October 26, 2025 - Sunday Morning Service - Our War with Sin - Part 1 - 1 John 3:4-10

Good morning. Good morning. I don't know whose

idea it was to have a special day for the pastor,

but this one doesn't deserve your affection.

It was there. I appreciate it. But God is good

to us. And I appreciate very much your love and

your care. I know every time we meet together

that I'm weighted on hand and foot just about.

Only time people don't perform is when Alabama's

playing. They won yesterday. I know they did.

They sound like a good team. Yeah, they do. I'm

gonna let you guys do some of the talking today,

but I have a bunch of scriptures that I'll get

you to read, so I'm gonna have you look it up

and we'll read it together. But before we do

that, let's have a word of prayer. Father, we

just thank you for your infinite mercy and grace.

Thank you that you put up with shallowness in

my life, that you, I don't mean to say that you

let it go, you don't, you deal with it, but I

thank you that you don't give me or us what we

deserve. You are so, so good to us, and I really

thank you for that. Thank you for the privilege

that we have to look at the subject of repentance

this morning. We heard our brother Bruce talk

about that the other night. It's in our text

this morning. It's a reminder that our lives

are messed up, that we are aiming so often in

the wrong direction and pursuing the wrong goals.

and are excited about things that we shouldn't

be so excited about. I do thank you for the scriptures

and thank you for how they expose our shallowness.

I guess there's not been a verse that has spoken

to me more than the text that says if anyone

wants to come after you, we must deny ourselves,

take up our cross and follow you. That's just...

a clear way of saying that it's not us first,

it's going to be you. And so I know that. And

yet, that's not what we want. We want ourselves

first. We want our own pleasure first. There

are things we don't want to give up. That's true

in my life. I know that from experience. And

yet, you've called us to put you first, and you

work in conjunction with that to enable us to

do it. and to enjoy the peace and the comfort

we mentioned this morning. Joy is a by -product

of that. I just thank you. Thank you for your

goodness to us. I ask your blessing upon the

study this morning, and I pray in Jesus' name

with thanksgiving. Amen. And in that little verse,

two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,

the word sin appears nine times. Sin coming from

homotheus, I believe is what it's pronounced

correctly, which means missing the mark. It's

a term that was used at archers and things like

that when they were shooting at a target. And

the arrow missed the balls, I missed the mark.

Scripture says, Romans says, all have sinned

and fall short of God's glory or miss the mark

of God's glory. That's not a little thing to

the Lord. We're His children and He wants us

to be pleasing to Him and to live in a way that

honors Him. I'm going to get some coffee on the

side of you because I need it. But anyway, we

struggle. I know I do. We're putting and seeking

God's will first and one to do what he wants

us to do Yet His way is best and his will is

best and so I want to look at some of these things

in our text We read and everyone who sins also

does lawlessness and sin is lawlessness And you

know that he was manifested in order to take

away sins and in him there is no sin. No one

who abides in him sins. No one who sins has seen

him or has come to know him. Little children

or beloved, let no one deceive you. All right,

here's a very important statement here. John

is writing to these people here about sin. And

in that culture, the Gnostics, they placed a

higher value on spiritual things, the low value

on physical things. They thought the physical

things didn't matter. You could do whatever you

wanted to in the flesh. And so they took lightly

the spiritual aspect and took lightly taking

God seriously in the physical realm. And you

know, the human heart, if you just let go and

do what you want to do in the flesh, you've got,

pardon me, you've got corruption that's gonna...

be pretty serious and so this church was struggling

with that and John is writing them now about

this topic of sin and he says let no one deceive

you. Why do you think he says that? I was wondering

if maybe he said that because he knows they need

to go on a diet and they're overweight. Probably

doesn't have anything to do with it. Maybe he's

saying that because he thinks they've been speaking

a different language. No, probably he says that

because it was an area where there is easy deception.

It was an area where we can think that we can

do what we want to do. It's not a big deal. We're

living in days like that where sin doesn't matter,

where you live how you want to live, you do what

you want to do. And John says, don't be deceived.

Don't let the influence of the Gnostics which

they take lightly, the things of the flesh. You

need to take seriously these things. Don't ignore

sin. Don't ignore the things in the physical

realm. Let your life point to the fact that you're

committed to the Savior. Let it be that what

you do matters. People pick this out. I use illustration,

I don't like to keep using illustrations from

personal life, but this one was at Billmore Press.

We had a guy that came to work there, he was

a preacher, and he worked in the binderage section.

And one of my friends, I've talked to you about

Don Denmark, was kind of an agnostic, and he

loved to laugh and stuff like that, but he was

loud. And he was kind of antagonistic. He had

a chip on his shoulder about the things of the

Lord, and he didn't like to discuss it too much.

He came to me one day and says, Peter, do you

think that preachers ought to say the blessing

when they eat before a meal? I said, well, I

think we need to be thankful for it, and I like

to do it because it's just a physical, tangible

way of giving credit to God and thanking him

for the food. And he said, well, so and so the

preacher goes and dances down and starts eating.

