The World will hate You

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, my dear brothers and sisters. I'm going to invite you please to open up your Bibles to the first letter of the Apostle John, chapter 3.

And by God's grace, we're going to continue with our exposition and with our studies in 1 John, chapter 3. So if you have your Bibles, please open them to 1 John, chapter 3. Last week, as you know, brothers and sisters, I had the opportunity to share with you and my desire was to speak to you about the great love that the Father has bestowed upon us in making us His children. If there was anything that was going to be deposited in your hearts, in your souls, in your minds, I hope That is that by faith you may see the great love that the Father has bestowed upon your soul in making you His child. A triumphal love from the Father in the Son Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit a love that is immutable, a love that does not change, a love that is freely given to your soul, a love that does not depend upon your performance, a love that does not depend upon the things that you do or don't do, but a love that is contingent and depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is now, brother and sister, my desire that we will address the second half of verse 1 in chapter 3, in which the apostle is going to tell us that the reason why the world does not know us, the children of God, is because the world did not know the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me submit to you that the idea that the Apostle has in that statement is the cost that we have to pay for being a child of God. The price that we have to pay for being a child of God. And that price, that cost that each one of us will have to pay for being a child of God is hatred from the world. The world will hate us.

The world hates us as children of God. And the reason why the world hates us as children of God is because the world hated the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He came. That is the idea that the apostle has in that second statement, and I'm going to invite you, brother and sister, to read with me, paying careful attention to each one of the words, to the first 10 verses of chapter 3. I want to speak to you about the cost, the price of being a child of God. the cost and the price of being a child of God.

Brother and sister, let us read, paying careful attention to each one of the words that we have in front of us. The first 10 verses of chapter 3. May the Lord help us to read with faith. This is the Word of the Lord. See, O behold, what kind of love the Father has bestowed or given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that the world it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we, the children of God, will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He, that is Christ, is revealed, or when He appears, we, Christians, the children of God, shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is, and everyone. Everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either sinned Him or known him, little children. Let no one deceive you.

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil, that is, Satan.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Amen. This is the reading of the words of the Lord. My dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul, my dear friend, children, I want to speak to you about the cost that the child of God has to pay for being a child of God. The price of being a child of God.

The price that we have to pay for being a child of God, and I'm going to submit to you, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear friend and children, that the price that we need to pay for being a child of God is that we are to face the hatred of the world. The world hates the children of God. The world actively hates the children of God. And the reason why the world actively hates the children of God is because the world hated the Son of God when He came. That is what the Apostle means when he says the reason why the world does not know us is because the world did not know Him.

And when I say hate, my dear brother and sister, I'm not speaking about a passive emotional manifestation that only abides in the mind of people in the world. But rather, as I'm going to demonstrate from the Scriptures, when I say that the world hates the children of God, this hate is an active manifestation in which the world is going to come up with strategies to destroy the children of God. because that is what the world intended to do or tried to do when the Son of God came into this world. I'm not speaking about something passive that abstractly abides somewhere there, or just not simply as a difference of opinion between the world and the children of God, but rather I'm speaking about the reality that is confirmed by the Scriptures. That there is going to be enmity between the world and the children of God.

That by virtue of being Christians by faith, we enter now not only in a relationship with God, but a new relationship with the world and the things of this world. And that relationship is one of the world hating the children of God. I doctrine, my dear brother and sister, that is not only in the mind of John in this chapter, chapters 4 and 5, but is confirmed with the Scriptures. It says in Philippians 1, verse 29, that it has been granted to Christians, not only to believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for His sake. It has been given, brother and sister, to the genuine child of God, not only the grace, not only the gift of faith in believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but together with the gift of faith, the child of God receives the promise that the child of God is going to suffer.

The same apostle confirms that in 2 Timothy 3, verse 12, when he says that if anyone desires to live a godly life, if anyone by God's grace and the Spirit of Christ in them desires to live a life after the way of the Lord Jesus Christ, a Christ-like life, that that person will be persecuted. My dear brother and sister, I want to speak to you about this reality, that the world hates the children of God. A reality that I'm just telling you from the outset of this sermon. A reality that is not going to change in this life, only when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. There's no agreement that the children of God can make with the world.

