Biblical Obedience - 1 John..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Let us consider together the topic of biblical obedience. And I'm going to invite you now to read together chapter 1 and chapter 2, going all the way to verse 11, to get the immediate context of those verses there.

Perhaps let us read from verse 5, so the reading is not that long. Chapter 1, verse 5, through chapter 2, verse 11. Considering obedience, the topic of obedience, from those verses in chapter 2, 3 to 6. Now, this is, brother and sister, the Word of the Lord. Once again, in the Spirit and by faith and paying careful attention to each one of the words, there where you are before the Lord, let us read together.

1 John 1 from verse 5 up to chapter 2, verse 11. This is the Word of the Lord. This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, But if anyone doesn't, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.

Verse 3, And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, I know Him, but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him truly, the love of God is perfected. By this, we may know or we know that we are in him. Whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which the Lord Jesus walked.

Beloved or brethren, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard from the beginning. At the same time, it is no new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you. Why? Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother and abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever 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. Amen. That is the reading of the word, my dear brother and sister, once again.

Once again, my dear brother and sister, I want to speak to you. OK, I want to speak to you, my dear brother and sister, on the topic of biblical obedience, biblical obedience. And as I said to you at times, We only consider salvation and the gospel as this glorious manifestation of grace, which is true, that we have been saved by grace through faith. And every time that we think about good works or good deeds, we are a little bit reluctant to think of salvation in light of obedience. But let me submit to you that obedience is very important for the Christian life.

When I'm speaking about obedience, I'm speaking about the same thing that the Apostle John is referring to in these verses, about keeping God's commandments. You see there in verse 3? keeping God's commandments, keeping His commandments, or what he says there in verse 5, that is, keeping His word, or what he says in verse 6, that is, walking as the Lord walked, is the expectation, not only of the Apostle John, but of the Scriptures, my dear brother and sister, that the Lord will be obeyed, that the commandments of the Lord will be kept. that the word of the Lord will be kept and observed, that the Christian or those who profess to be within the people of God, that they will walk as the Lord Jesus Christ walked. It is expected that the manifested presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person will be externally manifested in genuine obedience, in genuine keeping of the commandments, in genuine observing of His Word, in a genuine walk, just as the walk of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because if a person professes to be a Christian and does not keep the commandments, what is that person? A liar, my dear brother and sister, not according to the words of the preacher, but just simply the words that we have read from this passage here. The person who says that he's a Christian and does not keep the word of God is a liar, my dear brother and sister, because that is what the word of God says. Whoever professes to be a Christian and does not walk as the Lord Jesus Christ walked is also a liar and does not abide in the presence of the Lord. So, this is very important for the Christian life.

And every time that we think about obedience, my dear brother, my dear sister, we're thinking about holiness. Because that person who is obedient to the Lord, that person who obeys the commandments of the Lord, that person who obeys or keeps the word of the Lord, or that person who walks as the Lord Jesus Christ walked, is a person that is growing in godliness. or is a person that is growing in holiness, is a person that is growing in good works, good deeds. And we will be very ambivalent, my dear brother and my dear sister, to separate the reality of being a Christian from the manifestation of good works and good deeds. The Bible is very clear that those who have been genuinely saved, those who have been visited by the Holy Spirit, those who have been transformed in their hearts, they will not only be professors with their mouth, of being a Christian, they will not only profess with their lips, but their lives, when you see them, they will be transformed.

And the result of those lives is, my dear brother and sister, that they will be growing and committed to good works and good deeds. The author of Hebrews, as he's writing the letter of Hebrews in chapter 10, verse 24, calls the Christian church to stimulate each other to love and also good deeds. That is that when the Christian church comes together to minister one to the other, they concern all the believers, not only that by grace through faith will abound in love, but also that my ministry one to the other will be one unto good works and good deeds. Because love that is only in words is fake love. That is the point of the Apostle John in 1 John chapter 3, that love is not only about words.

But love is about works and deeds. It is easy to say, I love you. It is easy to say we love one another when that is not coupled with external manifested obedience and observing of the commandments of God. the Lord. My dear brother, my dear sister, we have been called to be obedient children.

First Peter chapter 1 verse 13 and onwards, the Apostle says, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the world. Or that is perhaps Paul in Romans chapter 12. The Apostle Peter says, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as the Lord is holy, you also ought to be holy. The Scripture, my dear brother and sister, calls us very clearly to couple our genuine profession of faith with obedience.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. My dear brother, my dear sister, when a person genuinely professes to be in Christ, that person is not only professing to be saved and the Lord Jesus Christ as a Redeemer, but that person is also professing the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus becomes the Lord of that person. And why would you call me Lord, Lord? He says, and don't do the things that I say.

Remember that passage of Scripture? Why do you call me Lord, Lord and don't do the things that I say? Because a genuine spiritual life is one that does. He's one that obeys. He's one that observes commands.

