Who Do You Love — 1 John 2-5

0:00 Good morning. Good morning. Yeah. So good to be, here this morning. Sure have enjoyed, being here an extended period of time if you've noticed.

0:11 It's been a real blessing for me. Really enjoy Westlake Bible Fellowship. You're in my heart and in my prayers. We're going to continue in our study in first John. So, you can turn there.

0:26 First John chapter two. Now, is writing to Christians, trying to encourage them in their faith and trying to warn them about some false teaching that's going on. Within this, he's going to include a couple of very important principles of the Christian walk. What we're going do is we're going read the text first and then we'll comment on it. We're going to start with verse seven.

0:56 First John chapter two and verse seven. Okay, let's start to read. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have from the beginning. An old commandment is... The old commandment is the word which you have heard.

1:15 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

1:57 I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I'm writing to you children because you know the father. I am writing to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I am I have written to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

2:25 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but is from the world. And the world is passing away and also its lust, but the one who does the will of god abides forever. Amen.

2:53 Father, thank you for your word. Bless it. I pray. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

2:58 Alright. So, I'm going to start out with a with a question and then we're going to try to understand this text and the question is or when I titled this message if you will, it's also a question, Who do you love? Who do you love? If you look at this text carefully, it has to do with love and who you love. Alright, now I'm going give you three statements.

3:18 I want to see if you can remember them. Try to put them into your mind somehow. Number one, your heart can only handle one love. That is one true love. Everything else is like little mini loves under that.

3:32 But one true love is what your heart can handle. Okay, secondly, love and unity are at the core of Christianity. Love and unity are at the core of Christianity. And thirdly, I want to do like a question form. Why do you do what you do every day and why do you do it repeatedly?

3:56 Did you get that? Why do you do what you do every day and why do you do it repeatedly? Why do you go to work every day so that you can put food on the table and so that you could help the family and love your children? Why do you do that? Because you love them.

4:13 Right? So why do you do what you do every day and why do you do it repeatedly? That shows where your true love is. Alright. So let let me go over them again.

4:27 Your heart can handle only one love. Love and unity at the core of Christianity. And why do you do what you do every day? And why do you do it repeatedly? Alright.

4:53 Right? Love the love your brother in Christ, love the Lord and grow in him, and do not love the world. Alright, now let's go to key because I'm going to try to unpack this in a way where we can take it home and say, I understand it. Now I know how to apply it to my life. I need to obey what the text says.

5:14 So that's what shooting for. Right? Now, verse five really is kind of like a foundational verse where he's driving all the other thoughts based on that reality. So it says, But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.

5:37 So I want you to notice that it's not my love for him, but his love for me that has to be perfected. A believer has to come to the point where you accept and receive God's love totally and completely. It's not how much more can I love God, it's that how much can I accept God's love for me and keep allowing him to love me and then from there, when that's a reality, then from there I can grow in my Christian faith and actually transform? It's his love for me being poured into my life. It's not my loving him more.

6:17 It's allowing him to keep loving me and changing my life. So that's why it says, whoever keeps his word that you're reading the word of God, you're keeping it in him the love of God, his love has been perfected in you. Or if you will, it's being perfected in you. By this we know that we're in him. The one who says he abides in him and Jesus ought himself ought to walk in the same manner as he also walked.

6:46 And so we want to, we want to imitate the the walk of Jesus. That's our goal. Alright? So that's the whole thing from the beginning. To love, allow the love of God to be perfected in your life.

7:02 Alright. Having said that, then he starts with verse seven. Beloved, I'm not writing you a new thing about love. Right? And so, if you look at, for example, don't don't turn there but Leviticus nineteen eighteen says, well, Deuteronomy six five, love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength.

7:22 So it was already in the Old Testament that we're supposed to love God. Right? We're supposed to love God. And Leviticus nineteen eighteen, love your neighbor as yourself. Like, yeah, well you try to love my neighbor, you don't know my neighbor.

7:35 Right? But still, it doesn't matter. The the the commandment was there. You're supposed to love your neighbor as yourself. So that's what he means by this is nothing new.

