1st John – Part 5 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Praise the Lord, friends. I’m so glad that you tuned in. We’re gonna be sharing from 1 John chapter two and chapter three, talking about the goal of our Christianity. Did you know that righteous living will never produce the righteous life. However, the righteous life of Jesus will produce righteous living. And when you understand that, it will change how you live. Friend, it’s so good to have you with us today and I’m so happy to have Aaron. We’ve been teaching on 1 John, talking about our relationship with God or lessons that we learn as we walk with God. You know, John the Beloved, John the Apostle writes this and he calls himself the apostle who Jesus loves. But he writes this about 90 AD. So he’s been walking with Jesus for about 60 years. And you know what? When you’ve been walking with Jesus for 60 years and you’re still super, super passionate about your relationship with Jesus, you’re doing something right. And so I believe you’ll get some great stuff from this. We’ve been sharing all week. We’re gonna jump into the word today. In 1 John 2, we’re gonna start in verse 20 and we’re talking about, you know, how we overcome and what we’ve been given. And we talked about in the last broadcast that we are forgiven. We have a relationship with God. We are strong. The word of God abides in us and we have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2, 12 to 14. And when you understand that, guess what? What John talks about in 1 John 2, verse 15 to 17 is the world, the flesh and the devil or the lust of flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. The same temptations that were in the garden, the same temptations that Jesus overcame, he talks about. But the way that we overcome them is by knowing what we have in Christ. Then he goes on and he talks about, there is a spirit of antichrist in the world, but how we overcome it is because of the anointing. And that’s what he’s really talking about in verse 20 through verse 27. There’s an anointing of truth and there’s an anointing of life and we overcome because of that. So, Aaron, please.

 

  I love thinking about that anointing. In 1 John 2:20, it says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One “and you know all things.”

 

  Amen.

 

  You know, the anointing, it represents God’s call on your life, it represents his purpose, his power, really, and even the presence of God. So you’re not alone, you have the anointing, you have the spirit of Christ. That same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, you are anointed.

 

  You know, there’s two aspects of the anointing, Aaron. First of all, there’s the anointing in you. And that anointing is equal with every believer. You are as anointed as any other born-again believer. If you’re born-again to live the Christian life, there is no difference. I mean, you have the exact same spirit of Christ, the anointed one, in you that raised Christ from the dead. So Andrew Wommack is my personal mentor. He’s one of the holiest people I know. He’s never cussed, never drank coffee. I don’t know what drinking coffee has to do, anything about it, but at the same point in time, he has lived a very separate life to God. And yet, I am just as anointed to live the Christian life as Andrew Wommack because I have the exact same spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead living in me that Andrew Wommack has living in him. But the anointing on us to minister to other people varies. Andrew and I teach a lot of the same things, but the way that we teach and the primary anointings on us are a little bit different in how they operate.

 

  That’s awesome.

 

  So we have this anointing and it says we know all things. Then he says in verse 21, he says, “I’ve not written to you because you do not know the truth.” Man, a lot of people think he’s writing because we don’t know it, but no, he says, “No, I’m not writing to you “because you don’t know the truth. “I’m writing to you because you know it “and that no lie is of the truth.” So we have an anointing of truth. In 1 John 5:13, he says this, “These things I’ve written to you “who believe that you may know that you have eternal life.” The problem is with most believers, they don’t really know what they’ve been given. If you’re going back into the world and you’re wavering in your faith, it’s because you really don’t know what you have.

 

  But I love that John’s focusing on what the truth is and he’s also talking about the Antichrist. And one thing that spirit of Antichrist, which is very prevalent in the world today, does, it tries to distort the truth, tries to make truth a relative thing, but the truth is the truth.

