Part Two

Hear the Word of God.

1 John 3, verses 4-10.

1 John 3:4–10

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness.

You know that He appeared, Jesus appeared, in order to take away sins.

And in Him there is no sin.

No one who abides in Him, Jesus, keeps on sinning.

No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him.

Little children, let no one deceive you.

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as He is righteous.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in Him.

And He cannot keep on sinning because He's been born of God.

By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Hear the Word of God.

Imagine a new soap opera.

As the wind blows, Brittany has become pregnant.

And it could be one of three men.

Either Dirk, Stone, or Oscar.

A paternity test is called for.

They take a sample of the baby in Brittany's womb, and then they are able to take samples from Dirk, Stone, and Oscar.

And lo and behold, there is a DNA match.

The DNA doesn't lie.

So, next week, on the next As the Wind Blows, you will find out who is the paternal father of Brittany's baby.

A paternity test.

Our ongoing obedience to Jesus Christ is a kind of paternity test.

It reveals who we belong to.

Who we want to take after.

The evidence isn't DNA.

The evidence is in your ongoing habitual practice of righteousness.

Think of righteousness as practical holiness lived out in your attitudes and your actions.

1 John contains a series of three tests.

I've told you about these.

There's the belief test.

What you believe to be true about Jesus.

And then there's the love test.

Do you love those who Jesus has shed his blood for?

And then there is the obedience test.

The practice of righteousness.

Obeying God's commands.

Last week, we started in on an obedience test.

The test itself is from chapter 228 through 310.

And last week, I point you from 228 to 3.3

that John emphasizes the future appearing of Jesus.

And it is to fuel our present obedience to Christ.

And this morning, in verses 4 through 10 of chapter 3,

God's past work in Christ,

it invigorates our present obedience to Jesus.

The obedience test is actually a paternity test

that reveals who your father is.

Here's the big idea.

When you remember what God has done for you,

you will want to be like Jesus all the more.

When you remember, take to heart what God in Christ has done for you,

you will want to be like Jesus in his righteousness all the more.

So this morning, I've got seven remembrances for you.

We're going to make quick work of this.

So remember, when you remember what God has done for you in Christ,

you're going to be stirred.

Third, if you're a child of God,

it's going to stir you to want to obey God all the more.

First remembrance is remember what making a practice means.

If you look back at 1 John 3, 4 through 10,

let me see if you can actually hear the emphasis.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning practices lawlessness.

If you look down at verse 6,

no one who abides in him keeps on sinning.

No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or know him.

Verse 7, whoever practices righteousness is righteous.

Verse 8, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.

Look at verse 9, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning.

Verse 10, by this is evident who are the children of God

and who are the children of the devil.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.

So what does this making a practice mean?

Well, the best way to think about it is think about an overall way of life.

Your lifestyle, your general trajectory of life.

And you've got two options.

Either your general trajectory of life is towards Jesus,

to follow him and to be like him and to obey him,

or it is to live for sin,

maybe tip your hat to Jesus once in a while,

but you're really living for yourself.

And what this is getting at is the habitual practice of your life.

John is not requiring sinful perfection of Christians here.

Do you know how I know that?

If you flip back into your Bible to 1 John 1, 9,

he's writing to Christians and he says,

if we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteous.

Now look at 2, 1 and 2.

My little children, I'm writing these things to you

so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin,

we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

He is the propitiation for our sins.

So when we read this making a practice

and see this repeated throughout our text,

what it's getting at is the way you typically live your life.

Let me just ask you two questions

and then point to a pastoral gray zone.

Here's another way you can approach this

because what's riding on this

is knowing if you're a child of God or not, right?

Here's another way to ask the question.

What is the outlier behavior of your life?

Is your normal course of life

to sin and to sin and to sin

with an occasional obedience thrown in,

really for what other people think,

but you continue to sin,

or is your normal course of life,

obey Jesus, do what I can,

occasionally sin, I confess it, repent, move on.

What's the outlier behavior?

What's norm?

What's the exception?

What's the exception?

Here's another way to get at it.

What do you want?

What is the desire of your heart?

Do you desire the holiness and the righteousness

that adorn God in His presence,

that adorn the life of Jesus,

or do you just want to live a life for yourself?

