take the test for me.

Thank God I am hidden in Christ's perfection on that day.

Thank God I get to use Jesus' perfect report card on that day.

If that's you, if you have if you if you find yourself exhaling, going, Oh, thank God I have Jesus, that's a birthmark.

You've trusted Jesus as the Christ.

You've been born of God.

God is then a work in you to trust him.

That's the first birthmark.

What are the supernatural birthmarks of one who has been born of God?

Number one, as we just saw, believing Jesus for who he is.

Number two, a love for God the Father.

Look at verses one through three now.

It says this.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

And his commandments are not burdensome.

Oftentimes going through this book, it feels like when you get these paragraphs, it feels like you're untangling earphones a little bit.

So it gets a little bit bizarre, but um, if you look at verse one closely, it seems that John is using born of God interchangeably with love of the Father to imply someone who has been born of God, someone who has been born of God the Father has a love for God the Father.

Someone who has been born of God the Father has a love for God the Father.

Someone who is born of God starts their prayer with, dear Heavenly Father, and means it.

Okay, one of the flaws, I don't even know if it's a flaw, one of the things that we do here in the West and in a Western church, we say things like, it's all about Jesus.

Which, if you're gonna make it all about anything, make it all about Jesus.

Okay, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that.

But when we place a hype, we we say that repeatedly over and over, I fear we were in the risk of pushing aside who sent him.

As we saw already in chapter four, in this the love of God was made manifest among us.

God sent his only son.

God sent his only son into the world that we might live through him.

What I think happens is when I say things like we have a love for God the Father, what I think happens is this is painful for a lot of us.

Okay, we import some father wounds onto that, those words.

Okay?

We import some father wounds and it makes us shrink back and say, no, no, no, it's all about Jesus.

Okay.

The good news is this, friends.

Loving God the Father doesn't call you to ignore those wounds.

But I will say, born again, to be born again is to live in a way that God is Father and God is precious.

And here's what that looks like.

Okay?

Loving God the Father obliterates two common myths.

Okay?

It destroys two common myths.

The first myth destroys this.

I love Jesus, okay?

I hate the church.

Okay?

Verse 1, okay.

I'm just reading.

Everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Friends, a natural outworking of your love for the Father is your love for your siblings in Christ.

That's the natural outworking of that.

Okay?

Um, whenever we first got to America back in 2001, we came from Angola and um as Angolans um in America, America, few things made us more excited than running into other Angolans in America.

Okay, that was Disney World for us.

Okay, being at Galleria or HEB or Katie Mills Mall, whatever, and being in line somewhere, and we hear some we heard someone speak Portuguese and we're like, Do I hear that?

They're among us.

They're here.

Right?

Like our ears perked up, and my parents are usually shy, but they would go and talk to whoever that was.

And we had jokes that we could share, we had references that we could make, we had a language that we could speak.

And even though we were so grateful to be in this country, we had a common citizenship that we could bond over.

And it doesn't matter what life stage they were in or how different their family was, the Angolan in us wanted to care for the Angolan in them.

The Angolan in us wanted to look out for the Angolan in them.

Friends, in that same way, if you've been endowed with the Holy Spirit of Jesus, the Christ in you should love the Christ in others, no matter how different.

That is a natural outworking of loving God the Father to understand that you are in the family.

Okay?

You will ultimately love the Holy Spirit in others as well.

Therefore, we beat this drum loud and often here, and I love it.

When people say things like, I love Jesus, I hate the church.

As kindly as I can put that to you, you probably don't love Jesus.

I love Christ, I hate Christians.

You've been deceived.

You don't love Christ.

And hear my heart, okay?

If you've been a Christian for more than 35 minutes, you know people who talk like this.

So this is not me trying to pounce on, this is not that right now, okay?

But what what I'm not negating church hurt.

Okay, there are people who are wolves in sheep's clothes.

I'm not negating that.

But what I want to fight against is this notion of people storming away from the church because there are way too many hypocrites back there.