 

  Amen, Jesus is the truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, “and no man comes to the Father but by me.” Secondly, the word of God is truth. The way Jesus said we’re set apart from the world in John chapter 17, verse 15 through verse 17, verse 17 says this, “Sanctify them, set them apart. “Through thy truth, thy word is truth.” It’s the truth of the word of God and the truth of Jesus that separates us from the world. He goes on, so we have an anointing of truth. And did you know what? I never taught my children all the lies in the world. I never taught you about the lies of evolution. I never taught you about, what I did is taught you the basic principles of the truth of God’s word. That in the beginning, God created the heaven and earth because the truth is stronger than a lie. Amen? And so he says, “Who is a liar but whoever denies “that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. “He is the antichrist who denies the Father and Son. “Whoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father, “but he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” When you acknowledge Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the only begotten Son of God, just like Peter did in Matthew chapter 16. Did you know what? You’re acknowledging the Father. He says, “Let that therefore,” again, listen to what he’s saying, he says, “Look at what you got. “And let that abide in you which you’ve heard “from the beginning. “If that which you’ve heard from the beginning “will remain in you, you will continue.” And the Father, so he said, “I’m not writing to tell you something new. “I’m not writing you because you don’t believe. “I’m writing you because you do believe. “And I’m writing you to tell you what you have, “because if you as a believer know what you have, “you’re gonna stay strong.” Amen. Read verse 25, Aaron.

 

  So it says here in verse 25, “And this is the promise that he has promised us, “eternal life.” Man, what an awesome promise. I think it’s the best promise that we have from Jesus is that promise of eternal life. “Whoever believes in me will not perish “but have everlasting life.”

 

  Amen.   What a promise we have in Jesus.

 

  When you know that you have the life of God in you, the word for life, eternal life, is zoe. You have the very nature of God in you. It’s the exact quality, it’s God life. You know, and it’s talking about, it keeps you like, we used to have these weeble wobbles when I was a kid, and weebles wobble but they won’t fall down. You can knock ’em over any way you want to. And it’s talking about when you have the life of God, when you understand it, it’s resilient. The life of God, right? There’s a principle of death that’s working in the world through Adam’s transgression, but the life of God is resilient and it’ll cause you to bounce back, amen?

 

  Awesome.

 

  So thank God we got the life of God. One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 8, 11. Same spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you and quickens your mortal body. So we have an anointing of truth, we have an anointing of life. And he says in verse 24, let that abide in you which you’ve heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you’re gonna continue. Praise God, you gotta let the life of God dwell. You gotta let the truth that you know keep you, praise God. And we have the life of God. This is the promise. You know what, when you gotta promise the life of God, I believe the life of God will bring health to your body. I believe the life of God will bring prosperity to your business. I believe the life of God will bring peace to your mind. I believe the life of God will help you in any area. Praise God, hallelujah. So he says these things I’ve written concerning those who seduce you. You know if you know what you got, you’re not gonna get seduced. But a lot of people in the church don’t know what they have. And then he says the anointing which you have received of him, of Jesus, abides in you. You have an anointing in you. Again, every born again believer has the anointing in them, the spirit of Christ in them. You’re anointed as much as any other believer will live the Christian life. And you don’t need that any man teach you. This doesn’t mean that we don’t need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. But it says that anointing will keep you in the truth. Praise God.

 

  Well you don’t just have to constantly go, like just be searching for more and more and more. You know a lot of ministry just really kind of pulls on, you need more, more, more, like you’re, it’s a constant state of desperation.

 

  Right.

 

  Rather than realizing that you’re saturated, that you are full, that you have everything that you need.

 

  Amen.

 

  All things that pertain to life and godliness.

 

  Amen, that’s 2 Peter 1.30 says that we have. And that’s really awesome Aaron when you talk about that because you don’t need more when you realize what you’ve got. And that’s what he’s really talking about. He’s saying you don’t have to go to look to some outside source for truth. You can know the truth that you have. You know, Kenneth E. Hagin, Papa Hagin, taught this years ago, about this scripture he said, if you will listen to the Holy Spirit on the inside of you, the Holy Spirit will keep you out of error and out of things that will lead you astray. And he talked about many times believers when they’re first born again, they’re just like protected by the anointing in them. But then when if they’re not careful, as they grow they begin to instead of relying on the anointing in their spirit, they begin to rely on their intellect. And then they get deceived and they get, I’ve seen people get deceived by people that they’re teaching something that’s pretty close to the truth. But it’s not quite there just like, you know, if I had water and it was 99% water, but 1% strychnine, would you drink it? Absolutely not, it’ll kill you. But because they begin to rely on their intellect, that was a problem with Adam in the garden. First Corinthians 15 says, “The first man, Adam, was made a living soul, “but the last man, Adam, Jesus, “was made a life-giving spirit.” Again, it’s the anointing, it’s the spirit of God. You gotta learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not lead you wrong. And he says, “That anointing teaches you “of the truth and is no lie, even as taught you, “you shall abide in him.” The anointing teaches you to abide in him. So we have the anointing, we have an anointing of truth, we have an anointing of life, we have an anointing of light. And the truth is stronger than a lie, the light is stronger than darkness, and the life of God’s stronger than death. So many people are focusing on the negatives instead of focusing on the positive. But when you focus on the positive, it helps you overcome.

