Three Attitudes Toward Sin

Today on Summit my career.

You know that you know God.

How do you know that what you think about your experience of God is genuine in light of what God says about eternity. Every other decision that you make as they are is not nearly as important as whether or not you know that you know God whether not what you think you know about God. My light author and legend JD Greer.

I'm your host Molly, but events you doing today in a teaching series called assured learning how we can know with certainty that we are saved, if you miss any of the previous messages, you can always hear them@jdgreer.com today.

Pastor Jade is talking about. That's somewhat uncomfortable subject said, why is it uncomfortable because none of us are immune to its power and destruction in our lives.

However, he explains that the way we think about our own sinfulness can actually help prove that we are saved little counterintuitive doesn't.

Pastor Jenny titled this thought-provoking message. Three. Attitudes toward sin give you assurance that Bible belt and opened it to the book of first John, first John, which is toward the last part of your New Testament book of first John we are in our third week here of this series. About halfway through and we are answering this question I how do you know that you know God, you know that you know God had you know that what you think about your experience of God is genuine. How do you know that you not deceive. How do you know that he loves you. How do you know you are at peace with them.

How do you know that you will spend eternity with him. How do you know you got swept up in some kind of movement where you're just going along with the crowd, but your personal truth of God is not real. That is the question that the book of first John was written to answer and I would submit to you that there is no more important question that you will ever consider in your entire life. That question is more important than where you go to college is more important than the kind of job you get how much money you make. It's more important than who you marry that it's more important than how happy your marriage is or even how happy you are in life because if you get that question wrong matter. If you get every other question right you lost everything in light of what God says about eternity.

Every other decision that you make as important as they are is not nearly as important as whether not you know that you know God whether not what you think you know about God is right, that's the question of the book of first John was written to answer what John does is he identifies three signs in the last half of first John 13 signs of somebody that doesn't know God, even though they think they do this through. Maybe all three of them of that right here at once and then you will break down one at a time like 1, you don't know God. John says if one you continue to sin means willfully, habitually, will get to that number two you don't know God. If you say you have no sin, number three, you don't know God.

If you have no confidence before God, because of your said right you know God if you said you got a visa you have her send you the God of the other confidence report because of your said this one is time for someone five. This is the message we've heard from him and proclaim to you, but God is light and in him is no darkness at all. It's is John's way of saying I'm not a Buddhist I got is not getting again with a little bit of darkness and light, all mixed in together.

God is all why there is no evil. There is no wickedness.

Nothing comes from him but pure goodness and holiness.

If we say, therefore, verse six, we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is impolite, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.

So number one you don't know God. If you continue to sin, by the way, only by that that you ever said because all of us.

Sin for you say that you don't continue to struggle with sin would be its own problematical bill within a minute. What he means. If you willfully defiantly pursue sin know his use of the imagery of light here, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Darkness here of course referring to moral darkness, injustice, hatred, violence, unfaithfulness, impurity, you cannot. John says say that you love God is the light.

If you continue to seek after the darkness, because if you really been saved, you have a new spirit in you that craves the light that shows that you have been given the spirit of God's light because you begin to desire the light God when he saves us does not put guards around sin in the form of threats and punishments that will do it. He's going to punish us, changes or nature, so we will desire it in one of the mark that God spirit is come inside of you as you begin to progress your desires begin to change so that you love the light. King David said in Psalm 19.

This way the commands of the Lord are radiance to me to give light to my eyes below the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing my heart to fear the Lord is clean and jewelry.

Forever the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Is that how you feel about God's laws or are you the kind of person who chafes against God's laws and is trying to ask what is the minimum that I've got to do in order for God to stay happy with me because if that is the spirit that is in you, you got to ask you actually know God, you maybe want to a ritual but yet you actually been born again because one of the side to be born again by the being of ultimate light as you begin a craven desire the life you start to feel about God's law. The way that David felt about God's laws cannot tell you a few things I often hear or see in church people that that shows that there's no darkness. If you are thinking that you can believe without repenting. That's one girl tell me not to long ago. She said you know I received Jesus as my Savior.

