Good Sunday morning. So
why did John write all of that stuff we talked about yesterday? These things I
have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that
you may know that you have eternal life. That's why. Gnosticism and the world
were telling them they did not have eternal life. The fact that they sinned was
telling them they did not have eternal life. But John was telling them yes you
do. And because you have that eternal life through Jesus indwelling you: this
is the confidence which you have before Him, that if you ask anything according
to His will, He hears you. And if you know that He hears you in whatever you
ask, you know that you have the requests which you have asked from Him. You
have them. It's a done deal! He hears you, though it may not look like it to
you. And because He hears you, you can know that you have the requests you have
asked from Him. But how do I know it is His will? One of the ways is His word.
If you don't read His word, you can't know whether or not it is His will. A
second way is through His Spirit indwelling you. Too many times we only want to
listen to that Spirit indwelling us if He agrees with what we want. Then there
is also friends from church. However, they sometimes tell us only what we want
to hear. Father thank You that You hear the reader’s requests and answer them.
Guide him/her and give him/her the strength and energy that he/she needs.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
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