 

  And I believe just as you listen to good teaching, like what we’re preaching today, and just spend time in the word, man, the word of God is full of truth. And as you read it, the Holy Spirit will just reveal truth to you, just keep you going on that straight path of truth.

 

  Amen, you know, we’ve got a lot of great teachings on the internet, and I’ve made ’em available, absolutely free of charge, all of our audios, all of our videos, they’re downloadable, and we’ve made ’em free. We’ve got the outlines for this syllabus. It’s eight lessons that I taught for years in Bible school, and they’re on our website at charischristiancenter.com, you can get ’em, we have a lot of free stuff there, so go, use that stuff, blessings. Friends, we’ve been sharing from my Bible school class, 1 John, our relationship with God, and these truths have revolutionized my life. We are making the teachings of this available live from church, and you can receive them downloadable free in audio form, and my syllabus free online, blessings. The world has tried to change the value of what is truth. So what is truth? Jesus is the embodiment of truth. Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse six, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. “No man comes to the Father except by me.” Praise the Lord, friends, I’m glad you stayed with us. We’ve been sharing on the anointing, we’ve been sharing on what we have, and because we have the anointing, because we’re already forgiven, because we have the word of God, because we have a relationship with God, because we’re strong, because we’ve overcome the wicked one, man, the devil is no match for Christ in you, and when you understand that. So we’ve been sharing here from 1 John chapter two, verse 20 to verse 27, we’re gonna move on down and share from verse 28 through chapter three, verse three, and we’re gonna really be sharing about the goal of our Christianity. Man, a lot of people think the goal of Christianity is to overcome sin and overcome Satan, and I will tell you right now, the goal of Christianity is not to overcome sin and overcome Satan. The goal of Christianity is to have a relationship with God. We could not, as human people, overcome sin and overcome Satan without Jesus, and so Jesus came and overcame sin and overcame Satan for us, and when you believe on Jesus, you are made a overcomer by your new nature, by your faith in Jesus. 1 John 4:4 says, “Greater is he that’s in you “than he that’s in this world,” and then 1 John 5:4 says, “Whosoever is born of God overcomes the world, “and this is the victory that overcomes the world, “even our faith.” Verse five says, “Whoever believes that Jesus “is the Son of God overcomes the world,” and when you believe on Jesus, you’re made a world overcomer.

 

  I love that. You’re an overcomer. You’re not created to be defeated. You’re created for victory, and the victory crowned one lives in you, and you’re actually part of his victory. You’re part of that. Man, if a football team, professional team, wins a big championship, they go have a victory parade. You’re constantly, in the realm of the Spirit, having a victory parade with Jesus.

 

  Amen, praise God, and the victorious one already lives in you. Greater is he that’s in you than he that’s in the world. You know, Paul says this in Colossians 1:27. He said, “I’m preaching the truth, “the mystery that’s been hidden from ages and generations, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” He goes on and says this in verse 29. He says, “I labor according to him who works in me.” In other words, that Christ in you can become the big thing that’s motivating you, and that’s what he’s really talking about right here. So Aaron, read verse 28, 1 John 2, 28, and 29, and we’ll comment a minute, and then we’ll move into that 1 John 3.

 

  So it says here, “And now little children abide in him “that when he appears, we may have confidence “and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” You know, one thing that the gospel does is it gives you great confidence.

 

  Amen.

