In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of love and obedience in the Christian faith. He highlights the incredible benefits that believers receive through salvation and encourages them to fully understand and appreciate these blessings. The preacher references John 3:16 as a reminder of God's love for the world and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He also reflects on the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, emphasizing the profound significance of His death on the cross for the salvation of mankind.

Let's read from the first verse of 1st John, chapter 5. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. Dost thou believe in Jesus? Do you really? Well, it seems to me that we have an opening statement that makes it known to us that love is certainly an integral part of this business of God's salvation. It starts out, for many, with a single verse of Scripture, John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, the world just does not understand and get the message that something wonderful happens in the life of a believer. We've said this, but it's worthy of repeating, that the new birth, being born again, certainly rivals the miracle that would happen if you went out to the cemetery and resurrected someone that was dead in the grave. The Lord did that for Lazarus. But being born again brings spiritual life to the person that receives Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I'm telling you, that is a miracle. Dead in trespasses and sin, and now alive unto God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that vital life of God, eternal life, we become a possessor of it. It's ours, now and for all eternity. If you have eternal life, it's eternal. And as we read down through this passage, we'll touch on some scriptures that perhaps have troubled some people, but they have provided what some people long for, and that is to know with certainty that I'm saved, that I possess eternal life, and I'm on my way to heaven. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God, keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. You know, the treatment of what God asks us to do sometimes, first and foremost, I think people think about something that's unpleasant. He's going to ask me to do something that's hard to do. It would be hard for you to do it, but with God working in and through you, he makes it something that becomes very pleasurable to be occupied in doing. You'll enjoy doing the will of God. It becomes something very meaningful to you. Obedience, again, becomes the watchword. This is what proves that our faith is real. Our faith is real. It's not just something that we talk about, but our faith is real. Hebrews 11 says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Obedience proves the truth of faith. I have faith in God. I obey my God. It's important that I obey my God. Oh, it's so important that I do what he tells me to do. What I see, the enlightenment that he gives me in the word of God, I am to obey that. Walk in that light. Our feet have been placed upon a pathway of righteousness for his namesake. There's so much involved here. We represent him. We call ourselves Christians. We belong to God. We have a living relationship with God through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience is so important, especially those direct commands that we have in the word of God. Now, I know all of you probably know this verse, and the minute I start quoting it, you could say, Oh, I've heard that. I know that. And it's so important. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another the same way I loved you. Other men will know that you are my disciples because you love one another. I think we've talked about this before, but what sometimes is called love is no more than lust. We're talking about people being exploited and used by other people simply because they told them they love them. I love you. I think this was something we discussed yesterday morning at our Bible study. How many people are taken advantage of by someone else just because they said, I love you? And they didn't mean it. It was just a word. It was just a word that they used. A word that does have power. Oh, there's power in that word. It's an important word. Our God is love. But listen, we must stay focused on the real meaning of love. We talked about Peter and how the Lord asked him that question, Peter, do you really love me? Here's that man, you know, that denied the Lord. And don't rush ahead now and say, yes, he denied the Lord. How about you? How about me? Have we ever denied the Lord? Of course we have. In many ways we have denied the Lord. So let's don't become judgmental when we think about someone else being questioned about their love of God or their love for the Lord Jesus. It's very important that we stay focused on the true meaning of love. Love gives of itself. And we're going to touch on some of those things, I believe, in this passage. Ultimately, I started out with this. I wanted to say some things about prayer, and we will. And I'm not going to go over time. I was reminded this morning that I went over time. And I had the clock right here. That clock, it's a little fuzzy from here. And that's my excuse. You've got my excuse. I should have looked at this. This is good. This is a good reminder. But here we have obedience. Here we have love. This is no idle talk about being saved. Salvation brings to us the present possession of so many benefits that sometimes it's hard to take in at one time all the things that become ours when we become believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly we should acquaint ourselves with all that we have. These ones that have been born again into the family of God, you've come into that possession of God's possessions. Does that have a nice ring to you? I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. I'm a child of the King. Brothers sing sometimes, The King is coming. And that is a beautiful selection, and I love it. The King is coming. He's my King. He's my Savior. He's my Lord. All of those things should take on special meaning to us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? I've heard people say that I never considered myself to be a person that had ever had a contact with anything that was very special in my life. My life was one of those that