Wednesday PM | April 29th, 2026 | Bridges Sandpoint

All right, so we are going to be in we are going to be in first

John and last week I got I got through chapter 1.

So this week we're going to start back in chapter 1 because

we're actually going to be we're going to start in verse 8 just

to do some review in chapter 1. And so we'll just start real

quick. If we say that we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves in the truth.

Oh, sorry. And the truth is not in US.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us

our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar.

And His word is not in us. My little children, these things

I write to you so that you may not sin.

And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus

Christ the righteous, and he himself is a propitiation for

our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

And dear Lord, I just thank you for tonight.

And I thank you for how big you are and how in control you are,

Lord. And I thank you for your word.

Thank you for everybody here Lord, that you'd filled with

your spirit that you'd guide and direct us, Lord that you'd be

speaking tonight or that I just get out of the way and I pray

this in Jesus name, Amen. So we went back to verse 8 just

because it's really we're only going to get through those first

2 verses in chapter 2. But to get it some context.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the

truth is not in US and that we're going to go through a

bunch of just the Margie would mention it that you know, just

the the different teachings that people come up with.

And this is one of those John is bringing up that there there's

two sides he could be he he's pointing out from both sides of

the aisle. Some say in Christ, nothing is

sin. That's the I can do all things

crowd and then others say in Christ, my sin nature is dead

and that's the and therefore I can't sin crowd right.

Either I'm perfect or I can do anything and neither one of

those is what John's saying, right?

He's saying if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and

the truth is not in US, right? We're we still have sin.

John is reminding us that Christ that we are free from sin, but

our free will can and does reach out of the light and sin right.

And Paul, Paul completely agrees with that in Romans 323 and and

really I'm going to call out who's writing it, but we all

know that the Holy Spirit wrote it.

But 323 for all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

And John reminds us in verse 9 to just keep short accounts

right that that that if we say we have no sin, we deceive

ourselves and the truth is not in us.

And then verse 9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and

just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all

unrighteousness. So what I love about and just

well, what I love about God is as you're as you're digging into

his word and you just get to see him that he he is the same

today, yesterday and forever, right.

David back in Psalm 32 writes, I acknowledge my sin to you and my

iniquity. I have not hidden I said I I

will confess my transgression to the Lord and you forgave me,

forgave the iniquity of my sin. So it's really we a lot of times

we think, and this is both David and John saying it.

We, we think there's, there's the ability to hide our sin.

Like I'm not going to confess it because I, I, I feel guilty, but

I don't want to talk to God about it.

Well, he already sees you. He already knows about it,

right? It's, it's that moment in the

garden when, when Adam is hiding from God.

Was he ever actually hiding? When God said, Adam, where are

you? You knew where they were, right?

But Adam needed to come out. And, and in this, in the, in the

David part, there's, there's two types of sin.

There's iniquity and transgression, which iniquity is

like bent. It means bent or twisted,

corrupt, the idea of aiming to do good and then missing.

So think of David, David sleeping with Bathsheba, which

is he fell short. He was tempted and he failed,

right. But then transgression is like

like rebellion or or violating. And there you can, you can

picture David ignoring God and having Elijah or Uriah killed.

And I always, I always picture David going La La, La La La La

right? I'm not listening God right?

And Uriah's name means light of the Lord.

And if you guys can imagine the neon light that Uriah was

shining on David's sin when David had slept with Uriah's

wife and Uriah wouldn't sleep with his own wife.

The sin was being announced and David was definitely ignoring

it, right? So it's that's that's

transgression. But David said God Forgives both

of those right and and you got to remember that's before Jesus.

So how does that work? How does David how did how is

how are we to know this right? Colossians 126 says the mystery

which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now

has been revealed to his Saints to them God will to make known

what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the

Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of glory and that hope

of glory is what is what the all the all the pre Incarnate Jesus

people had right They they didn't know how it worked.

They just knew it worked. They they knew who they were

supposed to honor. And as I as I have here, David

didn't know how God would do it. He just knew he would.