 

  When you come to God, you don’t have to come weak and beggarly and not sure what’s gonna happen. Man, with Jesus, you have great confidence. You can come before that throne of grace with boldness.

 

  Amen.

 

  And man, the righteous are as bold as lions, so we should be confident as believers when we come to our heavenly father. We shouldn’t come just unsure if God’s gonna hear us or care about us. Man, when you know how much God loves you, man, that love, that strong relationship you have with the heavenly father, it gives you great confidence.

 

  Amen. He goes on and says this in verse 29, “If you know that he is righteous, “you know that everyone who does righteousness “is born of him.” You know, righteous living comes from the righteous life. Amen? However, the righteous life does not come from righteous living. You can’t get righteous by what you do, but when you’re made righteous by faith in Jesus, faith in Jesus is what makes us right. That causes you to live right. We’re not human doings, we’re human beings. And when you believe on Jesus, you be righteous. You’re made righteous. And when you understand that, you start living righteous. So it’s like this scripture in Ephesians chapter five, verse eight, it says, “You were darkness, “but now you are light, and Lord, “walk as children of the light.” Man, we are children of the light. Praise God, and so when you begin to understand the goal is to abide in him, that we’re confident in him, we don’t have to be ashamed. Not only did Jesus take our sin, but Jesus took our shame on the cross. See, the cross was a shameful place. It was a place where people were despised, right? It was the place where worst criminals were placed. And so today, we look as believers at the cross as a thing of beauty, but it was actually a terrible place. And Jesus took a terrible death, a terrible punishment for us as people. And when you believe on Jesus, Jesus took not only your sin, but he took your shame. So we can be confident, we don’t need to be ashamed, we abide in him, and we know that we’re made righteous. Man, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. Praise God, and I have Jesus’ righteousness has been placed on my account. When you understand that, it changes your life.

 

  I love what happens next here in 1 John 3, verse one says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him.”

 

  Yes, man, we are the children of God. We’re not trying to become the children of God. We are the children of God. You know, a lot of people don’t know who they are. Again, they don’t know what they have. And he says in the next verse, he says, “Beloved, now we’re the sons of God.” You know, a lot of people don’t know I’m a child of God. You know why you get all the stuff? You get all the stuff ’cause you’re God’s kid. And it doesn’t appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. You know, the problem with a lot of believers is they’ve never really seen him. They’ve never really understood him or comprehended who he is. That’s the whole goal of the gospel. So you get to know God. And you know, some of you act terrible mean as believers. And the reason you act terrible mean is you don’t know God, you don’t know his love. And you get to know God’s love, you get to quit acting terrible mean.

 

  I love that, you know, really that’s such great revelation to realize that because God loves us, we’re part of the family. You know, the enemy tries to drive people in this direction, in this mentality, it’s kind of like an orphan spirit where just you constantly deal with rejection, never feeling accepted, always feeling like an outcast, just this type of loner mentality. And the devil really pushes people out of fellowship, out of fellowship with other believers, out of fellowship with the father, and just really drives that orphan spirit. That orphan spirit is not from God. It’s not from the spirit of Jesus, it’s from the enemy. And man, when you draw closer to God and realize how much he loves you, you’re gonna have this mindset, this spirit that you know, you’re a child of God and that you’re loved, what manner of love.

 

  Yeah, when you get a revelation of the love of God, it’ll transform your life. You know, I really didn’t get a revelation of grace or the love of God, really the grace of God until I was 30 years old. I’d actually been pastoring for six years. I was born again when I was eight years old, it was 22 years from the time I got born again until I got a revelation of the love of God. It was another six years after I got born again that I got baptized in the Holy Spirit. So it was four, or let’s see, 16 years after I got baptized in the Holy Spirit that I got a revelation of the love of God. And you know, I started preaching almost immediately after I got baptized in the Holy Spirit, but I really did not have a revelation of the grace of God. And when I got a revelation of grace, it revolutionized my life. And as we’re teaching on 1 John, you know, I’m really talking about having a revelation of grace. I got a revelation of grace in 1994 when Andrew Wommack came to our church and Kit Carson Church of the Redeemed, a church that we started with a group of believers, a group of families there from Kit Carson in Eastern Colorado. And did you know what? When I got that revelation, it revolutionized my life. Your mom says I was not even like living with the same person. And we actually have four teachings on a revelation of grace where I had Andrew Wommack come in and share. And we talked about the revelation of grace that he had and that I had. And we have those in downloadable audio and downloadable video. They’re on our website, CharisChristianCenter.com and they’re absolutely free of charge. I got hundreds of hours of teaching on there. And if you get ahold of this stuff, man, it will help you, praise God.

