July 24, 2024 • 34 mins
How can living in an ungodly world strengthen your faith rather than diminish it? Join us on this enriching episode of "Living God's Way in an Ungodly World" as we deeply explore the powerful themes of God's love, hope, and our true identity as His children. We begin with a heartfelt discussion on 1 John 3:1-3, unpacking the profound nature of agape love—God's selfless, divine love that sets us apart from the world. Through prayer and reflection, we examine the spiritual transformation that comes with being born again and the unique hope we have as God's children, calling us to live pure lives in anticipation of Christ's return.
Next, we turn to Romans 8:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:49, where we discuss the hope believers have for their future glorified bodies and the redemption from our current sinful state. We delve into the challenges of living a Christ-centered life in a fallen world and the joy found in embracing our dual nature—both carnal and spiritual. Finally, we demystify the process of becoming a child of God, emphasizing the importance of sincere faith and the transformative power of confessing and believing in Jesus Christ. This episode is packed with heartfelt discussions and practical insights that encourage believers to embrace their identity in Christ and live righteously, anchored in the hope and love of our Savior.
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Episode Transcript
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B.R.Maul (00:29):
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and you arelistening to Living God's Way in
an Ungodly World.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
We are still in the book of 1John and we are starting chapter
3.
So today we'll be going oververses 1, 2, and 3.
(00:50):
As usual, I'll read it and thenwe'll back up and we'll unpack
it, but I do hope all is goingwell for you in your walk with
the Lord.
We live in a day and age wherethe world continues to change
rapidly it's non-stop and it canbe tough, very challenging, as
(01:15):
a Christian, to walk with theLord, to do things the way we
are supposed to, because,remember, he is the God, the
exact same God that parted theRed Sea.
He is the same God that spokeeverything into existence.
He is the same God that sentthe flood that killed and wiped
(01:38):
out everything except for eightpeople and the animals that were
put on the ark.
We have an amazing God, anamazing creator.
He is righteousness and he islove, and he is definitely worth
our every fiber of beingbecause he loves us, even though
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we have messed things up.
We, as his creation, broughtsin into the world.
That was still part of hismaster plan, but he loves us.
How he has the patience, Itruly don't know, but he does,
and I am certainly glad of itbecause I know he's needed a lot
(02:24):
of patience with me.
So let's go ahead.
We'll begin Chapter 3, verse 1.
Behold what manner of love theFather has bestowed on us that
we should be called children ofGod.
Therefore, the world does notknow us because it did not know
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him Beloved.
Now we are children of God, andit has not yet been revealed
what we shall be.
But we know that when he isrevealed, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is,and everyone who has this hope
(03:05):
in him purifies himself, just ashe is pure.
Lord, I pray for guidance as Iteach.
Let only your words, not my own, depart from my lips, and,
father, open the hearts of thosewho are listening and help them
to hear you speak to them aboutyour Son, and in his name I
(03:31):
pray Amen.
All right, so let's back upChapter 3, verse 1.
Behold what manner of love theFather has bestowed on us that
we should be called children ofGod.
All right, so what kind of loveis this?
As we are in the world we seethe Hollywood version of love,
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and that is defined by artists,those who have been in love,
those who wish they were in love, those who have been hurt by
love, but as people.
So the love that we see on TV,the love that we see in movies,
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that's not this kind of love.
No, and I am so grateful thatit isn't this kind of love
that's being referred to here inGod's Word, because that's an
emotional love.
That's the kind of love wherewe see somebody, and how he or
she makes us feel determinesvery much so how much we love
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them, how much we give ourselvesto them.
It's the kind of love that ismeasured upon what a person can
do.
For me it's a self-centeredlove, but we're talking about
agape love and beloved.
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This is the kind of love thatonly comes from God, and to
understand agape love one needsto be born again.
There is no other way aroundthat, because it takes the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of the TriuneGod, to counsel, to teach what
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agape love is all about and togive us that grace needed to
empower us to be able tounderstand it and to be able to
receive it and to give it agapelove.
So when John says behold whatmanner of love the Father has
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bestowed on us, that we shouldbe called children of God, he is
calling us his children, whichis remarkable because of what we
, mankind, have done to him andevery single one of us.
We are born spiritually dead,so we don't understand him and
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we are born an enemy of him.
How can I say that?
Well, I can say that becauseJesus said you are either with
me or against me.
There is no middle ground.
There is nobody who can saywell, you know, I love Jesus,
but I'm not going to reallyfollow him, but at the same time
(06:34):
I don't hate him, so I'm notgoing to fight against him.
Nope, there's no middle ground.
So, since there's no middleground, we are either following
him we have given our life tohim or we're not.
And for those who are born again, who their spirit has been
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awakened by the Holy Spirit, hasbeen given life, well, he calls
those individuals his children.
So you are a son or a daughterof God Almighty.
That's the agape love.
Therefore, the world does notknow us, john says, because it
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did not know him.
That can be a tough one,beloved.
I understand that.