There is no treaties of peace that the children of God can sign with the world. There is no negotiation that the children of God can have with the world that is going to bring the terms of peace during this time. The world hates the children of God because the world hated the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this relationship of enmity between the world and the children of God will endure until the end. And it is the mission, and it is the responsibility of the Christian media, brother and sister, that we will put our eyes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because in and of ourselves, we're not able to face the obscurity, the darkness, the unrighteousness, and all these strategies of the world.

In and of ourselves, we don't have what it takes to oppose the hatred of the world against us. It is only what the Lord Jesus has done for us and the Spirit that He has given us that will help us and empower us to overcome the world. Any preaching or any teaching that says that the children of God have their best life now, any teaching or any preaching that says that becoming a child of God is equivalent to having agreement or reconciliation with the things of this world, it is a preaching that is not only not found in the Bible, but that is contrary to the truth that the Lord has manifested in the Scriptures. Actually, this category of false teachers is described in 1 John 4. My dear brother and sister, this enmity between the children of God and the world is an enmity that will go until the end when the Lord Jesus Christ comes.

And brother and sister, if it was not because we trust in our Savior and knowing that He is victorious, If it was not because by grace we know that Jesus Christ has conquered and will conquer. If it was not because of the grace that has taught us already that the Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, then the life of the child of God will be tempted to despair. Because it is by faith we know that we will be overcomers with the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what the same apostle says in 1 John 5 and verse 4 and onwards. that those who are born of God will have overcome the world.

Those who are born of God, brother and sister, overcome the world. The person who by grace has been begotten of God, the person who has been given new life, overcomes the world. And you know what is the victory of those who overcome the world? Their faith, the faith of the child of God is the victory by which or through which we overcome the world, the children of God. There is no sword that can penetrate the flesh of a Christian so deep that can reach the given faith that the Spirit has given to a child of God and be destroyed and removed.

Perhaps that sword might penetrate in such a way that the life of that person is taken, but from the smallest to the strongest, to the weakest to the most powerful of the Christians, when faith has been given, there's no strategy of men. There's no strategy of Satan that can remove the gift of faith that the Father has given us, pointing us to the Lord Jesus Christ. So the victory of the Christian is not a victory, it's just simply being able to be liberated from the present trials and difficulty. But the victory of the Christian is the faith that the Lord has given us that independently of what this world does, nothing is going to be able to separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. Whatever war, whatever tribulation, whatever difficulty, whatever strategy of Satan, his demons, and this world can prepare will never be able to separate us from the love of God that is found in the person of Christ Jesus.

And that's how we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Because nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from that love, glorious love, that has been bestowed upon us by the Father, in the Son, through the Holy Spirit that has put into our hearts, shed into our hearts, the love of the Father. It is my desire, my dear brother and sister, it is my desire that I will communicate something from the Scriptures so that your faith will be strengthened, that your eyes will be pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ, that even though, yes, we know that the world hates the children of God, that even though, yes, we do know that this world is going to be an enmity with the children of God, and even though we know that this enmity of the world with the children of God is difficult, and there's going to be tribulations and trials and persecutions and many things that we do not desire for us, that the Lord has given us the God-given faith, that when it is strengthened, it will empower us in times of difficulty not to look to self, not to look outside, not to look to the flesh in ways of human ways to avoid tribulations or trials, but independently of the circumstances to place our eyes in the one who loved us and gave himself for us. But it is necessary, brother and sister, that we will understand and acknowledge and know that the world hates the children of God. And that is the idea that the apostle has in 1 John 3.

The world hates the children of God. And the reason why the world hates the children of God is because the world hated the Son of God who came to redeem us. Now, I suppose that perhaps there may be any of you that is asking, but brother, where do you see the word hate in that statement? The apostle has only said there that the world does not know us because it did not know him. Let me, brother and sister, submit to you that the idea that the apostle has is an idea of active hatred.