 

  Yeah, I wanna go on into 1 John 3, verse two. It says, “Beloved, now we are children of God.” So it’s not even up to debate. If you believe on Jesus, you’re a child of God. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. I just love that. You know, one day when we see Jesus face to face, we’re gonna realize there’s a lot of similarities here. There’s a lot of likeness. There’s a-    Amen.

 

  Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

 

  Amen. Look at the next verse. It fits right in with what you’re saying. It says, “Every person who has this hope in himself purifies himself even as he is pure.” You know, when you understand who God is and who Christ is, it changes who you are as a believer. The Bible says this in Ephesians 5, 1. It says, “Be imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as he has loved us.” When you understand who God is, when you understand how much God loves you, you’re gonna start loving other people. You can’t help it.

 

  And one thing I wanna say too is when you believe on Jesus, your spirit completely changes. You are an eternal spirit. There’s a part of every person that is indestructible that’s gonna live forever somewhere.

 

  Amen.   And when you believe on Jesus, your spirit is changed. You have the spirit of Christ in you. You have a soul, that’s your mind. Your will, your emotions, and you live in a body. And man, when Jesus comes in you, when you believe on Jesus, you’re gonna be more and more like him.

 

  Amen, praise God. And so-

 

  Your nature changes. You actually have a new nature. You don’t have a nature like the devil. You now have the nature of Jesus.

 

  Amen, the exact same spirit that raised up Jesus dwells in you. And every person who understands this purifies himself. When you understand you’re a child of God and the spirit of Christ lives in you and you are righteous and you’re justified and you’re sanctified and you got the life of God, the love of God, the light of God in you, guess what? You start living like that. And you know what? It’s just a reflection of Christ in you. You know, Paul says in Ephesians 5:4, “You were darkness, but now you are light. “In the Lord walk as children of light.” Praise God. You know what? We’ve got hundreds of hours of teaching on this and things just like this on our website at charischristiancenter.com. We have this full syllabus that we’ve been teaching on the website and we’ve actually got a children’s curriculum and we’ve just got the first two years up there. We’re gonna soon have two years of junior high and then some special curriculums. We are making this available free of charge. You know, just this children’s curriculum, I’ve been paying $900 a year for a downloadable children’s curriculum that is subpar, that does not allow us to teach things like this and the Holy Spirit in you. And you know what? I just decided we’d do our own. And this thing is in probably over 50 countries today. It’s exploding around the world and we’re getting raving reviews. So you can go to our website and get all this material free. And if you don’t have a church home, we’d love to have you at Charis Christian Center or online. Blessings.

 

  When you know Jesus and experience his incredible love for you, you will know who you truly are. You’ll understand the anointing that’s in you and you’ll realize that you’re part of God’s great family. You can come home to him today through the person of Jesus. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of 1 John, a relationship with God, a $21 value free of charge. Download your copy today at charischristiancenter.com.

 

  Friends, it’s great to have you with us today. And I wanna invite you to attend services with us at Charis Christian Center in Colorado Springs. The atmosphere is amazing. Recently in one service, I had people from 10 nations and several states. They watch us on a regular basis online and they said, “This is amazing.” So if you can’t come physically, come and attend online at Charis Christian Center or YouTube. Blessings. Friends, I invite you to pray with me right now. Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your son. I believe that he died for my sins and you raised him from the dead and made him Lord on the third day. And right now I surrender my life to you. In Jesus name, I pray. If you prayed that prayer, give us a call. Blessings.

 

  Thanks for watching Grace for Today. This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer or have a question, please call us at 719-418-4000 or to partner online, go to charischristiancenter.com/give. You can write us at PO Box 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80962. See you next time on Grace for Today.