My response is yeah, but God paid good money for those hypocrites.

Like he paid really, it wasn't crypto or Bitcoin, it was the blood of Jesus.

He paid good money for those hypocrites, all of them.

Right?

So in all every other religion, like whether it's whether it's it's Islam, you gotta make the pilgrimage to Mecca or it's Judaism, you gotta go to the Jerusalem.

Listen, you don't have all the religions, you have to go to a building.

The beautiful thing about Christianity, when God is doing, is he's building a building before our eyes.

Y'all saw that?

This that's a build, the building is being built before our eyes.

And instead of using bricks, he's using this expensive material called redeemed hypocrites.

Right?

And Ephesians 2 says he's gonna come and live in that building himself.

Okay?

If you've been born of God, you have to you have just you find that beautiful.

You want to invest in that.

Okay, you want to love people who are also in the building with you.

And the beautiful thing is this passage shows us how to love.

It isn't just a mushy, wow, everyone in Christianity is as cute as I am.

It's not mushy, but it's action-oriented.

Look at verse 2.

It says this by this we know that we love the children of God.

When we love God and obey his commandments.

Friends, this shows us how to love.

Do you want to be a better mom?

Give yourself to worship in his word.

Do you want to be a better leader in your house?

Give yourself to worship in his word.

Do you want to be a better friend?

You want to be a better spouse?

You can't will your way into Christ's likeness.

Give yourself to worship in his word.

You want to love your kids better.

You want to love your aging parents better.

Give yourself to worship in his word.

Friends, this love for your siblings is not just emotional, it expresses itself in action.

We love other Christians well when we obey the Bible.

When we obey God.

Because this God has a lot to say about collaboration, consummation, communication, confrontation.

We love others well when we throw ourselves at God.

So one of the birthmarks of being born again is a love for the Father that obliterates the myth of I love Jesus, I hate the church.

No, no, it's a love for the Father that flows into I love my other siblings in Christ.

But also flows a different direction as well.

Okay?

It obliterates the myth of I'm a believer.

I'm not a follower, though.

I'm a believer, not a follower.

Look at verse 3.

For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.

And his commandments are not burdensome.

Friends, uh, to love God is to also obey his commandments.

We get to enjoy him, we get to sing to him, we get to be in his presence.

But a part of that love, okay, is you living that out.

Your love for the Father should be marked in how you love and how you live.

Ray Steadman puts it like this when love is expressed by righteousness, then we can be confident it's really love.

And James responds to this myth of, I'm a believer, not a father.

He responds to this by saying like this.

I'm gonna read it in the um in the NLT.

He says this, you say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.

Good for you.

Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror.

Friends, your belief affects your behavior.

Your assumptions are showing every day.

If I put your life on mute, what would I say you believe about God?

Right?

This is a love for the Father that flows itself out in obedience.

Furthermore, uh his commands they're not burdensome.

Look at verse 3b.

His commandments are not burdensome.

Now, I just made this caveat in here.

Okay, this is this can be tricky.

Okay, someone in here can be reading that and panicking.

There is there has to be at least one more Leo in the crowd reading this and kind of slowly panicking.

Because maybe someone's out there and they're desiring to obey, they want to please God, they want to obey God, they want to love God through their obedience, but they're finding obedience to be difficult.

Like saying yes to God and no to their flesh, they're finding that to sometimes be a grind.

And they come to this passage and they think, wait, I find difficult what the Bible says should be easy.

Uh-oh.

Okay?

Does this mean that, does this passage really mean that if I find difficulty in obeying God, I'm not a real Christian?

Or does it mean that if I find difficulty in obedience, I have not been born again?

My argument is no.

Okay?

Let's say three things about this not burdensome caveat.

First off, your desire to obey is in itself a gift.

You weren't born that way.

And that's a sign that the Holy Spirit is in you.

You were not born.

Ezekiel and Jeremiah both prophesied of a day that you would have a new heart that would want to please God, that would fight, but you would want to please God.

That's the good news.