But I have not yet accepted him as my Lord as if you could bifurcate Jesus into multiple different parts, and like order a certain package of Jesus and an upgrade later to the higher baggage. Jesus does not come in parts you can't believe without repenting. You can accept them as Savior about taking it was Lord that was the first word of first commander Jesus gave the first time he preached the gospel. Mark 150 repent and believe the gospel. They were the first word out of Peter's mouth after he preached the gospel. Acts 238 for the first time I'm repair. Paul said, repentance is what God commanded all men everywhere to do now that Jesus had been raised from the dead, so you cannot believe without repenting. You cannot take crisis Savior not take him as Lord. You can't be saved by the light. If you still hate the light right. Imagine I got about ready to marry a girl in my before they get married.

Jesus had to tell you I'm really not that into you and I can actually actually I'm going to these other girls and I hope your clear that when we get married.

I might do it on the religions of the girls any girl to go along with that. What will don't worry me. Number 11 at all these groceries you know I got on me number one would be the only one not to be the only one I'm not going to be one at all to.

There's no possible way for you to be saved by the light. If you still give yourself the seeking after darkness. And here's another way believers are so-called believers were casual about or even openly embracing of said casual about or even openly embracing the safe. You got something in your life that you know is wrong which iCloud is the what I later or maybe maybe it's is a Christian, for example, that cheat on their taxes regularly does not down the mountain. It was wrong that is new college guy who sleeps with his girlfriend gets drunk the weekend but still wants God to be a part of his life to become such a hero, not on the weekend or maybe there's some part of the Bible's morality you despite offensive cedars choose to opt out of that moral teaching is of the Bible were a salad bar where you could take the parts he sighed tastefully the parts that you don't.

That is a sign that you don't actually know God because you cannot know crisis, Savior and Lord not have forsaken what he is forbidden.

You cannot love Jesus and embrace the things that Jesus died to put into you cannot enter into the light still pursue darkness. Whoever says. John says in the next chapter verse onto for I know him, but does not keep his commandments, is a liar, one that says I know God but is doing things willfully, intentionally, that they know not according to God's will is a liar. If you know Jesus lesson you don't, you don't get to know Jesus as a life coach or advisor who gives tips doesn't come that way you know him as Lord Jesus. Luke 646, a look of a group of people who said to him, hey we want you as our Savior.

We want you was the miracle worker, but were not too excited at the lower part yet just about you call me Lord, Lord, not do the things I say if you're the kind of person that has to agree with Jesus before you submit to him.

I don't think you get the concept of Lordship right so casually embracing city here for more playing a sinner's prayer with no accompanying light change. Bring the sinners prayer as it is like a ritual you go through the are you Savior.

Ali prayed to receive Jesus. My grandmother when I was eight years older. I did at your church service upgrade where I thought when little cards I got baptized.

Listen once you hear this, God never says a prayer will save you.

It is not going to a ritual that saves you. It's not repeating some words it's not a prayer that saves his repentance and belief in the gospel delays total salvation and the prayer can express the repentance and belief, but the prayer is not place the repentance and belief right having example I use for you was the example of a chair. The chair that you're sitting on.

You can really only be in one of two relationship with the chair you're standing beside the chair or you transfer your weight off your feet onto the chair matter what you say to the chair you say all chair you are so beautiful and strong and big and I just really I want I want to receive you as my personal chair and like my personal chair in comfort and just make a speech which you never sit down right ridiculous with the chair for that ears might be moved by your prayer.

But the point is not the what you say to chair the points' to chair the point is not the prayer you say to Jesus. The point is a boxer you take toward Jesus.

I think I'm talking to a culture that is filled a lot of people I don't really seem to get that. So number one you don't know God. If you send your positive version of that if you take it out. You do know God, if you're in a posture of surrender' and by the way Michael Matson was perfection either disappeared and won't God explain the minute you fall a lot. I certainly do.

But the point is, every time you fall you get back up and you resume your posture of repentance toward God.

It means that you have every decided surrender to Jesus Christ and that you stumble from it. You always get back up and resume the position that he's the boss because he's the Lord that's what I'm talking about here is number two verse eight we say we understand, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 10 get on there. If we say we have not said, we make him a liar and his word is not have my pastor TV career will be right back with the rest of today's teaching in just a moment, but I wanted to share a little bit more about our featured resource. You are just plain tired of working for God you feel like your tank is empty and for what still challenging. And God doesn't always seem here but the good news is that he has simply need to like infinite power to keep going and that power is found in the gospel and found this amazing gift that God gives us doesn't merely punch are taken to hanging powers.