Now, this opens up to the pastoral gray zone.

When a person professes to be a Christian,

and yet their overall trajectory of their life

is characterized by sinful attitudes and actions,

it's really confusing.

You know who it's confusing for?

It's confusing for the Christians and non-Christians

in relationship with that person,

and it's also confusing for the person,

because they know that they are professing something

that they're not living.

I happen to think that a Christian

who's professing to be a follower of Jesus,

who is living a life of disobedience,

is actually the most miserable people person on the planet.

And if you find yourself in that gray zone,

where you're saying,

I want to be a Christian, but man, I love sin,

you need to turn.

Turn from your sinning.

Turn from your idols.

Turn to the living Christ,

and confess Him as Lord,

and find life.

Remember, when John is speaking up here,

this making of practice,

he's talking about an ongoing, habitual way of life

that ends up revealing who you are.

When you remember what God has done for you,

you'll want to be like Christ all the more.

So let me remind you of the second thing.

Remember that sin is lawlessness.

In verse 4, sin is lawlessness.

And brothers and sisters,

it is far worse than you want to think it is.

Sin means missing the mark.

John Tippmann, this past fall,

showed me how to shoot a crossbow with its arrow.

It's called a bolt.

And I spent hours practicing shooting a crossbow

from different distances from the target.

I'm trying to get into the bullseye.

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

Not once was it dead center.

I'm talking hours.

That's missing the mark.

And God calls all human beings everywhere,

and he holds every human being account

to be every day hitting the mark

of his righteousness, his holiness,

in your attitudes and your actions.

But as the scriptures say,

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Not one of us is righteous.

Not one of us hits the bullseye.

Did you notice in verse 4

how John equates sin with lawlessness?

Lawlessness is a rejection of God's good,

holy, loving rules.

We've seen two dramatic examples of that

over the last several months.

August, Jacob Blake is shot.

And then from within our city,

there is this small contingent of people

who just go lawless.

Hate, chaos, fear, destruction,

death, lawlessness.

But it also happened just over a week ago in D.C.

Another mob storms the U.S. Capitol building,

and it's lawlessness.

Hate, chaos, fear, destruction, death.

Now, if you feel like I haven't represented your group

or represented them poorly,

let me just bring this home a little bit.

If you're being honest with yourself,

you will see the same sin in lawlessness

in your own heart.

You know what you are capable of.

You know what happens in you.

You know the hate that can show up in your heart.

You know the potential of chaos-making you can do.

You know the fears.

You know the destruction you can bring about.

And you know the death in you.

You've had murderous thoughts.

Be honest.

The fact of the matter is,

we're not too far away from the lawless crowds.

And what you must remember is,

the sin and lawlessness are in complete opposition

to a holy, good, loving God

who gives His law for love and good.

Sin is worse than you think, brothers and sisters.

It's far worse than you think.

Especially when you realize it's in you.

Here's something I want to make sure

you're making the connection of.

Lawlessness is actually lovelessness.

Remember how Jesus, when He showed up

and He preached the Sermon on the Mount,

Matthew 5, 17, He said,

I didn't come to abolish the law,

but to fulfill the law and the prophets.

And then towards the end of Matthew, Matthew 22,

He's talking to this hotshot lawyer,

and He tells this lawyer

that all of the law and the prophets

depend on just two commandments.

You can sum up the whole Old Testament

with two commandments.

Love your God with everything you've got

and love your neighbor as yourself.

The law is fulfilled in love.

And Jesus embodied it.

Lawfulness, according to Jesus,

is obeying all that God commands

out of a wholehearted commitment

to God and your neighbor.

Sin and lawlessness is worse than you think.

It affects our actions and our attitudes.

It's a lovelessness towards God and our neighbor.

When you remember what God has done for you in Christ,

you're not going to want to do that.

So remember, three, who Jesus is.

In verses 5, 7, and 8,

we're told things about Jesus.

Remember, Jesus is the incarnate opposite

of sin and lawlessness.

He is the incarnate, the embodiment

of lawfulness manifest in love for God and others.

And Jesus did what no one else could do,

even for an hour.

Jesus obeyed all of God's commands

every moment of his life

out of an all-consuming,

all-governing love for God and his neighbor.

Did you notice in verse 5?

In him there is no sin.

