July 17, 2024 • 32 mins
Is living a godly life in an ungodly world a challenge you face daily? Discover how societal and religious distortions can mislead us from biblical truths, particularly when financial gain is involved. In this episode of "Living God's Way," we explore 1 John 2:24-29, highlighting the necessity of abiding in Jesus' teachings and the transformative power of being born again. By understanding the promise of eternal life and the guiding role of the Holy Spirit, we aim to equip you with the wisdom to stay true to God's Word.
Confidence in our daily walk with Christ hinges on listening to the Holy Spirit's guidance. Join me as I discuss how this divine relationship shapes our preferences and behaviors over time. I'll share the importance of daily Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship, and how these practices nurture our connection with God. Emphasizing the truthfulness of God's Word, I stress the significance of maintaining a direct relationship with Him as His children, free from any deceit.
Righteousness is not about legalistic adherence but about embodying a heart transformed by Christ. Explore the profound significance of spiritual rebirth and the journey of prioritizing a relationship with God over worldly temptations. I also discuss the importance of weekly worship and fellowship, encouraging you to integrate these practices into your life consistently. Visit brmaul.com to share your testimonies, connect with our community, and continue walking closely with the Lord together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
B.R.Maul (00:28):
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and this is LivingGod's Way in an Ungodly World.
And yes, we do live in anungodly world, and I am not in
any way being negative.
I am being truthful.
It only takes watching the news, or reading the news, watching
(00:51):
society around you, and it isvery evident that this is an
ungodly world.
As the world continues to pushGod out and trying to lift up
themselves or their other gods,often the individual, the person
, becomes their own God.
(01:12):
Even more frightening are thoseChristian-like religions, and
there are many of them.
There are tens of thousands ofdenominations that are
Christian-based, and those arethe ones that concern me the
most, because much of it is todo with God's Word.
Unfortunately, there are bitsand pieces that are left out.
(01:34):
Usually, those are the bits andpieces that clergy, or whatever
they may be called in theirreligion, are afraid of losing
people because that's how theymake money.
Often, the question is how canwe bring in more people to the
church?
And through the experiencesthat God has shown me and what I
(01:56):
have learned in his word andcomparing the two, often it is
money that is the motivator forchurches, and that really does
sadden me, but that's why wecome together here each week to
read God's Word and then tolearn it, because it is
important.
If you are born again, it isyour duty to be reading God's
(02:20):
Word.
It is how God talks to Hischildren.
It is how he sanctifies us sowe become more like his beloved
son and our Savior, jesus Christ.
So without being in his wordand without studying his word,
so reading it and understandingit and there's some really
(02:41):
interesting terminology thatwe're going to be going over
today in 1 John that touches onthat and words of encouragement.
I have often taught that we donot need to go to a seminary, we
do not need to go to highereducation and pay money for
(03:02):
somebody to teach us God's word.
Once you are born again,beloved, it is a promise that
the Holy Spirit will help youunderstand God's word, and John
will be talking about that today.
So we are in the book of 1 John,chapter 2, starting with verse
24, the reading begins Thereforelet that abide in you which you
(03:29):
heard from the beginning.
If what you heard from thebeginning abides in you, you
also will abide in the Son andin the Father, and this is the
promise that he has promised useternal life, verse 26,.
These things I have written toyou concerning those who try to
(03:51):
deceive you, but the anointingwhich you have received from him
abides in you and you do notneed that anyone teach you.
But as the same anointingteaches you concerning all
things and is true and is not alie, and just as it has taught
(04:26):
you, you will abide in him.
Verse 28.
And now, little children, abidein him that when he appears,
you know that everyone whopractices righteousness is born
of him.
Heavenly Father, I ask you toguide me as I teach these verses
.
Let nothing of my own agendaescape my lips, only allow that
(04:57):
which you are teaching those whoare listening, lord, and I pray
that those who are listeningopen up their hearts and soften
their hearts.
Help them to put aside pride orany insecurities that may be
getting in their way to hearingyour voice as you are knocking
at their hearts In Jesus' name,amen.
(05:18):
So verse 24 will unpack each ofthese.
Therefore, john says willunpack each of these.
Therefore, john says let thatabide in you.
Which you heard from thebeginning, in what you heard
from the beginning, abides inyou.
You also will abide in the Sonand in the Father.
He is referring to theinformation he spoke about in
(05:42):
the beginning of his letter, andit is the gospel we are talking
about, the gospel of JesusChrist.
It is the very foundation thatwe stand on as children of God
the miracle life of Jesus, himbeing sinless, his blood being
pure, his death on the cross andhis resurrection.
(06:08):
So that is the gospel, and thatgospel abides in you as a
born-again believer.
If you are listening and you arenot born again, this stuff may
seem very foreign or even sillyto you, because this does not
abide in those who are not bornagain.
(06:29):
To be born again.
In Romans 10, well, you aretold that with the tongue one
confesses the Lord Jesus, thatis, confessing that he is the
Lord of your life, and with theheart believe that God, the
Father, raised him from the dead.
So this is the kind of beliefthat is in the heart.
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It is not the belief in thehead.
I may believe that tomorrow wehave a chance of rain because I
looked at the forecast.
Well, that's a belief in myhead.
But believing in our heart,that is part of our fabrication.
It's who we are.
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It's the kind of belief thatnations go to war over to fight
for what they believe.