Active hatred. Now, brother, And sister, this is very important because some people will come to this text and actually to that doctrine that the Apostle John explains in 1 John chapter 3, 4, and 5, and come to the conclusion that the relationship between the world and the children of God is not one of active hatred from the world to the child of God, but rather simply is a relationship in which the world does not understand or does not recognize the child of God. There is a difference between the world not understanding the child of God and that with the world hating the child of God. Let me submit to you that it's very important that we will see from the scriptures that the relationship that the world has with the children of God is one of active hatred. That is, that the world is actively trying to come up with activities and strategies to destroy the children of God.

In other words, to destroy their faith because their faith is their victory. Satan is a lion seeking someone to devour, a roaring lion, and the way that he destroys the Christian is by affecting and attempting against their faith. If someone says that the relationship between the world and the children of God is not one of active hatred, but rather just simply one of not understanding or not recognition, diminishes the standard or diminishes the doctrine that the Apostle has here. From the context we can easily see that when the Apostle says that the world does not know us or that the world does not know us, if you see there the reason why the world does not know us is because it did not know him, it is clearly from the context that the Apostle is speaking about a relationship word. If you pay attention there to verse 6 The Apostle has used that word to denote and to speak of that spiritual relationship that we have with the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says in verse 6, no one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. father has known us as his children and because he has known and he has bestowed his love upon us and has made us his children. The world does not know us and the result of this is that the world does the opposite of what the father does. The father loves us because he has known you.

The world hates us because the world the world does not know us. The apostle makes it more clear if you want in verse 13 of the same chapter there it says do not be surprised in verse 13 do not be surprised brothers and sisters that the world hates you. Clearly stated there, the Apostle, not only in the context, is referring to that word that the world does not know us as the world hates actively the Christian. Now, brother and sister, remember that the heart of the word hate is murder. You remember from the teachings of Matthew, someone that hates in their heart is equal to a murderer.

So here we are speaking about a feeling, an emotion, if you want, or the desire to eliminate and to destroy the person of those whom I hate. In this case, the world hates the children of God. But my dear brother and sister, This teaching is not a teaching that comes from the mouth of the Apostle John. The Apostle John simply what he's doing is that he's taking the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ who clearly taught about this connection between knowing and hate and explain that the reason why the disciples and the Christians will be hated is because the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ. Quickly come with me please to John chapter...

my mind 15 verse 18. John chapter 15. Thank you to whoever said 15. John chapter 15. Pay attention to this in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 18.

If the world hates you, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, brethren, right? If the world hates you, know that He has hated me before He hated you. That is the commentary, that is the explanation of 1 John 3, verse 1. This is the reason the world does not know you, because it did not know Him. This is the explanation.

If the world hates you, Christians, know that it has hated me, the Son of God, before it hated you. If you were of the world, The world would love you as it is own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Brethren, there's no room to interpret here just a different opinion or a lack of understanding from the world to the children of God. The Lord clearly speaks and John and the Bible speaks that the feeling or the disposition of the heart of the world towards the children of God is one of hatred. The hatred that is conceived in the heart that seeks outwardly to destroy because killing is rooted in hatred in the heart.

So he continues in verse 20. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they keep my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name.

Why? Because they do not know him who sent me. Who sent the Lord Jesus Christ, brethren? father. Why did the world hate the Lord Jesus Christ?

He hated because they did not know the father. The relationship of the world towards the Lord Jesus Christ when he came was one of hatred and then the children of God who are the sons and daughters of God because of Jesus Christ will relate to this world in that relationship, a relationship of hatred. But brethren, why did the world hate the Lord Jesus Christ? Why does this world hate the Lord Jesus Christ? Because if we know why the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ, we will understand why the world hates now the children of God.

Now, there are many answers to this question from the apostles, but the idea that the apostle John has in mind is one very interesting, so please come. with me once again to 1 John chapter 3. I want us now to consider this, why did the world hate the Lord Jesus Christ? By understanding that, we will understand why the world hates the children of God. Now, you need to understand something, my dear brother and sister, that in the mind of the Apostle John, he has these two dualistic systems that are going on in opposition.

On one side is the world and on the other side is the Father and his system. It says in 1 John 2, verse 15, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. Remember, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. He has this system of the world and the system of the Father in which Jesus Christ is King and Lord. Who is the ruler and the king of the system of the world, brethren?