Did you notice in verse 7?

He's the righteous one.

Did you notice in verse 8?

He's the son of God.

He's without sin.

He's full of holiness.

And he is fully God and fully man.

God incarnate.

And he's alive today.

What you must understand

is that as we're talking about

living lives of righteousness,

our source,

our standard,

our means,

and our end

is Jesus.

It's by his righteousness

imputed to us

the moment we believe

that we are righteous.

And he's the standard.

Jesus is the gold standard

of practical holiness.

We must learn to compare

and evaluate

our own attitudes and actions

to Jesus.

who do you think

is the standard

of the Christian life?

Pastors and elders?

To some extent,

as we emulate Jesus,

do you think you're the standard

of the Christian life?

Jesus is our gold standard

of practical holiness,

of lawfulness

manifest in love.

And we must be constantly

aligning ourselves

to Jesus.

That's the standard.

Aren't you glad

to see the invisible God

made known

throughout the Gospels?

We can see him.

He's not just the source,

standard,

he's the means.

We will grow

in practical,

everyday holiness

of attitude and action

as we abide in him.

See that in verse 6?

No one who abides in him

keeps on sinning.

This abiding,

it's a present tense verb

and what it's talking about

is this ongoing,

dependent,

life-giving relationship

we have with Jesus.

Remember,

he's the vine,

we're the branches.

If we abide in him

and he in us,

we will bear much fruit

but apart from him,

you'll be a jerk

and you'll be a jerk

as we depend on him,

who he is,

what he's done,

what he will do,

as we remember him,

what God has done

for us in him,

it's going to juice

your holiness.

It's going to give you

a desire

to want to be like him.

He's also our end.

The Greeks called it

telos.

He's our aim.

Our practice

of everyday holiness

is ultimately

not for us,

not to us,

oh Lord,

not to us,

but to your name

give glory.

I don't say no to sin

and yes to Jesus

so that you can pat me

on my back.

Look what I've done.

Our aim is Jesus.

It's for him.

It's for his glory.

This past week

I was talking to

a young lady

as I had filled out

a reference for her

and one of the questions

that we were talking about

was how do you grow

as a Christian

and her answer

was on the money.

Read my Bible

every day,

pray throughout the day,

share my faith.

She's legit.

I'm like,

amen.

Can you disciple me?

And then I asked her,

well what's the goal

of your growing

as a Christian?

You know what she said?

She paused.

Read my Bible

every day,

pray throughout the day,

share my faith.

That's the goal?

That's the goal

of your Bible reading

is to read your Bible?

It's the goal

of your praying

is to pray?

The goal of your

sharing your faith

is to share your faith?

I didn't say it like that to her.

I said the goal

is Jesus.

Romans 8, 29,

God is conforming us

to the image

of his son.

2 Corinthians 3, 18,

as we behold him

in the scriptures,

we are being transformed

from one degree of glory

to the next

and that's by the power

of the Holy Spirit,

the Lord,

our end game,

our telos

is Jesus.

And when you see that,

you remember that,

it makes you want

to live for him.

Point number four,

remember why Jesus came.

Are you feeling

a little adrift right now?

Are you feeling like,

well, you know what,

I'm kind of measuring

my works of righteousness

and my works of sin

like my practice?

I'm not really excited

about this.

Remember why Jesus appeared.

In verses five

and verse eight,

the word appeared

appears twice.

Last week,

John showed us

he appealed to the

future appearings

of the Lord Jesus Christ

to juice our present

obedience to Jesus.

And here,

John is appealing

to the

first

appearings

of Jesus.

Side note,

we live between

the appearings

of Jesus.

His first

appearing

inaugurated

the saving reign

of God

and his

second

appearing

will

consummate it.

bring it home.

And notice

how John ties

this

first

appearing

talked in

verse five

to purpose.

You know

that he

appeared

in order

to

take away

sins.

That's

a purpose

clause

in order

to take away

sins.

He appeared

the first time

to take

away

sins.

To take

away the

penalty

of sins

through his

death.

To bear

the wrath

of God

that was

intended

for you.

Remember,

did you hear me

when I said

he is our

propitiation?

Jesus was the

perfect sacrifice

that endured

all of God's

wrath in

its full

for any

sinner who

would come

and confess

him as

their Savior

and Lord.