He's one that is always careful, as the Apostle will say to Titus, always careful to engage in good deeds and in good works. The Apostle Paul, with all the concerns of the church, tells Titus to be diligent. To those who believe in God and those who profess to be Christians, instruct them to be diligent, to be careful in good works. That is that good works, good deeds are to be a concern, not in the fleshly, sinful way, but a spiritual burden for the Christian, my dear brother and my dear sister. And we live in times in which society has converted us into such an individualistic beings that, my dear brother and sister, that the spirit and the nature of what the church should be now is opposed to what the world professes that is one person, one individual, perhaps to the extent of my family, and perhaps to the extent that I know, and going into the lives of the people of the church, then it is not clearly seen or observed or manifested.

That is a sign of not obeying the commandment of love. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Now, my dear brother and my dear sister, this is very important because there is going to be a group of people that in the last day, they will say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all of these things in your name? Didn't we confess your name? Didn't we prophesy in your name?

Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do mighty works in your name? Didn't we confess to be Christians? And the Lord will say, depart from Me. I never knew you, you workers of inequity.

There's going to be a vast group of people. We don't know the numbers, but there's going to be a group of people who in the last day, when they come to give an account to the Lord, they will be found falling short of the kingdom of heaven. And the Lord says in that day, Many will come to me and say those things. But my dear brother and my dear sister, it's not only those who confess and only those who do, but rather only those who confess with their mouth that they are in the Lord Jesus Christ, but rather those who do the will of the Father. That is the whole point of the Lord Jesus Christ there in Matthew chapter 7 and also there in the end of Mark chapter 3.

Remember, when people came to the Lord, the family of the Lord, the mother of the Lord and the siblings of the Lord came to see him in the last verses of Mark chapter 3. And the Lord says, Look, you see these people here? They say, Lord, Lord, your family is outside. Lord Jesus, they are looking for you. And then he says, look, these are my brothers and these are my sisters, because those who do the will of God, those are my brothers and those are my sisters.

Those who will make it into the kingdom of heaven, my dear brother and sister, yes, those who are saved by grace through faith, but the genuineness of that visitation of the Spirit will be manifested, my dear brother, my dear sister, in doing. And the Bible calls us to be not only knowing about having to obey the commandments, but also very importantly, very, very, very importantly, my dear brother and sister, to be diligent in good works and in good deeds. That we will not be diminishing the importance of good works and good deeds. That we will not be offended when we think about good works and good deeds as part of our salvation. That we will not be, in a carnal way, in a fleshly way, offended when we think about salvation and genuine Christianity with good works and with good deeds.

Because if that happens, my dear brother and sister, we might be living with an abstract idea of grace, And then obedience becomes just only doing correctly the things that I'm supposed to do in my very close environment, where the Bible calls us to be diligent, diligent in good works and in good deeds. Now, the first thing that I want to differ from the Scriptures, before we get into our passage, is to show you the importance to our salvation of good works. Because at times, as I said, we think that only good works is something that we ought to do. But my dear brother and my dear sister, I want to show you from the Scriptures how good deeds, how good works, how obedience is not only something that we presently do, but rather obedience is rooted in the eternal decree of the Lord. from eternity past to eternity future.

And hence, it is against the Scripture to deny that the life of a genuine believer will not be one life, not only of not good works, but not being diligent in good works. I remember once that I was speaking with a brother from Texas, and he was giving me a report of the things that he was saying, of the things that they were doing there in Texas. And he told me, brother, you know, like we went and we just served those people. There was like a cyclone that had passed in Texas, and there were many trees that fell and things like that. And the cyclone stormed something like that and said, you know, brother, we were just went there and we were just helping all of these people, these lost.

And then he said, trying to be diligent in good works. pierced in the heart, because I was alert, pierced in my theological mind of trying to be diligent in good works. He was trying to actively be diligent in good works. Grace through faith, of course, but the Scripture also says in Titus, that we are to be diligent in good works. Pierce then in my conscience of the lack of diligence in doing good works, Brethren, many of those people there in Texas today were saved through the grace and through the love of the good works that were manifested through the Christians, peers, opportunity for them to preach the gospel and saved.

But we are to be diligent in obedience and in good works. That is actually, as I said, rooted not in your life, my dear brother and sister, but rooted in eternity past and going to eternity future. How important is good works and obedience for your salvation? Very. to the point, my dear brother, that that is the purpose of your choosing.

The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ, with every spiritual blessing in Christ, Even as He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, before Him in love, He predestined us for adoption as sons. My dear brother, my dear sister, The good works that a Christian does in the present time, the obedience that a Christian performs in the present day, is not rooted in the ability that the Christian has, but rather is the purpose for which God, before the creation of the world, choose his people, unto salvation, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless." That is to be perfected, to be made in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. There in the eternity path, when nothing existed, it was only God in His mind, the three persons of the Trinity, the purpose of the choosing of the church was so that they will be holy and blameless. Are we going to follow the preaching of the words of the contemporary church, that just for the sake of having people seated in their chairs, are happy to condone lives of sin and lives of disobedience, as long as they profess to be Christians and put a little bit of money in their backs, just for the sake of having a church filled with people and playing nice music?

