The General Epistles - Part 17

Well, good evening, everyone. Once again, we are at John chapter 4. So, if you would, turn to John chapter 4, and we shall begin there.

In John chapter 4, and I have to get there and click on the wrong button to begin with, John chapter 4 and verse 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit.

Beloved is a term that means you're so privileged, it's wonderful to be able to know.

Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits. How do we try the spirits? The word for try there is doki maizo. It means to test the prus. So, how do you try the spirit? Try the spirits, it says in Matthew 7 16 and also Matthew 7 20. By their fruits you shall know them. Now, one of the gifts of the spirit is the determinants of spirits. Note 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 10.

It says that one of the gifts of the spirit is discernment of spirits. To some degree, I believe I have the discernment of spirits, and you can look at the person's face and their eyes oftentimes and determine whether or not that they are having spiritual problems. And oftentimes by their words what they speak or their behavior in general. So, try the spirits whether they are of God. And, of course, spirits will have to mimic the spirit of God and try to copy what the spirit of God is doing. Because many false prophets are going out into the world. Many of them claim that they are Christ, that God has spoken to them in a special way. But we know that you have spoken to us in the last days by your son, according to Hebrews 12 and verse 1, that you have spoken to us in the last days. The former days spoke to the prophets dreams and visions. Those dreams and visions have basically disappeared, but at the same time we have your sure word of prophecy as it says in 2 Peter chapter 1. Here is a word of prophecy that we do well to take heed. Hereby, verse 2, here by know we, the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. Remember that John writes 1, 2, 3 John, but especially 1 and 2 John to combat the notion of Gnosticism, that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh. They taught a form of dualism in which it's called Dostatism, D-O-C-E-T-I-S-M. Dostatism, where they say that he just seemed to be, that when he walked he didn't literally make footprints. It just seemed that he was. I don't know how anyone could ever get caught up into that, but Gnosticism and the Roycianism, which was the official religion of the Persian Empire until the Islamic world in roughly 600 A.D. conquered Persia. The Islamic world, Persia, Persia was taken over by the Islamic world in roughly 600 A.D.

In every spirit, verse 3, in every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come. Now, there's controversy over the translation of is come. It is in the in the present tense, and it has the implication that Jesus Christ is coming in each one, each believer right now. He did come in the flesh, and he is still active. But through his life, we are saved, as it says in Romans chapter 5 and verse 10, that Jesus Christ has been resurrected, and he and the Father both live in us right now. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is coming, to be translated, coming in the flesh in the present tense, coming in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit of antichrist. The antichrist, of course, denies that Christ has come in the flesh. Even the Orthodox Jews themselves are still looking for Jesus Christ to come. They are looking for a human leader. They're not looking for the Son of God, but the Son of God has come, and he is coming in each one of us. You know, it says in John 14 verse 23 that we both will make our abode in you. You are the temple of God. God is dwelling in you. For have you heard that it should come an evening now ready in the world? That is the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist, the devil, has been opposing the God of heaven. We want him to be, eventually, the God of the earth. You know, it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4 that Satan is presently the God of this evil world, and we're looking for Christ to come and set up his kingdom. Of course, he will be inspired and helped by God the Father and, through the saints, those that overcome.

So, the spirit of antichrist has been in the world working ever since Satan's rebellion, in which he tried to take over the throne of God as revealed in Isaiah chapter 14. I hope you're writing down these scriptural references and you would look them up and read them. Sometimes we will turn to them. If I were to turn to each one of these, we would be able to cover even one chapter. So, I reference any of these and ask you to look them up.

Now, in 1 John 4 verse 4, you are of God, little children, and have overcome them. That is the antichrist going on. There are many that have gone out into the world. Some even say that they are Christ, because greater is he that is in you and the Father and the Son are both in us. There is one Spirit, according to Ephesians chapter 4 in verse 4. There is one Spirit, and we would do well to take heed to that one Spirit. That one Spirit is revealed in the Word of God, that he that is in you, than he that is in the world. So, God and Christ in you is much greater than the antichrist or any Christ that is not the true Christ, the false Christ that have gone out into the world.

They are of the world, and the word for world there is cosmos. They are of the world, they are not of God.

They are the world, they've gone out into the world, and we have overcome them through the word and Spirit of God. Now verse 5, they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them.

More apt to listen to the world, and they are to listen to the true voice of God the Father and the Word of God. We are of God, he that knows God. And once again, you'll see over and over again in John's epistles, the three letters there that he emphasizes, hereby we know, and also knows. We are of God, he that knows God hears us. He that knows God hears us. He that is not of God hears not us, hereby we know that know we the Spirit of Truth.