He never prays, never bows his head or anything.

And what that made me aware of is that people

watch you. They're looking at your life. And

what comes out of your life is, to a large degree,

a reflection of what's in your heart and how

you respond to things. So in the text that we're

looking at this morning, We're looking at the

subject of repentance Repentance has to do with

turning around It's a missing of Bruce's right.

It's a missing topic in most churches for a long

time as a new believer I didn't give credit to

it. I was I had my Scoville Bible and some other

notes that were a big thing and but I did not

I Did not place a high value on repentance, I

felt like that you could come to the Lord and

trust him as your savior. And then later you

could come to him and trust him as your Lord.

And those two things were not sound, not biblically

sound. And before I really come to trust him

as Lord, I don't think I was saved. I was religious.

That's why I mentioned this morning in our context

here that people who seem to be a Christian.

But not only do they deceive the church, but

a lot of times they deceive themselves, which

is infinitely worse. And so the words of our

Lord, at the Sermon on the Mount, near the end

of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, I believe

it's seven, words of our Lord, told the believers,

they said, when they came to him, he said, depart

from me, for I never knew you. And what was their

response? Their response was, Lord, haven't we

done all these religious things? And we could

say, haven't we taught Sunday school? Wasn't

that faithful to church? Didn't I give some money

on a regular basis for your work? And Jesus said,

yes, you've done all these things. However, I

never knew you. Get out of my sight or depart

from me. He didn't say, get out of my sight but

depart from me. Which is a very... To me, and

I pray about this, I don't want to hear those

words. It's really interesting. There's a utter

to people that think they're in the church and

are not. They may be in the church, but they're

not saved. So it's a serious thing. So repentance

is the topic and I want to give you some verses.

Starting with Matthew 4 .17, this is a... Somebody

can look this up Matthew 417. Who's gonna look

that up? IP 11 Matthew 11 20 and 21 somebody

look that one up. Who will look that up? Okay

flesh Mark 612. All right. Okay, and then Luke

532 will stop there for a minute and coming take

a little bit later on Luke Luke 532 Okay there

At the beginning of Jesus ministry these water

words Matthew 417 Were uttered regarding repentance.

What does it be? From that time Jesus began to

preach saying repent for the kingdom of heaven.

Is it? All right. He's telling them from that

time Don't go down the same road as usual. There's

a turning around. There is a dedication of doing

something My way, not your way. What about Matthew

11, 20, and 21? Okay, 11 and 21. Matthew 11.

Okay. Truly I tell you, among those born of women,

there is not risen anyone greater than John the

Baptist, yet whoever is least in the kingdom

of heaven is greater than he. Okay. Is that Matthew

11? Then 21. There's 11, 20, and 21. Okay. Woe

to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For

if the miracles that were performed in you had

been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would

have repented long ago and sat clothed in ashes.

Okay. The point there is that he said, is it

not repent? And he's saying that this should

be their response. They should see the kingdom

of God. They should see the Savior coming. They

should know who he is. They should make a difference.

You should be prepared for that. Mark 6 -12.

and they went out and preached that men should

repent. Okay, and Luke 5 .32. I have not come

to call the righteous the sinners to repentance.

Okay, all of these are words of the Lord talking

about the need for turning away, turning around,

going in a different direction. Let's do some

more verses and then we start all over again.

Luke 13 .3 and 5, we'll do that. All right, Brian.

Luke 15, seven through 10, who can do that? You

can do one or the other that you've done before.

Luke 15, seven and verse 10 as well. Luke 24,

46 to 47. Luke 24, 46 to 47. Okay. and then we'll

do one more here. This is now out of the Gospels

in the Book of Acts, and that's Acts 2, verses

Acts 2:38

38. You'll be familiar with that part of Peter's

sermon. Who will read there? I will. All right.

Okay, Luke 5, 32. Who has a Brian you have that

Okay, yeah, it's a 13. I'm sorry 13 3 & 5 Says

I tell you no, but unless you repent you will

all likewise fish Okay, first five says I tell

you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise

All right Luke 5 Luke 15 who's got Luke 15 7

& 10 Okay. Just so I tell you, there will be

more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

Okay. Then verse 10 says, just so I tell you,

there is joy before the angels of God over one

sinner who repents. All right. You see, these

are, this is, this is, he's talking about righteous

persons. These are people that are religious.