Not my dear brother, not my dear sister. Genuine working of the Holy Spirit in a person is going to be manifested in external obedience from eternity past. Come with me to the same book of Ephesians in chapter 2 to show you the importance of the reality of grace and works coming together. Ephesians chapter 2, you remember the very famous verse that describes salvation. What is that very famous verse, brethren, in Ephesians chapter 2 that speaks of salvation?

Verse 8, right? So let us read together, verse 8 to 10, that speaks of the grace of salvation. It says, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8. For by grace, this is a very famous verse that we always quote, and it's true. For by grace, you have been saved through faith.

And this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. And amen for that. Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. But verse 10 is the continuation of the argument of the apostle brethren.

It says, For we are his workmanship, those who have been saved by grace through faith, created in Christ Jesus for what brethren? For good works. Now, which this is, this is a relative pronoun. What is that which pointing to? Which good works.

God prepare beforehand, verse 10. Once again, let us read it together. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, good works, these works, God prepare beforehand, so that we should walk in them. Brethren, present obedience is not the result of the Christian being so intellectual, and to be so spiritual, that now we discern what we ought to do. But good works in the ones that we walk in the present time are the result of that which God had already prepared for those who are saved by grace through faith and not that works that no one may boast.

That is that those who are visited by grace, then they will walk in the works that God had prepared before the foundation of the world. then that gives room to say in our theology, just for the sake of having people in our church coming, that a Christian is one of disobedience, that a Christian can walk in sin, or that a genuine believer is one that is going to walk in darkness, and that is going to be one that is given over to sin. Brethren, you answered that question. Can we say that in agreement with the Scriptures? We cannot.

Now, of course, there's going to be times and difficulties for the Christian of immaturity and walking in darkness. And that is for every single Christian. But when you look and you step back, and you see the life of the Christian as a whole, and you see the moment of salvation until the moment of death, the moment that you're taken up to glory, the outcome, the conclusion is that they have been sanctified. that they have obeyed, that even though they have struggled, that they have had difficulties, that they have had tribulations, that they have been conformed to the image of Jesus Christ a little bit more from the moment in which they were saved. That is the purpose of salvation, my dear brethren.

That is Romans chapter 8, that we will be conformed to the image of the Son who is the firstborn among many brethren. That is the purpose of God. And who can go against the purpose of God, my dear brother and sister? Can your difficulties, can your darkness, can your past, can the things that you have experienced go against the purpose of the Lord? The one who has begun the good work in us will bring it to what?

To completion, my dear brethren. And that is not just to simply tell us in our heart that He loves us, but to experience the Spirit of God in us, making us more like the Lord Jesus Christ, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world for good works. But not only that, my dear brethren, beyond that, beyond that, the Lord Jesus Christ died not only for your soul, He died for your good works. Come with me to Titus, please. Titus chapter 2, I think it is.

Titus. Titus chapter 2. Remember, brethren, in Ephesians chapter 2, how Paul speaks of grace saving us and then good works? That's Ephesians chapter 2, right? Grace saving us and then works.

Pay attention to the reasoning of Paul now in Titus chapter 2, verse 11. Pay attention. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. What does grace do? Verse 12, training us to renounce ungodliness and unworthy passions.

Brethren, please read it carefully with me once again, because grace is not this abstract, you know, bodyless, Or this abstract idea, romantic idea. But grace is power. Grace teaches. Grace helps us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 3.18.

Grace teaches and trains. It says in verse 11, once again, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people, training us or teaching us to renounce ungodliness, unworldly passions, and to live self-control, upright, ungodly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Brethren, it is so sad. Stay with me. I'm sorry that I'm speaking as we're reading.

But brethren, that this message is preached in many churches on this very day. And the response of the people that receive that message is you're a legalist. That is how you pronounce legalist. that you are putting a yoke of the law upon the people of God. But this is what the Scripture says, brethren.

It says that the grace of the Lord that has saved us is for the purpose that we will be self-controlled, upright and living godly lives in this present age, verse 13, waiting for a blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Pay attention, verse 14, who gave himself for us to redeem us. for all lawlessness, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works." Now, pay attention to the beginning of verse 14. Who gave himself for?

Gave himself for. Did the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself so that we will be redeemed and that we will be adopted as sons and that we will be forgiven? Yes, he did. But he also gave himself for identification, and identification is observed and is seen in good works. And you see the words that says there, zealous, or whatever the pronunciation is of that word, zealous for good work, right?

That is that you have this strong seal. It's not only that when you have to lift up the hand sanitizer, you do. but rather is that you're constantly thinking of, what can I do for good works, brethren? That is what the Scriptures teach. That biblical obedience will be the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person so strongly and so mightily that now this person is moved to desire, to be diligent in good works, to be diligent in doing good things.

Pay attention to verse 8. This is the one that I was quoting before. As I was doing the introduction in verse 8 of chapter 3, it says, "...the saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things." Paul teaching Titus of what he's supposed to insist on the church.

"...the saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God, Christians, may be careful to devote themselves to..." good works. Brethren, he says so that they will be aware that good works are necessary. No, he says to give themselves to be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Brethren, biblical obedience is a manifestation of the visitation of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And that is meant to make us zealous diligent for good works. Why, my dear brother, my dear sister? Because good works were decreed before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1 and Ephesians chapter 2. But also because the Lord Jesus Christ died upon the cross, He gave Himself, Titus 2.