If you have a desire to please God, a desire to obey, okay, be encouraged.

That's good news.

The Holy Spirit gifted that to you.

And furthermore, the better news is he doesn't just gift you the desire to obey, he gives you the power to obey.

Bookmark that for July 3rd.

Okay?

Second, okay, when it comes to this, and his commands are not burdensome.

Friends, this right here is a shot.

This is a shot at legalism.

Okay, as we're following God, we're aiming towards Jesus, but we are held up by his grace.

We're aiming towards Jesus, but we're held up by his mercy.

So um, people think I'm cool in these parts because I have smaller, smaller looking genes.

Um, but listen, chill out, chill out, chill out, chill out, listen.

Listen, uh in college, I went to Oklahoma State University to go post, and there's one, there's a group of people that like were so cool, I couldn't breathe their air.

Um and they their coolness manifested in they would have a backpack on, and but whenever they saw like two trees that were adequately spaced far apart, they would take their backpacks off, they would reach in there and they'd grab a rope, and they'd tie a rope to this tree, and they'd connect to this tree, and they would jump on top of the rope, and they would start what I know now to be slacklining.

Okay, we didn't have that in Angola.

So we had basketball and soccer and being on the ground, but like there would be a slack lining.

And I actually watched a documentary where this happens in between mountains.

There's people who tie different ropes to different mountains and they start what's called slacklining.

Friends, that's how the Pharisees lived, and that's how they were teaching other people to live.

Whenever you're slacklining very high up, the thing is like, okay, if you scratch your nose the wrong way, it's over.

Like if you're up that high and you just it's over.

That's how the Pharisees were discipling other people to live, and Jesus throws a shot at them.

In Matthew 23, he says, Listen, you lay on these people heavy burdens.

And in contrast, Jesus said of himself, listen, my yoke is easy, my burden is light.

Okay, this is a shot at legalism.

Okay, we are aiming towards Jesus, but we are held up by his mercy, we're held up by his grace.

And lastly, another note on the not burdensome, the commandments not being burdensome.

Listen, um, his commandments aren't burdensome in that they lead to life.

They might be temporarily inconvenient, but his commandments they lead to life.

Okay, they they they they they they permanently helpful and they lead to life.

So, what are the supernatural birthmarks of one who's been born of God?

Okay, believing Jesus for who he is.

Two, is a love for God the Father that fleshes itself out in how we love and how we live.

And third, it's a faith that overcomes the world.

Look at verses four and five.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Okay, this word world is important because John's already referenced the world in chapter two.

Okay, he identifies the world as a place that's passing away.

Okay, it's silly to place all your stock, all your money on a place that's passing away.

Think about it.

Even if you were a world-renowned art collector, you wouldn't spend your life savings on the most beautiful ice sculpture in the world.

Because in truth, it's an ice sculpture.

It's going to melt.

No matter how big and beautiful, you don't want to place your stock there.

The world is passing away.

And you're the people who are born again have a faith in someone much more sturdy than the world.

They can lay their hopes in someone more sturdy than this world.

And by holding on to him, you have victory.

This is a quote I found here that's really helpful.

It says this the idea that anything born of God could be defeated by this world was strange to John.

The idea that we being being born of God could be defeated by this world was strange to John, John, and it should be strange to us.

Friends, in other words, it's a birthright to overcome this world.

Okay, your faith will result in victory.

Let me say that again.

Your faith will result in victory.

Okay, this passage actually gives us insight as to why I think God allows Christians to suffer.

God will test your faith.

Why?

To make your faith stronger.

Why?

Because our faith is precious.

Why?

Because it connects to the eternal.

Therefore, God, guys, God loves you too much to protect you from all suffering.

Your faith is too precious to be left weak.

James puts it like this count at all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.

For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Friends, your faith is precious and it leads to victory.

It is victory, it leads to victory.

And John ends this section by asking a rhetorical question.

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Friends, the answer is no one.

So have you been born of God?

Have you been born from above?

Do you have these birthmarks?