He came

to take

away

sins

by his

death.

And not

just that,

he came

away to

take

not just

the penalty

of sin

but the

power

of sin.

He broke

it

when he

was raised

from the

dead.

He

demonstrated

that he

was victorious

and more

powerful

than sin,

death,

and the

devil.

And you've

been united

to Christ

in his

death and

resurrection,

therefore sin

has no

mastery over

you.

Romans 6,

1-14.

Do you know

what this

means?

There is

no

Christian,

genuine

Christian on

the face of

this planet

that can

ever claim

they are

helpless

to sin.

They've been

united to

Christ in his

death and

resurrection.

The Spirit

of God

indwells

them.

You think

he's not

powerful

enough?

And there's

more.

Jesus came

to take

away the

very presence

of sin.

His death

and resurrection

inaugurated a

sin eradication

campaign that

will be fulfilled

at his second

coming.

Jesus'

first appearing

was to

eradicate

sin and

sin.

Not to

spin off

a sin

toleration

campaign.

Not to

spin off

a sin

permissiveness

campaign.

Not to

spin off

a sin

excusing

campaign.

Not to

spin off

a presumption

on God's

grace

campaign.

So if your

habitual

practice right

now is to

preserve and

multiply sins,

you've got to

know you're

at cross

purposes with

the risen,

reigning,

and radiant

Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the

Son of God

in whom there's

no sin.

He is the

righteous one

and he

appeared in

order to

die for

sinful,

lawless,

unrighteous

folks like you

and me so

that we

could live in

the freedom

from the

penalty of sin,

the power

of sin

and one

day its

presence.

Remember in

verse 4 there

was this

equating of

sin and

lawlessness?

Well, between

verses 5 and

8 there's this

other kind of

soft parallel.

Jesus appeared

to take away

sins in

verse 5 and

in verse 8

Jesus appeared

to destroy the

works of the

devil.

Do you think

about your

sins as kind

of like the

works of the

devil of

lining up with

that guy?

The devil has

been sinning

from the

beginning and

yet Jesus,

there is no

sin in him.

He's the

righteous one.

So is your

ongoing practice,

your attitudes

and your actions

ongoingly,

are they

supporting the

love-driven

sin eradication

campaign of

Jesus?

or is it

supporting

unloving,

sin-promoting

works of the

devil?

Which team are

you playing

for?

Who's your

captain?

Uh, you

know,

it's pretty

close.

The devil,

Jesus,

Jesus,

I love sin,

righteousness,

I'd rather

laugh when the

sinners than

cry with the

saints.

Do you

remember what

happens to the

devil?

Revelation 20,

Jesus returns,

he cleans the

clock of the

hosts of the

devil,

and then the

devil is grabbed

and tossed into

the second death,

the lake of fire,

fire,

where,

and I quote,

he will be

tormented night

and day forever.

He came to

destroy the

works of the

devil.

devil.

There's no

comparison.

When you

remember what

God has done

for you in

Jesus, you

will want to

live for Jesus

all the more.

Remember who

you are.

In verses

8, 9, and

10, we have

this contrast.

Verses 7 and

8, there's this

contrast between

the children of

God who practice

righteousness and

the children of

the devil who

keep on sinning.

We see it in

verse 10.

By this, it is

evident who are

the children of

God and who are

the children of

the devil.

You've got this

contrast, and the

difference is

obedience, but it's

a deeper difference.

Do you know what

makes the difference

between a child of

God and a child of

the devil?

Look at verse 9.

No one born of

God makes a

practice of sinning

for God's seed

abides in him.

And he cannot

keep on sinning

because he has

been born of

God.

The difference

between a child

of God and a

child of the

devil is whether

or not someone

has God's seed

abiding in them.

So the question

becomes, what is

God's seed?

And classically,

option one is

God's seed is the

implanted word of

God, the gospel,

1 Peter 1, 22, 23,

and 25.

That's right on.

Or, option two,

this God's seed is

the Holy Spirit, of

whom we just saw

a reference to in

227, the anointing.

It's this same

writer, John,

recounts Jesus'

meeting with

Nicodemus in John

3.

Do you remember

this?

Nicodemus, how do I

be born?

I have to be born

again?