We don't fight for headknowledge, we fight for heart
knowledge.
So back to what John is sayinghere as a child of God, he
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abides in you.
Now, abiding, that's arelationship.
To abide with somebody is tolive alongside of them, to have
your life intermixed, overlapped, affecting one another.
That's abiding.
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So he says.
You will also abide in the Sonand in the Father.
So with that, it is in yourheart.
And in verse 25, he says andthis is the promise that he has
promised us eternal life.
Isn't that a wonderful promise,eternal life.
(08:15):
And it's a promise beloved,because he is in you, you are in
him, the Holy Spirit dwells inyou, you are in Him, the Holy
Spirit dwells in you.
And we'll be talking a littlebit more here about the Holy
Spirit.
In an upcoming verse, verse 26,john is warning God's children
(08:40):
that there are those who aregoing to pervert God's word,
that there are those who aregoing to pervert God's word.
These are people who often knowGod's word very well, but they
pervert it to fit their agenda.
In the time of John's day, inancient times, that would be the
Pharisees, and there arePharisees that we know of, such
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as Nicodemus, who were bornagain.
So it doesn't mean thatsomebody gets to a certain place
where they cannot be saved.
But we, as God's children, mustbe very careful, beloved,
because we are surrounded In myheart.
I firmly believe, and I don'tdoubt it one bit, that in
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America there are more churcheswho are teaching deception than
there are teaching the truth.
And why do I say that?
Because so many churches aremore caught up with their
denomination.
Very few people I know, and Ido know some, that they just
claim to be a child of God,someone who was born again, a
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follower of Christ.
But most people will tell methat they are a Methodist, a
Baptist, a Lutheran, a Catholic.
Now, that's a warning sign,that's a red flag to me, because
in my experience that the Lordhas shown me over the years,
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it's these doctrines ofdenominations that are deceiving
many people.
I firmly believe.
The deception is so deepbecause Satan himself is the
forerunner.
Satan himself continues to fuelthis mess.
But the deception is so deepthat there are many teachers,
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evangelists, who are in thesedenominations, those who are in
leadership positions, that theythemselves are deceived, and
they're not trying to deceivebecause they themselves are
deceived.
It's one of those basic law ofnature.
We can't teach somebodysomething we don't know.
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You would agree with that, Ihope.
If I spend years going toschool so I can teach English,
well, I'm going to have a reallyhard time.
If I'm going to try to sit downand quickly try to teach
somebody advanced mathematics, Iwould feel sorry for that
person because I don't have thatknowledge.
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So I can teach them English,teach creative writing, but I
can't teach advanced mathematics.
So it's the same thing.
Whatever we learn about God'sword, well, that's what we're
going to teach Now.
I can get a lot deeper into it,but I'll just touch upon it
because the deception is quitebroad as well.
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Deep and broad, because thereare those who are not even
called by God to be a pastor,but they go to school, they pass
tests and they become a pastor,and that's also just how
mankind has made it a profession.
Being a pastor should never bea profession.
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Not that a pastor cannot beprofessional in how he teaches
and how he cares and loves hisbrothers and sisters in the
faith.
Yes, professional, but not aprofession.
There are too many pastors whoare leaving the ministry just
because they decide.
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Well, you know, it's just it'sa lot more work than I thought
and it's really not a whole lotof money.
But for those who are called, wetruly love teaching God's word.
In fact, we are compelled, held.
It's one of those things wheremyself and I've talked to other
brothers who have the spiritualgift of teaching.
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When they are teaching God'sword, they must do it because it
drives them crazy when theycan't.
Verse 26, these things I havewritten to you concerning those
who try to deceive you.
Now, verse 27,.
Here's where we'll talk a littlebit about the Holy Spirit, as
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the same anointing teaches youconcerning all things, and is
true and is not a lie, and justas it has taught you, you will
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abide in him.
Now that's a pretty long verse,so I'll back up here.
The anointing which you havereceived from him abides in you.
This is an anointing for everyChristian, everybody who was
born again.
This is the anointing of theHoly Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit enters andstays inside a born-again
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believer, the Holy Spirit willseal that believer and that Holy
Spirit dwells forever in thebeliever.
And we are told to call uponthe Lord when we are reading his
word and to ask for guidance,and that's what the Holy Spirit
will do.
The Holy Spirit will counsel us, will teach us right from wrong
(14:12):
.
Sometimes it's as simple as youjust get that gut feeling before
you want to say something nasty, or before you're going to
watch a show or a movie thatwell, you know you probably
shouldn't because it's not verygood.
But then you get that gutfeeling when you're about ready
to play it and you're thinking,ah, gee, I don't know.
Well, that's when we are torespond, because the Holy Spirit
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is counseling us, teaching us,and the more that we listen to
the Holy Spirit, by the way, themore that we are sanctified and
become more like Jesus.
You walk with the Lord longenough, beloved, and you will
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find that when you look backevery passing year, you have
changed.
There are things that at onepoint you used to find amusing,
but now you find offensive, butyou don't like to listen to it,
or you don't like to watch thoseprograms anymore, or listen to
that kind kind of music or readthose kind of books, and you'll
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find you start to speakdifferently.
Cursing begins to sting whenyou say it, because the Holy
Spirit lets you know and remindsyou quickly the power of the
tongue that God has given usthat we can speak wholesome
words that are like the tree oflife, we're told, and to heal
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other people with our words, tolift them up, to give them hope.