Okay, do you believe that Jesus is truly who he says he is, the Christ?

Do you love God the Father in such a way that it fleshes itself out and in love for the siblings and a desire to obey and obedience to God?

And do you have a faith that overcomes the world?

And if so, friends, confidence and joy and hope are non-negotiable.

If you have those birthmarks, confidence and hope and joy are non-negotiable.

But if not, if you are in here and you feel like, man, I think I've been deceived.

I think I've been lied to.

I'm not preaching this out of condemnation, but out of invitation.

You are invited to enjoy the living God and relate to him as a good dad.

You are invited.

And this dad is good.

This God is good.

Let me pray.

God, thank you for these truths, Lord.

I it's exciting to just go through these things myself that you are the Christ.

Um gosh, that tape recorder illustration gets me.

It's it's it's hard to think of a scenario where I didn't have you.

So, Christ, thank you so much for doing what you've done.

And Lord, thank you for transforming my heart so I can see who you are.

God, I pray for these folks, and I pray that you are transforming hearts because you're still working.

That baptistry today is evidence that you are still at work, you are still adding to that building right now.

Lord Jesus, give us a faith that overcomes the world.

The testing seems so unpleasant.

Oh I hate it.

It's so hard.

But God, give us a heart and a mind that can counter it all joy, knowing that it's precious and it leads to victory, Jesus.

We love you, we praise you.

It's in your beautiful name.

I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

So um at the end of each of our services, we have to give some space um for some mental worship.

Um, we could do, you can pull out your phone and take a picture of these and mow on them throughout the week, or you can just land your eyes on one of these questions and just try to feast on what you've heard here today, um, and just go with the Holy Spirit on a journey uh with what you've heard here today.

So, what I'm gonna do now, I'm gonna just give you some space to mentally respond, to mentally worship to what you just just heard.

Holy Spirit, um, thank you for challenging us in the way that you have throughout the teaching of this entire book.

Um, and just start the teaching of the Bible.

Um, I feel like the Bible, we read the Bible, but sometimes the Bible reads us.

God, I pray that the people in here that feel convicted, even those who feel deceived, I pray they can accept this as an invitation to come to the table and to love you as Father and to accept you um and to love you as the Christ.

Um, Holy Spirit, contend um with us.

Um, thank you for your gentleness and thank you for just this morning and your powerful working through this room.

Um, it's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

Um, thank you for coming.

If you are new here this morning, welcome.

Okay, you matter to God, therefore you matter to us.

And if you're new here this morning, um why don't you go ahead and just text this number, text welcome to this number you see on the screen.

That gives us a record of your visit.

Um, and if you don't have a church home, we would love the honor and the privilege of being your church home.

And I would love the honor to being of one of your pastors.

And as a matter of fact, um after the service, when I'm done here in just a moment, um our pastors are gonna be here at the front and be willing to pray for you or to help you process anything that you've helped or answer questions that you might have.

Um if this is your church home, if you consider Grant Parkway a home for you um church-wise, um this if this is one of your Sundays to worship through giving, um, there are boxes uh all over the sanctuary where you can do so.

Um now, um, I want to let you know, I want to let you know what's happening in the life of our church.

Would you please direct your attention to the screen?

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

If you're new, text welcome to 281-626-5707.

This way we can know you're here and get you connected with the church.

Over the next two weeks, our students are headed to camp for gospel-saturated experiences designed to lead to spiritual transformation.

We, the church, commit to pray for them as they engage in worship, preaching, prayer, and community.

By way of reminder to pray for our students and leaders, be sure and grab a prayer bracelet from the stage today.

Our next blood drive is June 12th in the warehouse.

Register at grandparkoy.org.

While you're on our website, you can find information about staff, upcoming events, what we believe, and resources from our church.

Also, be sure to give us a follow and a like on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you have any questions about what you heard today or would like someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

People born of God.

Joy, confidence, and hope are non-negotiable.

Go out this week and love and live with the freedom of being a child of God.

I pray these things in uh the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.