1 John: How To Walk With God - 27: The Letters That Define Us, Message 19

hi welcome to north coast church online my name is paige payne i'm one of our young adult pastors here at north coast church and it is so good to be with you today and of course it's life group season so check out this ridiculous video when was the last time you got the oil changed uh like three years ago we should be fine do you have triple a uh yeah actually let me go uh just go ahead and call my uh mom oh i don't have service neither do i hi there move aside darlings looks like you're in a bit of a vine i got it do you know that lady never seen her before in my life okay you are ready to go the flux capacitor just needed rerouting are you a mechanic oh heavens no but i did go to life group yesterday [Music] [Applause] that was different huh are we done oh my goodness beverly you crashed that video it is so fun to watch our people become movie stars overnight oh my gosh life groups okay so life groups what are those how do we get connected really life groups are us actually wanting to be the church not just a place we show up to and not just a place that we go to consume information but a place where we really are the body of christ so to be in a life group means you're going to be engaging in god's word together you're going to be encouraging one another you're going to be having conversations about what actually is going on in your life doing the one another's that god calls us to in scripture life groups so if you guys want to get connected you guys can do so online at northcoastchurch.com there's a chat function you can call the church and you can also search on there what groups are going to be best for you there's some that meet digitally um completely online and there's some that meet regionally throughout the united states so join we are so glad to be doing church together and we are so hopeful that we can get connected so right below this video there's that digital bulletin click on that fill out the communication card that just gives us a chance to know um that you're watching to know how we can be praying for you and how we can get connected and now we're gonna actually join our north coast team who's incredibly talented in uh participating in worship together and would this be an encouragement for you is that god is very very present our very real or very good god is present with you wherever you find yourself watching today and would you know that in this very moment regardless of circumstance regardless of whatever noise might be might be around you that he is very worthy of our attention our affection and our praise i see the work of your hair and it's perfect you put the breath in my lungs it's for worship [Music] you put the ache in my heart for your presence count of the ways it's your girl and it said last [Applause] [Music] it is all for you it is all for you [Music] all the bread in my [Music] love it is for you it is all for you [Music] and i try to measure your love your spell less you took the weight of my curse now take my word [Music] it is all for you it is [Music] it is all for you it is all for you [Music] worthy is of [Music] so we can give you [Music] so we can keep [Music] is so we can give you praise [Music] in my love it is all for you it is [Music] [Music] it is all for you it is all for you it's all for you it's all for him [Music] again and again is [Music] [Music] here [Music] from his usual place in the back row he stays seated on this day he allows the crowd to hurtly exit the way that they had come in mere hours before after all they have places to go after church and they're quicker than he is at this stage in his life and yet as everyone starts to file by he will bow his head and close his eyes some may think he's resting some may think he's deep in prayer but if you'd ask him he'd admit on this day he just doesn't want to make eye contact there's always questions can you help me understand this or explain that or can you retell this story or tell us about this miracle or that questions that usually he relishes in things that fill most of his days and explaining to people his life and what he saw and who he was with but on this day on this day his soul and his thoughts they just hurt they're deep in concern it's not that the message in church that morning was bad it's that things are starting to slip it's been 60 years and he's starting to feel it he's the last of the original storytellers and that responsibility is weighing on him peter and paul have both been dead now for what some almost 25 years james was killed almost 45 years ago now by herod so john the last of the disciples has this growing weariness of responsibility it's time to write it's time to put things on paper like i said a lot have changed in the last 60 years since the empty tomb some good some bad but things are starting to slip so that afternoon a after a little nap he will take pin and parchments and he will give us these few pages from the last of the mohicans if you will when the last of the disciples the only one probably allowed to die of old age we finished the last books of the new testament somewhere around 90 a.d he writes and for you and i we dive in these pages today i invite you if you haven't already to open your bible to first john now it's tricky because there's matthew mark luke and john the four gospels the good news stories of jesus up in front of the new testament we're going all the way to the back in our little journey our march to the new testament books first john just a few little pages and i want you all ready to fill in your blanks i know that's rather quick for me to get to fill in the blanks hey it's football season let's go the person and purpose behind this book i set a little scene for you but i want you to write it this way john simply wants us to know for sure that we have eternal life isn't that good have you