Dennis Bevans - Class 1: Walk in the Light

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   This is day one of the 2019 Idyllwild Bible School. Our first period teacher is Brother Dennis Bevins. His general subject is John, letters from the disciple whom Jesus loved. Today's topic is walk in the light. Good morning. So I should probably start by sharing my reaction when I was told, hey, do you know you're the elder statesman this weekend?

2. 0:29

   Thank you, Jeff. And I went, well, Kitson looks like he's about 15. I know I'm older than Ben. I immediately stopped my conversation and interrupted his and said, I have a weird question. I need to know how old you are. And I don't care what the number is as long as it's higher than 47.

3. 0:43

   He looked at me like there was something wrong, not suggesting there wasn't. I have never been so happy to call someone sir in my life. I wanted to start by saying thank you for the invitation to come here and speak this week. Tiffany and I appreciate being asked to come and visit a Bible school that we went to as teenagers and that our children grew up at.

4. 1:06

   With us today is our daughter Courtney and her husband John. This is John's first Bible school, so he has that with the rest of our family. This was all of our first Bible school. And Tiffany's sister Christy is with us. Her kids, Jason and Riley, are both in their classes. And on Wednesday, our daughter Haley is coming up with her husband Brian and our little granddaughter Chloe.

5. 1:28

   So we're really excited to have the whole family come out west and enjoy the week together. A great week of fellowship ahead, so let's get started. I hope some of you have come excited to look for some nuggets this morning. I look at Bible study as penning for gold. There's a lot of sloshing around, and sometimes what you find is not all that useful.

6. 1:52

   And other times it's the, how did I not know that 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago? And if you're consistently reading and studying, you find those moments. And we're going to pick up a couple of them this morning. I love the idea that every time we crack open the pages of Scripture, there's something we probably have read a dozen times that will be brand new.

7. 2:15

   That's what makes it exciting. So to get things started, how many things did Jesus say from the tree? Anyone want to take a guess? But we're allowed to do group participation here, right? Apparently no, because either that or all of you are in mime school. Yes, okay. How many things did Jesus say from the tree?

8. 2:34

   Seven. Seven. Very good. So if we look at the seven things that Jesus said from the tree, this would be an entirely different class, and we're not going to do that. But I want to focus on the fourth one. Behold thy mother. In each of these seven things, Jesus was living a teaching moment.

9. 2:51

   He was giving a lesson that could be applied immediately, and it's recorded so you and I can hear 2,000 years later get that same message. In this fourth one, he was teaching the principle of adoption. The concept of taking care of the ecclesia during its darkest times, in his absence and for his sake.

10. 3:10

    Specifically, John was being entrusted by Jesus to take care of his mother, Mary. Let's look at John 19. We'll look that one up. John 19, verse 26 and 27. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he said unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother.

11. 3:41

    And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. So let's start with something really depressing. Imagine for a minute you were dying. I know it's depressing, but think about, if that's too hard, imagine you're going on a long vacation. You're going to be gone for a couple months. And if it's easier to do this thinking of watching your pets versus watching your mother, do what you have to do.

12. 4:05

    But try to get yourself in the place where you are where Jesus was. He knows what's happening with him. He has reconciled his own sacrifice. And he is at one with his father. Mentally and spiritually. Wouldn't you, if you were him, be concerned about, but what happens to mom, who I have always been there for?

13. 4:29

    If we think about it from that point, it gets us a chance to see a little bit of what Jesus would have thought when he made these short little bursts. And the reason all seven of them are short is when you're crucified, you really are dying of suffocation. It's not blood loss. Short breath.

14. 4:45

    Get just enough out to make your point. This is how Jesus saw his friend and his disciple John. Mary was handpicked by God as a teenager to raise his son to perfection. Here, Jesus is handpicking John to take care of Mary in her old age. John, therefore, by virtue of this decision, becomes a surrogate family member to Jesus and therefore an example to all of us taking care of the needs of each other.

15. 5:14

    It makes him extremely qualified to write this letter that we are going to consider. It's a good thing John wrote a few things because we can compare his words to history and we shall. Let's look a little bit at John the Apostle. So his name means grace of Yah or Yah has been gracious.