Or if there's perverseness inour tongue, we'll do the
opposite and we can breaksomebody's spirit, we can bring
them down, mush them into themud, but the anointing which you
have received from him abidesin you.
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And the next part of that isand you do not need that anyone
teach you.
This doesn't mean that we don'tlisten to sermons.
This doesn't mean that teachersof God's Word are not needed.
And why do we know that?
Remember, beloved, always checkthe Bible against the Bible,
(16:26):
the fact that the spiritual giftof teaching God's Word and in
the letters to Timothy and toTitus, paul speaks quite a bit
about the characteristics ofthose who are teaching God's
word and the importance of that.
So John, we know, isn't sayingyou do not need that anyone
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teach you, you don't need to gettogether with brothers and
sisters, you don't need to havesomeone who that's their
spiritual gift is teaching.
Well, of course he's not sayingthat because that would be not
what the rest of God's word says.
So what does that mean?
It means that, with that HolySpirit abiding in you, beloved,
you can learn by reading God'sword directly.
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And you should yes, you shouldhave a good teacher.
Yes, you should have a goodteacher.
You should have a pastor,someone who is called with his
spiritual gift to teach, becausethat will further you all the
more and we are to continue togrow in God's word as a body of
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Christ, and that is whatteaching pastoring is the mouth,
and that is what teachingpastoring is the mouth.
We just keep on blabbing, butwe are so compelled those of us
who love teaching God's word, wealso have a desire to learn
God's word, and so we areconstantly reading God's word
and we're constantly digginginto it and finding out more and
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more into it and finding outmore and more and all the things
that we learn.
We are so excited to pass thatalong to brothers and sisters in
the faith, to the rest of thebody of Christ that the Lord has
put us in.
So it's that teaching part ofit, but that's as a group.
Every Christian needs to openthe Bible and for those who
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listen to me on a regular basis,you already know what I'm going
to say that we need to readGod's word daily.
And not because of legalismthat you're going to get in
trouble.
God's going to discipline youif you don't read the Bible this
day.
No, it's because it's for ourown good, just like praying to
him, just like coming togetherwith brothers and sisters and
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worshiping and fellowshipping.
All that is important.
But John is specificallyspeaking to the fact that you
don't have to find that teacherand sit down with him and always
have him there when you'rereading God's word, because God
will teach you, he will give youthe understanding.
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You only need to ask for it.
And if you read something thatyou don't understand, I
encourage you to come back to itanother time and ask the Lord
Lord, please give meunderstanding, please help me
see what it is that you areteaching me through your word.
And he will do that.
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Beloved, he will give you thatunderstanding.
That means and going on fromthat, and you do not need that
anyone teach you, but as thesame anointing teaches you
concerning all things and istrue and is not a lie, and just
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as it has taught you, you willabide in him.
That's that relationship.
As you read God's word, youcannot escape abiding in Christ.
I don't see how it's possible,and I'm speaking to born-again
believers.
So this is with the assumptionthat you are born again, the
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Bible way in John 3, as Jesushas taught us.
And so with that, that truth isin us.
We don't learn a lie.
There's no lie in God's word.
It is 100% pure truth.
And as you learn from it, asthe Holy Spirit dwells in me, I
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have this direct connection toour Heavenly Father, to Jesus
Christ.
We are one with him.
It is absolutely amazing.
It's easy to forget that,because on this side of the
grave, since we're not glorified, that'll happen after our body
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expires, after our death, orwhen God calls us home,
whichever one comes first.
But in this process of beingsanctified, unfortunately, we're
still in these broken bodies.
The flesh continues to fightwith us and it's easy to quickly
forget that we are his children, that we have this direct
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connection with him Verse 28,.
And now little children abidein him.
I'm going to just stop rightthere.
There's more to it, but Johncontinues to remind us to abide
in him, or that we are abidingin him when we are reading his
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word, when we are walking withhim.
So this is very important.
I hope you're able to see theimportance of being born again,
being born a child of God.
I hope you see the importancebeloved, of abiding, in other
words, having that relationshipwith Jesus Christ.
Not going to church, but beingthe church, not reading about
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him, but abiding with him.
Not knowing in your head, havehead knowledge and can rattle
out stories of the Bible, canrattle out dates, can rattle out
verses, but it's all just inyour head, no, in your heart,
where, like anyone that you love, if you don't see him, if you
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do miss a day where you haveread his word, taken yourself
out of the world, the thingsthat are happening around you
and just finding time for youand him, when you miss a day,
you yearn for him.
You want to resume where youleft off and you want to as soon
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as you can.
So in verse 28, john says andnow little children abide in him
, walk with him, have arelationship with him,
continuing that when he appearswe may have confidence and not
be ashamed before him at hiscoming.
Now, have you ever thought ofthat?
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That might be a good reason.
Right there, as a born-againbeliever, you just keep
reminding yourself if you needto write a note to yourself.
He is coming.
John says that when he appears,that's referring to his second
coming and that will happen.
The next thing to happen is therapture.
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There's nothing else that weare waiting for.
Any prophecy that needs to befulfilled before Jesus comes for
his church and it's raptured,it is taken from this earth.
So John is saying that do this,abide with him so when he does
come.
Abide with him so when he doescome, you may have confidence
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and not be ashamed before him athis coming Makes a person
really sit and wonder.