ever wrestled with the questions are you saved are you not saved are you sure you're going to heaven who gets to go to heaven do you think you're going to heaven is it fingers crossed have you done enough to get to heaven what is that bar what must you jump or reach or how do you know for sure we're going to start on the very last page of this book first john chapter 5 verse 13. first john 5 13. if you like titling stuff as we've been showing you i didn't give you a picture of mine today um because it's drawn all over the place in my bible but at the front of first john you can write first john 5 13 this is the purpose i write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of god look i'm writing to you who are christians so that you may know that you have eternal life i'm writing to you so that you may know that you have eternal life there's no guessing about whether or not i'm going to heaven there's no man i hope i've done enough to get in there's no well i'm doing my best and i think that god no for certainty i want to write you a little book you can write in front of your title page after that that's the purpose so we may know we're christians you can just put a truth detector or or true or false christianity that's what this book is all about are you in or are you not in and he sits down and he begins to write and there's really two main points in this book it's kind of cyclical he's going to go around and around and around them about 10 or 15 different ways we're going to flesh those out and then we're going to drive this thing home but listen north coast for all of you that are watching here in north county and campus and venues for all of you that are watching online beyond not just north county but in the u.s and internationally i hope you're ready to hear some scripture today two reasons to really understand the purpose of are we really walking with god do i know for sure that i have this salvation and secondly for the purpose of i think this is another one those messages on how in the world can we love each other and love the world that we better dive into and really come to grips with in our own life because of the state of our own country our own society and our very own church today being so divided so we're gonna look at some scripture today it's a small book we're going to dive into it start with chapter one with me man i hope you're ready here we go chapter one first john that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked at and our hands have touched this we proclaim concerning the word of life see that life appeared we've seen it we testify to it we can proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the father and had appeared to us we proclaimed to you what we have seen and heard sow that circle highlight underline you also may have fellowship with us and our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ we write this to make our joy complete boy if that sounds familiar it's because you listened to last week's message where peter writes and he said look i want you to know i'm passing on to you what i saw with my own eyes what i heard with my own ears the things that i lived now i want you to be able to live out second thing i want you to write down in this is simply this this is personal and relational for john and for us this is both personal and relational for john and for us if you've been around christianity for a while you've heard this little statement that goes what's a relationship not a religion and almost to the point where a long time christian will roll their eyes i know it's a relationship it's not a religion but it sure sounds feel smells like a religion to me but here's where this flesh is out john says look once again just like peter wrote in his book that we hit last week i'm not writing you some scrolls have been passed on to you i'm not writing to you some things that some monks came up with a cave and said man this sounds like a good way to live a good way to believe john wants to emphatically in the first few verses i walked with the eternal life the eternal life which was from the father came to earth it's jesus christ i walked with him i'm writing to you the things that i have seen that i have heard i'm writing you the sights and sounds for my own life so that you also can have that walk with god so that you also have that relationship now if there's one book right now you just want to take and devour one book that we're going to do a flyby on it today but man i really challenge you your family for the purpose of your singleness for the purpose of your your spouse your kids your job for your soul just to walk through the pages of this book and let this wash over you this is the last of the disciples i picture him in the back of the church of ephesus closing his eyes stroking that white beard just letting everyone else exit by this is 60 years after easter he's got to be somewhere 80 90 years old maybe approaching 100 at this time he's seen so much of christianity already in the last six decades but he's dying to get out i'm the last one that was in the boat when jesus calmed the storm i'm the last one that was there on the beach when we saw the demons cast from the man into the pigs i'm the last one that was there sitting on the hillside watching him teach in words that for the first time penetrated the hearts of people different than religion different than church different of philosophy it's almost as if creator was talking to creation i was called up in front in that little group when the decision came that we had to feed those people and i was given a basket after he prayed and thanked god for a boy's lunch box and i walked through the crowd watching the basket never get empty as i fed my section it's john saying i want to hear this for me this is personal this is relational i've walked with him i know eternal life this is how you can walk with him this