Exercising God’s Love, Pt. 3

Ronald Weinland

April 29, 2023

This will be Part 3 of the continuing series Exercising God’s Love or Living God’s Love, but I like the word “exercising” because that means, again, as I said before, this involves work. It involves effort on our part. There are things we have to do. It’s not just something that is put in us and we’re going to be a certain way; it’s something we’ve got to want, desire, and work for in the way God says to do it.

So again, Exercising God’s Love, Part 3.

Now, shortly we’re going to continue on from where we left off last Sabbath, but first today we’re going to focus once again upon the urgency of this time we live in right now and the Thunders that continue to be loud and rapidly repetitive, and even the increase in the number of Thunders at the same time.

So, I thought it’d be good to go through some more news articles. I just picked a few out of the last couple of weeks, and not even going into some of the things that are taking place as far as weather and various kinds of things like that. But just some of the primary ones that are going to lead into a third world war, the main ones which are also is closely tied to economic factors because this affects attitudes and thinking of people in different countries and what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it.

Anyway, here is one: “Germany Approves Poland's Request To Send 5 Fighter Jets To Ukraine.”[1] Well, you can’t do a whole lot with five fighter jets, but it’s a start for them and it sends a message is what it does, in a very strong way. It ratchets it up, ratchets everything up a notch, which isn’t good. So, these things just continue to happen, the comments keep getting stronger and stronger out here, and it’s just leading in one direction, so we need to see what’s taking place.

Another one here: “Is there a Worldwide Run on the Bank of the United States of America?”[2] This is something that’s really changing quickly because we’re barely surviving. I mean, there are so many games being played out here it’s mind-boggling, and it can’t be sustained very long.

Anyway, “There is a run on the United States from certain nations and business interests around the world. Just like there was a run on banks after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, many nations are either thinking about — or actually proceeding with — transferring at least a portion of their allegiance, assets and commitments from the ‘Bank of the U.S.’ to the ‘Bank of China’ or elsewhere.”

This is a very strong trend right now that’s been happening, I’d say, just in the last three weeks in a profound way, in a great way, speeding up the process.

Another one here: “Italy's Meloni Declares 'State Of Emergency' As Illegal Immigration Quadruples.”[3] Now, we’re having our own problems here in the States, obviously, but it’s amazing how this is happening in different parts of the world in a very strong way. Europeans after a while don’t respond well to this. They’re not doing very well with some of this in some of those countries and things of this very nature by themselves could lead into war because, again, it’s an economic factor for them and it’s unsustainable and somebody has to take care of everyone.

Yes, we’d like to see the whole world have a better quality of life, but it can’t be handled that way. Mankind can’t accomplish it. So, all these are just things that add to the drama.

“Big question with dollar under fire from rival countries and currencies: What happens to markets if the greenback loses its dominance?” [4] Isn’t that amazing to even think that we’re there at this time to see that nations and people in the news, they’re discussing such things as they see China becoming stronger and stronger and other parts of the world, in that respect, pulling together?

Anyway, going on here in this article it says, “As a result, the dollar has been the worst-performing G-10 currency over the past month, according to a team of analysts at Rabobank. Alan Ruskin, a macro strategist at Deutsche Bank who has covered currencies for years, noted that de-dollarization talk is coming back into vogue less than a year after the 50th anniversary of the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system. Under Bretton Woods, a gold-backed U.S. dollar assumed a central role in the global postwar economy.” So, things are changing quickly now.

Another one here: “Proxy War with Russia has Brought West Hegemony to Brink of Collapse, German Lawmaker Warns.”[5] And now, this is Russian news but again, they do, just because it’s from Russia doesn’t mean it’s not true. There are things they like to report in order to poke at others to say, “See! See what’s happening to you?” They like to stir up the pot a little bit, which everybody likes to stir up the pot it seems.

“S. Korea's Yoon to meet Biden as doubts grow over nuclear umbrella.”[6] This is from Reuters. “South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol set off on Monday for the United States and a summit with President Joe Biden at a time of rare questioning in South Korea of an alliance that has guaranteed its security for decades.”

So, why all of a sudden some of these things taking place? If you lived there I think you’d be concerned too. With the way China is, you want to make sure that they’re going to agree to giving you that umbrella. Whether they would ever do it or not is another question but at least… Anyway.

“Yoon's April 24-29 trip is the first state visit to the U.S. by a South Korean leader in 12 years and will mark the 70th anniversary of a partnership that has helped anchor U.S. strategy in Asia and provided a foundation for South Korea's emergence as an economic powerhouse.”

“But as North Korea races ahead with the development of nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them, there are growing questions in South Korea about the relying on ‘extended deterrence,’ in essence the American nuclear umbrella, and calls, even from some senior members of Yoon's party, for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons.” That means that those individuals don’t trust the US to live up to what they say.

Another one here: “Australia plans largest military overhaul since WWII amid growing China threat.”[7] If I lived there I’d be concerned too. I can’t imagine—I’ll be honest with you—I can’t imagine living down there right now in New Zealand and Australia and knowing that China has their eye on you. Because they do and they have for a long time, and they’ve been taking all kinds of minerals and trying to buy up everything they can and wrecking the economy in many ways down there.

“What Brookfield's Default Has To Do With You.”[8] It says, “…this week Bloomberg reported that Brookfield Corporation, one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the world, has defaulted on $161.4 million of office building mortgages.” It’s not just them. It’s just showing a trend that’s taking place, but they’re the ones in the forefront here because being the largest.

“These office buildings are mostly in Washington, DC.  However, this Brookfield default comes just two months after its much larger default of $784 million in mortgages for two office towers in Los Angeles. … The double whammy of higher vacancy rates post-Covid and higher interest rates have turned these buildings from profit generating ventures into huge gaping money pits. … The fact is there’s simply too much unused office space.  This is not a situation that will magically change.”

“According to Federal Reserve data, and as noted by Fortune, 67 percent of all commercial real estate loans are held by small banks and regional banks. Consequently, more debt defaults in the commercial real estate market could lead to more small and regional bank blowups. … At the end of 2022, the FDIC reported its Deposit Insurance Fund had a balance of $128 billion.” That probably doesn’t mean a whole lot when you read billions, but what that’s saying is it’s pretty sick. “This comes to a reserve ratio of 1.27 percent of the total insured deposits.” So, if there were a lot of them, where are they going to get the dough to help pay out? It’s not going to be there.

“By our estimation, insurance reserves of 1.27 percent of potential obligations are not real insurance. … In a real panic, FDIC reserves would be vaporized in less than a day.”

“Putin ally: We are probably on verge of a new world war.”[9]

“When asked about climate change, Medvedev responded, ‘Do you really care about the climate to such an extent? In my opinion, this is nothing compared to the prospect of being at the epicenter of an explosion with a temperature of 5,000 Kelvin (scale). Is there such a prospect today? (Unfortunately,) yes. And it is growing every day for well-known reasons,’ he said.”[10]

Well, we know what their reasons were, how they’re looking at it. But their rhetoric is getting stronger and stronger and they’re not pulling any punches. They’re talking in this vein. Every week things like this come out.

“Russian TV Host Calls for Destruction of Key NATO Capitals.”[11] This is in Newsweek. “A prominent Russian state TV host recently advocated for the destruction of Kyiv as well as two NATO capitals during a recent broadcast on the state-run Russia-1 channel. The comments by Vladimir Solovyov, a Kremlin propagandist and popular presence on Russian television and radio, came as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

“Following the talks, Stoltenberg told reporters that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance, adding that it must have ‘the deterrence to prevent new attacks.’ The war in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces launched an invasion. … Solovyov said during a recent TV broadcast that Kyiv, Warsaw and Berlin should be destroyed.”