The devil. 1 John chapter 5, verse 19 says that the world is under the power of Satan or the wicked one. So when the apostle is speaking about the purpose of the appearing of the Son of God, he's going to teach us something very interesting. The reason why the world and Satan hated the Lord Jesus Christ is because the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ had one purpose, or many purposes, but the main purpose in relation to what we're discussing, to destroy the works of Satan. The reason why Satan and the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ, among others, is because the Son of God came to destroy the works of Satan.

Brethren, are you with me? The reason why Satan and the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ when he came is because the Lord Jesus Christ came, among other things, to destroy the works of Satan. 1 John 3, verse 8, it says, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to what, brethren? To destroy the works of the devil.

Who appeared, brethren? Pay attention to the words that we have there. Who appeared? The Son of God. He could have said the Messiah.

He could have said Jesus, right? It says the reason why the only begotten Son of the Father was sent into this world, among other reasons, is to destroy the works of Satan. And Satan is the ruler of this world. Now, my dear brother, but how did the Lord Jesus Christ destroy the works of Satan? How did Christ, if someone asks you, my dear brother and sister or children, how did the Lord Jesus Christ destroy the works of Satan?

Anyone? At the cross. And that is an excellent answer. Very good. Praise God that the grace of the Lord has revealed that to you, that upon the cross, the Lord destroyed the works of Satan.

But there's something missing there. And that is that the Lord Jesus Christ destroyed the works of Satan with his life and with his death. Come with me, please, to Matthew chapter 3, because in Matthew chapter 3, you are going to understand something very interesting. Actually, before you go to Matthew chapter 3, let me just speak of this in 1 John chapter 5. Go to 1 John chapter 5.

Pay attention to this, brethren. This perhaps is going to open to us something that we have not seen before in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John chapter 5, please pay attention to this. Remember the verse that I mentioned there to you. He says in 1 John 5, verse 4.

Here it says, if you have it there, 1 John 5, verse 4. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. What does it say, Brethren? Our faith.

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? The faith is the faith in the Son, Jesus Christ. Who is he, Christian child of God, that overcomes the hatred of this world? The one who believes in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ. And then he says in verse six, pay attention to this.

This is he, speaking of Jesus, who came by water and blood. Jesus Christ, not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies or gives witness because the Spirit is the truth. The Apostle says that the Spirit gives witness to the victory of Christ from water to blood. And I'm going to submit to you that when the Apostle has that in mind, what he has in mind is what happened in Matthew chapter 13 before the beginning of the ministry or the works of the Son.

God. Because the Son of God came to this world to destroy the works of Satan through his works and through his death. The Son of God came to this world to destroy the works of Satan through his works and through his death. And the works of the Son of God started with the proclamation of his sonship and also the temptation by Satan. So let us go please to Matthew chapter 3 and let me just make a couple of comments there.

Matthew chapter 3. You know the passage in which the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be baptized there in Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, verse 13. Paying attention to this, brethren. Then Jesus, verse 13, then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

John would have prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you. And do you come to me? But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for that is it is fitting for us to fulfill our righteousness. Then he consented, and when Jesus was baptized immediately, he went up from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. A Trinitarian testimony, not only of Jesus Christ being the Messiah, the Christ of the people of Israel by that time, but that this Messiah is the Son of God. of God, the Son of God that has been sent from heaven to destroy, among other things, the works of Satan who rules over the world. So what comes after that in chapter 4 is then Jesus, verse 1 in chapter 4, then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by whom? by the devil.

After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, pay attention. He has been publicly, or at least from the father, declared to be the son of God. And there are many temptations that the devil could have said to Jesus Christ. But the temptation is If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil, Satan, took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, you whom have been declared by this voice from heaven and the Spirit coming upon you, who have been declared to be the Son of God, if you are the Son of God... And of course, brethren, when I say that He has been declared the Son of God, by no means I'm speaking that He was made the Son of God in Matthew 3. He's the eternally begotten Son of God, but this was the testimony from heaven. that He is the Son of God, says in verse 5, Then the devil took Him to the holy city, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, He will command His angels concerning You, and on their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.