And there there's that faith in that right.

So Paul goes on in Romans 324 and says being justified freely

by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ

Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by by his blood

through faith to demonstrate his righteousness.

Because his forbearance, God had passed over sins that were

previously committed to demonstrate at this present time

his righteousness and he might just be sorry.

He might be just and the justifier of one who has faith

in Jesus. And that is a lot to look at one

word that is this. This is really fun guys.

Propitiation here is he la stay rayon, which I mutilated, but

that's the best I can do and it means mercy seat.

And and that's what we what we very often when we talk about

propitiation and it's true, we call it an atoning sacrifice.

But here, this word that Paul that's being translated for us

in English is propitiation is the mercy seat.

And this is Paul pointing to, pointing us to Jesus as the

mercy seat on the ark, right? He, he was, he was where we met

mercy. It's where Israel back in the

Old Testament, that's where they went for mercy.

It's where the high priest went to receive that to, to ask for

that mercy, right? It's where they took the

sacrifices where they took the blood.

David again in Psalm 51 two says, wash me thoroughly from

from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is

always before me against you. You only have I sinned and done

this evil in your sight that you may be found just just you speak

and blameless when you judge. So David under good God was the

one he needed to be forgiven by right?

And that happened at the mercy mercy seat and how that

happened, they didn't they didn't understand.

They just knew God said that's how that happened, right?

When they when they read the law that they knew, they knew what

they were supposed to do and they knew they served a living

God and this was what was required and how it worked was a

mystery to them. What wasn't a mystery to them

was their need for forgiveness from a holy God.

When someone says they have no sin, they're saying they have no

need to be saved and are good. They are and they are lost and

in their sin against God, denying His Holiness.

And that's really, you know, I, I talked to people and very

often somebody will come up to me and say, so am I going to go

to hell because of this, this sin or, you know, whatever the

big sin in their life that they think that the church hates or

whatever. Guys, that is not the sin

sending them to hell. I mean that sin's a sin.

That ain't the one. The one that's sending them to

hell is that they don't believe God is holy and worthy to be

served. That's it.

Because once you make that decision, God will start

cleaning up all the rest of the junk in your life, right?

But you have to make that decision.

You have to decide that He is the gold standard.

He is where you're at. And if you haven't decided that,

then you're over here in the weeds going, well, I got to quit

drinking, or I got a quick cussing or I got to quit

watching bad movies. Well, none of that matters if

you're not in Christ. Once you're in Christ, He's

going to start yard sale in your life.

Ask me how I know that right? And, and that, but that's,

that's the God we serve, right? He's a living God.

It isn't. I, I, I will talk about the

Bible and I will tell you how awesome it is that he wrote it

down. And he, he definitely uses the

Bible. He definitely speaks to us

through it. But the awesome thing is we

serve a living God that is totally going to convict you and

speak to you and tell you things that you need to get out of your

life. You know, it doesn't talk about

it doesn't talk about Facebook and TV in in the in the word.

But there might be a time where he says you need to get off

Facebook, you need to put your phone down.

You need to you, whatever that is right.

And and that's a you and him conversation.

And when you decide in any of those conversations that your

your liberty and in America, we are really guilty of this, that

I have freedom and liberty to to do whatever I want.

If God is telling you to stop whatever it is, if God saying

no, your answer is yes, I will yes, Lord not, but I can because

right. And that's that's everything

right. That's that is if he's asking

you to fast, if you whatever that thing is and it isn't about

it isn't about what he's asking what he what he's asking your

neighbor to do. You know, I, I use, I use when I

when I got saved, I, I chewed and I chewed a lot and they look

back on it. I think it's kind of funny, but

I was not convicted at all when I got saved about chewing.

I had there were people that smoked.

They were convicted when I got convicted of chewing and it

became it, it became, I mean, I'd love to say I got a little

conviction and I just quit. It didn't work like that.

It took some time and it's a long story.