What?

And Jesus goes

on to explain the

agent of the new

birth, of

regeneration, of

being born again,

is the Holy Spirit.

Just as the wind

blows wherever it

wills, so does the

Spirit.

Titus 3, 4 speaks of

the regeneration of

the Spirit.

Galatians 4, Romans 5

speak of God's

Spirit indwelling

Christians bearing

witness to our

inner beings that we

are children of God,

God by which we call

out, Abba, Father.

And in both

contexts, it shows up

in the way you live

your life.

Galatians 5, Romans 8,

13, put to death

sin in you.

Well, I'm showing my

hand.

I lean towards this

being a reference,

God's seed to the

Holy Spirit.

But you know what?

We don't have to

decide between the two.

God's seed is God's

gracious, undeserved,

pouring out of the

Holy Spirit into a

sinner's heart that

inclines their heart to

God's Word to believe

and trust and obey.

God's seed is this

supernatural work of

God's grace that

transforms a child of

the devil into a

child of God.

We all used to be

children of the devil

following the course

of the Spirit of

this age.

Did you notice the

strong language in

3, 9?

We read, for God's

seed abides in him

and he cannot keep

on sinning.

If God's Spirit

indwells you, if the

third person of the

Trinity takes up

residence in you, he

will not allow you to

grow callous or casual

or comfortable with

the sin that Jesus

came to take away

and destroy.

Galatians 5, 16 and

17, walk by the

Spirit and you will

not carry out the

desires of the

flesh.

The desires of the

flesh are opposed to

the desires of the

Spirit.

Spirit opposes the

desires of the

flesh.

Why?

So that you do not

do the sinful things

you want to do.

How do you respond

to this?

If you're not a

Christian, if you're

hearing these words

and you're like,

that's not me, that's

a kindness, now you

can run to Jesus and

say, Jesus, I confess

you as my Savior and

Lord.

Give me the life in

you.

And he's going to call

you to follow him all

the days of your life.

It's a joy to follow

Jesus.

And if you're a

Christian and you are

within earshot of

these words and you're

becoming aware of the

sin in you that

opposes Christ,

that's good.

That's the Spirit of

God at work in you,

conforming you to the

image of Jesus.

And so what you do

is you confess it,

you repent of it,

and you enlist the

help of other

Christians to help you

live for Jesus.

You know what the

real test is?

The real test is this.

When you become aware

of your sin, how do

you respond?

Do you hide it?

Or do you bring it

into the light?

Confess it to the

Lord.

Find forgiveness in

Jesus again.

When you remember who

you are, what God has

done, that you are a

child of God, born of

the Spirit, to be made

like Jesus, it makes

you want to be like

Jesus.

Sixth, remember what the

evidence points to.

In verse 10 we read,

by this it is evident who

are the children of God

and who are the children

of the devil.

This is your life.

How you're conducting

your life.

It's the evidence.

It reveals whose child

you are.

God, child of God, or

child of the devil.

Who you are determines

how you live, and how you

live evidences who you

are.

For people who know both

me and my dad, Steve

Salvati, we regularly get

comments about how we share

his likeness.

I look like my dad.

Similar body frames and

head shapes.

I talk like my dad.

He's got some great words

that I like to use.

I laugh like my dad.

In fact, we share a lot of

the same humor.

I work like my dad.

My dad imparted to me a work

ethic.

I'm so grateful for him.

I recreate like my dad.

I cut loose in the same way

he cuts loose.

I've become like my father.

And when I'm around other

people who know both of us,

I regularly hear, you are

truly your father's son.

Some of it's DNA.

Some of it I've learned.

Some of it's not perfect.

But I welcome it.

I welcome the compliment.

I want to be like my dad.

I want to be more like my

heavenly father.

Just as the life of Jesus,

the righteous one, holiness

incarnate, evidenced the

unseen God who is holy,

our lives,

evidence,

our holy father too.

We want to be like him.

We want to strive after

holiness.

He wants us to share in his

holiness because he loves us

and wants good for us.

So, do you bear the family

likeness?

Are you becoming more like him?

Maybe you're a Christian and

you're discouraged.

You're more aware of your

sin than you are of God's

good work in you.

Imagine an 11-year-old boy

playing with a red yo-yo.