If he says that we may haveconfidence and not be ashamed
before him at his coming, thatmeans it is possible to not have
confidence and to be ashamedwhen Jesus comes.
I don't want to be in thatposition and I hope and pray
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that you won't be in thatposition that upon our death,
when we are ushered to him, orwhen he comes and raptures the
church, either way, the day willcome that we will be looking
him in the eyes.
I don't want to be caught nothaving confidence and feeling
ashamed because, well, that's,all I've been doing is just
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wasting my time.
I've been just doing as littleas possible and I could maybe
try to use some stupid excusethat.
Well, you know, I just don'twant to rock the boat, I don't
want to offend anybody, butwe'll know when we look him in
the eyes and realize what he hasdone for us.
And we wasted our time justsitting around watching movies,
(25:05):
going out to eat as much as wecan and saving up for retirement
.
I think we will have a lot ofshame if that is what we are
doing.
But we are to abide and if weare abiding in him, if you are
abiding with Christ, it's goingto be really hard to do those
things, to just lay around anddo nothing, because the Holy
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Spirit will begin to prompt youand then to prod you and then
eventually to light a fireunderneath you.
And I pray that you respondwhen that happens.
Verse 29, and I pray that yourespond when that happens Verse
29, if you know that he isrighteous, you know that
everyone who practicesrighteousness is born of him.
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If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who
practices righteousness is bornof him.
Now, that's a test.
That's something that we canuse to look at ourselves.
That verse 29 is saying okay,ask yourself this beloved, are
you righteous?
We know that he is righteous.
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John is reminding us of that.
That's pretty obvious.
God is 100% love, he is 100%righteous.
God is 100% love, he is 100%righteous.
So with that knowledge, wellthen, everyone who practices
righteousness is born of him, isborn of God.
We can't be righteous on ourown strength, can't be done.
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We're told that our best ofdeeds are like filthy rags to
him.
Without the blood of Christ,all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.
So without the blood of Christ,we can't practice righteousness
.
So you know that everyone whopractices righteousness is born
(26:57):
of God, and born of God isspiritually born or born again.
See how that connects.
Being born again is soimportant, beloved.
Being baptized as a babydoesn't do it.
That's not being born again,that's just being wet, and not
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just infant baptism, baptism foranybody who does not in their
heart believe in Jesus Christ,his blood, and confess with
their mouth that he is theirLord.
We want to be born of God.
Many people find it offensivewhen they are not born again,
when others speak about beingborn again and if that's you,
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then I challenge you right hereand right now, this moment.
Well then you ask yourself whydoes that offend me?
Because it shouldn't offend youwhen we know something is a
complete lie.
If you know the truth and youare living the truth, you won't
be offended by it.
If you ask somebody who is bornagain, if they are born again,
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they don't take offense of youasking that and there's no
reason for them to.
In fact, if anything, I lovethat because that means that's
another born-again believer,they understand it's a brother
and sister in Christ or they'reseeking the Lord Jesus and
that's exciting too.
But if you ask somebody who wasborn again, if they are born
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again, they do not take offense,not at all.
But ask somebody if they areborn again and they're not, they
were just baptized whether as ababy, which in certain areas of
the country is abundant when Igrew up it was very abundant,
many Catholics and manyLutherans and you ask them and
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they are offended.
I know because I was one of them.
I remember that.
I remember being told that yourinfant baptism didn't do
anything.
That made me angry.
I wasn't just a little upset.
I'm thinking who do you thinkyou are?
You think you're all betterthan me.
And I mean I was mad, but thatwas before I was reading God's
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word.
That was before.
I was abiding in him and heabiding in me.
So how do you abide in Jesusbeloved?
Yes, by reading his word and bypraying to him, and by meeting
with other believers, others whoare born again and worshiping
(29:35):
him.
That's how you abide with GodAlmighty.
It's pretty simple.
You know.
The hard part really is breakingthe shell of your old life,
breaking away from having to dothings like oh I just have these
programs I have to watch.
I used to have anywhere fromabout three to three and a half
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four hours on most nights.
I had programming I lovedwatching, and now I don't.
Not because I discipline myselfand I really want to watch this
stuff, but I don't.
I just find that there's somuch more to life now.
I'm not slave to oh, I got tokeep up with what's going on.
I just I need this time.
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No, because God has given me waymore than what the world offers
, and a reminder that it is notlegalism.
God doesn't tell us you betterread my word daily, but I'm
reminding you as a child of God,as someone who loves Jesus
Christ and I care for you I amreminding you that you need to
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do it daily.
It's one thing to miss a day.
Here and there, life happens.
But when you get it in yourlife where you need that every
day, just like you need to talkto those that you love every day
, well, that's abiding in himand pray to him.
Talk to those that you loveevery day Well, that's abiding
in him and pray to him.
Talk to him every day.
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I encourage worshiping andgetting together with brothers
and sisters weekly, and that'sbecause, well, anything we do
weekly truly is a part of ourlife.
Things that we do a coupletimes a month or once a month,
or whatever it might be, can bea lot more difficult to stick
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with it, and that's the reasonfor that.
If you have any questions, youare so welcome to get a hold of
me.
You can go to my website,brmaul that's b-r-m-a-u-l dot
com, and just go to contact.
If it's a question or comment,get a hold of me.
I'd love to hear from you.
I'm here for you.