14, He gave Himself so that we will be a people zealous for good works. the decree of the Lord, the death of the Lord. You think that all of that will accomplish good works in His people? Of course it will. So it is necessary that the Christian, by the power of the Spirit, will be moved to this.

Because, my dear brother, my dear brother, sister, when the day comes, you know, He will give each one according to his works and deeds. Come to Romans chapter 2. He will give each one according to his works and according to his deeds. Are we going to be judged according to our works? Yes, it is true.

We are going to be judged according to our works. Of course, we understand that in light of the grace of the gospel and our theology and the cross and what the cross represents. But people are going to be judged according to their works and deeds. That is Romans chapter two. Let us read from verse one, just to get the context of this.

Here, the apostle is speaking against the hypocrite, the one who puts a burden on others that he cannot carry. Moving into speaking of the Jews. Let us read together, Brother, chapter two of the book of Romans. It says, Therefore, you have no excuse. Amen.

Every one of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O men, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience? not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, but because of your heart, an impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

The mind of the apostle now has been moved to the future. You see, in that verse 5, It says, but because of your heart and impenitent hearts, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath. The apostle's mind has been moved now to the future. He's dictating this letter. Tertius is writing this letter, and he's dictating this letter.

And as he's saying these words and Tertius is writing, his mind has been moved to the last day, the day of wrath. And then he uses the future tense in verse 6. It says, he got will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life." You see the difficulty of that verse, brethren, when you take it only in good works alone?

It says, verse 6, He will render to each one according to his works. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. You see that if someone was going to take only that verse, one can easily make contingent eternal life upon good works. Right? Just from that verse.

It says then verse 8, but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, those are who reject the gospel in the words of 1 Peter chapter 4 and also 1 Peter chapter 2, obeying the gospel. Do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." And it continues, "...there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality." Now, my dear brother, my dear sister, the question of how good works are produced is not what we have on the table.

Because what we know is that good works can only be produced with the genuine visitation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person. No one can do good. Remember Romans chapter 3? No one does good. There's no one good.

Everyone has fallen short of the glory of the Lord. There's absolutely no one that can do good works. But when a person has been genuinely saved by the grace of God that trains and teaches us to renounce to ungodliness, then that person will face the last day with an overview of the life in which good works and deeds are less than bad works and deeds. No, brethren, that that person abounds in good works and deeds. that the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every Christian will take them to that point and will take them with a manifestation of conformity.

Conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, if a person is saved and in the next second that person dies, there is not going to be much manifestation of works or deeds for that person. But if providentially that person is saved and then allowed to live, then the period of time that that person is allowed to live before they see the Lord, there is going to be manifestation of good works and good deeds. And that is going to be taken into account when they're making it through heaven. Because it's not only those who say, Lord, Lord, but those who do the will of the Father.

Matthew chapter 7 verse 21 and onwards. You see now the burden, brethren. Can you at least experience the burden of this? Because I don't know if this is what you're thinking in your heart, but certainly I am, as I was preparing this this morning and now, that, wow, Lord, give me diligence in good works. I have not been as diligent in good works as I should have been.

Even there's a stricter judgment for the one who preaches, James chapter 3, a stricter judgment for the one who preaches. Lord, have mercy, because my heart is not as diligent to be given to good works, and good deeds, and obedience, and keeping the commandments, and keeping His word, and working as the Lord will get. The scripture says that this should be my heart. What am I going to do? Nothing else, brethren, than just to rest upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because if I'm going to take this on my own shoulders, there's only going to be desperation, and there's going to be darkness upon our souls. It's only come before the Lord Jesus Christ and say, Lord, you do what you have said that you will do in your people, do it in me. Now, brethren, one of the complications and difficulties that we have in obedience, I think from my experience on the scriptures and the conversations that we have had in the last four years, is discerning between that obedience that is in the flesh, and obedience that is in the Holy Spirit, right? Sometimes we appease our conscience just simply doing things. People can just simply come to church just to appease their conscience.

And they say, I'm doing a good work. They can give money to the poor just to appease their conscience. And then they're just appeasing their conscience, but they are doing it in the flesh. Now remember what Paul says in Romans chapter 14 in the last verse. Remember?

What does he say about the things that we do in Romans chapter 14 in the last verse? Brethren, they are supposed to be rooted in faith. that that which does not proceed from faith, remember Romans chapter 14, the last verse, that which does not proceed from faith is a sin. So that means that everything that we ought to do is to be rooted in faith. So it's not about doing, it's about doing it with the right fountain.

It's not about just simply saying, it's about having the right fountain of the things that we say. So it's very difficult at times, brethren, to find ourselves distinguishing between obedience that is in the flesh, that is not rooted in faith, and obedience that is in the Holy Spirit. So I want us, from the Scriptures, to be able to discern this. And I'm going to take you back to the passage that we have in front of us, which is 1 John chapter 2. And I want to give you, brethren, I want to give you three I don't know, characteristics, or three thoughts from the Scriptures, or three tests, if you want, from the Scriptures, that will help us discern the type of obedience that we have.