16. 5:34

    He is called one of the sons of thunder in Mark 3, verse 17. We won't look that one up. He was in business as a fisherman with his brother James as well as with Peter and Andrew and as such was among the first of the twelve called. Parents, Zebedee and Salome. He witnessed some key things in the life of Jesus.

17. 5:51

    The resurrection of Jairus' daughter, for example. The transfiguration of vision of Jesus in the kingdom. The Olivet Prophecy being explained. The Last Supper. The Garden of Gethsemane. The crucifixion, as we already noted. And indeed, the resurrection of Jesus. He and Peter had a history together. It started even before the narrative began for us.

18. 6:14

    And it continued all the way until Peter's death in approximately A.D. 67. Together, they were noted for their zeal. And oftentimes, we see Peter at the forefront. But John 2 was this way. We'll look at one verse that shows that. This is Luke 9 and 54. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?

19. 6:40

    So here we see the sons of thunder getting closer to their name. And you can imagine, nothing caps off a successful preaching effort better than electrocuting everyone who didn't convert. I mean, think about that power at their hand. You don't want to hear it? I've got a new message for you. Let's look at Mark 10.

20. 7:02

    In Mark 10, verses 35 through 37, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we desire. And he said unto them, What would you that I should do for you? He said, Grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and one on thy left in thy glory.

21. 7:22

    These flies are fun. And I showered this morning. There has to be somebody in this room that didn't. We're at camp. Why are they around me? All right. Here is right after Jesus tells them that he will eventually be scourged and die before rising again. But their focus is clearly not on him and his needs.

22. 7:42

    Their focus is on them and their needs. And that makes it very interesting to us because we focus on what we need and what we feel. I've said this before. Many of you have heard it. I'm going to spit out a few things you've probably heard me say before. But you know what the difference between major surgery and minor surgery is?

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    Major surgery is when it happens to me. Minor surgery is when it happens to you. I know you had that little outpatient heart surgery yesterday. I had a pinky toe removed. That little nail had, oh, it was terrible. Three days, could barely walk. Because we think about us and our pain, we tend to minimize the pain of others.

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    And so here we see John understanding this in himself because as he's writing this as a much older, more mature spiritually man, he can learn some of the lessons that we're going through now. And this is a way of sharing with his family. By putting our focus on ourselves, we miss the opportunity to see somebody else's pain.

25. 8:43

    Part of ecclesial life is recognizing my pain is not alone. Everyone in this room is suffering from something. I don't know what it is. I don't need to know what it is. But I know that it's true. If we can acknowledge that we're all going through something together, we are not going alone.

26. 9:02

    So of course, in his youth, Jesus now rebukes them and the other disciples. And they were all, of course, the rest of the disciples were less than impressed. But it did not ruin their relationship. And that's important. Because it is very easy for us to have a moment where one of us does something that the other one's not happy with.

27. 9:21

    If I have not disappointed you at some point in your life, don't worry, it's coming. The same is also true. The odds of you disappointing me are there if we spend any real time together. The problem is, when that disappointment happens, what do we do with it? Do we hold on to that thing that was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, like they couldn't possibly have grown from that moment too?

28. 9:42

    Or do we see it as an opportunity, as a bump in the road to hurdle together that actually makes our relationship stronger? In fact, John records some of the most beautiful stories of Jesus' life that make all of those statements very emotional and very personal. A brief excerpt is quoted, is taken out of John 21.

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    We'll look at that one very briefly. This one is John getting to write about his dear friend Peter. Peter. We're all very familiar with this story. The story uses two different words for love. Jesus says to Peter, do you have a self-sacrificing love for me? And Peter responds, you know I have an affection for you.

30. 10:25

    And he says the same thing a second time. And in the English, it looks like, well, why is he irritated? He didn't want to answer Jesus' question again? It has nothing to do with the question in English. It is all about the change in the third time the word appears in Greek. Greek.

31. 10:38

    The third time he says it, at verse 17, is one of the most tender pieces for us to remember. He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, but lovest thou me? And Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? This time, Jesus uses Peter's word.

32. 11:01

    He doesn't say, do you have a self-sacrificing love for me? He knows the answer to that one. He now says, do you have an affection for me? And it grieves Peter because he knows it's true. And the most important piece about that whole exchange is that Jesus loved Peter where Peter was. He does not say to Peter, what's wrong with you?

