His Choice, you Choose

We 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, Lord, 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 that 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 and 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 talk 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 a 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's 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, it tastes 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,

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 lawyer, an

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's 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 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 that and what 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 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 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, 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 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, I will jab at 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 and pretty straightforward.

So 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's 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 bee.

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 it. 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 that

believe 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, 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 to get to 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 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 was busy Monday and Tuesday. So today I just sat down in my

office and dug into two verses in first time.

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.

And I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.