is how you know eternal life and he's gonna break this down into two areas number one is this verse five this is the message we have heard he's gonna say this twice in this book he's going to begin two main thoughts in this book with this is the message we have heard he's going to do it right here and he's going to do it later on in chapter 3. this is the message that we've heard i'm giving it to you three chapters later this is the message i've heard i've given it to you this is the first one this is the message that we have heard from him and declared to you god is light you can put it up on the screen but probably already know you're writing it down right there in front of you two big ideas number one god is light isn't this good because if you like me have grown up around christianity you heard that like we're the light of the world we're supposed to be light we're supposed to be light in the darkness we're supposed to be like a candle we're supposed to let our light shine and i don't know about you but as a christian i'd be like how am i light where do i bring and he's like wait wait wait first of all you're backwards here you're basically just the lens you know in front of the flashlight the light shines through you you're not the light the first thing i need you to write down is god is the light it ain't you so if you're going around trying to be light oh you can muster up all the voltage you can you're not gonna shine that brightly in fact you're gonna really burn yourself out here's the first thing you need to know what god is light and here's what that means for you and i in him there is no darkness at all so if we claim to have fellowship if we claim to walk with him yet we walk in darkness we lie and we do not live by 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 purifies us from all sin if we claim to be without sin we're going to deceive ourselves and the truth isn't in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness if we claim we have not sinned we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives isn't that good let me tell you god is light and in him is no darkness god is pure he is right he is all goodness and in him there is no darkness there is no wrong there is no sin so if you and i claim that we're walking with god and yet we are holding on to darkness we're lying darkness has no fellowship with light well no no listen listen listen i'm not saying you got to be perfect i mean none of us are perfect john's going to go over and abundantly and abundantly even say specifically if you say you have no sin you're a liar i'm not talking about perfection at this point it's not perfection of love i'm talking to you about a continual confession of how do i walk in light knowing at times i struggle if i confess my sins god will be faithful and just and forgive us of our sins and look at two verse three here's what it means here's what it looks like we know that we have come to know him being god if we obey his commands the person who says i know him but does not do what he commands they're a liar you can't say i know god i'm walking with god and yet you're not doing what he says the truth is not in them but if anyone obeys his word god's love is truly made complete in them this is how we know we are in him whoever claims to live in him must walk as jesus did dear friends i'm not writing you a new command but an old one which you have heard since the beginning this old command is the message you have heard yet i'm writing you a new command it's truth to see in him it's truth is seen in him and you because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining now this is where a lot of you are already kind of dozing off on this because john is going to write against cyclical god is light and he's gonna let me talk about light and not darkness and light and and it just kind of keeps revolving and spirals around and yet it got a little dr seuss's right here didn't it i'm not writing you a new command i'm writing an old command so here's the new command but here's what john's saying look i'm not telling anything new this is what you've heard from the beginning of christianity but what you heard from the beginning of christianity was jesus's words in the upper room saying a new command i give you love each other as i've loved you so john goes this is nothing new it's it's it's old 60 years old christianity started with jesus going this is now how you know you follow me by the way you love one another so i'm telling you that old truth from 60 years ago that jesus says was a new command verse 9 anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness and whoever loves his brother lives in the light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble but whoever hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness and does not know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them i put it in a paragraph i know it's cyclical just write it down this way church if we walk in obedience then we walk in the light if we don't walk in obedience then we don't walk in the light he goes let me tell you god is light you know you love him you know you're walking the light if you're doing what he says you can't say i'm walking in fellowship i have relationship with god if you're not doing what he says what is obedience it's being perfect no three times he just said you and i sin if anyone claims they don't sin they're a liar we all need to confess sin what is obedience then obedience is loving one another as jesus loved us obedience is loving one another as jesus loved us first point in the book of john and john's gonna say it over two and a half chapters let me tell you what it looks like to walk with this guy because remember that was the whole beginning i walked with jesus i walked with the eternal life i'm gonna tell you what i've seen what i've heard what i've done and how i've experienced