If you know God, and you listen to the Word of God, and you listen to its word and to the true ministers that are preaching and teaching the Word of God, hereby we know that we have the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error. We're able to discern the difference between the two. And we can all ask ourselves, can I discern between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Error that is in the world?

Satan would love nothing better than to yet use sidetrack onto some other gospel. You know, in Galatians it talks about in the first chapter, even if an angel from heaven comes and preaches a different gospel than the one that is revealed to us, then we should not have anything to do with it. So, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another. Time after time, the apostle of love hearkens back to, we should love one another.

For love is of God. The principal chief characteristic of God is love. God is love. That's the way he is. That is his being. That is his chief characteristic. Love is outgoing concern for others. And God wants to share with us who he is and what he is. God and Christ have done what they have done in developing the plan of salvation and the will to carry it out.

It is because he loves us. And everyone that loves is, and now we come to, is born of God. Now, remember what I said about the word that is translated born. The word ganao, spelled g-e-n-e-n-a-o, ganao in Greek. When use of the mother means to bring forth to give birth.

When use of the father means to engender. When use of the father, it is generally translated as begotten. Now, in some cases, the translators translate it wrongly, and it seems like it's talking about the father when it's talking about the mother. And sometimes you think it's talking about the mother and it's thinking about the father or depicting the father. He that loves is begotten of God and knows God. You're not born of God until the resurrection, which we know very clearly that Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brethren, and each one in his own order at Christ's coming. He that loves not knows not God, for God is love.

There are two places in 1 John that just clearly says God is love. That is his characteristic. That is his state of being. That is what he is. And John, the apostle of love at every turn, seeks to get us to try to understand that great truth. And this was manifested in the love of God toward us because God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Now, what was the purpose of sending him into the world?

The great overriding purpose was God wanted to share who he is and what he is. He and Christ wanted to share his being in a family setting with us. So they developed this great plan of salvation whereby in just human flesh could be begotten of the Spirit of God and eventually born as glorious radiant spirit beings into the Kingdom of God.

Here in is love. Verse 10, Here in is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation. Propitiation means that he went in there instead. You see, the wages of sin is death. Romans 6, 23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So how are we justified and have a right standing before God?

It is true. Repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Christ who went at our stead, and he paid the penalty for our sins. Even if we have committed only one sin, he said, all have sinned. This is Romans 3, 23. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another, as we saw in John chapter 3, two weeks ago, that we are to lay down our lives for one another.

One of the principle ways is that if we see our brother go astray, that we would love him or her enough to rebuke them and to set them on the right track as much as possible. No man has seen God at any time.

Also, no man has heard the voice of God at any time. In the two instances where God testified that Jesus Christ was his son, after his baptism, there was a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. And at the transfiguration, at the transfiguration, it says that this is my beloved son. Hear him, or listen to him. So twice, God gave witness and record that Jesus Christ is his son. No man has seen God at any time and they haven't heard his voice. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. We'll see later in the chapter that perfect love casts out fear, and if we fear we're not made perfect in love. So we are to try the spirits to prove and test what the true spirit really is and to rely on the word of God and our discernment with regard to the spirit. And of course, by their fruits you shall know them, he that is of God and he that is not of God. So here we have come to the next verse.

In verse 13, hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he had given us his spirit. So we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We have a new knowing within us. He has written his laws upon our inward parts. He has given us a new conscience, a new knowing within. The word conscience means a knowing within that we know right from wrong. Now verse 15. Let's read 14 again. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. And so God is not the God only of the Jews or any ethnic group or national group. He is the God of all humanity, no matter what their ethnic origin is or what the color of their skin is. He is the God of all peoples. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God. And of course, the Son dwells in us as well. I keep repeating John 14 and verse 23 and Ephesians, I believe it's 4-4. I know it's chapter 4 that there is one spirit and that one spirit, same spirit as in God, as in Christ as in us. We are of the eternal spirit. We are begotten by the eternal spirit. And so we have the essence of God in us and the essence of God is ancient. It goes back to the time of creation.

Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. That word boldness means that we are not afraid to speak up, that we are able to have the assurance within us, the frankness, the assurance of speech that we know wherein we have believed and we are bold in the day of judgment. So because as he is, so are we in this world.