Everything we do as believers keep the gospel message close and personal every day with our eighth session video Bible study, simply titled gospel reach out today in support of this ministry and give us a call and fixing 335-5220 or go online to Judy Greer.com God if you say you have Merced.

This is an error on the opposite side. John says that this being unaware of the sinfulness in your heart is a sign that you don't actually know God because one of the first evidences of the light of God coming into your life as you begin to have eyes to see the sin that is in your heart.

Imagine it like this, say that you were in a your room in your it was pitch dark, but your room was filthy but pitchdark and I said to you is this room filthy is it messy you say walking and I don't know if you wanted to be known as a clean person. You might several shirts clean, it will cling to me I guess anything is wrong with it, but if I took a very small Matson. I lit the match by the light of that night.

You could see that the dressers are returning to close all over the floor and not replace the match of the flashlight. Now you can see the beds that made the sheets are filthy and I replace the the flashlight with a halogen bulb and now you can see, so to such bright light, but you can see the fine dust.

That's on top of all pieces of furniture you can see the mildew that runs all the baseboards the sign that the light of God is coming into your life is like that. The first sign of God's grace is you get a sense of how wicked your heart is beside the God's grace is coming into you is not that you start to feel super awesome super spiritual tube rolling side to God's grace is coming into you is that you like John says become aware of how simple you are. And this is one of the things that people find most debates about the gospel and why many people turn it off.

I found most people in our culture are okay with admitting that they're not perfect and that they make mistakes but you notice they always want to justify that their mistakes are not as bad as other people's mistakes and so you're always on got your message about that bad. I'm put them so pretty could be a good person so you admit that you are simple that you make mistakes but to watch this say that you are worthy of condemnation and you are worthy if you got what you deserve. You would go to hell. That's something most people want to go down. That's about the because we want to think there were good people and that we deserve good things and it's a hard thing to grasp but until you once you grasp that you are very close to the gospel in the awareness of the statement you are before God is the first evidence that God's light is coming into your heart and by the way, awareness of sin in your heart is not something that happens to you. Only when your non-Christian prescriptions that they talk like you used to be bad when I would save about that. Not perfect. Your take me to know it answers you like what you struggle with well I just work too hard. I just care too much height.

Lastly you. I left my but it was so much money. I hardly had enough about the needs you like what you struggle with and I'm like well whatever you're got cut me off in traffic and I felt like writing about is card stop on fatal golf cleats right but now I don't like tell you that anymore Mr. perfect right you see somebody that feels that way. Watch that's not assigned or close to God that's assigned a blind the clearest sign that you're growing in grace is not that you no longer sin, we clear assigned to Brody grace is that you're more aware of how much sin actually pervade your heart to get… Might be different for some of the clearest sign you're growing in grace is not that you no longer sin. The clearest sign you're going to grace is that you become more aware of how simple your heart actually is that somehow his work with me.