One week it’s London and Paris and the next week it’s some others, so they’re not happy.

“China's push to hijack enemy satellites could be 'game over' for US, national security expert warns.”[12] That’s all we need to do. You know, we’re so stupid. Just tell them, “Yep. That’s our weakness and it’s probably game over if you do this. Nothing we can do.” So stupid. It doesn’t matter anyway because the information seems to get out there anyway. Give it to the Coast Guard, give it to somebody else.

“EU Is In A ‘Warlike Mood,’ Warns Hungary's Foreign Minister.”[13] “Europe is pushing for more war and taking measures to not only accelerate arms deliveries to Ukraine but also stamp out pro-peace voices in Europe, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó in Luxembourg on Monday. … ‘This atmosphere of war here also implies that the pro-peace advocates that continue to argue for peace continue to come under severe political and verbal attack, whether from countries present here or not,’ he added.”

So, there are moods that are changing quite rapidly, and you get so beaten up if you take certain stances no matter what. But here is one where they really are pushing more for military.

“Reporting on the Luxembourg meeting of European foreign ministers, he said that it had again started with ‘self-blame,’ with many believing that the EU had still not done enough to support Ukraine.”

Another article: “Washington should redeploy nukes to South Korea – Bolton.”[14] “Having tactical nuclear weapons back on the peninsula would be clear evidence of our resolve and determination to deter North Korea,” Bolton told Reuters on the sidelines of a forum at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul on Tuesday. Bolton has cultivated a reputation for hawkish foreign policy stances throughout a decades-long career in Washington.” And just say, just something like that, what does that do with North Korea? It just stirs up their paranoia, ratchets that up many, many degrees above what it already is. I still believe they’re the ones to watch as to far as what first takes place, or we’ll see it afterward.

“Pyongyang, meanwhile, has condemned the ‘irresponsible actions of the United States and South Korea’ which its foreign ministry said last month was increasing ‘the risk of nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.’” I mean, everywhere you look, I mean, things are so stirred up out there.

The Middle East, some of the crazy things going on between some of the countries there in the Middle East that have been down each other’s throats are all of a sudden kind of cozying up to each another and wanting to turn against Israel and the US, basically. Saudi Arabia cozying up with China, that’s a big one because used to be a lot of cozying up a lot with the U.S. It had to do with oil and petro-dollar, and now that’s not as important to them.

“Global Military Spending Hits All-Time High As World War III Threats Persist.”[15] “Whether it begins in Eastern Europe or the South China Sea, World War III threats are mounting with each passing week. The latest data shows global military spending increased for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to an all-time high. The surge in European spending primarily drove this increase due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.” So, it’s not just about Ukraine. It’s about what they see they need to do. So, they’re taking on more of the responsibility. Not because they were threatened by a previous President but because they see a threat from next door, and they don’t trust the U.S. anymore.

Another one here: “Global defense expenditures increased by 3.7% in real terms to a record high of $2.24 trillion in 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) wrote in a report.”[16]

Another one here: “Turkey, Russia, Iran, Syria hold 'constructive talks.'”[17] Isn’t that exciting? I mean, I can’t help but when I think about Turkey and what it says in scripture about them. It says they betray, basically, Israel, the nations. And in the end-time, we know that has primarily to do with the U.S., but also the rest of the Israelite nations. But it’s primarily here in regard to the U.S., and to think they are a part of NATO…?

I just want to read this. This is just beside the article. I want to read this to you about Turkey. It says, “Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952, has its second largest army,” it’s huge, “and is the host of the Allied Land Command headquarters. The Incirlik and Konya Airbases have both been involved in several NATO military operations since their establishment.”[18] And yet Erdogan has been playing games with Russia, a little bit with China, but mostly with Russia and weapons and so forth and you think, and they’re a part of NATO? I mean, that is such a farce.

And you think, what can you tell them? So, what kind of information do they share if they’re a part of NATO? And what do they do with that information? Do you think they just keep it to themselves and everybody in NATO is hunky dory with one another and loves each other? They don’t! You think, talk about this world ready to explode in some horrifying ways. It’s mind-boggling.

Then someone told me just before services here that they heard Wednesday night that Erdogan was taken to hospital after an interview. Then everything went quiet about it, and I haven’t heard, you haven’t heard anything out there about it. So, it’s really strange how people report on things they want you to hear about and other things they don’t. So, think, man, someone else gets in there that’s worse you wonder what on earth. But we’ll see.

Then sometimes when people are that sickly and the prospects aren’t good for them, like Putin, and they think that their time might be short, what they might do in order to push things forward. That’s the reality of life.

Another article here: “What strong gold says about the weak dollar.”[19] “And why are emerging nations rebelling now, when global trade has been based on the dollar since the end of the second world war? Because the US and its allies have increasingly turned to financial sanctions as a weapon. Astonishingly, 30 per cent of all countries now face sanctions from the US, the EU, Japan and the UK — up from 10 per cent in the early 90s.”

“Too confident in the indomitable dollar, the US saw sanctions as a cost-free way to fight Russia without risking troops.” There’s more to it than that, but anyway. “But it is paying the price in lost currency allegiances. Nations cutting deals to trade without the dollar now include old US allies such as the Philippines and Thailand.” And of course, we know the others. Argentina here recently just totally booted out the dollar in that respect. Some in Africa are doing the same thing. On and on it goes. Brazil, of course, because of BRICS.

I hope you know what BRICS is. If you don’t know what BRICS is then it’s those nations that are lining together, China, Russia, Brazil, and so forth that are a part of this compact to get rid of or to not have to be tied into the dollar and trade amongst themselves freely in their own currencies, mainly the Yuan.

“The number of countries with central banks looking at ways to launch their own digital currency has tripled since 2020 to more than 110, representing 95 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.” Now, those are staggering comments and those are the things that take countries into war. If nothing else were to happen that’s enough for nations to go into war when it’s all said and done.

“Russia accuses West of turning Ukraine into ‘radioactive landfill.’”[20] “Russia has condemned the UK’s decision to send depleted uranium (DU) shells to Ukraine, saying the move marks an ‘all-out escalation’ after the British Defence Ministry confirmed the radioactive weapons were already in Kiev’s hands.”

Another one here: “Russia’s Lavrov warns of EU militarisation, says similar to NATO.”[21] “Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the European Union ‘is becoming militarized at a record rate’ and there was now little difference between the EU and NATO.” Well, NATO has been a joke, basically, and they’re trying to become more of a solid unit, and they don’t want to have the United States telling them what to do so that’s the direction they’ve been moving for some time, so, it’s not a shock.

“Lavrov told a news conference on Tuesday at the United Nations in New York that a recently signed declaration essentially states that the NATO military alliance of 31 members will ensure the security of the 27-member EU bloc. He appeared to be referring to an EU-NATO declaration in January on their ‘strategic partnership’ which called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine ‘the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades,’ but the declaration does not state that NATO will ensure the security of the EU.”

The main thing out of this is to understand how Russia feels. Every nation has its own feelings, has its own thoughts and ideas about what’s taking place in the world. They think differently. Like North Korea, in a paranoid fashion. They really do. They’re just absolutely paranoid, and to the extreme, their leadership, and then that then conveys over to what they say to their people because they’ve been basically brainwashed for generations now or for decades. And so, there is a thinking that’s just insane.

Some things you wonder. When I hear something like that I think, what are they going to be like in the Great White Throne? If you live all your life thinking a certain way, so distorted, in such a distorted fashion, how hard is it going to be to choose, or will it choose, does it have the capability of even choosing the right way? Because the reality is in a lot of cases, not going to happen. That’s why there are going to be billions at the end do what they do.