If you have any questions or ifyou want to share what the Lord
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is doing in your life, I'd behappy to share with it on
podcasts as well, to encourageothers.
But I hope and pray that youare walking with the Lord.
But I hope and pray that youare walking with the Lord and
until next time, no-transcript.
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and this is LivingGod's Way in an Ungodly World.
And yes, we do live in anungodly world, and I am not in
any way being negative.
I am being truthful.
It only takes watching the news, or reading the news, watching
(00:51):
society around you, and it isvery evident that this is an
ungodly world.
As the world continues to pushGod out and trying to lift up
themselves or their other gods,often the individual, the person
, becomes their own God.
(01:12):
Even more frightening are thoseChristian-like religions, and
there are many of them.
There are tens of thousands ofdenominations that are
Christian-based, and those arethe ones that concern me the
most, because much of it is todo with God's Word.
Unfortunately, there are bitsand pieces that are left out.
(01:34):
Usually, those are the bits andpieces that clergy, or whatever
they may be called in theirreligion, are afraid of losing
people because that's how theymake money.
Often, the question is how canwe bring in more people to the
church?
And through the experiencesthat God has shown me and what I
(01:56):
have learned in his word andcomparing the two, often it is
money that is the motivator forchurches, and that really does
sadden me, but that's why wecome together here each week to
read God's Word and then tolearn it, because it is
important.
If you are born again, it isyour duty to be reading God's
(02:20):
Word.
It is how God talks to Hischildren.
It is how he sanctifies us sowe become more like his beloved
son and our Savior, jesus Christ.
So without being in his wordand without studying his word,
so reading it and understandingit and there's some really
(02:41):
interesting terminology thatwe're going to be going over
today in 1 John that touches onthat and words of encouragement.
I have often taught that we donot need to go to a seminary, we
do not need to go to highereducation and pay money for
(03:02):
somebody to teach us God's word.
Once you are born again,beloved, it is a promise that
the Holy Spirit will help youunderstand God's word, and John
will be talking about that today.
So we are in the book of 1 John,chapter 2, starting with verse
24, the reading begins Thereforelet that abide in you which you
(03:29):
heard from the beginning.
If what you heard from thebeginning abides in you, you
also will abide in the Son andin the Father, and this is the
promise that he has promised useternal life, verse 26,.
These things I have written toyou concerning those who try to
(03:51):
deceive you, but the anointingwhich you have received from him
abides in you and you do notneed that anyone teach you.
But as the same anointingteaches you concerning all
things and is true and is not alie, and just as it has taught
(04:26):
you, you will abide in him.
Verse 28.
And now, little children, abidein him that when he appears,
you know that everyone whopractices righteousness is born
of him.
Heavenly Father, I ask you toguide me as I teach these verses
.
Let nothing of my own agendaescape my lips, only allow that
(04:57):
which you are teaching those whoare listening, lord, and I pray
that those who are listeningopen up their hearts and soften
their hearts.
Help them to put aside pride orany insecurities that may be
getting in their way to hearingyour voice as you are knocking
at their hearts In Jesus' name,amen.
(05:18):
So verse 24 will unpack each ofthese.
Therefore, john says willunpack each of these.
Therefore, john says let thatabide in you.
Which you heard from thebeginning, in what you heard
from the beginning, abides inyou.
You also will abide in the Sonand in the Father.
He is referring to theinformation he spoke about in
(05:42):
the beginning of his letter, andit is the gospel we are talking
about, the gospel of JesusChrist.
It is the very foundation thatwe stand on as children of God
the miracle life of Jesus, himbeing sinless, his blood being
pure, his death on the cross andhis resurrection.
(06:08):
So that is the gospel, and thatgospel abides in you as a
born-again believer.
If you are listening and you arenot born again, this stuff may
seem very foreign or even sillyto you, because this does not
abide in those who are not bornagain.
(06:29):
To be born again.
In Romans 10, well, you aretold that with the tongue one
confesses the Lord Jesus, thatis, confessing that he is the
Lord of your life, and with theheart believe that God, the
Father, raised him from the dead.
So this is the kind of beliefthat is in the heart.
(06:52):
It is not the belief in thehead.
I may believe that tomorrow wehave a chance of rain because I
looked at the forecast.
Well, that's a belief in myhead.
But believing in our heart,that is part of our fabrication.
It's who we are.
(07:12):
It's the kind of belief thatnations go to war over to fight
for what they believe.
We don't fight for headknowledge, we fight for heart
knowledge.
So back to what John is sayinghere as a child of God, he
(07:32):
abides in you.
Now, abiding, that's arelationship.
To abide with somebody is tolive alongside of them, to have
your life intermixed, overlapped, affecting one another.
That's abiding.
(07:53):
So he says.
You will also abide in the Sonand in the Father.
So with that, it is in yourheart.
And in verse 25, he says andthis is the promise that he has
promised us eternal life.
Isn't that a wonderful promise,eternal life.
(08:15):
And it's a promise beloved,because he is in you, you are in
him, the Holy Spirit dwells inyou, you are in Him, the Holy
Spirit dwells in you.
And we'll be talking a littlebit more here about the Holy
Spirit.
In an upcoming verse, verse 26,john is warning God's children
(08:40):
that there are those who aregoing to pervert God's word,
that there are those who aregoing to pervert God's word.
These are people who often knowGod's word very well, but they
pervert it to fit their agenda.