Jesus said to Satan, Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to test. Again the devil, Satan, took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, because He is the one that rules over the world. and He sat under glory. And He said to him, all these kingdoms that I rule, Satan, of course, implicitly speaking, all of these kingdoms that you can see of the world, which I rule and have power over, all of these things I will give you if you fall down and worship Me. Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan!

For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you deserve. Now, I love that. Be gone, Satan. What does verse 11 say? Then the devil left him.

The victory of Christ started with his works there. The first Adam. the first son of God, Luke chapter 3, had been tempted in the garden with the abundance of food. And the devil might say, it only took me to offer him a little fruit that he will eat and then deviate from the ways that God had given him. It only took me a little temptations to give him to Adam in the garden so that I will take possession of everything that I was under his rule.

It only took me a few words in the midst of all of this, a garden of abundance, just to convince this first Adam to sin against God. But now I have come to this last Adam, this Son of God who has been sent, and I have had to go because I have not been able to break the righteousness that is found in this man who is the Son of God. So from that point onwards, The works of the Savior started to be accomplished, going and traveling, demonstrating and manifesting that He was not only the Messiah of the people of Israel, that He was the Son of Man that had been prophesied in the Old Testament, but that He was the Son of God. What am I going to do? Satan said, well, now I'm going to manifest my power in this wicked world and with my children, those who are the children of Satan, so that I will oppose the works of the Son of God.

And that is what Satan did with Israel and the religious people and all the opposers, all of the people that came against the Lord to mock Him, to tempt Him, and to say all sorts of things against the Son of God. There was nothing else or no one else that Satan with his strategies to come and attack the Son of God, because if the Lord conquered, then Satan will have a destiny, and that destiny will be that he was going to be destroyed. That is exactly what happened in John 8. Please quickly go there, my dear brother and sister, and you can see the manifestation of Satan, the ruler of this world, operating through the hearts of his children, the false religious people of the time, so that they will be used in the hands of Satan to oppose the works of the Son of God, because they were the sons of the devil. We are told, if you bear with me in the reading, my dear brother and sister, just to demonstrate this point, if you go to John chapter 8, verse 12, it says, Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So the Pharisees said to him, you are bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Jesus answered, even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I'm going.

You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and who else?

and the father who sent me bears witness about me. They said to him, therefore, where is your father? Answer, you know neither me nor my father. The world did not know him because he did not know the father. They said to him, where is your father?

Jesus answered, you know neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. Now go to verse 39. These are the people that were there at first 39. They answer him in the same chapter.

Abraham is our father in all of this conversation about the father. They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.

You are doing the works of whom? Your father did. You are doing the works your father did. They said to him, we were not born in sexual immorality. We have one father, even God.

Jesus said to them, if God were your father, You will love Me, for I came from God, and I am here. I came not of My own accord, but He, the Father, sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word. You are of your father, The devil.

And your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he's a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe in me. Which one of you convicts me of sin?

If I tell you the truth, why do you not believe me? Here's the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. The people of Satan, being used by their sin and their master, the devil, to oppose the works of the Son of God, who came with a purpose of destroying the works of Satan. The reason why the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ, among others, is because the Son of God came to this world to destroy the works of Satan, the ruling power, the kingdom.

satan has over the world is only destroyed through the son of god the lord jesus christ everything that he did in his life and of course conquering death upon the cross hebrews chapter 2 verse 14 speaks of how the works of the devil were destroyed when the lord jesus christ died upon the cross and my dear brother and sister this is a great reason of rejoicing, because my dear brother and sister, with the accomplishments of Christ, with the works of Christ, with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, he accomplished something that is beautiful and powerful for us, and that is that we will become the children of God. Now brethren, please pay attention and understand this if the Lord allows us to speak clearly and to receive this word. When the Lord came with his life, he did not only start to destroy the works of Satan, but upon the cross, he destroyed Satan and his works. And by doing so, he opened the way so that people from every tribe, every nation, every tongue, when they come by faith in the Son of God, will be not only forgiven, will be not only regenerated, will not only be given a new life, but they will be made the children of God. Come with me to John chapter 1 verse 10 and onwards.