“US Sending Nuclear Submarines to South Korea for First Time in 40 Years.”[22] Wonderful headlines. You know, you see these things and you think it’s just ratcheting up more and more.

“WHO Cites ‘Huge Biological Risk’ As Sudan Fighters Seize Lab Containing Deadly Pathogens.”[23] I’m not even going to go into that one, but you think, like the end of the article says, basically, these biolabs, they have these highly dangerous samples that are there and the question was asked, “What are they doing there in the first place?” Who’s behind some of that?

“Ukraine to start counteroffensive in May – NYT.”[24] Well, I think it was supposed to have been in March and April, and now they’ve moved it up to May. But at some point here they’re going to ratchet everything up there as well between the two.

“American officials report that Ukraine will start its counteroffensive in May. Source: The New York Times. Quote: ‘Ukraine is preparing to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces as early as next month, American officials say, in the face of immense risks: Without a decisive victory, Western support for Ukraine could weaken, and Kyiv could come under increasing pressure to enter serious negotiations to end or freeze the conflict.’”

I’ve already said this one here but here is the article: “Argentina drops dollar in trade with China.”[25] Another one here: “Iran seizes ship in Gulf of Oman, US Navy says.”[26] I’m not going to read that one either. It was on FOX News; you might have seen it. But you know, again, these things just continue on and on. “U.S.: Russian Subs in Atlantic ‘More Active Than We’ve Seen Them in Years.’”[27]

Another one here: “Ukraine attempted to assassinate Putin with killer drone: claims NYP.”[28] I don’t know if I typed this wrong or not. Anyway, supposedly it came out of New York. I don’t know if it’s the New York Times but I put a “P” in there so I don’t know what that would be. New York Press? Post? Yeah, could be. I thought it was NYT earlier when I first saw the article. Anyway.

“Ukraine purportedly attempted to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin with a killer drone — but it crashed short of its high-profile target, a report claims. Unidentified sources claimed that the Ukrainian secret service launched a UJ-22 drone loaded with C4 explosives on Sunday, the German newspaper Bild reported.” German. “The drone was allegedly intended to target the Rudnevo Industrial Park, where Putin was expected to visit either Sunday or Monday. Instead, the outlet said, it exploded about 12 miles away…”

Not very good targeting, but anyway, just the thought that it was out there and what they’re monkeying around with and trying to do, and it causes a little more paranoia.

The point of going through some of these things in the news is just so we stop and think where we are and to understand even if you hear these things on a regular basis and you see them here in a regular basis not to become complacent. Because after a while that’s what the mind can do, just because you hear these things on a regular basis, you can begin to think this is the norm. It’s not a norm.

That’s why we need to see what’s taking place because these are about Thunders as well, very powerful ones because these are the very things that are going to lead up to the first events of the Trumpets. All these things combined together is exactly what leads up to that.

We need to realize when these things get louder and louder and are more often and added together with other kinds of Thunders that are taking place out here, we’re just that much closer. Because that is the exact guideline that we’ve been given to watch, in that respect, that we’re getting that much closer.

So, it’s not a time to take things easy. This sermon series is about change that needs to take place in our lives, of things that God is showing us, and candidly, if we can see it, this series and what’s been leading up to it is also about the Sixth and the Seventh Thunders because it’s to the Church. Because what is given to the Church will soon be given to the world.

1 John 3; let’s pick it up there, and I hope by the time we’re through with this that we are able to see that there is more required than what the Church has ever understood in times past. There’s more that God requires. This way of life is not easy for the human mind because the mind is carnal by nature. It’s a battle. We have “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” and we have to combat it. That’s the very thing that should stir us up in the fight to combat it, to draw closer to God, to want to draw closer to God, to want to be more at one with God, to cry out for that in our lives, and to practice, to live more fervently, if you will, the things God tells us how to do, what to do.

Because too often these things, especially in what we’re covering here, have been glossed over and haven’t been seen for the importance of what they really are. It’s about relationships within the Church. First and foremost above everything else, this is our arena of growth. That’s what it is. And how we live this determines what’s going to happen to us, where we’re going, if we’re drawing closer to God or not.

John is giving a lot here. I’ve been through John a lot. I’ve been through 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John a lot – not a little, but a lot – throughout my ministry, in that respect. It’s to me some of the most exciting things that God has ever revealed. But I’m dumbfounded to see that He is giving more here that we haven’t seen.

I mean, isn’t that an awesome thing? Sometimes you can go over and over something and we think we’ve received it all. No. There is always more. There is always more to build upon that hasn’t been unlocked in our minds by God’s spirit to see and understand. When it’s God’s time to reveal more about Himself and how we are to be more like Him this is a powerful Thunder. Okay? It truly is. That’s what’s taking place right now.

1 John 3:1—Behold what manner or what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called the sons of God! Now, we’ve talked about His love toward us in the series leading up to this, how much God loves us in that respect, that His focus is upon us. It’s on the Church.

It’s not on the world yet. God is working with the world to prepare it for His Son’s coming but He’s not working with the individuals of the world yet until it’s their time, in the sense of on a spiritual plane. He’s not opening their minds to understand truth. He’s not calling them to the Church. It’s not that time. Now, as to what people might be able to receive in varying amounts out here, that’s another matter.

So again, we’re to consider this agape that is from God, that it says He has given to us, that we have access to. It’s like His spirit. It is His spirit. It is from Him as John goes on to talk about here, but there’s a way of thinking at the midst of all this. It’s God’s thinking, it’s God’s mind, and that’s what He wants to give to us more and more – of that.

…that He’s given us that we should be called the sons of God. You know, we read things like this, but we can’t really grasp what this means yet. We believe it. We’re thankful for it. It’s exciting to think that one day – you may not be thinking about this as much until you get older – but when you get closer to an end of life you realize this body is decaying. It’s not getting better, it’s going by the wayside, it’s breaking down, and it’s a part of life.

You think, what an awesome thing that we have this circle of life, this life that we have that God has given to us and it comes to an end, and to realize there is something that will go on. I can’t comprehend what it’s going to be like not to sleep. Another, whatever that is, every day that you’re going to have, what you’re going to be doing, you’re awake all the time. There is never a desire to sleep. I don’t comprehend that. I believe it and I know we’re going to be busy, and it’s going to be exciting because I believe what God says, and it beats this, and it beats the human drama we live in.

Because one of the things we’re to learn in the Church is human drama stinks, the unhappiness, the misery of human life; sometimes people get to thinking it’s pretty good. You think, this is all you want? You want to live on and on in this physical life? I don’t. Why? Well, you can’t know those things or have those kinds of things in your mind as a whole like we do until we know the truth, and then we can embrace it and think, “Awesome!”

Thankful for it, grateful for it, “That we should be called the sons of God.”  We’re begotten of God and when we do die our life is in God’s hands. When we die, we’re not going to know it, and the next thing you know what we will know, we’re in a different body and we can appear and disappear as far as physical life is concerned, and then be gone. I think it’s going to be kind of fun, but anyway. And if I’m allowed to I’m going to have some fun with some people.

So, it goes on to say, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world does not know us, because it does not know Him. So, we learn that in time. We learn that you can’t give this to anyone else. You can’t really discuss this well with anyone else because if their minds aren’t open what’s the point? You can’t convince anyone else of anything you believe. All you can do is set a right example in this world, to be a right light, to be a witness of what is true and what is right. In their time they’re going to glorify God as scripture says. They’re going to be excited because they’re going to say, “Yeah, I knew them. Now I understand why they were that way. That’s the way we’re supposed to be.”