christ the first thing you've got to understand is god is light there's no darkness there's no wrong doing in him so if we're going to walk in the light we're going to walk in his goodness we're going to walk in his love what does that look like well he gave us that new command here's my command love each other's i have loved you if you can love each other you're walking the light if you can't love each other then you're not walking in the light all you got to do is obey his commands and his commands are how we love each other i know again we haven't fleshed this out let me break down the book and then you know me i brought an illustration something to play with and i go oh now i think i get it jump with me real quick on this chapter 2 24. see if this sounds familiar let me tell you how this fleshes out john says see what you have heard from the beginning remains in you if it does you also will remain in the son and in the father and this is what he promised us eternal life these truths i'm tone you may do they remain may you walk in them and then you will remain in the father and the father will remain in you verse 26 i'm writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray as for you the anointing you have received from him remains in you and you do not need anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real not counterfeit just as it is taught you remain in him and now dear children continue remain in him so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming if you know that he is righteous you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him how great is the love the father has lavished has poured out on us that we should be called children of god and that is what we are if you've been around north coast for a while you've heard me say remain remain remain it comes up again in first john he goes now let me tell you you remain in that obedience you remain in that love you remain in him you keep walking in him he will keep walking in you you keep walking in him he will keep walking you you keep walking in him he will keep walking oh dear children can you believe how amazing it is that he has lavished on us not to call us slave not to call a servant but that we should be called children of god and you walk in that relationship part one god is light if you say i'm gonna have a walk with god then you're gonna walk in that goodness you're not going to walk in darkness you're going to walk in his commands what are his commands how we love one another part 2 chapter 3 verse 11 we're flying here we go and then we're going to bring this whole thing chapter 3 verse 11. this is the message you heard remember i said twice this book is broken up into this is the message god is light here's the second message i want to give you you've heard from the beginning we should love one another and then he gets a negative and a positive example don't be like cain who killed his brother be like jesus who laid down his life for us so we have to lay down our lives for our brothers let me give you a message number two god is love god is love we're gonna do a little bit more reading here chapter four verse seven and we're going to read all the way through chapter four in the beginning of chapter five got it we're gonna read about 30 verses okay you guys ready i told you we're gonna get some bible in us right now this is gonna do two things right now though listen to me hey everyone up listen to me this is gonna do two things right now for you number one this is gonna teach us how are we supposed to love other christians and love the world around us right now when other christians in the world is making it so hard to love them it's never been harder to love people than right now at least in my lifetime maybe we've had other seasons in world history where it's been hard to love people in my lifetime right now it has never been more of a challenge to love people no no no let me break that down we love people who like us and we love people who agree with us but matthew 5 says you don't get points for that as a christian drug dealers and prostitutes that do that he goes the entire world system is based on liking and loving people who are in your tribe he goes you don't get points for that he says you're going to love everybody and that's what's going to be difficult and these verses right now are going to show us how in the world can we do that when people drive me absolutely freaking bananas right now and secondly it's going to take the responsibility and burden off of you unloving people well wait chris you just said i have a responsibility and burden to love people yeah yeah you're gonna read these verses and go well that's how it works that's actually a lot easier than what i've been trying to do we start in chapter 4 verse 7. write it down god is love we hit that god is light now we hit god as love 4 7 let's read dear north coast let us love one another for love comes from god everyone who loves has been born a god born of god and knows god whoever does not love does not know god because god is love i told you this is a whole test of real christianity don't tell me you love god if you're hating people in your life hating other christians and hating the world right now he goes and i tell you you haven't been born of god how do i know this because god is love you're not going to have fellowship darkness doesn't have fellowship with light he's already said don't be a friend of the world don't get involved in darkness if god is light you can't be involved in unloving if the source of love is god break it down whoever does not love does not know god because god is love this is how god showed his love among us he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him this is love not circle highlight underline arrows this is love not that we love god but circle highlight underline that he loved us and circle highlight sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins this is amazing news i never got this growing up i got a bunch of texas preaching teaching pounding on pulpits from guys that wore three-piece brown suits with big gowdy ties who just taught us about a god who demanded love a god that was watching us a god that couldn't wait to throw lightning at us a god that was very upset at us a wrathful vengeance god and i was supposed to love him and let me tell you how bizarre that was for this texas kid growing up how in the world am i going to love an invisible angry god who knows everything i've done and i know what i've done and i know it ain't good so you don't love that god you run from them you just do let me tell you the other problem i had growing up i don't love period i don't love whatever that love thing is i just don't have it i've never had it i've never had this oh the moment i saw her where i could never live another day without her i don't have this love of just man i wake up thinking about i i don't have that it's void of me don't feel bad for my wife she's been through this now for 27 years with me she gets it she knows my love for her is a complete commitment and and then she is amazing and i love her but it's it's it's not the romantic novels and movies that you see i had a hard time loving every kid i would sit there and hold them for days after they were born and go when's it gonna hit everyone told me the moment you hold your kid at the moment hear that baby oh you can't wait for that feeling and i sat for days waiting for that feeling weeks waiting for that feeling for the first one for the second one when it didn't come i thought i've been through this before i'll catch you in about six months somewhere in that engagement period of them starting to know that i'm more than just a blob in the room somewhere with them playing an identity relationship my heart started to move but man i'm just i'm not a naturally loving god i'm a hard-hearted thick-headed guy i'm so much of a thinker not a feeler it is hard to love how in the world how in the world do you love god some invisible deity out there when love just doesn't seem to be a concept i'm familiar with anyway man i love this verse this is love oh not that we try to love god but you first and must come to the concept and understanding of how much he has loved us and he showed us this love by the incredible sacrifice that he did for us we're going to keep coming around to this dear friends dear north coasters since god so loved us like that we also ought to love one another no one has ever seen god but if we love one another god lives in us and his love is made complete in us we know that we live in him and he and us because he has given us his spirit you know this thing that christians talk about when you receive god as savior you get the holy spirit in your life let me tell you what that's going to look like and how it's going to work we have seen and testify that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world if anyone acknowledges that jesus is the son of god and god lives in him and he in god and so we know and rely on the love god has for us god is love whoever lives in love lives in god and god in him remember remain remain remain remain in this way love is made complete among us how is love done among us god is the source you are not the love comes from god it doesn't come from us much like the flashlight that came to me in teaching a few minutes ago i wish i would have brought that as an illustration you're not the light you're just the lens that the light shines through you're not loving the world and you're not loving people in your life you're just the lens that the love of god travels through you're not the source the source of light and the source of love is not you it's not me let me tell you the freedom that gives a guy like me because i'm not good at loving i'm great at being selfish i'm great at making commitments to people but i just i'm not i don't have a heart that oozes any sort of empathy sympathy compassion on its own that only started to come and get dripped into my life the moment i started to understand this is love stop trying to love god start trying to get a grip on how much he loves you you're not the source of love how in the world can you give love to god when you don't have the source of love the source of love is god once you start to understand what god has done for you that can be reciprocated that can now be returned to him and now that can be magnified through your life this is how love is made complete among us john says so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment because in this world we are like him chris how do you know you walk in the spirit how do you walk in light and walk in love i would say ask anybody that's known me for 30 or 40 years holy cow the guy actually loves people the guy actually now is walking in light the guy actually has something to give that's not of himself nor could i muster it nor could i come up with it this is the problem with christianity i grew up in a christian it says you go out and do good and you go out and love others here's my problem i'm not good and i'm not loving so the more i try to do good when i'm not i get frustrated and i sin exactly what john says don't say you don't have sin you sin over and over again if you say you're sinless you're a liar what you need is constant repentance well okay i got that first john 1 9 constantly repent bring it to god he goes now secondly don't go out and try to love others you're not the source of love you don't have that this is love not that you love god but that he first loved us watch how john takes this home uh verse 18 there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment the one who fears is not made perfect in love let me tell you why we love verse 19 we love because he first loved us circle highlight star on mine