I recently have studied the story of John the Baptist you get into it. Taken apart, the Holy Spirit showed me this thing about how about John the Baptist. Every single time. Every time somebody directed attention toward him. He would always get away but don't hold me to glorify me glorify Jesus and suddenly in a minute the Holy Spirit turned out on me and said your life is been the complete opposite of this every Sunday, every weekend there's little glory war that's going on in my heart. And the question is more concerned about you giving glory to God are more concerned about you thinking about what kind of preacher I am to get the glory you leave thinking about you anymore and all the more in all of God and God Shabbos light on me. But you showed me that that that you all some of my best moments my most spiritual moments where I was preaching the best there was this layer of sinful things that are going on in my heart now does listen, I'm growing and changing. II see change in my heart yes but the point is, I feel more simple now than the day I was converted because God's light in my heart is brighter, and because of that I can see even more of the dust of my sin on the furniture of my life. I can see more than the K and mildew of sin in the crevices of my life that I could the day that I came to Christ church listen to me closeness to God rarely, but really, I mean never closest to God rarely makes you feel holier always makes you feel dirty you will know more example this fruit. Isaiah chapter 6 Isaiah the prophet of God. Now in your profit. God does top of the food chain right when you're probably not get the book of the Bible named Catherine about it often. Excel alright so Isaiah is as good as it gets is a prophet. God made that trip. He is a face-to-face meeting with God as insects come out of that meeting to come out like all you would believe I had a meeting with dolomite faces of the glowing hole just picked 2000 just touch me. I got everything he is your read Isaiah 6. Isaiah sees God even think about how awesome he is and say what a privilege he falls in his face and said what was me. I'm ruined because I am a man of unclean lips, and I will miss of a people of unclean lips, and I did realize that dog on the light of God's holiness. The sign that you are in the presence of God is not a feeling of how awesome you are the sign that you are the presence of God is a sense of how simple you are the first side of grace is that your heart becomes aware of simple to somebody carries themselves with an air of how good they are bachelors in battle, that they have what we call theological Brio right a measure so I took a shower, but a change of clothes all the distance they look like a great get close to me like you're not going there a lot of people very religious people of theological Brio because they do all of it. All the garments of religion, but the sign that God's bathing light is coming your heart as you have a sense of how simple your heart is so number two you don't know God. If you say you have been sent the positive version of that when you do know God, if you're deeply aware of your own sinfulness. Listen without light of God comes in and it's doing that for some of you have one of a few reactions to this is very important as exact, were some of you are for some of you in the light of God begins to come into your life what you do what you want to do is you want to retreat back into the darkness is darkness. If your eyes are you students comfortable right movie theater, and after the movie usually will like out of the north of the hall in the back of the lobby and go out your eyes have a chance to get accustomed to the light gradual little X of the bottom right next to the screen you walk out you can accrue along the light of day just hit you what you were doing. That moment when you want to do you want to retreat back into the darkness because you're comfortable that that's happening to some of you right now. She started to come here and you never been in the presence of people who just said this is what the Lord God says in your heart is being exposed and I know I've been there. You want to go back into the darkness is more comfortable but you what happens if you stay in the light.

If you walk outside, you stay there.

It's painful, but you could drive him into readjusting and you can see I have to go in life while you want to go back in the darkness because of so much more that you can see in the light I'm urging you listen stay in the light. It's painful yes I know it's painful.

I know that that two or three times a little message like at this point I get up and leave right and you will type out an email to me and then you save it and you'd never send it or some of you send it to understand that okay. There are some people who that's how they responded as they want to retreat some people. Their response is they get defensive and they want to start insisting on their own goodness they start thinking well yeah yeah but you better than other people. Right we do that right you are not as bad as I must say yeah but not Doug and I were there is always of a guy grade to the curve on the view I will be okay because I'm pretty confident I'm on the north side of the bell curve making excuses for well the reason I made is based on the literal ground.

I had I had bad parents which he wants a bad idea for a couple reasons one called God a liar that's never a good idea for someone to use it if we don't acknowledge the sinfulness of our heart we make God a liar. The Bible says that you and I are children of wrath.

The Bible says we are sons and daughters of disobedience. The Bible says that we are born in iniquity will sin because we hung out with the wrong crowd, we sin because we are the wrong crowd and that the reason we wanted to hang out with the wrong crowd is because the sin that was in their hearts resonated with the symptoms of our hearts.

That's what we chose to hang out with the wrong crowd because we were more comfortable with the wrong crowd is called God a liar.

Do you agree with God about his statement about your heart as you were to be condemned. Here's the other reason it's it's foolish is because it shows you completely blind to the holiness of God because for you to stand before God was sin in your life is a piece of tissue paper touching the surface of the sun. So when you insist on your goodness when you want to rest in the fact that you are okay just shows that you don't get the concept of who God is and who you are when you're awake in the God you become deeply aware of your simple is and all you say is what was me, for I'm grace teaches your heart to be afraid coming into God's presence starts with an awareness of our own sin and the realization Sprint, but thankfully, God doesn't leave us there when you surrender your life to his well he washes your sin and makes you new and assurance that we all need you're listening to some it life. The Bible teaching ministry of Pastor JD Greer if you missed any of the previous messages in this series called assured you can hear them online.

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Call us right now. 550 228-663-3524 visit us online Greer.com Molly that events be sure to tune in tomorrow and will continue response to same assurance Wednesday on my prayer ministry