So what is God in this world? He is love. If we are a blood, then we have nothing to fear, and we have boldness. When the day of judgment comes, we can stand before God and say, I have loved the brethren as you gave commandment. Verse 18. 1 John 4 verse 18. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear hath torment. You have a gnawing aching within your being, within your mind, within your heart, with your innermost being that something is not right, that you are tormented by it, that it keeps coming to mind, that you are not reconciled.

And the Bible is very clear on how to be reconciled. You don't need someone to tell you how to be reconciled. The Bible is very clear on the steps to take in reconciliation. It says in Matthew chapter 5 that if you bring your gift to the altar, your gift being a spiritual sacrifice, one of the spiritual sacrifices is prayer, and you realize before you pray that your brother has ought against you, you go be reconciled to your brother, then you come to offer your gift.

That is your prayer, which is a spiritual sacrifice. He that fears is not made perfect in love, but if you are reconciled, there is no torment within you, and you have done what the Spirit has laid upon your heart to do. We love Him because He first loved us. No, we were not... Some say, well, I was seeking the truth. The truth always interested me, fascinated me, and from a child, I would browse the radio dials. You can only get back when I first started listening to the radio at the age of four or five, actually at the age of four.

I remember clearly the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed and came on the radio. I was a little under four years old. I saw the horror in my mother's face, perhaps thinking of my father, who was disabled, really. He would never be past the physical to go into service, but nonetheless, you didn't know whether every person would be drafted into the military.

He has seen how well whom he has seen. How can he love God whom he's not seen? If you don't love the brother whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you have not seen? It is not possible, but a lot of people will declare that they are better than others. The religion of Islam, for example, says, convert or be killed. Convert or be killed. That is not showing love to your brother. If you really love your brother, as God said, you would not want to kill your brother.

Even if he resists the truth, then God will judge everyone that is unfaithful that it hardens their heart. And even as you read in Revelation 9, after the last verses, when God's wrath is poured out on the environment, that instead of repenting, many curse God, blame God, and continue in their sins, even knowing what's happening. If something happens in Revelation 16, where God is pouring out these seven vials of wrath, that some still curse God instead of repenting.

And this commandment have we from him that he who loves God loves his brother also. It's as simple and complex as that. That if you love God, you will also love your brother. Now we go to chapter 5. Whosever believe it not that Jesus is the Christ is whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Christ, and it should be translated, is begotten of God, and everyone that loves him, that beget loves him also, that is begotten.

Now I don't know why you would translate born the first time it appears, Gennao appears in the first sentence, is born of God, and then in the next sentence, next clause, you say, and that loves him that begat, which is begotten, loves him also, that is begotten of him. So it should be begotten all the way, that God begets us with his spirit, as it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and I believe it's chapter, maybe chapter 1 and verse 22.

We receive the earnest of the spirit, the down payment on eternal life, he that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God, and keep his commandments. So there is the love of God, and there is the keeping of his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. So the love of God is defined here. It's one of the few places in the Bible where you just get a clear definition of what the love of God is. And Christ, one time in his ministry, says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments even as I have kept my father's commandments.

Jesus Christ said also that I do not speak of my own words, but I speak the words of the Father who sent me. So the truth emanates from the Father through Jesus Christ to us.

It's like the Revelation in the book of Revelation does. The Revelation of God that he gave to Christ, and Christ gave it to an angel, and then the angel gave it to John, and John gave it to the people, and now we are recipients also. We know Revelation of God is recorded in the book of Revelation. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. As the world teaches, oh, we don't have to do all of those things. Oh, people who come close to me that say, oh, we don't have to do all of those do's and don'ts. We just have to be good people. And you make God over in your image, and you speak for God, and you tell him what he is, instead of him telling you what he is and what his requirements are. He is love, and he wants to share his love with everyone, but he doesn't want to share his love with those who think that they can do anything they want, and yet be in his favor and receive his blessings. For whosoever is begotten of God overcomes the world. But we receive the earnest of the Spirit. We have the more sure word of prophecy. We have the word of God. We have the word of God written on our inward parts. We have a new knowing within a new conscience. We can know what is right and what is wrong. And this is the victory, the victory that overcomes the world within our faith, our faith. We come here to a very similar to what I was talking about, people making God over into their own image. In that, people think that as long as they are quote, good people in their own estimation, they can trample all over the Sabbath. They can do anything they want to do. They can eat pork. They misunderstand scriptures that have to do with clean and unclean meats. We have the example of David. He would not eat the king's portion, his food. He only ate the things that were clean to eat. He was so much better off than learning once in the court of the emperor of the Persian Empire at that time, calling him Emperor King, dictator, whatever you wish. See, he overcomes the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Now, faith is a great controversy with regard to faith. It's found in James chapter 2. If you would turn to James chapter 2, we want to spend a little bit of time here and maybe help you understand this. It is very vital because God places a lot of emphasis on it.