There the Apostle is going to speak to us about a profound truth. A very profound truth. Verse 9 in chapter 1 of John. It says, verse 9 of chapter 1 of John. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, that is Christ. Yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, but His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave, pay attention to that word, the right. Some of you have in your translations, the authority, right?

Some of you have authority. He gave the right. He gave the authority to become the children of God who were born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of men, but of the will of God. Brethren, brethren, my dear brother and sister, my dear child, my dear brother, my dear soul, pay attention to this. May the Lord give us grace.

Being a father to a child is not only participating in the begottenness of that child, My son was born of my flesh, but what makes me father to my son is not only that I participated in his conception and that he's of my flesh, but what makes me father to my son is that when he was born, I willingly commit not only to place my name upon my son, but every single day of my life, my commitment to my son is renewed. Many parents give birth to children and they just simply walk away and they leave them on their own. Do you think that those people are the parents or the father of those children that are left on their own? Someone else comes in the future and they manifest this legal commitment of adopting a child into their family. Because to be a father is much more than giving life.

To be a father is to manifest this positional, legal commitment in which my son does not only share my genetic information and perhaps sadly my face, but also that this son of mine is the recipient of my commitment and my love absolutely every day. And I'm the father of my son today, but this commitment needs to be renewed tomorrow. I'm the father of my son tomorrow, I hope by God's grace, but that commitment needs to be renewed every day that my son is my son. When Jesus Christ came and destroyed the works of Satan, what he was doing is opening and infiltrating the family of Satan so that those who have faith will be begotten into a new family and Satan will no longer have a legal claim upon his children. Because there are only two types of children in the world, the children of Satan and the children of God, and the children of God have been rescued in this mission of the Son of God who came to this world to destroy Satan, taken out of the family of Satan and inserted into the family of God.

given a name that comes from God himself and given all the privileges that come with being a son of God. That's why the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 8 and in Galatians chapter 4 that we have not received the spirit of fear of slavery to fall back into fear, but rather we have received the spirit of freedom, the spirit of the Son of God, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. And the Spirit of God testifies to our spirit that we are children of God, right? Does anyone know what comes after that? And if children?

Heirs. Heirs. If children, heirs. Who are the heirs of God but other those who have received the authority and the seal of God upon them? And do you know what we are going to inherit, brother and sister?

Do you know what are the many blessings among the many blessings that Christians are going to inherit? New heavens and new earth, this world that is ruled by Satan, continues to be ruled by Satan. There's going to come a day in which the manifestation of the sons of God is going to be revealed. New heavens and new earth will come and we will receive the inheritance in Christ of what it is to come, all the blessings that the Father has bestowed upon us because we are heirs and heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. So the solution that the Bible gives to our present tribulations and difficulties is not go and try to find an agreement with the world.

The solution that the Bible gives to our tribulations and our trials and the enmity that the world has with us is not just go and try to find a point of reconciliation. Perhaps you find a point of agreement between Islam and Christianity. Perhaps you find a point of agreement between Catholicism and Christianity. Perhaps you find a point of agreement between the way that they do things and the way that you're supposed to do things. No!

The solution that the Bible gives to the Christian is Enmity from the world is going to continue. The world hates you because he hated the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been rescued out of the family of darkness and have been inserted into the family of life. The way that you attempt and attack a father is by attacking their children. Now it is Christ in us that has made us the children of God and this world will try to oppose everything that is God and His church, His bright brethren.

What way to attack God but by attacking the bride of His beloved Son? So my dear brother and sister, the solution that the Bible gives is not let's try to find a way so that we appease the world and the heaviness of their unrighteousness does not come upon us, but rather the solution that gives the Bible is put your eyes in Christ and that He will come and that He will conquer. It says in 1 John 3, verse 2, that now we are the children of God. And what we shall be, we have not seen, or we don't know yet. But when he appears, we shall see him as he is, and we will become like him.