it's highlighted circled i got a red star i got two blue stars i want this to stick out we love because he first loved us stop trying to love god and love others when you cannot be the source of love whatever love you can muster people don't need people don't need chris's love people just don't need chris's love if anyone says i love god but now you hate your brother or sister you're a liar for anyone who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen cannot love god whom he has not seen and he has given us the command whoever loves god must love his brother and sister so everyone chapter 5 who believes that jesus is the christ is born of god and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well this is how we know he keeps saying it this is how you know this is how you know this is how you know that we love the children of god by loving god and carrying out his commands this is love for god to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome now here's the big one that we need for everyone born of god overcomes the world this is the victory that has overcome the world even our faith who is it that overcomes the world only those who believe that jesus is the son of god this is god's command that we love each other and let me tell you those commands aren't burdensome why is loving people in the world today so burdensome and frustrating for us because we're trying to be the source of that love we're not he goes let me tell you also this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win today in our culture this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win today over the divisiveness of kovid this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win today in the political nightmare that we are in this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win in the debate of racism today this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win in the state of our marriages and our homes today this is how you overcome the world how does christianity win and you fill in your blank of conflict this is how we overcome the world your light and your love will not overcome the world it won't we don't need better people doing better things we need the eternal light of god and the eternal love of god and this is part two god is light god is love if we love each other then we walk with god if we don't love each other then we don't walk with god it is that simple if we love each other then we're walking with god how do you know it because he said it at least seven times because god is love so anyone that's walking with god is going to walk in love if you're hating your brothers and sisters and divisiveness today because of their sides their issues you're not walking with god how can you say that because god is love and that hatred and that anger isn't walking with god he goes i want you to know this is the source and here's how it works and i want you to know this is how we overcome the world this is how you rise above the fray of the conflict today this is how you stand and become light and love it's not yours oh church let me promise you i do not have light and love that's going to help this world at all today i don't so i'm going to tether myself to the god that is light and the god that is love and i'm going to try to be the best lens i can because the closer i walk with that the closer his love is going to impact people his light is going to shine on people and that's the point it's not us if we're out there doing the work this becomes burdensome i've said it four times i want you to write it down warning we are not the source of either light nor love warning we are not the source of either light nor love let me tell you what happens when we see christianity as behavioral modification i come to know christ he died on the cross for me he's my lord and savior so now now i've got to go try to be a good person first of all you're not going to go be a good person you're still sin that's what john says if you say you're without sin you're a liar and he's writing to christians so it's just going to be a struggle and you don't really have the power over your sin do you the power source is christ he goes let me tell you the second thing you're going to be burdensome and frustrated why because you're trying to be light and you're trying to be loved we've accepted christ as our savior now i'm going out trying to be good it's a behavioral modification now i'm going to be a good person i'm going to be a good person you don't have the source of good john is screaming at us i walked with this eternal life i walked with light i walked with love this is what we're missing 60 years later just in christianity this is why the last of the disciples has to write this out around 90 a.d i've got to give you this truth because i'm the last storyteller of the guy who walked with them i need you to be people understand this is not love that you love god and love others no this is love that he first loved us you walk in that love then that love will be made complete you can't muster it up it's gonna leave you what tired frustrated and you're gonna have a burden in today's culture of going man i just don't know how i can love people i don't know how you can keep doing this and let me promise you you can't you're never supposed to you're not light nor love you're just the lens and and the closer i get to walking with that light and love oh the more that light and that love is just going to shine through me and john picks it up again remain remain remain it's why this i think is this our last weekend to sign up for life groups it's why i'm wearing the shirt one more time man there is no other time i don't believe in the history of our church where we need to be together because we need each other to learn to walk enlighten love now here's the problem we're signing for life groups and going all right in our life group i want all