But we're in James chapter 2, and verse 21 will start. Was not Abraham our father justified by works? It wasn't just faith alone. And there's a great controversy about this, where sometimes we say, okay, I'm saved by faith alone. And the easy example of Abraham, the Bible has the comment that we're saved by faith. But James also writes in James 1.22 that faith without works is, James 1.22 says, that be you doers of the word and not hearers only. Now, in chapter 2, he writes that I will show you my faith by my works. So here we are. I'm reading 21 again. James 2.21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works? Of course, works is a part of faith. If you understand this, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar, seeing you have faith wrought with his works, working alongside, and by works was faith made perfect. You say, well, I have faith that such and such is going to happen to you never act on that faith. That is faith is dead. And the scripture was fulfilled, which said Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness, which was recorded for righteousness. It was not imputed. I mean, the Protestant world now says, believe on Jesus Christ and his righteousness, and he imputes that righteousness to you. No, you have to believe on Jesus Christ that he paid the penalty for sin, but it's up on in coming upon us and repent of our sins, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, and do what he says to do. I'll call you me. At one point, Jesus Christ says in the Gospels, why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say.

And he says that he keeps the commandments of his father. You see then how that by works, a man is justified and not by faith only. So let's read chapter 23 again. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him, and was counted his record for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. Just because you believe on Jesus Christ and say I believe he exists, as it says earlier in this chapter, the devil believes in Christ, but he will not do what he says. The devil believes in trembles, but he won't obey. You see that how that by works, a man is justified and not by faith only. So it's a combination. You can't say that you have faith and you never act on your faith. You never do what it says to do. We have even those who would tell you how to live, yet at the same time they preach one thing and it never manifested any works to go along with it. Likewise also was not Raham the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent him out another way. She didn't just believe she did whatever said.

And for the body without the spirit who's dead, faith without works is dead also. So now we go back to 1 John in chapter 4 and we see that we're in chapter 5, I'm sorry. In chapter 5, we see that that we are justified by faith in the overall sense, but a part of faith is to do what God says to do, which in some ways also involves works. If you see your brother hungry and you just say, oh, bless your brother, go your way and don't give him bread, then your faith is dead and is in vain. Who is he that overcomes the world? 1 John 5, 5. Who is he that overcomes the world? He that believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Now right there, once again, it sounds like it's just saying all you have to do is believe in Jesus Christ. The verse above it, he who overcomes the world is done through faith. Well, faith includes doing what God has said to do. I hope that is clear to everyone. Now verse 6. This is he that came by water and blood. Jesus came by water physically when the water broke of his mother Mary, but he came by water when he was baptized. The voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And blood, of course, at a natural birth. There's blood involved and you know what a newborn looks like. But then Jesus Christ died on the stake and paid for our sins. So this is he that came by water and by blood, looking at it in the spiritual sense of he paid the price, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is true. Now the Spirit that bears witness, we have the Spirit of God in us, which is a witness that God is alive and his Spirit is working in you. But the greater witness is that of Jesus Christ. And he testifies, as we'll see later in the chapter, of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ came by water and by blood and the Father, when he came by water, by baptism, says, This is my Son, and whom I will please. At the appearance of Jesus Christ, at the transfiguration where he took Peter, James, and John, and he gave a millennial kind of setting, said, This is my Son. Listen to him, or hear him.

Now, verse 7, when you come to verse 7, is a controversial verse, and it appears in no manuscript prior to the 15th century. So there was a man named Erasmus who was a Bible scholar who was challenged in saying that there is a verse that says that there are three in heaven that bear record. Three on earth is in verse 7. And then Erasmus made diligent search, found one verse, and against his will, he reluctantly put verse 7 in. And from those who believe in the Trinity, from this day forward, has basically gone to 1 John 5, 7 to try to prove that there is a Trinity. But that is a spurious verse. Spurious means it's not in the original text. And virtually every commentary points that out, and a lot of the marginal renderings pointed out as well. Now verse 8 is valid. And there are three that bear witness in earth, in the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. And that three agree in Jesus' Christ. That he, these three bear record, that he was baptized, he was in the begotten of God, he had the spirit of God from birth, he was baptized in water. A voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son, whom I will please. In the transfiguration, listen to the Son, he is my Son. These three agree in one, it is Christ. If we have the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. So we know that verse 8 is talking about God is greater, for this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his Son.