But when I did finally quit or when it when it came to a head

and I quit, I didn't look at everybody that was chewing and

say you're sinning because they're not, there's nothing in

the Bible about chew left or right.

They're not sinning because God convicted me to stop, right?

But if I keep doing it, I'm sinning if God convicted me,

right? It's pastor Mitch one time was

convicted to quit watching TV and he removed the TV from his

house. He didn't come to church and go

everybody needs to get rid of the TV in their house because I

was convicted, right. So it's it's God is that's the

God we serve. He's a living God that wants to

speak to you about your life and your relationship with him,

right? And just just knowing that

that's that's that isn't a that isn't a bad thing, guys.

That's an awesome thing, right? That I don't I don't have to

guess. A lot of times he just tells me

I get dents in the back of my head from it.

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and

his word is not in US. And, and you know, this is just

back to the, we've all sinned and fall short and we need

Jesus. And first, John 511 says this is

the testimony that God has given us eternal life.

And this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life.

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

And when we deny that we have sinned and we deny that we need

a Savior, we're, we're in that spot.

That's not good, right? That's, that's not where we want

to be. Now all of that is just getting

us into chapter 2 and chapter 2 is these first 2 verses are

probably, I mean, I've always liked them, but I didn't know

how much fun they were until I really dug into them.

These two verses are awesome. And if you want to, I'm going

to, I'm going to stir a whole hornet's Nets just because it's

fun. And I, and when I say that it's

so I like to mess with doctrine that that leaves things out to

make their doctrine work. I always say.

So when I got saved, I was an evolutionist because I grew up

in the secular schools and that's where I was and, and I

was not a very, I thought I was a smart evolutionist.

I was, and I was just taught whatever they taught me in high

school and I enjoyed it. So I and then Steve was teaching

through Genesis and we got to Noah's, Noah's ark and he's

teaching through it. And I'm like, well, that's a

problem because I want to believe the Bible's true Lord.

And I had faith in that and faith, this is the word of God

and this is true, but you're going to have to meet me because

I have no idea how any of that works.

So I took a refuting evolution class and I really walked in

that class like a prideful, arrogant 31 year old who thought

he was smarter than he was. And Rob Wallace was the the

teacher and he was a science teacher at a school.

So he knew both sides of the argument very well.

And we went through feuding evolution.

And I will tell you what evolution is due to this day is

give you they're they're no different than our news media.

We're kind of used to it now. They give you their bit of the

information and their bit of the information is exactly true.

I mean, they are not lying. They are just leaving out the

rest of the chart. And when you see the rest of the

chart, their information doesn't seem to matter as much.

And, and you'll find a lot of times when you get into

doctrinal issues that they're that both sides are firing

verses back at each other and people go, well, you can't be

sure on any of it. It's like, no, first you have to

remember how awesome and big our God is.

And if he says it, it's true. It isn't.

It isn't. This truth is true and this

truth is true. One of those that we would like

to talk about. There is one God and three

persons, right? And we can, I think in this

room, we're pretty, pretty solid on the Trinity.

That's a thing. And there are there are those

kind of truths throughout the Bible because he's bigger than

us in a, in a way that we can't there, there should be things

that he says that I can't understand.

I can, I can kind of explain to the best of our ability, but

it's it's beyond my how does that work?

Well, I'll explain that right after the rapture, right, right

when we're with Jesus, we'll have a class and it'll all be,

Oh, that's how that works. So verse one says, 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, righteous now advocate here and and Margie

mentioned it that this is John writing, John writing here.

And then John wrote the gospel as well and Paraclete toss,

which is that word for advocate is only used in four locations.

And in those four spots, the other three spots, that's the

helper, the Holy Spirit. In this spot, it's Jesus.

And all four spots are John. So he isn't confused on what

he's using and where he's using it.

So, so it's the advocate which is which is with the Father,

Jesus Christ the righteous. So he's saying the Pericletos,

the advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And he says in other places that you will have a, a helper will

come, I will send a helper for you.