blonde hair blue eyed people only in my life groom we would never say that in life groups we say i want this political party and this vaccination or non-vaccination and this card signed then i can be in that group when the purpose of groups is to get with other christians and teach us how to love and you go well i just i can't love those people of course you can't you know why you haven't walked with the source of love neither can i love those people whoever those people are on the opposite side of my age i can't love those people they frustrate the heck out of me i need to be in the source of love i need to be in the source of light oh let me tell you this made all the difference in the world when i was about 24 years of age i started studying this in seminary and this whole understanding going oh my gosh my whole life christianity has taught me to go out and be light and go out and be loved no wonder why it was tired frustrating and burdensome and then i read this and he says look my commands are not burdensome to you and that's almost laughable until i read the entire chapter in context they go of course they're not burdensome i'm just walking in relationship with you and the light and love happens out of that i've been doing this backwards have you see there is a huge difference between trying to produce light and love versus walking in light and love there is a huge difference between trying to produce light and love versus walking enlightened love and then that just becomes an overflow out of this relationship not a religion with jesus christ a religion tells me go out and do good go out and make yourself better go out and love others a religion is burdensome and frustrating not these commands because these commands are no no you stay in the source of love that love will transform and change your heart and mind you're going to love god back because the amount of love that he first loved us and then that love is going to trickle out in the lives around you because you're going to love people the way god has loved you chris you can't muster that up you can't factor that you can't produce that where does he get this whole thing from yeah i know i've said enough hints what's his whole thing god is like god is love remain remain remain remain in the light and the love and this will work through you if you don't remain in light and love it can't work through you where does he get that from he was there he was there he was there that last night that last supper in the upper room he was there when jesus washed their feet the son of god was the one who put down and showed love and servanthood by washing the feet of mere mortals he was there when jesus taught around that table let me tell you what christianity is going to look like now that i'm leaving now that you can't physically walk with me anymore let me tell you how to stay walking with me can we go back to the source of all this when john says i'm not writing you a new command but an old one can we go back to where that happened can we spend our last moments today in john 15. yes you knew it was coming why wouldn't you it's one of my favorite passages in all of scripture john 15 upper room last night jesus's last supper with the boys he's already told him i'm gonna die three times man the stress and anxiety in that room is overwhelming and he paints this picture john 15. i am the true vine my father's a gardener he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful you are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you remain in me and i will remain in you no branch can bear fruit by itself it must remain in the vine neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me i'm the vine you're the branch if a person remains in me and i in them they will bear much fruit but apart from me you can do a part for me you can do apart from me you can do nothing if anyone does not remain in me they are like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up and thrown in the fire and burned that's what you do with dry crusty branches if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourself to be my disciples as the father loved me so i have loved you now remain in that love if you obey my commands you will remain in that love just as i have obeyed my father's commands and i've remained in his love i have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete my command is this love each other as i have loved you is there any doubt in the world when john sits in the back of the church of ephesus and the responsibility being the last disciple the last one that was in the boat the last one on the shore the last one of the scene of the miracles he sits down and he writes one of the latest books in the new testament i'm writing you what i've seen what i've heard what i've experienced so that you can walk with this god god is light and god is love you walk in walking remaining remaining remaining let me tell you how you know if you're remaining in light by the way you're loving others by the way you're obeying his command if you're walking in darkness well then you're not walking in light are you let me push this little deeper god is love let me tell you how you know you're walking with love if you're loving others you can say i have amazing relationship with love but you're hating his other children let me break it to you you're not in a relationship with the source of love let me also promise you christians who are trying to make a difference today you're frustrated you're tired you're pulling your hair out we're full of fear and burden some why because we are trying hard to be light in love and i think we're running away from the source and our world doesn't need a bunch of people trying to do good our world needs eternal light and eternal love no wonder why this little five-page book john keeps going back to you remain in that remain in that remain in that because