7:43 It was already in the Old Testament and it was a fundamental principle that you're supposed to love god and you're supposed to love your neighbor. Christ's earthly ministry on Earth was centered around love, right? If you will, he took love to another level. Now, that's why he says in in in verse eight, on the other hand, I am writing to you a new commandment to you which is true in him, in Jesus, and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. You're starting to understand that that god's love for you was so deep and so complete and so pure.

8:25 He loves you so much in spite of who you are that is starting to transform your life and you're starting to realize that it's not a conditional love but it's an unconditional love that that trend that that Jesus expressed and lived out. And this love that you have received from him is starting to change your life to where suddenly you're starting to see the light of Jesus and darkness no longer controls you or or has a hold of you. Now, notice what he says then as he continues to talk about this that that the the light of Jesus is in your life now and the darkness starting to pass away. It's shining. Your testimony is shining in the darkness.

9:05 Verse nine, then he's transitioned and says this, since Jesus is in your life now and the light is shining in your life, the one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. And that's why I said in the in the outline, you gotta love your brother in Christ. Now, those of you who have been saved for any amount of time know that this is easier said than done. It doesn't take long to it doesn't take long to get over the honeymoon of being saved. When you start rubbing elbows with your other believers, then you realize this guy's saved, but man, rubbed me wrong.

9:48 Amen? I don't like the way he... And I don't like the... And it becomes really difficult sometimes. Right?

9:58 And yet the Bible exhorts us and teaches here tremendously so clearly, right? That the one who says he's in the light, he's in Jesus and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. Albert Barnes said this, if true love exists in your heart, it would be carried out in your life, in your daily walk. J Vernon McGee put it this way, Christianity is based on a love relationship, on a love relationship. So let's take this a little bit deeper.

10:33 How can a believer hate his brother, his fellow brother in Christ, and yet claim the love of Jesus Christ? Love your brother. This is the evidence that you are truly born again, that God has supernaturally changed your heart and has given you his love. Alright, let me give you an example. We're going go through a couple of verses.

10:55 The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans five five. So again, it's not my love. It's God's love poured into my life through the Holy Spirit. It was a gift of God to me when I was saved.

11:14 Because I'm not capable of producing any kind of love that's different. But God's love poured into my life suddenly changes everything. Second Corinthians eight nine puts it this way, for you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that through his poverty you might become rich. So in other words, he took love again to another level. He was totally unselfish, unmeasured and given himself to us, and that's the standard.

12:22 He never stopped loving them. Even though when he announced at the very end, I'm about to go and get crucified, they're going to spit them, they're going to beat me, they're going to crucify me, and then one of them comes up and says, Hey, don't you think I should sit at your right hand? And then the other guy, they start arguing and fighting, Who's going be the greatest? I was like, I just told you I'm going to die. Now at that time, you and I probably would have said, You know what, get out of here.

12:47 I'm going to go pick a new set of disciples. Right? I just told you I'm gonna die and you're fighting over who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom. What's the matter with you guys? They hadn't learned anything from God three and a half years of being with Jesus.

13:02 And yet Jesus kept loving them. He kept loving him. He tells Peter, hey, Peter, you talk a lot of lip, but you're gonna deny me. And after he denied him and he resurrected, he went and he said, come here, Peter. He kept loving him.

13:18 You know what you and I would have done? You you shafted me. That's it. Our friendship is over. But see, that's our love.

13:26 When it's his love being poured into our life, everything changes. And so verse nine is really challenging to me. The one who says he's in the light and yet hates his brother in Christ is in the darkness until now. Every commentator agrees that he's talking to believers about a believer how he treats his fellow brother in Christ. The one who loves his brother, verse 10, abides in the light and there's no cause for stumbling in him.

13:58 That is, he's walking in a way where nobody stumbles because of the way he lives. He's blessing his brothers in Christ, but the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. The greatest proof or one of the great proofs that you are born again, that you know Jesus, that you're growing in him, that you're walking in the light is how you treat your brother in Christ. For example, turn the page with me to chapter three and verse 14. We know that we have passed out of death into life.