I don't have those verses because I jumped a different

direction, but know that that's the coolest thing right there is

that literally John is on purpose.

This isn't this isn't an accident.

He's referring to the Holy Spirit everywhere else.

And here he solidly connects in one failed swoop, the Father,

God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in one, one sentence.

And I just love that. It makes me smile.

And then Romans 826 it says likewise.

And and remember this is this is that advocate with the Father.

So like a a lawyer and intercessor, Romans 26 says 826

says likewise. The Spirit also helps in our

weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for as we

ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with

the groanings which cannot be uttered.

So we ask, OK, so who is it, Jesus or the Spirit?

Yep, that's right. He is our lawyer, right?

He's who lives inside of me, the Spirit who who's in me, Jesus,

right? And, and, and that is the God we

serve. He's that big and that we need

to trust and rely on him. He is faithful, right?

And this is he is faithful to finish the work that he finished

at the cross. And and that is such I mean,

he's he is faithful to finish what he already finished.

But that's because he is outside of time and we are in time.

And that's one of those things guys, that that anybody that

tells you they understand that is and understand that like,

yeah, that's completely within my grasp is.

The the scientists that go well, you know, we know time started

at one point and and then they try to explain it.

They are they are out of their element because it is not

something that we can grasp to be outside of time.

OK, so verse 2 and he himself is the propitiation for our sin and

not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

And this is the hornet's nest of fun.

So this is Jesus is the this that propitiation here is Jesus

is the sacrifice that removes sin.

So in John, the word that is translated propitiation is hell

loss Moss, which is the atoning sacrifice.

So when you look at the combination combination of John

and Paul, Jesus is the sacrifice that satisfied and the mercy

seat that is satisfied. He is it once again a picture of

of both the Son and the Father all in one and that and their,

their their togetherness. Jesus is the only one that could

pay the price for the mercy and he is always wanted to give it

and not and then that that last sentence not for ours only, but

also for the whole world. And this is that this is that I

just get a stir up doctrine right?

This is a Calvinist would say that that God is sovereign and

there are those that are elect and those that can't be good

can't go to heaven and those that that are already going to

heaven. And what this says is not only

ours but for the whole world. And so that leaves things the

and what the what Calvinists do, and there's another side of this

the Armenians and what they do, what both sides do is leave the

other argument out. Now mean Armenians will tell you

that that it's all about my free will and God, this place is just

kind of running on its own and we get our free will and and

then Calvinists will say, no, it's all God's sovereignty and

we really don't have a choice in the matter anyway.

And and I'm those are the extreme views, right.

So I mean, I am definitely brought painting with A broad

brush. When you look at Calvinism,

somebody bigger than me explain the sovereignty of God and and

the and free will kind of like this.

And there this was AI think I heard this on the radio.

Think of who put the breath in your lungs.

God, right, But do we still choose to breathe?

And so those are both and right you, you still have choices in

that a couple of more verses just so we've got this whole

world part down is first John 413 by this we know that we

abide in him and he and us because he has given us the

spirit and we have seen and testified that the Father has

sent the Son as the savior of the world, not of the elect of

the world. John 129 says the next day, John

saw Jesus coming towards him and said, behold, the Lamb of God

who takes away the sin of the world.

But this is just going through John and my favorite.

This is truly my favorite like well that just because they will

tell you that God chose and and my decision has nothing to do

with it. 6 John 663 through 70 and it says it is the spirit who

gives life the flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you are Spirit and their life.

But there. But there are some of you who do

not believe. For Jesus knew from the

beginning who they were who did not believe and and would betray

him. And he said, Therefore I have

said to you that no one can come to me unless the Father granted

to him, unless sorry, unless it had been granted to him by my

Father. From that time many of his

disciples went back and walked with him.

No more than Jesus said to the 12 Do you also want to go away?

But Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?

You have the words of eternal life also.

We have come to believe and know that you are Christ, the Son of

the living God. And Jesus said to them, Did I

not choose you? The 12 And one of you is the

devil. So he chose Judas, right?