Okay? If you have not been paying attention to the things that I have been saying before, then please pay attention to this, because I want to give you three things from this passage and from the first book of John, Three things that will help us discern if our obedience is not rooted in faith, namely sin, right? Because that which is not rooted in faith is sin. Even if what I do is nice, even if what I do is preaching the word, even if what I do is serving the brethren, even if what I do is serving my wife, even if what I do is helping the poor, even if I do all of those things and those things are not rooted in faith, brethren, according to Romans chapter 14, Sin. So we want to identify the heart of the person who always walks in the Spirit.

And hence, the obedience of that person is not sin, but it's a result of faith. And I want to give you, as I said, three things, three things, three thoughts, three ideas from the passage and from the first book of John that will help us discern the genuineness of our obedience. The first one, obedience is personal. Obedience is personal. Pay attention to the text.

It says, and by this we know that we have come to know Him. If we keep the commandments, if we keep the law, brethren, His commandments, And by this we know that we know Him, if we keep not only commandments, but His commandments. Because brethren, it's very easy for people to obey the law, right? That is the Pharisees. The Pharisees gave themselves to the letter of the law.

They did not give themselves to the law of the commandment. But the Apostle says that we are to obey His commandments. That is, that which we obey comes from Him. I'm not obeying just for the sake of the letter. I'm not obeying just for the sake of me.

I'm not obeying just for the sake of others, but I'm obeying His commandments. The Apostle confirms that in verse 5, when he says, "...by whoever keep his word." Because obedience is personal. It's the word of the Lord that is the one that is to be kept.

And if the pronoun there, his, was not sufficient to prove that obedience is meant to be personal, the Apostle then says in verse 6 that we are to walk as he walked. That is that my obedience is to be a reflection of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, brethren, that when I'm obeying and when I'm doing good works and good deeds, I'm not doing it for myself. I'm not doing it for someone else. I'm not doing it to be observed or seen.

And I'm not doing it just for the sake of the commandment. I'm keeping His commandments. And brethren, this is a very important test that helps us discern what we do. Who do we do it for? Do you come and preach the sermon just because there's something that you have to do and nobody else will do it, or you have to do it?

Or do you do it before the Lord? Do you serve your kids, or do you serve your husband, or do you serve your wife, or do you serve your brothers and sisters? Because this is something that is expected for you to do, or something that others will see, and you are required to do it. This is life, I have just to go through the duty, the duty, the duty, the duty, or you do it before the Lord. Because brethren, let me just tell you now, the one that is done for self, the one that is done for others, the one that is done for the literate, is a burden.

It's a burden. It was one week, two weeks, one month, two years, five years, whatever the thing is, it's a burden. And then you know the nature of your obedience just by that. Is that a burden to you? Is that a burden?

Because obedience is to be personal. And when I say personal, brothers and sisters, just as the Lord walked, we are to walk. And how did the Lord walk? Remember, Brother Bernie has mentioned this many times through John. How did the Lord walk?

He pleased his father, right? He pleased his father in everything. How do Christians please God, brethren? How do Christians please God? Hebrews chapter 11.

It is impossible to please God without faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord. And that is true, my dear brother. To please the Lord, we need faith. But at the same time, we need works.

Come with me to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, you remember Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, without faith is impossible to please the Lord. The only problem with that is that at times faith can be something that is just so inside of you, that is not manifested outside of you. And you can easily deceive you by saying, with faith I'm pleasing the Lord. I have faith, I believe, I know that He exists.

I know that He is the reward of those who diligently seek Him. I know all of those things from Hebrews chapter 11. But brother, pay attention to these sacrifices that are spoken in Hebrews chapter 13. Three sacrifices, three sacrifices are going to be mentioned here. Did you know that every time that we come here on Sunday and we open our mouths to sing praises when brother Jesus is leading us, that this is pleasing to the Lord?

As Mikey prayed, I pleasing a Roman to the Lord. But this is a sacrifice that is supposed to please the Lord. Verse 15, it says, to Him, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Pay attention to verse 16.

Here it will add two other sacrifices. The first one is the sacrifice of praise to God with our mouths. Verse 16. Do not neglect to do good. Second, and to share what you have with others for such sacrifices, namely the sacrifice of praising God with our mouth and the sacrifice of doing good and the sacrifice of sharing with others what you have.

are pleasing to God. Brethren, when you obey, are you seeking to please the Lord? Or are you seeking to please yourself, your conscience of getting things done, of just going through motions, and then just tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, done. I'm so productive. When you're doing things, are you seeking to please the Lord?

Are you aware, my dear brother and sister, that what would you do? You're offering a sacrifice to the Lord? Brethren, this changes perspective. I have read this many times. But at least for me, this changes completely the perspective of everything that we say, everything that we do.

Because even as I'm speaking to you, I could be doing this for myself. I could be doing this for you. And not for the sake of honoring my Lord and my God, and to please Him. And that is in every single aspect of our lives. Thoughts, words, and deeds.

Good works please the Lord. Why? Because the first test is that it ought to be personal. It's everything about Him and not about us. Remember that.