14:38 Why? Because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. So one of the key, proofs that God got ahold of you, that you're born again, that he transformed your life is that you have a love for the brethren. Chapter four and verse seven and eight.

14:58 Chapter four verse seven and eight. Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God, there it is again, and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Chapter five and verse one, you can see that's a reoccurring theme.

15:17 This is a proof that you're born again. One of the big proofs. Whoever believes, five one, that Jesus is the Christ is born of god. And whoever loves the father, notice, loves the child born of him. In other words, loves all the others that are born again and love the lord and born of the father.

16:08 That's not the idea. The idea is, man, they're my brothers in Christ. They're children of the father. Consequently, because the love of God is in me and we both are born again, I have this deep appreciation for the people of God. This is one of the fundamentals, again that's why I said, who do you love?

16:31 Who do you love? Are you loving your brother? Jesus put it this way in Matthew five twenty three. If you're presenting your offering at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, Leave your offering there before the altar and go and make it right with your brother and then come and present your offering to the lord. So so we see then that Jesus and and the the Bible, the New Testament teaches us then that new birth, a person that is in the light, growing in Christ, has a deep love for the other believers.

17:13 You want to be with them. You love coming to church. You love worshiping together. It's not like let's just show up on Sunday morning quick so we can get out of here quick. Right?

17:22 It's I love to be with them. I love to be with them, to be with other Christians. And so according to a text, if if you hate your brother, you're still walking in darkness, and you don't know where you're going. You're still you're still confused about the Christian walk. You need to look deep into your heart and see where you're at because to be correct with God, walking in him, loving him, allowing him to love you, you're treating your brother right.

17:55 So how are we doing in that area? Is there somebody you need to go talk to and to go apologize to, go make it right with? We used to practice growing up. I remember we teenagers. Me and this one guy had some disagreement, we had a fight, we kind of insulted each other and then it was Sunday morning we're going to do the Lord's Supper and he said, Hey Ray, come come here, pull me aside.

18:21 Let's go into a room. He said, You know I can't worship the Lord until we make it right. I said, Yeah, you know you're right. And we apologized, we hugged each other, and then we went into the Lord's Supper and worship. And we tried to practice this, right?

18:36 And that's what he says, leave your worship alone for a little bit and go and apologize and make it right. Make it right. Boy, is so key. This is so key. This is the core of Christianity.

18:49 Is that, yes, we're going to have moments where we disagree and we might hurt each other's feelings, but make it right. Make it right. See because if you don't, you're confused as to the Christian walk. It's a totally unselfish thinking of the other, blessing the other, wanting to be with them because God got a hold of them and loves them and so we overlook the faults and we show love to them. That is one of the key ingredients that shows that you're growing in Christ.

19:31 Verse 12, I am writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven to you for his name's sake. Now, I want you to notice a progression. This is actually three stages of the Christian growth. First of all, the the the children stage, the young man stage, and the father stage. Alright?

19:49 The children is not like a baby but someone who's a new believer who's excited about his faith, alright? So so look at it that way. I'm writing to you little children. Those of you who are newer in your faith because your sins are forgiven for you of you for his name's sake. I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning.

20:09 I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you children because you know the father. And then he repeats, verse 14 adding a couple little things. So let me go through this. First of all, when someone first gets saved, the first thing that you are excited about is that your sins have been forgiven Jesus.

20:30 Isn't that true? You remember when you were first saved? You call all your relatives, I'm born again. I'm saved. Jesus is my savior.

20:37 And then they get all mad at you because you're telling them that you need to be saved too. Right? How many of y'all went through all that? And so you're excited. But what you want to know is and what what what you want to be firm on is I am forgiven through Jesus for his name's sake because now I know the father.

20:56 And so you go through the little process of will I lose my salvation or not? You remember going through all that. Right? And and and it's the question of you growing in the lord, you know the father now through Jesus, and you know you're forgiven, you keep growing in him. Then comes the next stage, the young men.