In the time of John's day, inancient times, that would be the
Pharisees, and there arePharisees that we know of, such
(09:04):
as Nicodemus, who were bornagain.
So it doesn't mean thatsomebody gets to a certain place
where they cannot be saved.
But we, as God's children, mustbe very careful, beloved,
because we are surrounded In myheart.
I firmly believe, and I don'tdoubt it one bit, that in
(09:25):
America there are more churcheswho are teaching deception than
there are teaching the truth.
And why do I say that?
Because so many churches aremore caught up with their
denomination.
Very few people I know, and Ido know some, that they just
claim to be a child of God,someone who was born again, a
(09:49):
follower of Christ.
But most people will tell methat they are a Methodist, a
Baptist, a Lutheran, a Catholic.
Now, that's a warning sign,that's a red flag to me, because
in my experience that the Lordhas shown me over the years,
(10:09):
it's these doctrines ofdenominations that are deceiving
many people.
I firmly believe.
The deception is so deepbecause Satan himself is the
forerunner.
Satan himself continues to fuelthis mess.
But the deception is so deepthat there are many teachers,
(10:31):
evangelists, who are in thesedenominations, those who are in
leadership positions, that theythemselves are deceived, and
they're not trying to deceivebecause they themselves are
deceived.
It's one of those basic law ofnature.
We can't teach somebodysomething we don't know.
(10:53):
You would agree with that, Ihope.
If I spend years going toschool so I can teach English,
well, I'm going to have a reallyhard time.
If I'm going to try to sit downand quickly try to teach
somebody advanced mathematics, Iwould feel sorry for that
person because I don't have thatknowledge.
(11:14):
So I can teach them English,teach creative writing, but I
can't teach advanced mathematics.
So it's the same thing.
Whatever we learn about God'sword, well, that's what we're
going to teach Now.
I can get a lot deeper into it,but I'll just touch upon it
because the deception is quitebroad as well.
(11:37):
Deep and broad, because thereare those who are not even
called by God to be a pastor,but they go to school, they pass
tests and they become a pastor,and that's also just how
mankind has made it a profession.
Being a pastor should never bea profession.
(12:00):
Not that a pastor cannot beprofessional in how he teaches
and how he cares and loves hisbrothers and sisters in the
faith.
Yes, professional, but not aprofession.
There are too many pastors whoare leaving the ministry just
because they decide.
(12:20):
Well, you know, it's just it'sa lot more work than I thought
and it's really not a whole lotof money.
But for those who are called, wetruly love teaching God's word.
In fact, we are compelled, held.
It's one of those things wheremyself and I've talked to other
brothers who have the spiritualgift of teaching.
(12:41):
When they are teaching God'sword, they must do it because it
drives them crazy when theycan't.
Verse 26, these things I havewritten to you concerning those
who try to deceive you.
Now, verse 27,.
Here's where we'll talk a littlebit about the Holy Spirit, as
(13:03):
the same anointing teaches youconcerning all things, and is
true and is not a lie, and justas it has taught you, you will
(13:24):
abide in him.
Now that's a pretty long verse,so I'll back up here.
The anointing which you havereceived from him abides in you.
This is an anointing for everyChristian, everybody who was
born again.
This is the anointing of theHoly Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit enters andstays inside a born-again
(13:47):
believer, the Holy Spirit willseal that believer and that Holy
Spirit dwells forever in thebeliever.
And we are told to call uponthe Lord when we are reading his
word and to ask for guidance,and that's what the Holy Spirit
will do.
The Holy Spirit will counsel us, will teach us right from wrong
(14:12):
.
Sometimes it's as simple as youjust get that gut feeling before
you want to say something nasty, or before you're going to
watch a show or a movie thatwell, you know you probably
shouldn't because it's not verygood.
But then you get that gutfeeling when you're about ready
to play it and you're thinking,ah, gee, I don't know.
Well, that's when we are torespond, because the Holy Spirit
(14:36):
is counseling us, teaching us,and the more that we listen to
the Holy Spirit, by the way, themore that we are sanctified and
become more like Jesus.
You walk with the Lord longenough, beloved, and you will
(14:58):
find that when you look backevery passing year, you have
changed.
There are things that at onepoint you used to find amusing,
but now you find offensive, butyou don't like to listen to it,
or you don't like to watch thoseprograms anymore, or listen to
that kind kind of music or readthose kind of books, and you'll
(15:20):
find you start to speakdifferently.
Cursing begins to sting whenyou say it, because the Holy
Spirit lets you know and remindsyou quickly the power of the
tongue that God has given usthat we can speak wholesome
words that are like the tree oflife, we're told, and to heal
(15:42):
other people with our words, tolift them up, to give them hope.
Or if there's perverseness inour tongue, we'll do the
opposite and we can breaksomebody's spirit, we can bring
them down, mush them into themud, but the anointing which you
have received from him abidesin you.
(16:03):
And the next part of that isand you do not need that anyone
teach you.
This doesn't mean that we don'tlisten to sermons.
This doesn't mean that teachersof God's Word are not needed.
And why do we know that?
Remember, beloved, always checkthe Bible against the Bible,
(16:26):
the fact that the spiritual giftof teaching God's Word and in
the letters to Timothy and toTitus, paul speaks quite a bit
about the characteristics ofthose who are teaching God's
word and the importance of that.