That is the first one. If we return to the text, I can give you the second one. Second one in 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. The first one is that your obedience, my dear brother and sister, is to be personal.

And that is not just simply saying, I'm obeying for him. He's experiencing the desire to please the Lord. Just as when little children want to do, you know, you who have children, you know, Papa, Papa, I did this, I did this. Look, he did that, I did that. Look, look, look, Papa, I did that, I did that with the desire to please the father or the mother.

This is the life of the Christian, brother and sister, to please the Lord. And in pleasing the Lord, let me tell you, you will find satisfaction for your wife, your husband, your children, your church and your soul, because there is no other pleasure than pleasing the Lord. Second, my dear brother and sister, is that obedience should be rooted in the truth. You see verse 5, it says, "...but whoever keeps his word..."

Oh, sorry, verse 4, "...whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandment, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." In the liar, the truth is not in him, right? But the one that keeps the commandments, the one that is not a liar, the truth is in him? Yes.

Why? The truth in him is that which moves the genuine obedience of the person. That means that, my dear brother and sister, obedience is to be rooted in the truth. Obedience is not to be rooted in your tradition. Obedience is not to be rooted in just the way that you have done things for the last 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 or 100 years.

Obedience is not just to be rooted in a almost mindless or not aware of the things that I'm doing, but obedience is to be rooted in the truth. And that is in the Word of God. Now, I'm not saying that everything that we do is to be connected and rooted in the truth of the Lord, but in the principle of life of the Lord. And let me tell you that he simply has called us to do everything in faith, in love and in grace. And with that, we can go and live our lives and do absolutely everything that we do.

The obedience of the Christian is to be rooted in the truth, in keeping the Word of God. And my dear brother, my dear sister, how is a Christian going to obey? By keeping the Word of God in his heart. How are we going to know how to obey Him if we don't know what He has said? How are we going to do if we don't know what He has said that we ought to do?

How is a young man going to keep his way pure if it's not by treasuring up the Word in his heart that he may not sin against the Lord? If we treasure up His Word in our hearts, we may not sin against Him. That is because we are keeping the Word in our hearts and that is leading and guiding the ways that we live and the things that we do. And brethren, Let me show you the power of keeping the Word of God. Come with me to John chapter 14.

Bear with me, I know that is long, but bear with me, please. John chapter 14, I will finish soon. Come with me to John chapter 14, please. The first test that I wanted to share with you, my dear brother and sister, about the genuineness of your obedience, obedience in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Brethren, the first one, test, personal, that obedience is personal, that you do to please the Lord.

The second one is that it's meant to be rooted in the truth. Rooted in the Word, that is to keep the Word of the Lord. Rooted in the truth of the Lord. Now, pay attention to this, brethren. This story here in John chapter 14 is very interesting.

The Lord is telling his disciples that he's going to go away. So that is that the presence of the Lord is going to be removed from the disciples. Think about that. That is sad, right? We have been with this man who happens to be also God for almost three years.

We have eaten with him. We have heard his voice. We have seen his countenance. We have seen his humility. We have heard his wisdom.

We have experienced his protection. Remember, like on the sea with a storm, that they thought that they were going to die and the Lord appeased the storm, calmed the storm? We have experienced all of that. It was natural that now they're feeling sad and that they're going to miss the presence of the Lord. Now the Lord has explained to them that He has given them the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit will be It's completely natural, brothers and sisters, for them to experience the need of...

He's leaving. He's going. We're not going to hear him anymore. We're not going to see him anymore. We're not going to experience his presence anymore.

The Lord says this in verse 18 of chapter 14. I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you, yet a little while, and the world will see. But you will see Me, because I live, you also will live, as we sang today. In that day you will know that I am my Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Whoever, brethren, verse 21, whoever has My commandments and keeps them, obedience, he it is who loves Me. We have said that already many times. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." You've read that before, right? It says that he who keeps my commandments is the one who loves me.

And that he who loves me and obeys my commandments, it says, I will love him and manifest myself to him. You see how that verse speaks so much to the moment that they were experiencing? He's going. His presence is departing. His appearance, his countenance is going.

I will manifest myself to him. How? Through love and obedience. The one who keeps my commandments. But he continues, verse 22, Judas, not his carrier, said to him, Lord, of course, the question follows, Lord, how is that you will manifest yourself to us?

and not to the world. You're going, how is that you're going to manifest yourself? The catechism question there, and it's answered in verse 23, Jesus answered him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. 1 John chapter 2, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him, and he and we, my Father and I, as he has said before, will come to him, brethren, and make...

Our home with Him, or make an abode, it says in your other translations. Make our home with Him, whoever does not love me and does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. You see, brethren, the Puritans in the 17th century saw this verse here in chapter 14, not only as the ongoing indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is permanent and does not change and the presence of the Spirit in them, but also as the manifestation of the presence of the Lord that comes. and transforms the life of a person who has been visited by the Holy Spirit, who has been visited by the manifested presence of the Lord, that the person has been made aware of the presence of the Lord, and they will say, Lord, part from me, and greater manifestations of holiness will be given to that person, love and obedience and keeping the word, that is making the abode of God the Father and God the Son in the person, And you think that a person who is aware of the presence of Christ in his or her heart will go outside to give themselves to pornography, or give themselves to gossip, or give themselves to evil thoughts? Brethren, no!