33. 11:24

    You have to have a self-sacrificing love. You've got to get there. He does not say that. Peter does get there, but it's years later. Imagine how different Peter would have been had Jesus not been able to love him in his weakness, knowing he would grow into something far greater. John gets to record that.

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    Not just about his friend, but also he gets to record it about his Lord. So it's believed that the fourth gospel in the New Testament was the last one written. Most people believe it's somewhere after A.D. 70, but well before the epistles were written, which is around A.D. 90. So it would explain why he does tackle some issues that the other three gospel writers don't.

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    They're difficult in nature, and they were mature topics in Jesus' life. They were topics that none of them understood when it happened, including John. Things like the prayer of John 17. The description of Jesus' personal faith in chapter 18. Or the belief system of chapter 20 as well as the most detailed account of his death.

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    At the time they happened, all of the disciples were confused and they scattered. But with experience and hindsight and of course the inspiration of God, it would have aided him in this task of recording those events for our benefit. John 21 and verse 20.

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    Peter turning about, seeing the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Throughout the book, John refers to himself in the third person as the disciple whom Jesus loved. And that's the Greek word agapeo, which is the verb form of the word agape.

38. 13:14

    It's the action word for self-sacrificing love. It puts him in the middle of these sensitive and critical events, but he almost looks at it as an outsider. And I think that's because he's writing as an outsider. He couldn't have wrote these words if he'd started writing right after the crucifixion. But looking back, in his matured state, he's able to see the love of Jesus towards him and towards all of them, even in his most desperate time of need, and though all of them were utterly undeserving of that love.

39. 13:48

    We, of course, can relate that to ourselves. None of us comes to the table of the memorials and says, yeah, I've had a pretty good week. I haven't messed up at all. No sin on me. We all come to the table humbled by some of the misery our life includes. And just imagining for a moment us standing before the judgment seat of our Lord.

40. 14:11

    And how surprising it will be to hear words that look past the sin we know we brought to that table because he loved us at our weakest point. In fact, we could make an argument that we should start calling him the love disciple. I'm not. But we could. The next couple verses close the gospel detail with the start of a rumor that John would live until the coming of the kingdom.

41. 14:37

    Certainly that was fed by his experience. History and tradition tells us that John was boiled in oil by Domitian, but he survived it. That adds credence to he's not dying until Jesus comes back. He was then exiled on the island of Patmos where he wrote the closing words of Scripture and the final sign-off for Jesus himself in the apocalypse.

42. 14:59

    So we'll touch that briefly. We know that was written in AD 96. And it provides the culmination of the work of Jesus in the ecclesia and God in his calling out a people for his name. Loads of connections to Genesis. It's filled with references to the tabernacle and the plagues of Exodus, which we'll focus more on that towards the end of the week.

43. 15:21

    The prophecy of Daniel becomes part one to the apocalypse. So John's showing us an astounding depth of incredible knowledge as a servant of God and a student of his word. And that's how all of us wish to end our days. We'll end this series clearly seeing the influence on the tabernacle in this letter.

44. 15:42

    One last comment before we dive into the epistles. The very last verse of Scripture. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Not only did John get the privilege to record the last word of Jesus and the closing comments of our Father, but the last verse in Scripture includes a play on his name.

45. 16:08

    The grace, John, of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Amen. All right. Let's start with the material you came here for. That's quite an introduction and I know that clock's wrong and I have to keep resetting my head.

46. 16:25

    Of the three epistles, this one is the longest one and for good reason. The other two are offshoots of this first one and they show direct application to them, but the first is the baseline. So the second one is kind of picking out one thing here, one thing there, but they're all built on the same comment.

47. 16:42

    So the first epistle is really the truth in the ecclesia, which is all of our charge to make sure the precious truth survives our generation. It's the concept of reading and studying our Bible. It's a critical thing to our community to make sure we are always reading and studying so that we make sure we stay on that path that leads to life.

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    The second epistle is the truth in the home. And truly, our ecclesias are nothing more than a collection of smaller family ecclesias that shelters from the outside world and comes together as a body. The third one is the truth in the individual and it speaks of our individual responsibility and influence in the community we serve all in the name of Jesus.

49. 17:29

    So by the time John writes these, he is the only surviving apostle which makes him the highest living authority on living a life in Christ. And so we'll start by dissecting his words.