that's the last night that he had with jesus jesus says let me show you what the world needs let me show you how to overcome the world right now let me take the burden of your christianity away from you i'm a vine christianity christians you're just branches jesus says i'm the vine i'm the source i'm the source of your life i'm the source of your nutrients i'm the source of light i'm the source of love all you have to do then is what just remain in me and you will bear fruit this is called a jerusalem fruit tree and it has this most amazing sparkly fruit on it the world's never seen this the world never tastes this and guess what you can't produce this in fact if you try to go outside the source you can do you can do nothing you can't be love and light to the world around you you can't you can't what happens to a branch that goes outside the source well that withers and dies and the fruit become this is you misses you you want to see a great picture of christianity and kovid we're thorny we're spiky if people happen to cross us or step on us they're gonna get it this is ouchi i don't know about you but if you're looking for a snack you don't pluck one of these things and you start chewing into it it's gonna leave you bloody and horrid and guess what else there's no life there's no source but you're trying aren't you christian you're trying hard but the world is making us so hard to be loving and we're so spiky and we're so thorny and we're so bristly towards people around us and but i know i'm supposed to be loved i know i'm supposed to be like now i'm tired and i'm what's that word burdensome and i come to the text and jesus goes oh no no no my love and my light isn't burdensome and i'm all are you kidding me you didn't live in this society and today i realize oh oh i've i've fallen far from the source i have christ say i know christ and on my own this is what i'm out spinning and trying to do and and this isn't fun when what i need to do is come back and say this is love not that we love others but that we understand god loved us first this is love not that this west texas thick-headed hard-hearted guy ever tries to love god but i spent a couple years understanding grace and forgiveness and mercy and something changed worship songs that you just had to get through as an opening act before a message where i could take note i started to penetrate a heart in the mind i find myself feeling for people and i never really had feelings for people before see this was love chris go out and be good and go out and love the world this is love chris connect to the source of love and light he will do a work in you and through you and this is how we overcome the world not this first john it's plagiarizing it's a rip-off from the book of john because the same dude is now at the end of his life trying to get out oh it's widespread persecution and hatred on christians i think we're missing something we have a lot of christians trying to be good do good and be loved this is light this is love it's not you i remain remain remain remain remain remain remain remain remain remain remain apart from me you can do nothing i get the darkness out of my life i grasp onto the love grace and mercy of god and that's what i walk with until that grace love and mercy of god enters into every pore of my being and body and then my heart trembles with something i want to raise my hands and i want to shout back and then when i run across you and i go ah spiky fruitless nut i can love you i know why you're a spiky fruit listen i get it i get it but man the old chris would have shot you off the branch i promise you that we don't need to try harder we need to come back to the source and this is how we overcome the world what a story father may we be a church father may we be your church that daily comes back to walking with you as the source of light and love to remove anything that's darkness from our life and anything that's unloving so we can fully walk in the source not to be perfect john made that clear but to constantly be in repentance daily about where we fall short so that you don't have the perfection of our life but god you have the direction of our life and god then may we be your lens for that light and that love that this world desperately needs so we can rise above the frame and the heartache and pain and bring true light and love that is not of us to a world that desperately needs something that is not natural but something that is supernatural god may we daily commit to simply being your children and your church in jesus name amen what an incredible message by chris brown and talking about first john and ultimately tapping into god's source of love for us so that we can provide that source for other people and speaking of tapping into the source we want to make sure that you are tapping into god's word and community through life groups i know paige did an amazing job hosting the weekly earlier and talking about life groups but if you are looking for a group we have pastors to be able to find one for you if you are in the san diego area we've got life group pastors that want to help find that right group for you or if you are outside the san diego area i am the resource that will be able to try to help find that right group for you so simply call into the office or send us an email you can send me a direct email trent at northcoastchurch.com and we can set up a time to talk to be able to try to find a group and see if there one might be a group for you someplace and maybe even a local group in your local community thank you so much and have a great week

Channel: North Coast Church

Views: 4,006

Rating: 4.8139534 out of 5

Keywords: north coast church, larry osborne, pastor chris brown, north coast, churches near me, christian, bible study, jesus, god, bible

Id: oAGH3DSCa_0

Length: 56min 7sec (3367 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021