Beloved, now we are the sons of God; and it does not yet appear, in other words, it hasn’t been made visible, hasn’t been made manifest yet what we shall be. Just what I mentioned. We can’t comprehend what it’s going to be like in a spirit body. 20/20 vision and better? Nothing physical hurting you?

…what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, when he’s made visible, when Christ is made visible on this earth and mankind is able to see him, and when we’re able to see him even on a spiritual plane, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. What an awesome thing to see in a spirit world things that physical human beings can’t see.

So, everyone who has this hope in them purifies themself even as he is pure. So we go through a process of growth and it’s a matter of being purified, cleansed in our physical lives until we’re able to attain to this. We understand that.

Verse 4—Whoever commits… does, makes, practices; that’s what this word is about. It’s not just about a past tense type of thing, “commits,” but it’s about a way of living. Just like this title, Exercising God’s Love, it’s something you have to do, it’s active, living God’s love.

Whoever does, practice, if you will, sin… This is talking about sin in this case, so it’s not just a matter of committing sin, it’s a matter of what you’re living. So, it’s not a matter of a one-time thing. That was the point I was going to make here at the beginning. It’s not a matter of a one-time thing, it’s a matter of how you’re living.

When John is going through this he’s not talking about a single sin, he’s talking about a sin that just continues to be practiced, lived without repentance. You’re just doing it and you’re not stopping and you’re not putting effort into it, you’re not crying out to God to conquer and overcome it.

For sin, as it says, is the transgression of the law. Scripture that Herbert Armstrong would so often broadcast, tell the world, you know, because they don’t get this, that sin is the transgression of God’s law because they don’t want to acknowledge that we’re under God’s law or that it’s required.

Even you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. So indeed, we understand that Christ became known, was seen on earth, lived in a physical, human body, was made manifest to be our Passover, to take away our sins. …and in him was no sin. He had no sin. That’s why he was perfect as a Passover, the Lamb of God.

Whoever abides in him does not sin. Do we sin? Yes! Yes! Yes! So, we have to understand what it’s saying here. It’s not about a single one-time sin or that you never sin. Yes, we have sin in our life, but it’s whether or not we’re fighting it, whether or not we’re repenting of it, because we have “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life,” we do stupid things. It doesn’t take long for something to come in the mind.

Like I’ve given the example of because so many of us have that example, and maybe you’re a very calm driving… What was that show? Miss Daisy. I’m not like that. It was the guy driving. He was pretty good. He was a chauffeur. He was a good driver.

I’m not a good driver, okay? I acknowledge that when I get behind a wheel human characteristics come out that aren’t flattering, and I have to fight some battles sometimes. Sometimes I can just jolly along and be very calm and let them have their battles and fights.

Because that’s what everybody is doing out there. They’re all fighting and battling and swerving in and out and doing stupid things, and things with semis (which are some of my pet peeves), and seeing cars pull right in front of a semi. I think, “You… You’re insane! If somebody had to stop or slow down in front of you, they’re going to be right over the top of you.” Anyway, little pet peeves. But I let pet peeves sometimes get too big, see.

And so whatever it is we deal with in life, and that’s one of mine. So, maybe you don’t have any of those. Maybe you have no problems when you drive out there in heavy traffic and everything just going hunky dory. Well, that’s fine. But somewhere else, I can tell you, you have problems in life with people, with situations that come up or whatever it might be, and there is where we tend to sin. If we see ourselves, which we’re supposed to see ourselves, we’re to repent. We’re to ask God for help to do it better.

I have a lot to practice with and a lot to work with and a lot to be made better. I’m constantly having to work with it because I have a few drops of German blood and they go crazy. They want to be on the Autobahn.

Whoever abides in him does not sin. So, we know that we have sin, but we don’t practice it as a way of life. We’re not living it as a way of life. Sometimes within the Church people live it! They don’t just steal tithes on one time; they steal it the next month and the next month. They don’t just not pay Holy Day offerings on one Holy Day; they don’t do it on the next and the next. Those are some of the most blatant and hideous of lying and cheating and robbing and hideous of sins that I can think of to do toward God directly. Because if we do that, where are we in any of our thinking in everything else? It's like, wow.

But there are other things in there in the midst of that within the Church. There always have been. Those are the kinds of things that only you, if you are doing certain things, you can know whether they keep popping up. Shouldn’t they just stop? And if at some moment and something does happen, and you sin again, you repent quickly and you seek to get better in that. That’s the process. You seek to get better as you grow, do better as you go along.

I’m talking about in some of these things the things that are more obvious, the things that are more blatant in that regard. Fighting a temporary battle on the freeway with your attitude and thinking that people are doing stupid things… It’s okay to think that people are doing stupid things because as a whole they are. It’s just the world we live in. A lot of them aren’t thinking.

I saw one woman today, here is the car and she’s driving and she’s looking at her phone. Seventy miles an hour, about, sixty-five. Think, where is your brain? One little wrong turn and you can kill a family, children, whatever, just out of your selfish stupidity. You’re a slave to it. Why can’t you put that stupid thing down and just drive, keep your eyes on the road? And then they get out of the cars, and they do the same thing.

It's amazing how much you run into this anymore. I have to fight something inside when I see that. Maybe you don’t, but I do because it just irritates the tar out of me. People are walking along; they’re walking in a mall or at a shopping center or at a grocery store and they’re walking right at you looking at their phones. They don’t know you’re in front of them. And if you let them, if you don’t move out of the way they’re going to smack right into you.

Now, sometimes I’ve let my carnality get in the way and I’ve held my position. I don’t do it very often, but there are times when I do hoping that they’re going to learn something. I try not to do it out of ugliness but frustration and hoping that they’ll learn because if they do that when they’re walking they could walk out in front of a car. I may save their life! No, I’m just kidding. Talk about justifying things.

Whoever abides in him does not sin. So, we don’t practice it, we don’t live it.

Whoever sins does not see him. Wow. So, it can be at a point in time, in essence, that a person if they’re not fighting a battle and they’re just letting something happen and they know they’re going to and they do it, and get to a point where they don’t even think about it, it’s just a part of their life, and it can become a part of one’s life to sin, it says they don’t see God. They don’t see Christ; they don’t see God. Why? Because God has taken His spirit away already.

You know, if we’re not repenting, we’re not going to see things. We might remember certain things that we’ve been given, we might remember things we’ve heard in sermons, but to be able to live them, to be able to see them truly on a spiritual plane when God is giving more, it’s not happening. What is being heard is very, very limited and getting weaker and weaker.

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever does, it’s the word “makes, practices, does,” works righteousness is righteous. So, if we’re striving to live right before God as in relationships that John talks about here and we’re striving to learn how to judge people properly because we want to judge matters as Christ did, that it’s in agreement with God. If you have a confidence, you know this is how God judges it, views it, then it’s a good thing. But if we’re doing something because it’s how we feel about it, because it’s something we want because it’s something we desire because it’s about us, then it’s all wrong. There’s a big distinction in that.

So, you have to be right with God, and that is something that only grows in a relationship with God. Your mind has to be right with God and your thinking toward others, of how to deal with various matters, of how to think toward one another, and on and on it goes. It has to be right.

If you practice that, to do what is right – we’ve had many sermons about some of those kinds of things, about how to judge, how not to judge. Christ said that if he does judge, he says, “I judge no man.” Then he goes on to say, “And if I judge my judgment is just.” To a carnal person, it would seem like a contradiction, but it’s not when we understand the truth. We understand what he’s saying. He doesn’t judge anyone from his own perspective.

That’s what we have to learn from that. The way “I” see it. The way “I” think it should be done. Because that’s our natural consequence or natural thinking as human beings. “Well, the way I see it, the way I think you should be doing it. This is how it’s right and this is why it’s wrong…” Where is the sin? Show me the sin and then we have something to talk about, maybe. If there is sin involved – because that’s where judgment comes in.