just nothing special ever happened. You might say my life was rather dull. But I'm telling you, and this is that testimony, when I met Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He transformed my life. If other people weren't excited about it, I was more excited about that than anything else that had ever happened in my life. I became a new creature in Christ Jesus. I was born again. I was in the family of God. Not everybody can say that. Some people say, I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian. And they may refer to something that really does not make you a Christian. Joining a church fellowship does not make you a Christian. Going through the ordinances of the church, being baptized in water, no matter what the mode might be, doesn't make you a Christian. Even if it happened when you were a baby. You say, I had infant baptism from my very birth. I've heard people say, I've always been saved. I've always been a child of God. Put your finger on that somewhere in Scripture and direct me to it, because I haven't found it yet. You have to be born again into the family of God. If you're going to be saved, you must receive Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as your Savior and as your Lord. And you're not a child of God unless you've been born again into the family of God. The world needs to know that. We left this banner up here for a purpose. There are millions and millions and millions of people in the world today that need to be born again. A lot of them have religion. A lot of them have credentials that they're proud of. And they claim these credentials. Qualifying themselves to call themselves children of God. God is my Heavenly Father. And they've never been born again. They've never, never bowed the knee and confessed that Jesus Christ is God. That's where it all starts. You remember what the Lord asked Peter after all these questions had been raised about who he really was? And he asked his disciples. Peter is the one who responded to that question. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are God. And our Lord said, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. It had to come from my Heavenly Father. It had to come through the power of the Spirit of God that brings enlightenment and blessing into our lives. That evidence, and if you have not the Spirit of God, you're none of His. Oh, I'm saddened when I hear these people say, I'm saved, but I'm praying that I will receive the Holy Spirit. Oh God, have mercy. When so clearly upon the pages of Scripture, and I was just reading this this afternoon, and it has to do with this matter of knowing Him. And if we have not Him, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. That's real, brother and sister. That's real. The Spirit of God that indwells us bears witness. He confirms that we are God's children because of what we've done in an obedient act of receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Oh, the book provides so much that can clear up so many of the things that sometimes bother people and cause them to err in their judgment regarding this matter of God's salvation. So faith does have a lot to do with this business of receiving the gift of salvation. For by grace are you saved through faith, but not of yourselves. It is a gift from God. And to me, it's so exciting when we begin to think about whatever He does in our lives when He's changing us into those new creatures in Christ Jesus that we are His workmanship. Isn't it wonderful that He's doing something in our lives now? Before, we were in no condition. We had rebelled. We had not made one concession to God that He should be in control of our lives. Now we've yielded all to Him. And the Spirit of God that empowers and indwells us is working out God's plans and purposes for you and me. That's wonderful. That's wonderful. It's so sad that sometimes we don't put a proper value upon what God has done for us. And so often it's so good just to say, Thank you, Lord. Thank you for what you have done for me. You have changed my life. You have brought me out of death into life. And now old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ. Not by water only, but by water and blood. Here we have a mention of something that is sometimes interpreted in several different ways. Some interpret this to mean the water means baptism. I'm not persuaded that that is true. I go to a reference in John 19, 34, where upon the cross the Lord, you know, the soldier pierced his side, and water and blood came forth. There was a rupturing of the chest cavity and the water that surrounds the heart and all of this. It was released. I see in all of this strong evidence of His death. Some have tried to say that the Lord just swooned upon the cross and they took Him and put Him in a tomb and in the coolness of that tomb He was resurrected and He came out of that tomb. I don't believe that for a moment. But so many things are sometimes said by men who make judgment calls about things that have happened in the life of our Lord. And sometimes it not only confuses, but sometimes it takes away from the true value of what God has done. In the atoning work that Jesus Christ did upon the cross, in that atoning work, there is something so wonderful that it need not be tampered with. He that atoned for us. He that made that atonement. He that in that one moment of time, hanging upon a cross, was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Don't tamper with that. That's real. That's the truth. He that knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. The 7th and 8th verses of this chapter support the belief in the Divine Trinity. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood. And these three agree in one. You know, the very fact that we, as members of the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, living members in that spiritual body, that body of our Lord Jesus Christ, these provide us with that assurance that God as a Trinity, He works in and through that spiritual power that He is able to provide in working out His will in our lives. Someone has said, we find in that work that was done upon the cross, peace-giving energy, released in a special way, peace-giving energy, the life of God was poured out as an act that would satisfy divine righteousness in providing salvation for our souls. Oh, that's a tremendous thing that God has done for us. The human mind sometimes can't comprehend the wisdom and the power of God in what He is doing for us. Oh, to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, to possess the mind of Christ. Oh, to have the Word of God, which is a lamp under my foot and a light under my pathway, to help me through all of these things that I may not comprehend and understand, but He wants me to understand it. He wants me to know it. So often we focus on one aspect of our salvation, like knowing that we are saved. But there is a whole lot more to know, brother, sister. There is a whole lot more that we can know. The Spirit of God, that power that resides in each one of us, that power to do the will of God, is not in the power of my flesh that I do these things. The flesh cannot be improved upon. The flesh cannot do anything that is well-pleasing to God. It's only by the power of the Spirit of God working in and through us that God is well-pleased. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God which He had testified of His Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not, God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us, eternal life. And this life is in His Son. That Scripture is so adequate in providing us with what we need in the way of confirmation that what God has done is real. This, brother, is not a delusion. This is real salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. You know, we believe, but we can believe more. You know what I'm talking about? I can believe and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but I ought to know more. Are you satisfied with just being saved? You say, God saved me and that's enough. Leave me alone. Oh, no. Oh, no. God wants you and me to grow spiritually. He wants to see spiritual development in the life of every child of God. Don't be satisfied with just being saved. It's wonderful. You can rejoice in it. You can sing about it. You can just be thrilled about it, but want to know more. I want to grow, Lord. I want that evidence in my life that I am really a child of God. It will take faith. It does take faith. I read that verse, number 13. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know experientially a person that has been born again will receive the confirmation through the reading of the Word of God that he is a child of God. The Spirit of God that enlightens, guides, directs, teaches, instructs in the things of God can truly make these things so precious and dear to our hearts. And I am so saddened when I hear someone say, I hope I'm saved. I hope I'm saved. I think I've trusted Him, but I don't know for sure. I still have some doubts in my heart and soul that I'm really saved. I've heard so many people give testimony to the fact that when I read this, the Spirit of God settled that question for me forever. Now, I know. I know that I have eternal life and that I truly believe on the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as my Lord and Savior. If God said it, I believe it. And that's what it takes. That's what it takes. Become very positive about what you believe. Be very positive in going out and sharing your faith with someone else. The world is not going to do this, brother. You can see the direction the world is going in today when you just look at the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Anybody that looks upon this and thinks about it just for a moment would say this is ridiculous. What is all this celebration about? What is this all about? Well, it has to do with the person of the Son of God coming into the world to provide salvation for all mankind. He came into the world, and the world rejected Him. The world would not receive Him. Light came into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. And they rejected Him, and they nailed Him to a cross. Little did they know that they had sovereignly fulfilled the plan and purposes of God in that the Lamb of God that came into the world to provide salvation for us, that He died upon a cross. Well, I haven't caught the spirit of what that means if you attach so much importance with it. I cannot catch the spirit of what you mean in looking at what is happening in the world today. All of this celebration seems to be alien, so far away from what you've just indicated is the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Christ, that sinless life that was lived, all that He did in performing miracles, what He did on that cross outside the city of Jerusalem. And, beloved, we can personally identify with that. I'll tell you, when He died on that cross, I died with Him. That's what the Word of God says. God reckoned when I received Him as my Lord and Savior, it was just as if I died upon that cross with the Son of God. God laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Oh, we should think ever so highly of the person of the Son of God. You say, how would you celebrate this special day that is set aside to remember the birth of the Savior? I'll answer it this way. I wouldn't do it the way the world is doing it now. I'll tell you that for sure. And I'll never be asked, of course, as to how would I celebrate it. How would I put in place something that could properly look at and worship and praise Him as He should be praised? I don't think any limit should be placed upon how much we praise and worship our God and His Son. He has done something for us that no one else could do for us. No one else could love us the way He has loved us. No one, no human being you know, your wife, your mother, your father, no one could love you the way He has loved you. Scripture says, having loved His own, He loved them to the very end. He went to the cross. Went to the cross. I tell you, it grew forth out of that heart of the Son of God a cry that you just can never, never as a believer reach a point where you are comfortable when you hear it. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Can you be comfortable with that? Doesn't that distress your soul to think that the Son of God, His Father, forsook Him? There was darkness. Where are you? There's nothing but judgment and wrath in store for the Son of God. He's taking our place. He's paying the penalty for our sin. You talk about love, brother and sister. That's love. That's divine love. That's elegate love that they talk about. Sacrificially giving of yourselves. No one ever loved me like the Lord Jesus loved me. Oh, it's something to celebrate the coming into the world of the Son of God and what He did for us by dying for us upon the cross. I wanted to say something about prayer. Do you believe God answers prayer? Do you have any confirmation that He answers prayer? Do you have definitive answers to your prayers? You know, when you give some consideration to the fact that we're asked to have prayer, that we ought to have confidence in our God that when we cry out to Him, He hears us and He answers our prayers. I think we do need an intelligent look at what it means to have prayer made and to have prayer answered. Reading at verse 14, it says, and this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything, we ask anything. Don't stop there, brother. Don't stop there. You've got to read all of this. This is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. You know, a mind of a believer out of touch with the will of God may not make a connection with God. That's why we need the Spirit of God to direct and help us in this area. Let me read again from Romans. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray. Are we offering up spiritual prayers? Are we offering up prayers that the Spirit of God is working in our hearts and souls? Is He generating the kind of thoughts in our soul as to what we should pray for as we ought? We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us. Oh, isn't He a wonderful comforter? The Lord Jesus Christ said, I will send you another comforter. I'll send you someone just like me. He will abide in you. He will empower you to be my witness. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings that are too deep for words. And He that is the Spirit of God, He is divine. He is not an it. He is a person, a real person, the Spirit of God. He searches the hearts and knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We are holy in the sight of God. We are God's children. He wants us to know His mind and His will. I wouldn't for a moment suggest to you that you not cry out to God any time that you have a problem in your life that you need help with. My dear wife was in the hospital for a month and recovering for a while. I don't know how many times I said, Oh, God, have mercy. Oh, God, have mercy. I know you are a merciful God. You are rich in mercy. Have mercy. That's all I could think of at the time. And God was merciful. But you know, a spiritual-minded person will seek to always be sure that he is thinking in terms of is this God's will? I've said this before. I think it was Lehman Strauss that wrote that book about all the foolish things that people say in prayers. And that book is rather humorous in that it reminds us that people sometimes when they pray and say some foolish things, say some foolish things, even when they look back and look over what they said. You know, I'm embarrassed that I even ask that. But when the Spirit of God is a part of our prayer life and the offering up of prayer, I can ask of God anything that is His will for my life. And He will do it. He will do it. We have the Word of God that confirms it. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. He hears us. You know, your mom and daddy, when you went to them and you asked of them something, they always did what was best for you. They had that maturity. They had good, sound judgment about what was best for you. And so it is with God our Father. The Spirit of God will put us in touch with the will of God so that we, in asking of Him, we won't go off and say something ridiculous, or like Leman Strauss says, say something foolish. It certainly would be in the mind and the will of God to bless every one of us. O God, bless us tonight as we gather in this place. O God, bless, we pray Thee, the Word of God as it's ministered to our needs, as the Spirit of God, as He works in each of our hearts and minds, renewing us, transforming us into that state of mind that wants to know and will do the good and perfect will of God. That will be answered. He will bless us. He will give us enlightenment. He will give direction to us. And it doesn't just happen to people that don't know God very well. I think the Apostle Paul was a man that knew the Lord. He prayed three times. He said, Take away the thorn in the flesh. The Lord didn't do it. That wasn't His will. He said, I'll do something better. My grace will be sufficient for you. You see how God works? You see how the Spirit of God puts in place something that is better than what we ask for? And was the Apostle Paul pleased with that? You better believe he was. He said there was a victory won for me that day. I learned that when I am weak in myself, that's when I'm strong in the Lord. I trusted Him. I trust His judgment. I trust the application of His will to my life. Now I rejoice, and I find victory in infirmities. You want to get all you can out of the things that God allows to come into your life that are not pleasant. Get all you can out of the suffering that you're entrusted with. It becomes something that God, in measuring out for each one of us, something that will help us grow and develop and mature as believers. Don't ever forget He loves you. Don't ever forget He loves you. And He chastens us sometimes because He loves us. And He wants to see us grow. And He wants us to be like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are predestined to be like Him. Isn't it wonderful to think that one day you will see Him and you will be like Him? Rest with perfect confidence at what God has promised He will fulfill. Our Heavenly Father, again, we thank Thee tonight for the Lord Jesus. And we're so thankful that He accepted us. We're so thankful that we found that one and only way into Thy presence was through Him. And we're so thankful tonight that we can rejoice and praise and worship Thee as our God. Bless each one of us in this room tonight. Bless us. Bless our families. Give us direction and help. Lord, we need help. We're living in a world that indeed we need the sovereign grace of God in all of its sufficiency to face the trials and testings of life. Help us as we read this word of Yours day by day to recognize faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Bless us, Father, we pray. In the precious name of the Lord Jesus, we ask this, amen. And now, will we have a closing hymn? Yes.