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    That which was from the beginning which you have heard and we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life. So we can notice some striking similarities to the opening of this verse to the original gospel account in John chapter 1 and verse 1.

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    We all seek connection between this epistle and the gospel and there's a lot of them. We'll look up some. Some we'll just note as we move along. But you can see that the epistles were all building on what the gospel had laid as a foundation. So in both cases, he's going back to a foundation starting in John 1 and in 1 John 1 going really to the concept of God filling the earth with His glory.

52. 18:23

    The path to the glory of God is through Jesus whom John heard, John saw, and John handled. He was an eyewitness to the word of life where the word was made flesh and dwelt or tabernacled among them and we beheld His glory full of grace and truth. Here's just a couple of excerpts from the gospel to connect this thought.

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    We'll start where he's driving back as a jumping off point. John 7 verse 16. Where Jesus said, My doctrine is not mine, but Him that sent me. We could probably all quote 2 Timothy 3 and 16. That'll save us a slide. Why? Why is that so important? That the man of God may be perfect, throughly finished unto all good works.

54. 19:10

    So it's not just the assembly of information. We don't read and study just so we can go, okay, I've got one more note in my Bible, one more mark in my margin, one more nugget to share. Those are all good things. But the reason we do it is it's supposed to develop in us character.

55. 19:29

    That our works would be seen. That the truth is changing all of us. We're all vessels that are work in progress. So it's not study to learn exclusively and hide. It's to study to learn and apply that we might grow. Here's chapter 5, verse 36. But I have greater witness than that of John.

56. 19:53

    For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. Drop down to verse 39. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify me. So we're thinking now of John the Baptist.

57. 20:10

    Going back to chapter 1, if we would. The concept to search the Scriptures. To let the Scriptures be where we spend our time and energy. That's where the fruit is. Now when he makes reference to the word being handled, where does your mind go?

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    Where does your mind go when it talks about that we have seen upon, looked upon, and then our hands have handled? Who are you thinking of?

59. 20:39

    Thomas. Somebody said it. I don't know who it was, but thank you for giving me some help. Thomas. Our mind goes back to Thomas. In fact, that word is only used four times. This is the last one. The first one is in reference to Thomas. Luke 24, verse 39. John is the only one that records that event in detail.

60. 20:56

    And he calls out Thomas by name. None of us were eyewitnesses to the suffering of Jesus. So we can all relate to that in some degree. And as he's writing this, he's writing to an audience that can relate to Thomas. Verse 2. For the life was manifested that we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with us from the Father and was manifested unto us.

61. 21:26

    The word show in the RSV is proclaim. It's the spirit of learning and sharing. John 17 and 3 says, This is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And it's part of a recorded prayer later in verse 21 that says that they may all be one as thou art Father in me and I in thee.

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    This concept of unity, of purpose and spirit. This is when we can all be one with the Father and the Son fulfilling that promise of filling the earth with its glory. It's a stepping stone that we're all trying to work towards. Verse 3. That which you have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

63. 22:17

    This is the purpose of hearing, seeing, and sharing. The whole purpose of that exercise is that we might enjoy fellowship. Not just with each other. That's the starting point. We start with what we can see, feel, and handle. But the real purpose of this fellowship is to be with the Father and the Son.

64. 22:37

    That's the whole point of this exercise. The first use of this word is Acts 2. It is worth looking at, so we will. Acts 2 and verse 42. Acts 2.

65. 22:51

    And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. So we come full circle. Our role, as we stated in the ecclesia, is to make sure the truth stays alive and we are attached to the apostles' doctrine that they heard, that they saw, and they shared.

66. 23:10

    And that same thing now must live in our community by the way we treat each other. It's a two-part piece. Knowing the truth is only useful if it leads us to live the truth. That is what fellowship is. So, logical question, how can we live the truth? How can we make sure the truth is alive in our lives and in our ecclesia?

67. 23:32

    What can we do to make sure that who I am represents in some smallest measure the journey my God is taking me on by learning His Word and changing my life? I'm going to wear a bug zapper as a necklace tomorrow in case anybody is wondering. Sorry. Verse 4. These things write we unto you that your joy may be full.