Because there are a thousand ways of doing things sometimes in this world, hundreds of ways of doing things. It might not be “my” way. Maybe there is a better way; maybe there is a worse way. Maybe you see someone doing something in a worse way than what you are, well, you got to let it go many a time because you’re not them! God is working with them, and hopefully, they’re going to learn from a bad mistake. And if it’s repeated, well, you learn through experience. We’re not the ones out here to give people experience by what we say. “If you do what I say that’s your experience! I’m right!”

I’m being very facetious. I hope you understand that.

No, no, no. We’re to pull back. Let each person be themselves. If there’s sin, that’s another matter. That’s where judgment comes in, whether it agrees with God. If there is no sin well, “butt out,” as the expression goes.

Whoever does (makes; practices) righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Because that’s the process because it’s doing it God’s way. This also means then if we’re striving to practice what is right, do you know what the biggest thing involved in this is? You’re repenting. You’re repenting when you’re wrong in order to be right with God.

Because this isn’t just about us being righteous and we’re good. No, it’s about striving to change in judgment, in various other things so that our thinking and our mind is more at one with God, meaning we are able to practice then this way of life, righteousness. That’s a sermon…and several sermons.

Verse 8—Whoever commits sin is of the devil. So, it’s that word again. Don’t misunderstand, we all sin; we’re not of the devil, we’re of God. We have God’s spirit dwelling within us. We can repent as soon as sin has been committed and God counts that to us as righteousness. We are becoming more righteous the more we practice what is right because we’re agreeing with God that our way is wrong, we’re repenting, and we’re striving to practice then and do the right thing.

That’s practicing, working the right way. God accounts that to us as righteousness. But if someone is practicing or doing various things of sin and it just continues on… It’s a simple example, not giving Holy Day offerings. This has happened a lot in the last few years here. There are several people that have been put out of God’s Church in the last three years who wouldn’t give Holy Day offerings. It’s not about the money, it’s about God! It’s about what we think toward God.

Are we bringing something before God? Are we thankful to God? Are we grateful to God that we are able to have a part in something and do something, to share in something so great, to give such a small thing to Him out of gratitude and thankfulness? On the contrary. We should rejoice and be thankful that we’re able to do that and be a part of something so great.

Whoso commits sin, doesn’t practice what is right but practices what is wrong, whatever that wrong might be, is of the devil. It’s clear cut. John is pretty outspoken here. Or not outspoken but strong in what is spoken. So, he’s very clearly saying that if we’re doing something like that we’re not of God, don’t deceive ourselves. We’re of the world. We’re of the way of Satan. We’re doing what we have decided is okay and right, and that’s of the devil, that’s his mind. If we’re doing that we’re not of God, we’re cut off from God.

That’s why such large numbers of people have been disfellowshipped from the Church during the past two thousand years.

Whoever commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested. The whole story, why he was manifested, why he came on this earth to die as our Passover. There is the beginning.

…that he might destroy the works of the devil. So, we’re in a part of that process, that we’re destroying those works in us. We have the capacity with God’s help to destroy selfishness. Because that’s all it is. He is selfish. Always has been from the time he sinned on, has been exceedingly selfish. It’s about him. It’s about him. It’s about how he feels about himself and how he thinks about God and how he thinks about God’s creation, and how he thinks about God’s people, and on and on it goes. He’s just selfish in it and he hates it; he loathes it.

This is what God wants us to see in human nature. It’s selfish. “Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life,” and we judge things by this. That’s why I so hate things in the news anymore. I can hardly stand to turn on FOX or some of those other news stations where they have a panel and they’re giving their opinions about how they think things are and how they think things should be. I think, who cares what you think how they should be. It doesn’t amount to anything.

If we can see how flawed and how wrong that is, and some of them are going to extremes in their thinking anymore. I mean, both sides are losing their minds. Now, that’d be a popular thing to say and for them to hear, wouldn’t it? Thankfully, we’re not that big.

But that’s the reality of where the world is and it’s just getting worse. That’s why I’ve said so often don’t take sides. They’re all wrong. The wrong is getting worse, more wrong, wrong-er (just kidding).

…so that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God does (this word “practices” again), not sin, doesn’t practice sin.

So, it doesn’t take very long within the ministry to see certain things that individuals are doing if they do it for an extended period of time when God gives a lot of grace, a lot of time, and patience with them to come to a point where someone has to make a decision. That falls upon me as God’s apostle to say enough is enough, just be gone… just be gone. No more fellowship with any of God’s people. Quit playing games. You don’t belong here. We still have some playing games with tithes, but that’s between them and God, and if they don’t get it straightened out…

Whoso has born of God does not practice (if you will) sin, for His seed remains or continues (it’s that word to continue, to abide in; we abide in God and God abides in us), remains in him. We have this seed, this part within us that God has given to us, the impregnation of His holy spirit in the mind to help transform the way we think. But we have work to do in that for that to work. It’s not just there and going to do it magically for us. We have to make choices. It’s about choices all the time.

…His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin. Because he is born of God. So, if we’re yielding to this process we’re going to continue to repent, we’re going to treasure that, the life within us, and we’re going to be doing the right thing, we’re going to be practicing what is right before God. Repentance first and agreeing with God that “I” am wrong, and He is right.

Verse 10—In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Now, why does he have to talk about this? Because see, a lot of times people can read through this and have within the environment of God’s Church through time and have read something like this and think that this is talking about the world. Yeah. But the Church, “No, we’re Philadelphia. We’re okay, we’re in the Church, we go to services, we do this, we do that.”

“In this the children of God are manifest,” You know, we’re all in Sabbath services, “and the children of the devil.” Well, he’s not talking about the world when he talks about the children of the devil. All of 1 John is about a distinction in God’s Church about whether someone is living what is right or is a liar. That’s how he started out. We’re either living what is true and right or we’re lying to ourselves maybe. The human mind likes to deceive itself. That’s a battle.

Anyway, going on, Whoever does not righteousness is not of God. The reality is when somebody starts practicing what is right they can’t live what is right anymore, they’re not repenting of the most major things. If you can’t repent of something so blatant, just to rob from God, what are you doing in the rest of your life? I can tell you it’s obviously a pathetic picture. It’s a giant lie. It’s a bigger lie.

“Whoever does not righteousness is not of God.” So, we either practice it or we don’t. We’re either striving to live by it or we aren’t. We can’t just go through the motions. It’s a practice.

…neither anyone who does not love their brethren. This is the key all the way through here. It’s about relationships within the Church, how we think toward one another within the Church – which can also include husband and wife!

I’ll just pause there for a moment because every once in a while over the years this has popped up over and over and over again where the ministry must become involved in marital counseling between two people in God’s Church. Well, I don’t get deeply involved in some of that in one respect because either you’re living what is right or you’re not, and I can’t solve your problems between yourselves!!

And if you don’t love one another, if you really can’t grow spiritually, then separate and be separate, okay, which is okay by God in order to get your life together spiritually. Because sometimes people get in such a quagmire of bitterness and anger toward one another it’s better that they do separate and get away from each other so they can maybe, if there is a chance, start growing spiritually! Because if you can’t do that in God’s Church you’re done!

So, if that applies to anyone, get your act together. I will also add to that, anyone who does that you can never marry again! Okay? We’re going to start zeroing in on a little bit more here, some, just because someone maybe wasn’t in the Body, in that area as well, okay, and just have repetitive marriages one after another – five, six, seven, eight. It makes a mockery of the institution. If we’re in God’s Church, we should be able to live a certain way.