So John, we know, isn't sayingyou do not need that anyone
(16:47):
teach you, you don't need to gettogether with brothers and
sisters, you don't need to havesomeone who that's their
spiritual gift is teaching.
Well, of course he's not sayingthat because that would be not
what the rest of God's word says.
So what does that mean?
It means that, with that HolySpirit abiding in you, beloved,
you can learn by reading God'sword directly.
(17:11):
And you should yes, you shouldhave a good teacher.
Yes, you should have a goodteacher.
You should have a pastor,someone who is called with his
spiritual gift to teach, becausethat will further you all the
more and we are to continue togrow in God's word as a body of
(17:32):
Christ, and that is whatteaching pastoring is the mouth,
and that is what teachingpastoring is the mouth.
We just keep on blabbing, butwe are so compelled those of us
who love teaching God's word, wealso have a desire to learn
God's word, and so we areconstantly reading God's word
and we're constantly digginginto it and finding out more and
(17:55):
more into it and finding outmore and more and all the things
that we learn.
We are so excited to pass thatalong to brothers and sisters in
the faith, to the rest of thebody of Christ that the Lord has
put us in.
So it's that teaching part ofit, but that's as a group.
Every Christian needs to openthe Bible and for those who
(18:17):
listen to me on a regular basis,you already know what I'm going
to say that we need to readGod's word daily.
And not because of legalismthat you're going to get in
trouble.
God's going to discipline youif you don't read the Bible this
day.
No, it's because it's for ourown good, just like praying to
him, just like coming togetherwith brothers and sisters and
(18:39):
worshiping and fellowshipping.
All that is important.
But John is specificallyspeaking to the fact that you
don't have to find that teacherand sit down with him and always
have him there when you'rereading God's word, because God
will teach you, he will give youthe understanding.
(18:59):
You only need to ask for it.
And if you read something thatyou don't understand, I
encourage you to come back to itanother time and ask the Lord
Lord, please give meunderstanding, please help me
see what it is that you areteaching me through your word.
And he will do that.
(19:20):
Beloved, he will give you thatunderstanding.
That means and going on fromthat, and you do not need that
anyone teach you, but as thesame anointing teaches you
concerning all things and istrue and is not a lie, and just
(19:40):
as it has taught you, you willabide in him.
That's that relationship.
As you read God's word, youcannot escape abiding in Christ.
I don't see how it's possible,and I'm speaking to born-again
believers.
So this is with the assumptionthat you are born again, the
(20:02):
Bible way in John 3, as Jesushas taught us.
And so with that, that truth isin us.
We don't learn a lie.
There's no lie in God's word.
It is 100% pure truth.
And as you learn from it, asthe Holy Spirit dwells in me, I
(20:35):
have this direct connection toour Heavenly Father, to Jesus
Christ.
We are one with him.
It is absolutely amazing.
It's easy to forget that,because on this side of the
grave, since we're not glorified, that'll happen after our body
(20:55):
expires, after our death, orwhen God calls us home,
whichever one comes first.
But in this process of beingsanctified, unfortunately, we're
still in these broken bodies.
The flesh continues to fightwith us and it's easy to quickly
forget that we are his children, that we have this direct
(21:16):
connection with him Verse 28,.
And now little children abidein him.
I'm going to just stop rightthere.
There's more to it, but Johncontinues to remind us to abide
in him, or that we are abidingin him when we are reading his
(21:40):
word, when we are walking withhim.
So this is very important.
I hope you're able to see theimportance of being born again,
being born a child of God.
I hope you see the importancebeloved, of abiding, in other
words, having that relationshipwith Jesus Christ.
Not going to church, but beingthe church, not reading about
(22:06):
him, but abiding with him.
Not knowing in your head, havehead knowledge and can rattle
out stories of the Bible, canrattle out dates, can rattle out
verses, but it's all just inyour head, no, in your heart,
where, like anyone that you love, if you don't see him, if you
(22:29):
do miss a day where you haveread his word, taken yourself
out of the world, the thingsthat are happening around you
and just finding time for youand him, when you miss a day,
you yearn for him.
You want to resume where youleft off and you want to as soon
(22:51):
as you can.
So in verse 28, john says andnow little children abide in him
, walk with him, have arelationship with him,
continuing that when he appearswe may have confidence and not
be ashamed before him at hiscoming.
Now, have you ever thought ofthat?
(23:13):
That might be a good reason.
Right there, as a born-againbeliever, you just keep
reminding yourself if you needto write a note to yourself.
He is coming.
John says that when he appears,that's referring to his second
coming and that will happen.
The next thing to happen is therapture.
(23:36):
There's nothing else that weare waiting for.
Any prophecy that needs to befulfilled before Jesus comes for
his church and it's raptured,it is taken from this earth.
So John is saying that do this,abide with him so when he does
come.
Abide with him so when he doescome, you may have confidence
(23:59):
and not be ashamed before him athis coming Makes a person
really sit and wonder.
If he says that we may haveconfidence and not be ashamed
before him at his coming, thatmeans it is possible to not have
confidence and to be ashamedwhen Jesus comes.
I don't want to be in thatposition and I hope and pray
(24:22):
that you won't be in thatposition that upon our death,
when we are ushered to him, orwhen he comes and raptures the
church, either way, the day willcome that we will be looking
him in the eyes.
I don't want to be caught nothaving confidence and feeling
ashamed because, well, that's,all I've been doing is just
(24:43):
wasting my time.