68. 24:00

    The word your in the RSV actually says our, that our joy may be full. It's not for any other reason that we read and study, but to enjoy fellowship with each other and with the Father to the fullest extent possible. So this then is the message which you have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

69. 24:26

    So He starts with a nice warm-up and now we're going to get to some meat. So the message is a word that's used 53 times in the New Testament. It's not a rare word. All the others are translated promise. For example, eight of them are in Galatians 3 talking about the promises to Abraham, a foundation of the New Testament.

70. 24:50

    It's a great tie to John 1 again. Verse 4. In Him was life and life was the light of men. So God is light. But light in and of itself is not enough. We must be able to use it. Blindness, for example, is not being able to see through the light. We have to properly focus the light through our eye to our brain for that light to have any value to me.

71. 25:20

    This is a great tie to Genesis 1. Let's have some fun. In Genesis 1, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Great, we know that verse. Verse 3. God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Know that verse. Verse 16. God made two greater lights, a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night.

72. 25:42

    So we know this story. We've talked about it. This is not new material. But I want us to focus in on this. In the Hebrew, the words change when we get to day 4. And I'm happy to have this conversation separately if you want to do it later. I'm not going to take too much time in this class.

73. 25:56

    But in day 4, we have the source of the light is visible. But the sun was not created on day 4. The Hebrew word is not create. The word is appointed. And so the light of day 1 was still the sun. But it could not be seen. It was not visible until the fourth day.

74. 26:17

    So hold that thought for a minute. We're going to focus on the brightest and most focal point in our universe. It's a constant. Without the light and warmth of the sun, there would be no life. But notice it includes something of this lesser light to rule the world in darkness. The moon. What do we know about the moon?

75. 26:39

    It has no light of its own. Essentially, it is a giant reflector in the sky. So when Jesus says, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, it's he was a reflection of the glory of God. We want to be the bride that seeks fellowship with those two great lights. As a bride preparing to be one with Jesus, we need to reflect that same glory of the Father so that people can see in us in some measure that same glory that was seen in Him.

76. 27:07

    But what gets in the way of you and I being a perfect reflector of the glory of God? The world. The earth is what gets in the way. Now, our lives are different and we said all of us is going through something and I don't know what you're going through. I don't know if right now you're a full moon and the reflection of God's glory is shining bright in your life.

77. 27:31

    Or if you're that little thumbnail moon behind me where there's a little bit there but it's hard to see if you don't know me very well. We all go through different points in our life where sometimes we're on a spiritual high and it feels like everything we read excites us. Every time we're with our brothers and sisters we're happy.

78. 27:50

    And then there's other times when it's a struggle to go to meeting. When the readings feel like a burden. When it's something we have to do not something we look forward and want to do. And maybe that doesn't happen to anybody else but I know that's happened to me. And the common denominator every time I felt my life was starting to get darker it's because the world had taken more than its fair share of my vision.

79. 28:15

    It was an opportunity to look to not be able to see through to the glory of the Father because I was a partial moon or maybe even sometimes a full eclipse. So when we get that reference we want to make sure we understand that's what made Jesus a perfect reflection of His Father.

80. 28:32

    The world did not get in His way like it does for us. Did He know it was there? Absolutely. He was tempted in all points like as we are. But He was able to maintain focus on preserving the light of the Father. It's the exhortation to all of us that we continue to preserve that light.

81. 28:51

    2 Corinthians 4 verse 6 says, For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There's another great section of verses in chapter 2 so hold the thought. We'll talk about that one more tomorrow.

82. 29:15

    Verse 6 If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth. The RSV ends it this way we lie and do not live according to the truth. If the truth is not manifest in how we behave towards each other we effectively are lying about who we are.

83. 29:37

    Darkness is according to the flesh and the world around us. We know the world has an impact minimizing that impact is what's important and how we do that is helped by us working together. when I might be struggling it's good if one of you is not and you can help pick me up because you never know that cycle is coming back and you might need that pick up when you're struggling and I might be the one that can help lift you.

84. 30:04

    If we don't have that attitude our life is an eclipse and our fellowship is useless and therefore our doctrine is void. So it's critical that doctrine be the basis for fellowship but for it to be meaningful to our God we must live according to that doctrine of truth. This is not a New Testament concept.