So we have those two instances of baptism and the transfiguration. You need to know those verses that are in Matthew, and I think another place in Mark, maybe in Luke as well. He believes on, he that believes on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.

He that believes not God has made him a liar. So you have to believe the Word of God, the love of God is the record. You remember in John 1663 it says, the words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life, because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son. So God gave those two records of his Son at his baptism and also at the transfiguration. Now, 1 John 5, 11. And this is the record that God has given it to us eternal world life, and this life is in his Son. Why is so important that Jesus Christ was resurrected? He had to die to pay for the sins of the world, and he had to be resurrected to send the Spirit back to us. It says in John chapter 8 that if he goes not away, he will not send the Spirit to us. So he has sent us the Spirit, and we have that witness, the very Spirit of God, the eternal Spirit. See, that essence of God exists in eternity. So we have the same Spirit that is in God and that is in Christ as in us. There is one Spirit, which said that at least three other times. Now, verse 13. These things have a 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. And we've talked about how that faith and works are connected, and that you have to have more than just the say, I believe. And this is the confidence that we have in Him. We ask anything according to His will. He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. In other words, according to His will, He answers our prayers. If any man see his brother's sin, sin is sin, which is not unto death. He shall ask, and he shall give him life. And then that sin not unto death, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that He shall pray for it. Now, the commentators have, and there's great controversy over this verse of a sin unto death, as if there is one particular sin unto death, and all other sins are not a sin unto death. I believe that the sin unto death is a sin that a person will not repent of. He does everything else right, but He still continues to hold to one or more things which leads to death. You have to repent of every sin. David even prayed that God would forgive him of secret sins, sins that he didn't even know about.

And we are to do the same, that there are sins oftentimes that we don't even know about. And we ask God that He would reveal them to us.

That we may be sinning in areas that we don't know about, and God asks us to reveal those things to us. Let's see, I don't really send the book of Psalms. I think it's, I'm just guessing right now because I don't know for sure there is a scripture. Somebody might look it up.

Secret sins would be the key word probably in Psalms. I think it's chapter 15.

It's not 15. I'm looking for a word. David prays that God would also forgive him of secret sins. But oh, my eye doesn't fall on it right now, so I'm going to move on to in 1 John chapter 5. So you can look that one up that David even prayed that God would forgive him of secret sins.

So we're going back to John chapter 5.

Psalm 1912.

Psalm 1912. Okay, go ahead and read it, Jim. Jim. Who can understand his errors cleanse me from secret faults?

Yes. So there's their secret sins. I believe this kind of great controversy is a sin you won't repent of. You cannot, as far as I know, you can't be held responsible for sin that you don't know about.

But David even prayed that God would forgive him of sins he didn't even know about. You know, David asked him. He seemed to be all innocent when Nathan came to him and asked him about... Nathan asked in such a way about the death, his great sin that David had committed with Bathsheba and then had his... sent his... the husband of Bathsheba, Uriah, to the front line and he was killed. David knew he would be killed. And so David was an adulterer and a murderer and God forgave him of that sin because he repented. He said, against you and you only have a sin and done this evil in your sight. So the sin unto death...

and once again it's a great controversy among the commentators... all unrighteousness is sin, verse 17. And there is a sin not unto death. So there are a lot of sins that we commit from time to time. Sometimes we know about it, sometimes it's revealed later and we repent of it.

Much of the sin that we commit after we're converted has to do with what goes on in the mind. And you know, one place that even says that to look upon a woman with adultery in your heart is a sin. And so there are many things that we may sin, not knowing about it, or we may sin in our mind and know about it. If we know about it, we need to repent of it.

So that verse is still one that is hanging up there of sin unto death. My take on it is a sin that you won't repent of. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. And we know anything you repent of. Even it says in 1 John chapter 1, we know we started off the study of 1 John with he who says that he's without sin as a liar, the truth is not in him. And if we're faithful and just to confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness. This is Satan's world. He is the God of this world. It is a wicked world. It is a sinful world. It is a world that we're to come out of. And I know that the Son of God, and we know that the Son of God is come, or is coming. He's coming in each one of us, living inside us, and is given an understanding that we know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ, and this is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves provided. Okay, we have come to the end of this chapter. We are going to take up next time 2nd John and 3rd John and Jude. We're going to do three books, really, three letters. Next time will be the last time in this series on the general epistles. And the assignments you have for next time will be having to do with...