There is the power of the presence of the Lord in the heart of that person. Love and keep my word. Take something, brethren. Never diminish the power of treasuring up the Word of God in your heart. Never diminish or remove the power of treasuring up and keeping the Word of God in your memory, in your head, and in your heart, and in meditating upon it constantly, diligently, and ongoingly.

Never diminish the power of that because, brethren, you have no idea. No, you do have an idea because you have the Spirit of God in you. But brethren, the conformity to Christ that can be given by the treasuring up of the Word of God in your mind and in your heart and in your life. Powerful, because the presence of the Lord comes. Obedience, that is rooted in that, will be led by the Spirit, brethren.

That will be walking in the Spirit, according to Galatians chapter 4 and 5. Because the Word of God is in you. First of all, genuine obedience, that is personal. Return to 1 John, please, so that we see the third one there. That is personal.

Second, that is rooted in the truth. And please bear with me just for another 10 minutes. It hasn't been that long, a little bit long. Just please bear with me for 10 minutes. I explain this last one and then we can just move from there.

The third one is not only, as I said, personal and rooted in the Word of God. But the third is that obedience, brethren, obedience always comes together with faith and love. That which the Christian does, He's supposed to be with faith and love. First of all, because he's meant to be rooted in faith, right? Romans chapter 14.

He's meant to be rooted in faith. But obedience is always to be coupled with the presence of faith and the presence of love. That is, that which I am doing to please the Lord, or that which I am doing for the sake of my brethren, or that which I'm doing at work, or that which I'm doing for my kids, or that which I'm doing in my life, is to be with the awareness of the existence of God and His relationship to me in Christ. It is to be rooted in the principle of the Word of God, but always with the presence of faith and love. If you remember what I quoted last week in chapter three, let us read it quickly there, brethren.

Chapter 3, in verse 23, it says, 3.23, and this is His commandment. This is the commandment. You see, this is obedience, right? This is His commandment, what is to be obeyed, the commandment.

And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, faith. and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments, abiding God and God in him. And by this, we know that he abides in us by the spirit who he has given us. Keeping the commandments of the Lord, which the main commandment is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to love one another, will come with the experience of faith and love.

And brethren, that experience of faith and love will remove the fleshly experience of burden. Come to 1st John chapter 5. The presence of faith and love in what we do removes the experience of burden. You know what I mean by burden, right? That when we have to do something that we get sick of it, that we have to do it, that we are tired, that we don't want to do it anymore, that is upon our shoulders, that is a burden, that is a repetitious thing that I have to do, and it's a burden, burden, burden, and it's dark.

This is what the Scripture says about obedience, brethren. Chapter 5, verse 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. Love one another.

By this we know that we love the children of God when we love and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God. that we keep his commandments. And his commandments, brethren, are not burdensome. Brethren, is obedience burdensome?

No, it's not. The type of obedience that makes a person experience the burden of duty It's the type of obedience that is not being done in faith and love unto the Lord. It's the type of obedience that is being done unto myself, unto others, unto someone else that is not the Lord. Because the keeping of the commandments of the Lord is not burdensome, brethren. It's not burdensome.

Remember in James chapter 1, the law of liberty? James is speaking about the law of Moses. He's going to quote, do not kill, do not murder, later on, speaking about the law of Moses, and he calls it the law of liberty. Because for the person for whom the light of Christ is shining, and he, as the Apostle will say from verse 7 onwards, for whom the light of Christ is already shining, the old commandment of the letter now has become a new commandment. Not because of the letter, but it's new in the Spirit, because the Spirit of Christ now is in that person.

That which was old and frozen from the beginning, is now new for the person. Even though they had heard the letter of the commandment, now it's made a new one. So the Holy Spirit is the one that is moving the person to obey the commandment. And that is not burdensome. Personal is meant to be your own.

Rooted in the truth, the Word of God abiding in you, and always coupled with faith and love, that makes you experience the obedience that is not burdensome. And that, brethren, that, if you allow me and give me three minutes, please, perhaps a little bit more than three minutes, but if you allow me and give me a little more time, that is going to produce in you, that is going to produce in us the fruit of genuine obedience. And the fruit of genuine obedience is what the Apostle says in 1 John chapter 2, that he who keeps his word in him truly, what does he say? In him, what happens in the one that keeps the word? The love of God is?

Perfected. What is that experience? I have spoken to you about it before, right? What is the experience of having the love of God perfected in the heart of a person who obeys in this way? Not the one that is like the pharisaical one that obeys just simply for ticking the box, but the one who obeys and keeps the commandment unto the Lord because he's perfected.

The one who obeys and keeps the commandment rooted in the Word of God. The one who obeys coupled with faith and love. What is the fruit? What is the blessing for that person? The blessing for that person is that the love of God is perfected in his or her heart.