I've been just doing as littleas possible and I could maybe
try to use some stupid excusethat.
Well, you know, I just don'twant to rock the boat, I don't
want to offend anybody, butwe'll know when we look him in
the eyes and realize what he hasdone for us.
And we wasted our time justsitting around watching movies,
(25:05):
going out to eat as much as wecan and saving up for retirement
.
I think we will have a lot ofshame if that is what we are
doing.
But we are to abide and if weare abiding in him, if you are
abiding with Christ, it's goingto be really hard to do those
things, to just lay around anddo nothing, because the Holy
(25:26):
Spirit will begin to prompt youand then to prod you and then
eventually to light a fireunderneath you.
And I pray that you respondwhen that happens.
Verse 29, and I pray that yourespond when that happens Verse
29, if you know that he isrighteous, you know that
everyone who practicesrighteousness is born of him.
(25:49):
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who
practices righteousness is bornof him.
Now, that's a test.
That's something that we canuse to look at ourselves.
That verse 29 is saying okay,ask yourself this beloved, are
you righteous?
We know that he is righteous.
(26:10):
John is reminding us of that.
That's pretty obvious.
God is 100% love, he is 100%righteous.
God is 100% love, he is 100%righteous.
So with that knowledge, wellthen, everyone who practices
righteousness is born of him, isborn of God.
We can't be righteous on ourown strength, can't be done.
(26:34):
We're told that our best ofdeeds are like filthy rags to
him.
Without the blood of Christ,all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.
So without the blood of Christ,we can't practice righteousness
.
So you know that everyone whopractices righteousness is born
(26:57):
of God, and born of God isspiritually born or born again.
See how that connects.
Being born again is soimportant, beloved.
Being baptized as a babydoesn't do it.
That's not being born again,that's just being wet, and not
(27:22):
just infant baptism, baptism foranybody who does not in their
heart believe in Jesus Christ,his blood, and confess with
their mouth that he is theirLord.
We want to be born of God.
Many people find it offensivewhen they are not born again,
when others speak about beingborn again and if that's you,
(27:45):
then I challenge you right hereand right now, this moment.
Well then you ask yourself whydoes that offend me?
Because it shouldn't offend youwhen we know something is a
complete lie.
If you know the truth and youare living the truth, you won't
be offended by it.
If you ask somebody who is bornagain, if they are born again,
(28:07):
they don't take offense of youasking that and there's no
reason for them to.
In fact, if anything, I lovethat because that means that's
another born-again believer,they understand it's a brother
and sister in Christ or they'reseeking the Lord Jesus and
that's exciting too.
But if you ask somebody who wasborn again, if they are born
(28:30):
again, they do not take offense,not at all.
But ask somebody if they areborn again and they're not, they
were just baptized whether as ababy, which in certain areas of
the country is abundant when Igrew up it was very abundant,
many Catholics and manyLutherans and you ask them and
(28:50):
they are offended.
I know because I was one of them.
I remember that.
I remember being told that yourinfant baptism didn't do
anything.
That made me angry.
I wasn't just a little upset.
I'm thinking who do you thinkyou are?
You think you're all betterthan me.
And I mean I was mad, but thatwas before I was reading God's
(29:12):
word.
That was before.
I was abiding in him and heabiding in me.
So how do you abide in Jesusbeloved?
Yes, by reading his word and bypraying to him, and by meeting
with other believers, others whoare born again and worshiping
(29:35):
him.
That's how you abide with GodAlmighty.
It's pretty simple.
You know.
The hard part really is breakingthe shell of your old life,
breaking away from having to dothings like oh I just have these
programs I have to watch.
I used to have anywhere fromabout three to three and a half
(29:57):
four hours on most nights.
I had programming I lovedwatching, and now I don't.
Not because I discipline myselfand I really want to watch this
stuff, but I don't.
I just find that there's somuch more to life now.
I'm not slave to oh, I got tokeep up with what's going on.
I just I need this time.
(30:18):
No, because God has given me waymore than what the world offers
, and a reminder that it is notlegalism.
God doesn't tell us you betterread my word daily, but I'm
reminding you as a child of God,as someone who loves Jesus
Christ and I care for you I amreminding you that you need to
(30:43):
do it daily.
It's one thing to miss a day.
Here and there, life happens.
But when you get it in yourlife where you need that every
day, just like you need to talkto those that you love every day
, well, that's abiding in himand pray to him.
Talk to those that you loveevery day Well, that's abiding
in him and pray to him.
Talk to him every day.
(31:04):
I encourage worshiping andgetting together with brothers
and sisters weekly, and that'sbecause, well, anything we do
weekly truly is a part of ourlife.
Things that we do a coupletimes a month or once a month,
or whatever it might be, can bea lot more difficult to stick
(31:25):
with it, and that's the reasonfor that.
If you have any questions, youare so welcome to get a hold of
me.
You can go to my website,brmaul that's b-r-m-a-u-l dot
com, and just go to contact.
If it's a question or comment,get a hold of me.
I'd love to hear from you.
I'm here for you.
If you have any questions or ifyou want to share what the Lord
(31:48):
is doing in your life, I'd behappy to share with it on
podcasts as well, to encourageothers.
But I hope and pray that youare walking with the Lord.
But I hope and pray that youare walking with the Lord and
until next time, no-transcript.
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