Let's look quickly at 2nd John chapter 1. 2nd John chapter 1, the only one chapter, I think it's 13 verses. The Altarun to the Lady. Now, a lot of the commentaries say that John wrote this specifically to a specific person, to a woman who had these children, and they use the the word for lady is curia in the Greek.

But modern day scholars, most of them say, and the church's position has been that this is to the church and not to a specific person. To me, it doesn't make sense to say that it is. So you can be thinking about to the elect lady and read... I think this has 13 verses and 2nd John is even shorter and Jude is a short book as well, but is laden with material in it.

So next time, let's see... 6-24. June 24th.

Yes. So we'll be covering... we'll wind up the general epistles next time. I hope we have a perfect attendance next time.

So we're looking for all 27 to be back. We'll wrap up the general epistles next time. And so be thinking about who is the lady. To me, it doesn't make sense to say this is to a person. I believe that the teaching is and the church is correct that it is to the church in general. And that's why it's in the general epistles as well. So we'll... right now we'll ask for your comments and your questions from the material we covered tonight.

Dr. Ward? Yes. Okay, you made a point of pointing out that no one has heard the Father, and then you brought up Jesus' baptism and the Transfiguration. How do you justify that or explain that?

What do you mean? How do I explain what? The voice from above saying that, you know, at Christ's baptism and at the Transfiguration...

Because it says, this is my son. Okay. And I am well pleased. And the other one that Transfiguration says, this is my son and I listened to him. Where this voice says clearly...

This voice says clearly, this is my son. So we have the witness of the Father in two cases, even though he didn't say the words himself, the words came from him to whatever voice spoke. Probably an angel then maybe? Maybe an angel. Well, surely it was through an angel. Yeah, that's what I figured. Okay, I wanted to clear that up. Yes. Anybody else have a question or comment?

Again, I understand you to say that in verse 17, that all unrighteous is sin and there is a sin not unto death. That means that it's been repented of, so it's not unto death, correct?

That is the way I understand it. The commentators are all over the place. They take it like there is a... most of them take it like there's a specific sin, and they try to waffle around about there is a specific sin. I don't know of any place in the Bible where it says there is a specific sin that leads to death, but I do know that if there is a sin that you won't repent of, that that sin leads to death. Right. Okay.

Just one lecture. That's the explanation I can come up with at the present time with regard to it. You might search that out and see if you come up with anything else. Okay. Well, when you were talking about David's repentance, it doesn't get much worse than that. And that didn't lead to death. Well, David's after God's own heart, basically, he repented.

There's nothing that we do that we can't repent of and change.

Yeah, you have to repent, and that repentance means that you bear forth fruits that are fitting for repentance. Right. You have to demonstrate. I'm going to shock everybody by this statement.

You know, there's a statement that's like you just said, a man after God's own heart. David was a murderer, a fornicator, and he numbered Israel, which resulted in the death of thousands. The man after God's own heart, is that any more than you are a man after or woman after God's own heart? That we're willing to repent of everything. Now, I read one commentator that said that David, see, the people chose Saul, and God chose David. When Samuel went to anoint from the house of Jesse, he said, well, this is a fine-looking man. Surely this is the one. And I said, no, to Samuel, that this is not the one. And then Samuel said, well, what about this one? God says, no, that's not the one. Then finally, finally Samuel says, well, or to Jesse, well, do you have any other sense? Well, we have this young guy way out there keeping the sheep. He's about 17 or 18 years old. And immediately Samuel said, well, let's go check him out. So he was the one. God chose David. The people chose Saul.

And I'll leave it at that. But as a murderer and an adulterer, David repeated, and God forgave him, and he numbered Israel, which was his most grievous sin as far as affecting the whole nation, because the whole nation paid a dear price for the fact that he numbered Israel. Because thousands were killed as a result of him numbering Israel and going to battle.

He used to be, we used to have sermon after sermon on David. I think David was a mission and a lot of people's sermons more often than Christ.

David is surely one to be respected, because, like you say, he repented of a lot of grievous sins and God forgave him. Now, is that what God meant by a man after his own heart?

I don't know for sure.

But that, the Bible says in more than one place, a man after God's own heart. Anybody else have a question or comment?

Okay, no question or comment. We'll see you next time!