And what is the manifestation of that experience, my dear brethren? Remember Romans chapter 8, For we have not received the spirit of Slavery unto bondage. But we have received the Spirit of God that makes us cry, Abba, Father, my dear brother and sister, that Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit in us, when the love of God is being perfected, removed from us, fear. Let me just briefly just read it there in 1 John chapter 4, and I will conclude with this, with one more verse actually, but just I need to show you this. I'm sorry, brother.

Verse 18, in chapter 4, I have tried to preach this to you for a year, and every time that I speak to you or any of you, like after this, I never make myself clear. Brethren, this is very important what I'm trying to say here from the Scriptures. In verse 18, it says, there is no fear, brethren, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." You see that?

The person who fears has not been perfected in love. If you keep his word, the love will be perfected in love, it says 1 John 2. The one who fears has not been perfected in love, verse 19. Not because he first loved us, and it continues, and continues, and continues. Obedience that is unto the Lord, keeping the commandments of the Lord, not for you, not for others, but for the Lord, that you're giving in your heart for the Lord, that you want to please the Lord.

Obedience that is rooted not in your mind, not in your traditions, not in what I should do according to my wisdom, but in the Word of God. Obedience that is coupled with faith and in love will bring the love of God in perfection into your heart. That is to fill your heart with the love of God, removing any fear of punishment, removing any fear of self condemnation. And when the Christian walks in the certainty that he or she is loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is calling in what I now call a wholesome experience of faith. A wholesome experience of faith, not only that they know that they believe, but that they experience their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because the love of God has been poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit that was given to them.

Romans chapter 5. This is the love of God that has been shed, poured into the heart of the Christian. And now the Christian is living not only by a faith that I have, but a faith that I experience. And this faith is one faith that is manifested in obedience, in keeping the commandments, in holiness, in Christ-likeness, in love one for the other, in sacrifice and in humility. These are the fruits of the Spirit.

And brethren, pay attention to what the apostle says in chapter 3, verse 16. Read this with me carefully. And let us read this, paying attention to each one of these words here. Please, brethren, there's chapter 3, verse 16. Take everything that I have said, share with you.

And let us read this here. It says, by this, verse 16 in chapter 3, you can remember this very powerful passage because it's not John 3, 16, but 1 John 3, 16. By this we know love. How do we know love? By the gospel, that He laid down His life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. You see the power of those words, right? Verse 17, If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, How does God's love abide in him? Speaking about good works, right? Good works unto the brethren, love to the brethren.

Once again, verse 17. But if anyone has the world's goods, money, power, things, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart, literally building walls of indifference, and closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in words and talk, but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him. Pay attention to these verses here, brethren.

With my broken reading here, and perhaps we're reading different translations, pay attention to what is going to speak about the reassured, confirmed heart in relation to obedience. It says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, fear, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. The apostle is trying to give consolation there. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

That is, if the love of God has been perfected in me, my heart is not going to condemn me. There's not going to be fear of punishment. That is condemnation. Beloved, verse 21, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And he says, verse 22, brethren, this is the power of prayer of a person who is walking in the Spirit.

And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. Brethren, you see this uncomfortable doctrine of praying in faith for the thing that you do, just because some people will take the extreme of it and say, whatever you declare you get. Brethren, when a person has experienced everything that I have said for the last 50, 60 or 70 minutes, when a person is experiencing the life of God in him or her, When that person is walking in obedience, not unto him or unto others, but unto the Lord. When that person is rooting everything that they do in the Word of God and in the truth of God. When God the Father and God the Son have come to manifest themselves and make an abode with him or her, because of the keeping of the Word of God.

When that person is walking in faith and is walking in love, when that person is dying to self and taking up the cross, when that person is dying to all the thoughts that they have in their minds and the things that they have in their souls, when that person is doing so, that person is living in alignment with God's will. Because not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, we are led to the kingdom of God. No, heaven, but those who do the will of my Father. So do not be conformed to this world, but renew your mind, because in renewing your mind, you will know what the will of the Lord is. And not only know abstractly and intellectually as a person who is dead in their trespasses and knows, but does not do, but rather, brethren, you will experience the will of the Lord.

And whatever you ask, Your heart will be in alignment with the heart of the Lord, and even your prayers will be those which God has for you, whatever that is. And then the Scripture says there in verse 22, And whatever we ask, we receive from Him. Why? Because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. Is obedience the requirement for prayers that are responded?

Yes, but not only obedience, but obedience in the presence of the Holy Spirit of everything that I have said, my dear brother and sister. This is the two-edged sword. that divides and separates the soul and discerns, brethren, the thoughts of men. This is the two-edged sword that is to guide us in the way that we live and the way that we walk. This is the two-edged sword that is the one that confront us with reality and confront us to the will of the Lord.

This is the two-edged sword that is supposed to humble us and to recognize that there's nothing in us and that we depend on Him. Because when that happens, my dear brother and sister, when we are humbled in that way, the Holy Spirit will be the one that moves us to pray the prayers that God wants us to pray, to say the words that He wants us to say, to love the brethren as He wants us to love the brethren, and to give ourselves in sacrifice for others as He gave His life for us, that we will live for Him and for the church. Amen.