And they think of themselves as religious, but

they're not saved. And he says, there's a joy

over one sinner who repents than all the religious

people who are doing religious stuff. God is

not pleased in a certain amount. He talked about

that. He said that people pray long prayers and

they do all these religious things. That is the

only reward they're going to get because I'm

not just looking for the external. I'm looking

for the heart. And when the heart is touched,

it causes a turning around, a commitment to the

Lord's will in your life. All right, so what

was your verse? Luke 24, 46 and 47. Who's got

that? I got it. Okay. and that repentance for

forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his

name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

Okay, so here is the subject of the Gospels,

both with Jesus and John the Baptist. Repentance

is the message that he gives. It's not a forgotten

topic. It's a very serious topic. And let me

give you some more verses. Did anybody get, you

got asked to, didn't you? Well, you got, there

I read it. And Peter said to them, repent, and

we baptize every one of you in the name of Jesus

Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and

you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That's being the sermon on the Pentecost. Repentance

is the request. All right, let's do it one more

time. Let's look at, saw it all over, Acts 3

.19. Who can do that? Oh, you got it, Brian?

I'll get it, yeah. Okay. Acts 3 .19. Acts 11

to 18. He said that he will give you the Holy

Spirit. He'll give you wisdom, because wisdom

comes through the Holy Spirit. Amen, that's right.

You're exactly right. With the Holy Spirit, the

endowment of the Holy Spirit, there's gifts and

abilities. You have to be repentant. All right,

so Brian, you got Acts 3 to 19, is that right?

Yes, sir. Okay, who is going to do Acts 11 to

18? I'll get it. Okay, Caleb. Acts 17 and 30.

This is Paul's message on Mount Mars Hill. Who

can do Acts 17 and 30? Okay, Fletch. What about

Acts 20 and 31? Okay. All right, Larry. Thank

you. And then two more in the epistles. Second

Corinthians 7. Nine through 10, who can read

that? Second Corinthians, seven, nine through

10. All right, Pete. And then the last one is

Paul's letter to Timothy, in Second Timothy 2

.25. Somebody read that. Second Corinthians,

Second Timothy 2 .25. Who? Okay. All right. Acts

3 .19. Acts 3 .19. Repent therefore and be converted,

that your sins may be blotted out, so that times

of refreshing may come from the presence of the

Lord. to the leadership in Jerusalem when they

were surprised that he was preaching the gospel

to the Gentiles. And he went back and gave a

defense of that. All right. What was the next

one? Act 1730. In the past, God overlooked some

of the ignorance, but now He commands all people

everywhere to repent. Amen. Acts 20 and 21. I've

got it here if you want me to read it. Okay,

yeah. Acts 20 and 21. 21 or 31? 21. Acts 20 and

21. Solemnly testifying both Jews and Greeks

about repentance toward God and faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, 2 Corinthians 7,

9 through 10. As it is, I rejoice not because

you were grieved, but because you were grieved

into repenting. For you felt a godly grief so

that you suffered no loss through us For godly

grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation

without regret whereas worldly grief produces

death Okay worldly grief and godly grief interesting.

All right one more. That's the second Timothy

225 With gentleness correcting those who are

in opposition if perhaps God may grant them repentance

leading to the knowledge of the truth. All right.

All right, this exercise which we've gone through

just points out the fact that in every, anybody

of significant identity in preaching or in ministry,

whether it be Jesus or John the Baptist or Peter

or Paul, the message is always the same, repent.

Because we're on the wrong road, we're living

for self. I know what it's like to live for self.

And you know what it's like to live for yourself.

And when the Lord tells you, maybe the man wants

to come after me and deny himself, that bristles

my spirit. I want to indulge myself. I want to

do what I want to do. But the Lord calls us to

put him first. He has to change the heart. You

can't just do it in the flesh. He has to change

your heart. So you need to spend time with him

and his word and let his word generate a submission

in your heart, in your life, and in your Lord

because that's really very important. Bruce preached

the other night on that subject and I thought

it was very good that repentance is the missing

message. in our teaching so often today. And

the reason is because we're in such trouble.

The reformers talk about the depravity of the

flesh, total depravity. I think it was Luther

who wrote the book on depravity. very serious

because the private is called total. It means

that everything we touch in our lives gets stained

with sin, with self -indulgence. I think of Dennis,

when I ask him, I say, how you doing Dennis?

He says, better than I deserve. That's true,

all of us, better than we deserve. All right,

let me close in prayer, because I'm gonna sit

down. Father, thank you for your mercy and your

grace, and thank you for your care. Boy, that

is absolutely true. You treat us so much better

than we deserve. And I know that. And I thank

you for it. And it's a disturbance to me that

I can be so casual about my hypocrisy and other

things that really need to follow my face before

you all the time and just repent. And I know

it's important. And the reason I preach about

it is because it's hard. It's a call that's important.

I don't want to put you first. I end up wanting

to put myself first. And yet I end up coming

on my face before you and ask for mercy. I want

to thank you for that because you wouldn't that

that passion and that desire would not be generated

in the flesh. It comes from you. And so I. I

thank you for that and thank you for this church

and for these people. I don't know why we're

having a day of pastoral recognition, but I do

thank you for their love and their care and their

concern. And you're just very, very good to all

of us. And I ask your blessing upon this day.

And I pray in Jesus' name with thanksgiving.

Amen. Brian, you closing us up. Oh, we have pizza

in it, okay.