Many, many Christians think

of their following of Jesus

like the yo-yo.

They're more aware of when

they're on a downstroke of

disobedience and then they're

aware of their upstroke of

obedience and that's their

life.

But just imagine that 11-year-old

boy with a red yo-yo.

Up and down it goes.

But that 11-year-old starts

climbing a flight of stairs.

That yo-yo, even though it's

going up and down, is

ascending.

Many Christians are unaware of

the work of God in them,

slowly transforming them into

the image of Jesus because

they're more aware that they're

on a downstroke.

But lo and behold, every

Christian is fixed to the right

hand of God.

He will never let you go

even when you come to the end

of your rope.

This is reasons why we run in

packs, brothers and sisters.

When other Christians can speak

into your life and say, you've

made progress.

You're different than you were a

year ago.

You treasure Jesus more.

You obey Him more.

You're trying to multiply your life

for Him.

You are giving yourself and

belonging to one another.

When you realize, when you

remember what God has done for

you in Christ, it makes you

want to be like Christ all the

more and run with a pack of

people who are wanting to be

like Christ too.

The last remembrance.

Remember, do not be deceived.

Verse 7.

Little children, let no one

deceive you.

The devil's been around for a

long time and he's been sinning

from the beginning.

He's been deceiving from the

beginning.

Distorting the truth of God's

word.

Confusing what obedience is.

Don't be deceived into thinking

that your practice of

righteousness doesn't matter.

Don't be deceived.

Do you know who it matters to

most?

Your God.

Your Holy Father.

He says, be holy for I am

holy.

Jesus, this is how serious God

takes it.

Jesus died for you so that you

could live a holy life unto God.

We don't live holy lives unto God

in order to be saved.

We've been saved by God's grace

to live holy lives for the glory

of Jesus.

Don't be deceived into thinking

that your practice of righteousness

doesn't matter.

It matters to your God.

Don't be deceived into thinking

that what happens in private and

what happens in public are two

different domains.

That's a lie.

And here's how we know it.

From God's perspective, he sees

everything.

There are no domains from God's

sight.

There's nothing hiding.

You know that from Proverbs 15.3.

So if you think you're committing

secret sin, you're not.

God sees it plainly.

Don't be deceived into thinking

that settling for a nominal degree

of common righteousness is okay.

Many of us are looking around at

other people, other Christians,

and you're like, well, I'm better

than him.

Oh, man, only if I can be more

like that guy or that gal.

Sometimes we just all agree to a

common level of righteousness,

which is good enough.

Jesus is the source.

He's the standard.

He's the means.

And he is the telos of our

righteousness.

Paul said in Philippians 14,

I press on toward the goal for the

prize for the upward call of God in

Christ Jesus.

Paul said, for me to live is Christ.

Don't settle.

Don't settle for ordinary

righteousness.

your aim is Jesus.

And don't be deceived by the world.

Seriously, the world are those

unregenerate men and women who are

living lives in opposition to God.

The church are those blood-bought men

and women born of God's spirit who are

seeking to live lives of obedience.

Are you really going to take your

cues of how to live your life from

people who don't know God?

Don't be deceived.

If you're being called a prude because

you're taking God's word to heart,

forget about it.

Obey your Lord.

Don't give in.

Stop listening to them.

Tune your ear to your Jesus.

Make it your aim to please your God

above all.

But when you remember what God has done

for you in Christ,

you will want to live for Christ

all the more.

I've given you seven remembrances,

brothers and sisters.

Is the Holy Spirit doing a convicting

work in you this morning?

Welcome it.

Yes!

Make me like Jesus

in attitude and action.

I am making progress

up those stairs

of Christ-likeness

even when I am more aware

of my yo-yo being on a downstroke.

Do your work.

What God has done for us in Christ,

it compels us

to live lives of Christ-likeness

in present, ongoing,

decision after decision.

You will not regret that

when you stand before Him.

Let's pray.

God in heaven,

God in heaven,

we ask by Your Spirit

that You would do a thorough work.

Cleanse Your house.

Purify us as You are pure.

Make us righteousness.

Give us a taste

for divine holiness.

Help us not to settle.

God, set us apart

from everyone else.

Make us the light

that we are.

Restore our saltiness.

Renew our brilliance

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.