Now, you can’t control the other person. Sometimes there’s a legitimate reason why some people are better to separate. But if that happens, generally there is a clear distinction being made they’re not in the Church, they’re gone. But there is also something in there that maybe it’s better that you be waiting for at least – I’ve given some a year – but probably for four years. Just don’t marry again, don’t date again for at least that long until you’re strong spiritually once again. Then maybe. Okay?

I’m just throwing things out here that have to do with soundness of mind, with agreement with God about certain things about life within things that we have to watch spiritually in our own lives. So, I’m stating these things because some of this it’s been ongoing. It hasn’t stopped in God’s Church, that’s what I’m saying. Okay? So, I hope everyone understands that out there.

What a shame of two people who said, “I’m making a bond with you, that we’re going to be one and we’re going to love one another, and we’re going to sacrifice in order to have this unity and oneness, we’re going to work at making the marriage successful.” At what point does that change?! At what point does something enter in where we can’t communicate or can’t function together anymore?! What is so bad that you can’t love the individual anymore? What happened?

Well, only you can answer that. Are you in God’s Church or not? Are you playing games? Do you want something? What is it you want? Or do you want to make it right? Do you cry out to God for help to love? And we should all do that, to love, to love more, we should all do that and to never lose something so basic as that kind of a relationship within God’s Church.

To me, that’s horrifying because it clashes with everything that God is teaching us, and it fits exactly with what 1 John says. So, now then going beyond that we just have relationships within the Church. Sometimes people get upset with each other. Sometimes they get into arguments with each other. Sometimes people get their feelings hurt by what someone else said and they have these battles that go on for months and months and months, and sometimes years because they can’t forgive, they can’t put it behind them, and they’re still going to hold it against someone else.

Well, you don’t have the right to do that, even if they never changed toward you, even if they think you’re a blooming idiot and they even tell you so. “You know what? You’re just a blooming idiot. You’re just always blooming as an idiot, every time I see you. Why do you come to Church? You’re just blooming as an idiot.” And you think, “Blub, blub, blub…” You’ve got to forgive them and hope they get their act together. God will manifest it in His time if they won’t repent because obviously, they’ve got to repent of calling you a blooming idiot. Okay?

If they won’t repent of that? Have trust and faith in God Almighty that God knows how to cleanse His Church and how to correct things that are wrong. Sometimes you have to wait on God. Sometimes I don’t deal with things immediately because I wait on God’s spirit to give me guidance and direction. I very much function that way in the Church. I don’t just decide, “Well, now I’m going to do it because this is the time.” I wait and I pray about it, and then I wait. Because in God’s time, He’ll show me. How do I know that? Because I’ve experienced it over and over and over and over again in the Church. I’ve been criticized by people in the ministry over that in times past, especially some of those who are gone. Well, mostly they are gone.

Wow. I was able to unload on that one, wasn’t I?

So, we have to take these things seriously that God tells us and shows us. I just want to say, I am excited by what I see in God’s Church as a whole. It doesn’t mean there aren’t little bumps here and there – sometimes a big ole big one that jars your teeth, but as a whole.

The last three visits we’ve had in the different Churches, absolutely awesome! Georgia, Arizona, and a lot of California that came over for that one there, if not most from that area, Washington, such a joy to see that kind of happiness and fullness that takes place and the lack of contention if you will, and people trying to work on and striving to be right with one another.

It's a beautiful thing when God’s spirit is stirred up within the Church and you see that. Anyway, just wanted to thank people and comment on that out there. But sometimes things don’t go along peachy keen, hunky dory, and that’s where we have to examine those things in ourselves and repent where we’re wrong.

Verse 11—For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Isn’t it amazing how often he says that? But we know what that means. So, it’s not just something he’s saying that was in the Old Testament about loving one another, love your neighbor as yourself, which we can’t even do without God’s help, and then we fall short of that horribly. And who is our neighbor? Well, in the Church the closest neighbor you have, and if you understand it on a spiritual plane, it’s one another.

So, “as ourselves”? We really lack miserably in that because we just kind of love ourselves as a whole. I mean, that’s just the way we are. We just love self, and we believe that self is right. I mean, if you have an opinion about something don’t you feel like you’re right about it?

Sometimes we have to bring those things into check and have an open mind and realize we’re not a hundred percent right about everything in our thinking, in things, in whatever it might be, in our conversations.

It’s going along here and talking about some of this where it says this particular message, that we should love one another. We know that it has to do with sacrifice. There are some scriptures coming up later on, I don’t know if it’s in the next part, and now that I’m going so slow in this one here it might be in Part 10. But anyway, so be it.

That we should love one another. It’s with sacrifice. We are hopefully seeing that this is what we have to sacrifice. “My” wants. The way “I” see it. The way “I” want it. The way “I” think it should be. This is what it’s all about as a whole because this is where conflict comes in and agitation and other things come in.

So, it says, not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slayed his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his own works…. See, what he practiced, what he did. That’s what it’s about. It’s about your works, what you’re doing, what you’re practicing. That’s exactly what this is about.

Because his own works were evil, and his brothers were righteous. He was doing, striving to do the right thing before God. He wanted to do right before God. He talked about God’s right way of life and tried to tell others about God’s right way of life, and so forth. The first preacher of righteousness and his own brother killed him.

So, this is all about our works, what we do, what we practice, how we think and live toward one another because that reveals our relationship with God, where it is.

1 John 3:13—Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know… You can only be so close to this world because the reality is when it finds out about what you believe? That’s why we don’t go around sharing in our neighborhood everything and “Better put a book in all their mailboxes so they know who’s on their block.” Now, that’s the last thing I’d want to do, you know. Anyway, I don’t want to tell. Because human nature can change toward you very quickly when they find out what you really believe and what you really think.

It says, Marvel not, my brethren, that the world hates you. Because it’s always hated God. Humankind does not want God in its business. That’s why it made up its own gods, its own religions, so it could feel good about itself and its own way. To believe in a god, yes, and use God’s name and take little stories here and there so we can feel good about ourselves and this little baby in a manger and the Christmas tree and how could you take giving presents away from children you fiendish person?

So, people feel good about themselves and what they’re doing. That’s what it’s all about. Because they’re not called yet. They don’t know the truth.

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love, and this is that word “in this manner.” You don’t know what this is talking about unless you know the context, and I just said a moment ago, basically, it’s about sacrifice, it’s about that kind of love. …because we love the brethren. So, over and over John is making it clear this is about the Church, it’s about the relationships within the Church.

Whoever does not love (in other words, “in this manner”) their brother abides in death. What a horrible thing.

Whoever, and we’ve already read this, this is where we began in some of this. Whoever hates their brother… So, it’s not about “hate,” it’s that word that means “love less by comparison,” if you will. In this case, it’s with what John is writing. So, if you love less than what John is telling us here, and this is what is so strong in this book now, is to understand that if we love less than what he’s saying we’re missing the mark and we’ve got to change, we’ve got to do more to change.

Whoever loves less their brother is a murderer. Then what John is writing, is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in them. That’s why so many have been disfellowshipped from God’s Church in the last two thousand years.

Hereby we perceive… This is the correct translation of it. It’s the way they’ve written it here is awkward. Hereby we perceive love. That’s what it’s literally saying. Hereby we perceive agape, God’s love. This is how we can understand it and see it better. The words, “of God” aren’t there, and the “we,” “thee,” whatever is in the wrong place.

Hereby we perceive love (agape) because he laid down his life for us. Over and over again. Christ said that on Passover night and now it’s stated again, the very same thing. It’s about sacrifice. “Because.” Do you know what it’s saying? This is God’s kind of love, sacrificing love.