Did Judas choose him and and that granted by the father up

there in in verse 65 it it's grant.

It's D doe me it, which is to grant or to bestow or to entrust

or to offer freely. And and so they would your your

doctrine. People would say, well, that's

see that says that that's father granting it.

But Jesus in John 519 says, so this can't be, they can't be the

Father doing one thing and Jesus doing something else with this.

I chose you because in 519 it says then Jesus answered and

said to them, most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do

nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do.

For whatever he does, the Son does also in like manner.

So it can't be that the Father and the Son are two and two

different things right here and in so Jesus chose the 12.

So the Father chose the 12 because that's what it says.

He can do nothing that the Father isn't doing.

And as many as received him, he gave the right and that is

that's John 112 But as many as received him, he gave the right

to become children of God to those who believe in his name.

So out of out of 12 apostles, 11 of them, he, he chose 12 and 11

of them received him right and became children of God.

So Jesus does the choosing, but we have to accept and and freely

receive the gift by faith. Oh, and there's that there's

another doctrine that it all hamstrings.

It's just I will jab that real quick.

Irresistible grace, which is another like hardcore Calvinist

line is that if God chose you, you could not refuse him.

Just said that Judas refused him.

Been pretty straightforward. So it and I and I am, I'm having

fun with that guys. But it I'm having fun with it,

but I don't want to be if somebody's watching online or

something, I don't want to be dismissive in that the

Calvinists and the Armenians have some good there is there's

truth there. They, it's if they got if they

get off the rails, right? And understanding that, that

both sides have there's, there's truth in that, right?

I mean, they, they're, they're verses that they use there.

There's truth in those. They just have to at any point,

if you have to explain away a verse to make your beliefs work,

you're, you're, you're struggling, you're, you're in

the wrong place, right? You need like that, that old

line. If, if you have a problem with

the verse, you don't have it has a problem with you, right?

So we bend to it. We don't try to bend the Bible

to us. So all of this to say, like

David in the Psalms, there are things we can't get our heads

wrapped around, right? I mean that literally David

didn't understand in the Psalms how a lamb dying at the altar

and being and blood being dripped on on the mercy seat,

how that saved him. He just knew it did right?

He, he knew that's what God asked him to do.

And, and he was doing that. And but there are things we can

get our heads wrapped around, right?

And, and that's the, the major stuff, which like pretty simple,

I think everybody in this room could admit that we've all

sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

That isn't one that, that that's not a hard one, right?

And that Jesus rose again on the third day and he did that to pay

for that sin. So we can spend a turn and and

through his his paying for that sin gives us the right to be

called children of God if we accept his gift right.

A Chuck Smith quote that is really just he's way better.

He's way better at quotes than I am.

He used to. I heard a bio I heard a Radio

One that that he said he was a Calmenian.

So he's a little both, but I am not a Calvinist.

I am not an Armenian. Both have truth.

Both go too far. If you only teach one side, you

end up in heresy. The Bible teaches God's

sovereignty and human responsibility.

The truth lives in the tension, right?

And that is in that there's, there's mystery there, right?

Be willing to accept that mystery that, that there is

stuff that I don't know that I can't lock down, right, because

he's bigger than me. Like I can't lock down how I'm

in time and he's outside of time.

I can't lock that now. I can't lock down how he is

sovereign and I have free will. I can, I can explain it like

this. I can show you where he's

pointing it out, but I don't know exactly how that works.

And why is it all important? I mean, that's, that's the at

the end of the day, guys, for us in this room.

Why is it important to us? Why is why is that a

conversation? Because when you fall on either,

either one of those camps, it is really hard to go out and share

the gospel with people. It is really hard to be on

either side of that. That that God is an uncaring, UN

uncaring and he isn't plugged in and he's not involved.

But we have free will that's hard to share who Jesus is or

that I don't really have a choice in it.