85. 30:25

    This is actually a very Old Testament concept. Hold on, I know what's going to happen. This is actually a very Old Testament concept. Let's turn to Leviticus chapter 19.

86. 30:40

    Leviticus chapter 19 and at verse 2. Speak unto the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy. Thank you. I'm good. Thank you very much. This is an exhortation to reflect the Father. In fact, it's repeated again in Leviticus 20 verse 7 and 20 verse 26.

87. 31:07

    That's the Hebrew exclamation point. Say it a bunch of times. That means it's important. The Gospel says it in this way in John chapter 3. We'll pick up at verse 19. This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

88. 31:24

    Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light. Neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. So we have a choice to make. The exhortation is to choose light. To choose the light of truth and reflecting the glory of the Father as opposed to the darkness of the world.

89. 31:48

    Our nature defaults to darkness. We will not accidentally glorify the Father just because that's how good we are. We will default to the world around us. It must be intentional. And that's why it's such a focal point here in the epistle. Verse 7 is the crowning statement. If we walk in light as he is the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.

90. 32:21

    That's the if. We get the choice. But if we choose right we not only enjoy fellowship together but we are covered by the blood of the lamb. The conditions of this cleaning are the next couple verses. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

91. 32:41

    It is amazing how much we think people will buy. And if you sometimes catch yourself doing this it's so easy to catch in other people so I know you're going to get the comment. But we do this all the time. We tell somebody a story we think they'll believe. And what you think I'll believe is sometimes comical.

92. 33:02

    And what I think you might believe is sometimes comical. I think it was J.P. Morgan that said there's two reasons a person would do or not do a thing. The real one and the one they think sounds good. And we spin it a way we think might sound good. Like you know the veneer of my life looks pretty good.

93. 33:20

    It's not like your miserable sinful life. I know better. You know better. And I'm still trying to sell you that my life's okay. If we think we have no sin we deceive ourselves. We're not really fooling anyone else. Because sin is nothing more than to miss the mark. When we miss that mark of perfection, a perfect reflection of the Father, we have sinned.

94. 33:45

    We all know Romans 6, Romans 3 puts it this way, Romans 3 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We even know the verse, but yet we put on that show like we're doing it just right. To fool ourselves, fools no one else. Oops, verse 9. If we confess our sins, and here's the next if.

95. 34:09

    See, there's a choice. Instead of hiding them and pretending they're not there and putting on the best display I can, if we confess them, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our God knows our sins. He knows we're not righteous. He knows we are a terrible reflection of His glory.

96. 34:31

    And yet He loves us anyways. Now He expects us to try to improve that reflection. It's not unconditional, but our God loves us and wants us to reflect Him. He is faithful and just, and that's one of the most beautiful characteristics of our Father. One thing that we as human beings do not do very well this side of the kingdom, it's that balance between mercy and judgment, between justice and love.

97. 35:02

    Because we tend to lean one way or the other. Some of us are more loving and we sacrifice judgment at times when we shouldn't, and others of us are more judgmental and we sacrifice the opportunities for love when we shouldn't. Again, a good reason that our God has called us together as a community because we're all out of balance.

98. 35:21

    But if you're out of balance this way and I'm out of balance this way, guess what? We're balancing each other. That's what the ecclesia is designed for. To cleanse us from our unrighteousness by working together through it, improving our reflection of the glory of God. The judgment of God is always righteous. We have confidence that it will always be righteous.

99. 35:45

    We know it is the God that exists, not the God we want. It's up to us to conform to what our God requires. Not to get Him to conform what we think is right. We've got to make sure we put God in His right place and then submit to Him. Hardest thing for all of us including Jesus to do.

100. 36:05

     The last thing He had to conquer was total submission to the will of His Father. That we struggle with that should not be a surprise. But our prayers, like Jesus, must be open and specific to our God. In public, they're a little generic, has to be. But to our God, it's not the generic forgive me for my sins.

101. 36:26

     It's the opportunity to be open and specific to our God. To let Him know that we know that we need His help. Oh, He knows we need His help. But we need to let Him know that we need His help. Our natural tendency is to fool each other and, I believe, even try to fool our God in prayer.

102. 36:49

     And as delusional as that sounds, if you're honest with yourself, you might be a little guilty. That's the little hand on the inside, not the hallelujah moment.