He was willing to sacrifice His own Son. We can’t comprehend that because we’re far from the mind of God. We may have access to His spirit where there are things we can see on a spiritual plane, but to understand that greatness, that power, that might, that thinking is so far beyond us it’s not even funny. So, for Him to do that to His own Son, His own begotten Son; in all of His plan and purpose for all time that was decided from the very beginning, was all based on His Son and what was going to come to pass, a great Family through him.

So, “we perceive agape,” God’s love, “because he laid down,” because Christ did, “his life for us.” And so did God. He gave up what was His, His life, His Son, if you will, even understanding that, that which meant so much to Him in such a powerful way. As I said, we can’t grasp that relationship, that thinking because we’ve never experienced that kind of love to its fullest because we’re still carnal human beings. We still have that measure of human mind in us, obviously.

Even we… See, it’s beautiful. Even we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Succinct, right to the point, making it very clear this is what is expected. If we’re not willing to give of self, to give up self, which means our way of doing things, seeing things…

Every conflict, even in marriage—should be able to see it more in marriage—if there is something going on that’s wrong, if there is a conflict there, there is sacrifice that is not taking place. There is selfishness that’s entered in. We want something beyond what we’re willing to give. We have drawn a line in our minds and in our being and we become hardened if we’re not careful, and hateful.

What a horrible, horrible thing that obviously should not exist in God’s Church. This has happened between brethren in God’s Church. I think of different ones. 2013, how that at one day they can be talking really nice to you and so forth, lying like mad because of what they’re getting ready to do and betray you and the Church, and the next minute becomes clear they really hate you. They really loathe you.

Kind of mind-boggling when those things hit, but it shows it didn’t just start happening all of a sudden. It’s been going on for a while, a gnawing away, “I deserve this,” “I should have had this,” “I,” “I,” “me,” “me.” “I should have been ordained. That person shouldn’t have been ordained.” I mean, over the stupidest things sometimes. But those are the things that bring things to light sometimes.

Verse 17—But whoso has this world’s good, and sees his brother in need, and shuts their bowels of compassion from them… Horrible translation! Horrible, horrible, horrible. Horrible translation. You know why? Because they don’t understand. They don’t have God’s spirit. They couldn’t translate the meaning of this because this requires what John wrote, requires God’s spirit to understand certain things that are on a spiritual plane.

Translators can’t translate by words only to another language because the reality is they don’t understand it because it’s spiritual, so they try to translate certain words and phrases by what they think it is and they can only see on a physical plane, so they do a hatchet job. So, over and over again here, it’s been horrible.

So, this word “bowels” of course, is talking about the heart, the tender mercies. We should understand that.

How does the love (agape) of God dwell in them? So again, better, a more correct translation, But, in other words, “now or so” it could be said, Whoso has or may have this, a word that means such, this life. It’s not “the world’s good.” It’s not the world’s goods. It’s nothing about having physical things! It’s nothing about physical wealth. It’s nothing about how rich you are and how much you might be able to help someone else physically and say, “Oh, you need ten thousand dollars? Sure! Let me go talk to my banker.” It’s not about that.

It's a word that just means “life.” But you’ve got to understand what John is talking about to grasp what it’s saying. It shouldn’t be too hard.

But whoso has this life. What life? Life in the Church of God with access to God’s spirit! If we have access to God’s spirit and agape to live within us by living what is right and thinking right toward others. If we don’t have compassion or feeling toward our brother, what are we? This is what happens when conflict comes along because people don’t have that anymore. When people have fights? There have been a lot of fires been put out in the last few years. At least I hope they were all put out. If they weren’t put out, they were! Make sense?

Because if somebody can’t have the fire put out in them and they’re destroying things around them, they get put out. That’s happened. Because if we can’t live right toward one another, we’re not in the Church of God. If we can’t live right with each other and love each other, we are not in God’s Church! Why play games? “Well, it’s just that person I don’t get along with. They just irritate the you-know-what out of me!” Oh, that’s a loving spirit. That really reflects how God sees us, doesn’t it?

Anyway, being a little facetious in some of this, but boy, there is such a distinction in things that God tells us sometimes and we should be able to clearly see it. Never an excuse. Never, never, never, never an excuse for somebody in God’s Church to look down upon another in anger, in bitterness, in jealousy, in envy, in whatever, and dislike them and not even want to be around them. If we can’t put it in its proper picture with God’s way of life and the Church?

So, verse 17 again, But whoso has this, or as the word is such life… And what’s the context? This access, this kind of love toward one another, this kind of living, ability to live, if you will. Literally means, “the current state of one’s existence.”

Our existence should be God’s spirit in us. That’s our current state of existence. Not like the world. We have the blessing of God dwelling in us and we in God. That’s our current state of life, of existence, in the world. There’s a huge difference here in how this was translated.

…whoso has this life in the world… Well, we’re in this world, a world as he just said a little bit ago, “Don’t be surprised if the world hates you.” We have nothing in this world, in that respect, it’s with God. If we have this life in us, in this world, this time, then how blessed are we to be able to have right…a right family?

This is where we have to start learning about family. It’s beyond physical family.

So again, it’s about the previous verse where it was talking about agape. If we’re blessed to have that, how he laid down his life for us, how that this life can be in us, that we ought to have this, this life, we ought to lay down our lives, our life for the brethren. Sacrifice because God’s spirit is a sacrificing love. Willing to sacrifice our own wants, our own desires, to get our way, to feel better about our self. It’s not a matter of feeling better about ourselves. It’s about a sacrifice for the sake of others.

A more correct translation again, Now, whoso has or may have this life in the world and shuts up their heart or their compassion of mercy, won’t love someone like they should or could in their thinking toward someone else, won’t forgive, won’t give the latitude of forgiveness, we’re going to hold somebody to something and put them in a certain hole or bracket here that God says don’t do anyway (so we’re disobeying God if we do it).

Whoso may have this life in the world, God’s spirit as we live in this world, and shuts up their heart from them, from our brother… How can we do that? How can someone do that in a marriage? How can we shut off our heart toward someone we said, “I do.” Now, that just blows my mind, to be honest with you. It really does. Should be so simple, so easy to see. Sometimes it’s not.

…how does… And it asks, how does the agape of God dwell in them? It doesn’t. It’s not at that point. If this isn’t happening then it’s not dwelling there. Because we should have… Not “should have,” we have the ability to do what is right, to think right toward one another through the power of God’s spirit.

We have the ability to go before God and say, “Father, forgive me. I know I’m thinking wrong toward this individual. I know I said something wrong or I feel like they said something wrong toward me and I want to be right in my thinking toward them and I pray You would help them to see (if they need to see it), and if there is something I’m not seeing in that help me to see it so that I can even cleanse myself that much more. But I want my mind to be right.”

So, we have that ability. Then to go farther and practice it, to be kind, to speak kindly, to make it a point. Sometimes people can’t even speak kindly to one another and you think… Thankfully, that’s becoming far less than it ever has been, but it still exists from time to time.

Verse 18—My little children, let us not love in word… It’s about this manner of love. It can’t be in word, neither in tongue… It’s not a matter of nice platitudes and nice words you might say, and this is an occasion where someone is not being truthful. Anyway.

…but in deed, in other words, in work, and in truth. So, it has to be God’s way and it has to be in the truth. If it isn’t, that’s just not right. It’s a lie.

Hereby we know that we are of the truth... Isn’t that an awesome thing the confidence you can have when you know you’re doing what’s right? You’ve gone before God, your mind is right toward others, you don’t have wrong thinking towards others, you don’t have any fears in that in the sense of what someone might think of you or how to deal with a certain matter or bad repercussions. Because if you strive to do right you don’t have to worry about those things.

Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and before him shall assure our hearts. In other words, there is this confidence God is saying we can have before Him in our prayers and by what we’re able to see that is true and right.

For if our heart condemns us, if it finds fault with us, in other words, if we’re not being totally truthful then there is something wrong spiritually inside there and things aren’t going to go right.

Then it says, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. So, God knows what’s inside of us and if we’re not right it’s going to get addressed at some point.

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us… You know, it’s a beautiful thing when you know you’re right with God, when you feel that confidence this is what’s right. Beautiful.

God is greater than our heart and knows all things.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us then we have confidence toward God. There is a boldness in our prayers and in the relationship and the peace of mind that we have.

Verse 22—And whatever we ask we receive of Him. That’s on a spiritual plane. We see it. God blesses us. He helps us to see the fruit. …because we keep His commandments. A confidence when you know you’re doing right, you’re obeying what He says to do and how to do it – just like in this sermon series.

…and do (again, make, practice) those things that are pleasing in His sight. So, when we’re living and striving to live by what is right, exercising His spirit, which is a matter of His love toward one another. That means we’re asking God for help to catch self, the selfishness in us so that we can be right, more right toward others in our thinking.

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Joshua the Christ and love one another. So, this matter of believing on him really has more to do in starting out with the matter of Passover. That’s why he was made manifest.

He’s telling us his story. That’s why he was made manifest. Why? So, we could be forgiven of sins. That’s why he died for our sins, so we can have the ability to go and repent and then have this relationship with God and God’s spirit to continue in us, God in us, we in God. On and on it goes here.

This can be absolutely guaranteed if we strive to do what is right. …and love one another.

That’s added to it. So, it’s not a matter of us just being right with Christ and thinking we’re okay in the Church and going through the motions of certain things. It’s a matter of how we think toward one another, and it better be right. And if somebody, I don’t care what relationship it is, doesn’t matter, it better be right with God.

Because there are some out there to this day right now that this is not right, and these are the answers for you. I don’t need to sit down and have a long conversation with you. This is your answer. This is your telephone call. Okay? These are the answers. The reality is either we do them or we don’t. It’s up to you what you do and whether you receive this. That’s all of us.

…as He gave us commandment. And whoso keeps His commandments dwells in Him, and He in them. It’s all about God dwelling in us and we in God.

Even hereby, in other words, “in this.” Even in this, we know that He abides in us, by the spirit which He has given us. Another way of saying that is if you’re able to experience such things you know that the only way you’re able to do it is by God’s spirit because you know that you can’t do it on your own. We have to have God’s spirit to have a right mind to the level of agape in us. Because we just don’t have it as human beings, it has to come from God. That’s why we cry out to God for His spirit and His spirit then to live in us toward others and how we think toward them.

It should be an important part of our prayer, how we think toward one another. And if we’re ever wrong in our thinking then we’ve got to check self. It’s not the other person. It’s so easy to find fault in somebody else and see something that someone else is doing maybe not as well as what you might or how you think it could be done. That’s not about that.

Chapter 4, should I start there? No. Let’s save it. The farther we go along in this the more succinct it gets, the clearer it gets. And hopefully, it’s becoming clearer and clearer to us that so much of what John has to say here, it boils down to our relationships within the Church. We have to see what God has given to us. He’s called us to a Family, a Family without drama, a Family without jealousy, a Family without envy.

Now, we’ve experienced this a lot since 2008, a lot of jealousy, a lot of envy, a lot of other kinds of things sneaking in that which has always been in the Church, but especially leading up to the Apostasy, the Apostasy and then afterwards all the conniving that sometimes goes on. Those kinds of things can’t exist in God’s Family. We must see ourselves as one Family, and we love God’s Family.

If we want to love God, we’re going to want to love one another because God dwells in each person. To fall short in that, can’t afford to do it. So, something is wrong in our thinking toward someone, and we’ve got some serious praying to do, truly.

[1] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/germany-approves-polands-request-send-5-fighter-jets-ukraine

[2] https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3950467-is-there-a-worldwide-run-on-the-bank-of-the-united-states-of-america/

[3] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/italys-meloni-declares-state-emergency-illegal-immigtration-quadruples

[4] https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/markets/the-us-dollar-is-under-fire-from-rival-nations-what-happens-to-markets-if-the-greenback-loses-its-world-dominance/ar-AA19XveP

[5] https://sputnikglobe.com/20230418/proxy-war-with-russia-has-brought-wests-hegemony-to-brink-of-collapse-german-lawmaker-warns-1109630276.html#:~:text=multipolarity%2C%20unipolarity%2C%20germany-,Proxy%20War%20With%20Russia%20Brings%20West%27s%20Hegemony,of%20Collapse%2C%20German%20Lawmaker%20Warns&text=to%20the%20author-,The%20West%27s%20decades%2Dlong%20push%20to%20drag%20Ukraine%20into%20the,over%2012%2C600%20sanctions%20on%20Moscow.

[6] https://www.reuters.com/world/skoreas-yoon-meet-biden-doubts-grow-over-nuclear-umbrella-2023-04-24/#:~:text=S.Korea%27s%20Yoon%20to%20meet%20Biden%20as%20doubts%20grow%20over%20nuclear%20umbrella,-By%20Hyonhee%20Shin&text=SEOUL%2C%20April%2024%20(Reuters),guaranteed%20its%20security%20for%20decades.

[7] https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2023/04/24/australia-massive-military-overhaul/3931682314198/#:~:text=Australia%20plans%20largest%20military%20overhaul%20since%20WWII%20amid%20growing%20China%20threat,-By%20Darryl%20Coote&text=April%2024%20(UPI)%20%2D%2D%20Australia,in%20the%20Indo%2DPacific%20region.

[8] https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/what-brookfields-default-has-do-you

[9] https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2023/04/25/putin-ally-we-are-probably-on-verge-of-a-new-world-war

[10] https://www.nation.com.pk/25-Apr-2023/moscow-threatens-to-use-nuclear-weapons-first-in-case-of-enemy-aggression

[11] https://www.newsweek.com/russian-tv-host-calls-destruction-key-nato-capitals-1795920

[12] https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/chinas-push-hijack-enemy-satellites-game-over-us-national-security-expert-warns

[13] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/eu-warlike-mood-warns-hungarys-foreign-minister

[14] https://www.rt.com/news/575307-us-john-bolton-nukes-seoul/

[15] https://www.zerohedge.com/military/global-military-spending-hits-all-time-high-world-war-iii-threats-persist

[16] https://www.zerohedge.com/military/global-military-spending-hits-all-time-high-world-war-iii-threats-persist

[17] https://www.anews.com.tr/diplomacy/2023/04/25/turkiye-russia-iran-and-syria-hold-constructive-talks

[18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_in_NATO

[19] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/what-strong-gold-says-about-weak-dollar

[20] https://www.rt.com/russia/575340-ukraine-depleted-uranium-landfill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

[21] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/26/russias-lavrov-warns-of-eu-militarisation-says-similar-to-nato

[22] https://ussanews.com/2023/04/26/us-sending-nuclear-submarines-to-south-korea-for-first-time-in-40-years/

[23] https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/who-cites-huge-biological-risk-sudan-fighters-seize-lab-containing-deadly-pathogens

[24] https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/04/25/7399373/

[25] https://www.rt.com/business/575399-argentina-china-imports-yuan/

[26] https://www.foxnews.com/world/iran-seizes-ship-gulf-of-oman-us-navy-says

[27] https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2023-04-26/u-s-russian-subs-in-atlantic-more-active-than-weve-seen-them-in-years

[28] https://nypost.com/2023/04/27/ukraine-attempted-to-assassinate-putin-with-drone-claims/

1. Chapter 1