21:13 The young men. This is the Christian who goes beyond that first stage, and then notice now what it says about him. Young men, or young women if you will, a young... A little bit older believer, a little stronger. Notice what he says, you have overcome the evil one.

21:31 So you're growing in faith, you understand that you're forgiven, you you know the father, and and here's one of the things that mark you out as a little stronger Christian is that you're having victory over the devil. And all the temptations that he throws our way. That's what he says, you're strong. That is your strong in faith. You're strong in the word and the word of God abides in you.

21:53 Do you see the key right there? They're reading the word of God and it's in their heart. And so abides means it's part of their life. It's there. And so I can pull scripture out and have victory over the devil or victory over temptation or whatever might come my way.

22:09 And so that's what marks a growing believer is that they're overcoming the the evil one. They're strong in their faith. The word of God is active in their life. And then it concludes again and you overcome the evil one twice. Says that that the the the the next level of Christianity is you're having victory over the evil one.

22:29 Then he goes into the father stage and notice that he says the same thing to them twice. Fathers, you know him who existed from the beginning. As you start progressing in your faith, one thing becomes very evident is that a true believer accepts the fact that Jesus is god. Notice from the very beginning. If you go to revelation, you'll say, I am the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

22:54 And a true believer, even though maybe when he's first saved doesn't quite understand it, as he grows in faith and he's strong in defeating the devil, he comes to understand this reality that Jesus is God. Fully man, fully God. You embrace those fundamental doctrines. They become the core of your life and you build your life on these realities and you teach others. And so you can notice in the progression.

23:19 Children, you know your sins are forgiven for his name's sake and you know the father, you're growing in him. Young men, you're overcoming the evil one. Fathers, you know him deeply and you know that he's eternal. So where are you at in your spiritual walk? Only you know that, right?

23:38 It's between you and the Lord. So we're going to love our brothers in Christ. We're going to love the Lord through spiritual growth. Right? And thirdly, we're not going to love the world.

24:17 That's the key. Do not love the world. So again, who do you love? Who do you love? Do not love the world.

24:28 The New Living Translation puts it this way, Do not love the world nor the things it offers, for when you love the world you do not have the love of the father in you. The amplified version put it this way, do not love the world, and then it puts in parenthesis, of sin that opposes God and his precepts. The living Bible put it this way. Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you. For when you love these things, you show that you not...

25:02 You do not really love God. Wow, that's pretty good, That's a paraphrase version. Listen, Satan wants your heart. When when you love somebody, that person has your heart. Right?

25:15 Am I right or wrong? Right? Amen? So when it says don't love, what is it saying? That Satan is going to do whatever he can to get you to love what he offers.

25:27 That's what he wants. He wants your heart. He wants your heart. So that's why it says don't love him because once Satan has your heart, it's over. It's over.

25:38 You're gonna become a a fleshly, carnal Christian, and and you will not be serving the Lord. You'll be just caught up in loving the world. You won't love God or live for him anymore. Now James put it in an interesting way and I'll read it to you real quick. James four:four, he put it this way, You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God?

26:05 Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Wow. And so I want you to notice how serious this battle is and why it's so difficult. Now do you notice that even though many of you probably have read this hundreds of times, do you notice that it's still an issue? How many of you have struggled?

26:30 Look at this. Verse 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful part of life is not from the father but is from the world. How many of y'all even this week have struggled with these three things? Right?

26:45 Right here. All week long, you're like, Lord, I kept thinking, know, don't love the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the cravings for the world, the pride of life. And it's such a difficult thing. Now, here's why here's why many times Satan has an advantage. Because he uses physical things the in the world to steal our heart from god.

27:11 Right now now follow me on this. The world is this evil system headed by Satan which leaves God out and his arrival to him. It's the evil infrastructure and desire for fulfillment of sin's pleasure. Alright. So here's why Satan has an advantage in this area to to a point to a point.

27:32 It's this, the lust of the flesh. Here's what it means. If you want a definition, craving for physical pleasure, a passionate desire for immediate self gratification. Isn't that something that we want terribly? And so so Satan's not dumb.