And I don't know if you're saved and I don't know if you're

elected, but you know, when you can say the prayer, maybe find

out. That's a hard way to do it,

right? So God the Father, God the Son

and God the Holy Spirit chose you and chose me from the

foundations of the world. Will we agree we need him And as

I said on Sunday, get in, sit down and hold on, right?

And but it's a gift that we have to accept.

And so in Uganda, we do pretty simple evangelism because it

they, I don't know, Uganda doesn't, doesn't require they,

they get it. They, they first of all know

that God is real and are pretty excited about a God who died for

him and and rose again and is living right.

And so we do, we do the bracelet.

I'm sure there's a bunch in this room that's that have done the

bead bracelet, you know, the black, the black bead, the red

bead, the white bead, the blue bead and the green bead, the

gold bead, all the things. But the black bead, it

represents sin and it's for everybody, whether they, whether

or not you accept Jesus into your life, you all have a black

bead, right? We all sin fall short, right?

And Jesus died for everybody. And that's the red bead.

And it doesn't matter whether you accept it or you don't

accept it. You know, the truth is the

truth. He died for everyone, the whole

world. And that's if these are, and

that's Ephesians 17. In Him we have redemption

through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to

the riches of His grace. And then John 316 is about

obviously forgiveness and that is for the whole world of that

belief. He he offers forgiveness to the

whole world on the white bead, but it's not theirs unless they

accept it, right? That's that he chose to die for

everybody, but who, who believes in him will not perish and will

have everlasting life, right. And then the green bead is about

growth. And that's 2nd Corinthians 57

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

And that is faith equals works, equals grace or equals growth,

right? Which is if I have faith, you

will see work in my life and through that work, I will grow

closer to the Lord. And that isn't I'm not working

so that everybody see it like a, a works mentality.

I'm going to read my Bible, I'm going to pray.

I'm going to because I'm not going to get anything out of it

if that's what I'm doing. But if what I'm trying to do is

grow closer to Christ and spend time with him, then I'm going to

get rewarded for that because my reward is going to be that I'm

going to grow closer to Christ. And then the gold 1 and that one

and that that, sorry, the green bead is only for those who

accept him, right? Someone's someone back at the at

the blood that hasn't accepted him in in their forget it

haven't gotten the forgiveness. They don't get to grow in Christ

right. They don't they don't get any of

that. They're not children of God that

get to grow closer to him. I had that backwards, but

anyway, I'll get there blue blue.

That was faith all that was about faith.

I missed one. Sorry.

Ephesians 415 is about growth, but seek the truth and love that

you may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ

and then gold is our eyes are on him and not in this world and

that's that's heaven right where where we laying up our

treasures. But guys, we should be able to

share that because we know who Jesus is.

And I don't mean you guys share the bead bracelet, but we should

be able to share that simple, simple truth with people that

that Jesus came because we're a bunch of sinners who need a

savior and that he came for everybody.

If they will accept him and he wants their, he wants them.

I mean, he wants him to the point that he was willing to go

to a cross and die on it. And if we have faith in that,

he's going to do amazing things, right?

John 1421 is he who has my commandments and keeps them and

is he who loves me and he who loves me and be loved by my

father. And I will love him and manifest

myself to him. And that manifest myself to him

is when I listen to him and obey, he becomes bigger and more

real in my life that manifest, right?

So yeah, that's it, guys. I stood that pond.

It was a lot of fun. I, I enjoyed today.

I, I, I was busy Monday and Tuesday.

So today I just sat down in my office and dug into two verses

in first John. So I'll get you guys out of

here. So Lord, I just thank you for

all that you've done. I thank you for how big you are

and I thank you that that you do know the end from the beginning.

And Lord that as we are here in the present and that's what we

have control of, Lord, that we, we know that you are before us

and after us, Lord, and that we can count that your, your plan

is bigger than we are and that you do have a plan and you have

a plan to use each and every one of us, Lord.

And that you would do that, that you would be in our midst, Lord,

that you'd be putting appointments in front of us,

guiding and directing us. I pray all this in Jesus name,

Amen.