103. 37:00

     Grokot put it this way, and I love this verse, in Be Transformed, I think it's volume one, that the Ecclesia is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. It's an opportunity for us to look at each other, and I don't recommend we change our normal greeting to, hi sinner, good to see you.

104. 37:18

     I'm not suggesting we do that. But I recognize you're going to be struggling with something, and you know I'm struggling with something too. I don't have to call it out as much as we know. And if we know that we're struggling together, it lightens the burden of both of us, and we'll see that as a theme as this begins to grow.

105. 37:38

     There is no forgiveness without honesty. Honesty starts the forgiveness process. How much do I allow the world to interfere with my reflection of the glory of God? The answer, that's different for all of us. Honest reflection of where we are before our Father is critical for us to forgive. And we see this even in our own relationships.

106. 38:05

     When a relationship has a difficult time, and I don't care if that's a friendship, parent to child, child to parent, husband to wife, brother to sister, every relationship, when it hits a difficult spot, has the opportunity to be forever severed or to be repaired. The time it takes to repair usually determines on how much better the relationship is.

107. 38:27

     if we have failed each other and we reconcile quickly and start building, oftentimes that relationship gets stronger. And when we delay that by years or decades, it doesn't mean it cannot be repaired, but it's harder. And it's harder to make that relationship anything like it was before. But the quicker we are honest with ourselves and with each other, and more importantly with our God, the quicker we move from honesty to forgiveness.

108. 38:55

     forgiveness. And we have that chance to see it amongst ourselves, so we know what it looks like on God's end. The ability to forgive is there. It is up to us to follow the prescription. It is not up to us to write the prescription. Our God will grant the forgiveness. He can cleanse us from our unrighteousness.

109. 39:17

     It's a matter of faith in practice that matters. And so as we come towards the end of this first chapter, we get some very interesting language that paints a great picture. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. And this word liar is a word only used ten times in the New Testament.

110. 39:41

     Seven of them are by John, so it's one of the words that he focuses on. And this really comes down to living the lie. Not recognizing my sin. Oh, I can point yours out, but mine? If I'm not capable of recognizing my sin and coming to your sin, knowing I'm the sinner too, I am living a lie.

111. 40:05

     That's the danger to all of us individually and ecclesially. And if we are living that lie, we're making our God a liar. Because his word is not in us. Let's peek ahead to one verse later in this epistle, because I think it's appropriate to the context. This is chapter 4, verse 20. We'll just look at it for a moment.

112. 40:27

     We'll get there in a couple days. But if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. He puts it pretty clear. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? We'll go into it in more detail in a couple days.

113. 40:48

     But I want to emphasize the demonstration of our love in how we treat each other is paramount in living the truth. Human beings as we are, it's often more difficult when we disagree or don't understand one another. But it is pivotal to preserving the truth in the last day. The love must be present.

114. 41:08

     But there's more. The world is watching us. God is awesome. But can't his people sometimes be pretty miserable? We all can. How many people have been killed in the name of God for the last few thousand years? They weren't doing the work of God. They thought they were. But the love was absent.

115. 41:29

     We cannot live the truth and make, we have to live the truth or we make our God a liar to the world around us. It requires honest reflection, loving fellowship, based on sound doctrine, letting the word live in our walk will not only show God's glory to those whom we meet, but it will also declare the truthfulness of the Father.

116. 41:53

     And what a wonderful and awesome responsibility that is. That you and I are given the privilege and responsibility to live the truth for the sake of the honesty of the Heavenly Father. God's glory to the God. But alas, there's no sign over us that declares this one's righteous, this one's a walking representation of sin.

117. 42:17

     We don't have that, thankfully. This side of the judgment seat, we must have seen each other greater than ourselves. We preserve the love of God in our life and in our attitude. And we do that by how we work together. I honestly believe that that is why God didn't stop at Adam. He made more than one so that we could learn to love the unlovable.

118. 42:45

     Because that's what our God does for us on a daily basis. When I disappoint you and I deserve to lose some of your affection, what now you get to play is the role that God shares when you don't deserve His. And I think that's why the Ecclesia is in existence. So that we can work through these challenges learning to love the unlovable to preserve the faith.

119. 43:16

     Because the alternative is to make God a liar. And so with that, we'll let you think on this one for a moment. Let's keep going.