27:52 That's why when you're in the computer, he throws... He flashes things at you so that you can start desiring it. See, that's why when you're driving down the highway in the posters, there'll be pictures that that that drive your desires. Right? Suddenly, you're like, I'm I'm lusting towards that.

28:08 I want it. You didn't want it until you saw it. And and so the devil knows that our flesh already wants to sin and then he uses the eyes as an avenue to try to draw us away and what he's trying to do is you're missing out on this because you love god. That's what he's saying. I I want your heart.

28:27 Look at what I have to offer. You can have it now. See, he told Jesus the same thing. Right now, if you bow to me, I'm gonna give you all the kings of the earth. Jesus says, get away from me, Satan.

28:38 I'm not gonna go there. But it's it's it's the thing of having it now. And so what does what does Satan tell young people? You don't have to wait till you're married. Have it now.

28:50 It's alright. Look, everywhere else, they're saying it's okay now. A lot of denominations are saying it's okay now. They say, you know, you can't be so so narrow minded. And so he starts to steal our heart.

29:03 Yeah. You know what? God is just holding back on me all the time. And you start kinda getting angry at God, frustrated with God. And that's what Satan wants.

29:15 That's why it's such a battle and so the the body as it is has this passionate desires and and through the holy spirit's power and being in the word of God we can have victory over that. The lust of the flesh. Wow. Don't you wish we can get rid of the flesh and think it the whole temptation thing would be all over wouldn't it? Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

29:42 Right? And so we're gonna we're gonna be in this battle. I'm in this battle. I have to fight it every week every day. It's a reality and you know it is right?

29:50 We all know it is. We have to fight it. The lust of the eyes, craving for everything we see. MacArthur says this, Satan uses the eyes as a strategic avenue to incite wrong desires. Then there's the third thing, the pride of life.

30:08 Pride in our achievements and possessions. This is what Satan's doom. This is why he fell from heaven. He started looking himself and saying, know what? I'm pretty good looking.

30:21 Go go to Isaiah 14 and and and Ezekiel 28, right? We just studied this in the college and career. He he looked at himself and he's like, man, wow. Then he says, I want to be like god. I want to be worshiped.

30:33 It it got to his head. It got to his head. His beauty. Right? And so, the the pride of life, when we look at TV we don't turn on a show that says, let's go look at the poor people and let's go see how miserable their life is.

30:51 Look at their one little table and their couple of breadcrumbs and don't you really want that? But when they they say rich and famous let's go look at their mansions and let's go look at all the things they have it kind of like naturally attracts us doesn't it? And then you start to think God you're not doing me right. I don't know if you really love me because, look at everything they have and some of them curse you. See Satan's not dumb.

31:20 What does he want? Do not love because he wants your heart. He wants your heart. And so why are these three things such a temptation? Because we walk and live by faith.

31:34 That's why. God promised that he's preparing a mansion for us. Have you seen the mansion? Has he sent the picture down ahead of time? Hey, let me show you the pre pictures.

31:42 This is what it's gonna look like. This is gonna be your room ready. Check it out. Woah. Nope.

31:47 He said he's doing it, but I have to believe it by faith. He's gonna reward me for faithfulness. By faith, I believe it. Right? That that I'm going to enjoy him and heaven forever and it's going to be way better than all of these temptations, all of these lusts that are before my face.

32:03 So I had to believe god by faith. So I can't see God. I would love to see Jesus right now, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you love to say, okay, come on Jesus, come on that we want to see you in all your glory. Wow, wouldn't that be exciting?

32:17 But it's by faith we live right now. But Satan, are you going to do is he's going to get something like I'm going to throw right before your eyes right now. Look at it. It can be yours right now. And that's why it's so difficult.

32:30 His heavenly kingdom, his throne, his rewards. I believe he's gonna give me a new body and reward my faithfulness, but all of that is future and by faith I believe it. But right now, I can't have these things, a lot of them, and Satan knows that and he's going do whatever he can to make you think that God is doing you wrong. He doesn't change his tactics does he? It's the same thing he told Adam and Eve even when they had it so well.