The hope that the child of God has, my dear brothers and sisters, is transformation through the revelation of the Son of God. The hope that the child of God has in times of trial and times of tribulation and in times of difficulty is that this Lord whom I love, whom my eyes have not seen, this Lord who is the owner of my affections in this present time of difficulty, this King of kings and Lord of lords that I have not seen, I have not heard, will come one day. will come one day and will take me with Him, and that will be the final time's consummation of your faith, because now we walk by faith, not by sight. But there's going to be one day, my dear brother and sister, that the fulfillment of faith will come to take place because these feeble eyes of ours We'll be able to gaze into the countenance of the Savior who loved us and gave himself for us. There's going to be a day and time in which we are going to be able to behold and hear the words of the one who the world hates, but that our hearts love, not because we are different to the world, but rather because His grace has enabled us to love Him, and His name is Jesus Christ.

And the promise is beyond simple revelation. It's not that our eyes are going to be able to see this Lord Jesus Christ, but that we are going to be transformed. Romans 8. My dear brother and sister, please pay attention to that, and I hope that the words of the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul moves your heart and strengthens your faith and puts your eyes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8, verse 18.

Romans 8, verse 18. Brethren, For I consider..." You're there, brethren? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time... Brethren, please, let us have faith and read these words.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of who? The sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of who? The children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for what, brethren? adoption, as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Not hope that is seen, now hope that is seen with the eyes is not hope. For who hopes for what has ceased?

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Dear brother, dear sister, what are the trials and tribulations of this world? What is the opposition that the world has against us? As I said, they may have a sword that is powerful enough to come and cut your head or take your life, but that sword will never be able to reach the depths of your heart and soul where God, by His grace, has deposited grace and faith. where God has given you the seal of being a child of God.

No suffering, no tribulation, no difficulty, no obscurity, no unrighteousness, no kingdom, no war. He's able to conquer above the sons of God, because He who is born of God overcomes the world. And this is our victory, our faith. They might come, they might say, they might persecute us, they might take our kids, they might take our lives, they might take our money, they might take our land, they might take our cars, they might take our possessions, but one thing they will not be able to take, and that is the faith that God has given us in the person of Jesus Christ. And this is the hope that we have, that this world that is now ruled by Satan, one day new heavens, new earth, and we will behold the Savior, the lover of our souls, and we will be in the new heavens, new earth, reigning with our Savior where righteousness dwells.

No more sin, no more death, no more sickness, no more pain, not because we deserve it, but because someone conquered and destroyed the works of Satan. And you know what is his name? Jesus Christ, the lover of our souls, the one who knows our minds and thoughts, and even though the things are shortcomings even as Christians, the one who knows the things that we do and the things that we don't do yet love us, not only gave himself, but is right now interceding at the right hand of the Father for your soul, for my soul, for us as a congregation, victor. Christ is victorious. He is King and He is Lord.

Whatever war, whatever difficulty, whatever thing may come our head, our eyes, put in our Lord Jesus Christ that we will see Him as He is. And on that day, what is 50 years of life? What is 60 years of life? What is 80 years of life, brother, sister? What is 100 years of life compared to eternity at the feet of the one who loved us and gave himself for us?

Might we praise this Lord of ours, because He has conquered, and He will conquer once again. Might we praise this Lord of ours, because He has loved us when we did not deserve. And might we praise this Lord of us, because He indeed is King, and He indeed is Lord. That our hearts will be filled with compassion, because brethren, that we might not think, when the world comes to oppose us, that we are so much better than they are. Brethren, that when the world comes to oppose us, that when we see the prime minister of this country that many times does, or all of the times, does wicked things, that we might not be feel a bitterness in our hearts towards a man or woman, that you might not be tempted to feel that you're better than they are, because apart from grace, you are and I am exactly the same to everyone who is in the world, but rather that every time that someone comes and attacks us, we will see with these eyes soul of Tarsus.

that was persecuting the church, that was after the church, that was trying to destroy the brothers and sisters, when the grace of the Lord was provided to that person, then that person became an instrument in the hands of our Lord and Savior. Brother and sister, eyes upon Christ. Children, your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Children, your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Sisters, your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

When there's trials, when there's tribulations, when there's no time, when there's difficulty in childbearing or just having your children or whatever, your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Brothers, when marriage is difficult, and when there's problems at work, or whatever situation that is going on, your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Families and marriages, your eyes upon Jesus Christ. Our souls at the feet of our Savior. Because when we become more like Him, it's better for this world, and it's better for each other.

Amen? Amen.