33:28 Again, you have to believe this by faith, That I personally deny myself certain sins and certain pleasures and certain things that certainly would be fun to do. Right? And it would make me popular and people would be, yeah, look at that dude. But but but I deny myself that because I know that it's temporary. I know that the evil framework of this hostile antichrist culture is doomed and is going to be judged by god but I know that by faith everything I do for God is going to be rewarded.

34:00 It's going to be rate greater in the future when I'm in my heavenly home. And so that's going to be the issue until the day you die. You gotta keep believing that God has something better for you, that that if you restrain yourself to the power of the Holy Spirit, that you're to be rewarded, that it's worth it, right? That it's worth it. And and you keep fighting Satan as he keeps trying to tempt us.

34:28 So let me ask a couple of questions then. Who do you love? Because that's a keyword of all of these texts. Remember he said, love your brother. That shows that God really got ahold of you.

34:44 If you're loving your brother in Christ, if you don't love him, you're still in darkness. Something's wrong. They says love the Lord, the word of God is in you and it's giving you power and giving you victory. By the way, what's the old statement? The word of God will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the word of God.

35:05 If you're not reading the word of God, you're already doomed. There's no there's no way of getting around that. You have to be in the word of God. The word of God abides in you. You're having victory over Satan and over the evil one.

35:20 Alright, so how are we to overcome such desires that tempt us every day? A deep devotion and love towards the Lord Jesus and his holy word. There's no other answer. I've thought about this for years. I have to love the Lord.

35:40 And I have to love his word. I have to love to read it and be in it. That's the only way, there's no other way we're ever going to have victory over these things. I have to keep reading the word and I have to keep loving the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why I told the Ephesian church, you're doing all these things but you don't love me, it's only a matter of time and your light's going to shut down.

36:04 So it's not a question of how much temptation the devil's gonna throw at you, it's how much are you loving the Lord Jesus and his word. Right? Because if you don't, it's only a matter of time and Satan's going to defeat you. Defeat me. I want to read something by J.

36:26 I. Packard that really blessed me and hopefully you can understand how I'm tying this in to what this text is teaching us. What matters most, and I'm quoting, not that I know God but that he knows me. I am written on the palm of his hands. I am never out of his mind.

36:47 All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me and there is no moment when his eye is off of me or his attention distracted from me and no moment therefore when his care falters. This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good.

37:23 There's tremendous relief in knowing that his love is utterly realistic. Based at every point in prior knowledge of the worst about me. So that no discovery now can disillusion him about me and in a way that I am so disillusioned about myself and quench his determination to bless me. So if I can put it in a short sentence, God loves you and he's totally committed to you, period. And he knows your tendencies, he knows your weaknesses, he knows your faults and in spite of all of that he loves you and he's totally committed to you and he's there for you all the time.

38:07 And so it all starts with first of all acknowledging he loves me, though I don't deserve it, and receiving that love, And then I reciprocate by loving him back, loving his word. And that's when transformation and victory happens. And when he's doing that, when he's loving me I'm receiving it and then he's transforming me giving me his love. I'm starting to defeat the enemy, I'm starting to have more power, strength over the the world that's trying to tempt me with Satan behind it. I'm starting to love my brother more and sister in Christ because I understand that God loves you and me deeply and completely and Satan hates you and wants to steal your devotion to God.

39:43 But you have to take him as your savior. You have to repent of your sin and know how much he loves you and turn to him by faith. I pray that you would do that. And believers, allowing him to love you and keep loving them back. You're gonna have victory in Christ.

40:00 Let's pray. Father, thank you for this portion of scriptures. Very, very challenging, Lord. Very challenging. How can you say you love Christ and not love your brother?

40:12 Wow. We are growing in him, loving him, and growing his word, having victory over the devil, and we are not to love the world. Help us, Lord. For the world is so attractive, and Satan is so tricky, and he's constantly trying to draw our hearts away from you. Help us to love you more than the world and in fact to hate the world.

40:36 In Jesus name, amen.