I fully believe that everyChristian has those in their
life that are not born again anddo not understand what it is
that we live for or, moreappropriately said, who it is
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that we live for.
Because the world doesn't getit that we live for, because the
world doesn't get it, includingthose who fill the pews in
churches around the world thatare in the realm of Christianity
.
These religions that themembers, the people who go to
the churches, look a lot like achild of God, but many of them
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do not understand becausethey're not born again, so they
do not have the Holy Spiritdwelling in them.
So John says, therefore, theworld does not know us.
It's much easier to deal withthe world at a distance, when
it's people we don't know, it'speople that we can walk away
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from because they're not in anyway, shape or form a part of our
lifestyle, they're not in thesame house, they're not in our
same family, they're not in thesame neighborhood.
When we can look at a peopleand think they don't get it
they're very aggressive, forexample, or they're very violent
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Well, it's easier then at thatpoint to accept the fact that
they don't know us because theydid not know him, and that's
Jesus.
What's harder is when it'sthose who are in the same house
as we are in the sameneighborhood, those that we work
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alongside, those that we evengo to a church and worship
alongside, and these can beaunts and uncles, husbands and
wives, our children, our parents, our grandparents.
Many close friends I mean afriendship after all is often
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formed because we share likethings with that person.
Maybe we became friends inschool.
We like the same topics, welike to learn similar things, or
we become friends with somebodythat we work with.
Well, right away we havesomething in common because we
are at the same job, maybe evendoing the same tasks together.
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So friends often have things incommon In that friendship.
When it's revealed that one ofthem is not a born-again
believer in Jesus Christ and oneis Now, there's suddenly that
separation.
There is a part of thatborn-again person that the
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unbeliever doesn't know, doesn'tunderstand it.
And John tells us that.
Now, that kind of love whenJohn says behold, what manner of
love.
If we want to look at that love, one passage that we can look
at is John 3.16.
God so loved the world that hegave his only begotten son that
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whoever believes in him shallnot perish but have everlasting
life.
That is the kind of love thatyou can look at.
There is sacrifice in that love.
Agape love is the kind of lovethat gives with no expectations
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in return.
And isn't that very difficult,very hard to do when we are
dealing with flesh, when we aredealing with still being in a
sinful world, a sinfulenvironment all around us,
dealing with our flesh, thesinful part of us, because we
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have not been glorified.
So, since we are not glorified,we are still battling with this
broken down body, this brokendown flesh, and wanting to
appease it.
But God so loved the world,that's everybody beloved.
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Don't let anyone tell youotherwise.
Okay, there is no such thing asthe elect in the form of
selection, and what I mean bythat is any mention of elect
refers to those who arefollowing God.
They weren't selected, and Iknow that word sounds really
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similar elect and being selected.
But the elect is thoseindividuals who, with the grace
of God, with faith, believes inand accepted Jesus Christ as
their Savior and Lord.
It is not people who have beenselected in that way.
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Only those people can go toheaven.
For God so loved the world, theagape love is he gave his only
begotten son.
He chose to give his onlybegotten son, jesus Christ.
And Jesus willfully went to thecross to die for our sins, our
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iniquity.
That's love.
And the powerful part aboutthis, if you think about that,
is he did this knowing that manyare still going to reject him.
Verse 2, beloved, now we arechildren of God.
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Now we are children of God.
So, even though we do live inthis sinful state, in these
sinful bodies, we are nowchildren of God.
Take great comfort in this,beloved, that there's no hoops
that you need to jump through,there's no tests that you need
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to take from time to time tomake sure that you qualify to be
a child of God, that there's nosin that you can commit, that
you can do.
That is going to tear you apartfrom the grip of your Heavenly
Father Impossible, there is nosuch thing.
That is not biblical.
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We cannot lose our salvation.
You either have salvation, whichthere are many that look like
they have salvation.
They look like a child of God,but they don't have salvation.
They are not heaven bound.
Why?
Because they do not know Christin their heart.
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They know him in their head.
They love the idea of followingJesus.
They love going to a church,which, again, we don't go to
church, we are the church.
I encourage born-againbelievers to not use that term.
I'm going to church.
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No, you're going to worship.
You're going to a service toworship the Lord, but you're not
going to church because you arethe church.
But there are many who go to achurch building because they
love what it has to offer, butthey're still not a child of God
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.
But John saying Beloved, now weare children of God and it has
not yet been revealed what weNow.
That's going to be quite thereunion, when we can be in the
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presence, the physical presence,of Jesus Christ and for all
eternity live in God's presence.
But right now we are not inthose bodies, we are not living
in our glorified state.
So we're in this transitionperiod and so, no, it hasn't
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been revealed to us what we'regoing to be like.
We can look back at when Jesuswalked the earth, what we have
in the scriptures, descriptionsof him when he was raised from
the dead and he was in hisglorified state.
So, yes, we have some idea, butit hasn't been revealed to us
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yet.
So, yes, we have some idea, butit hasn't been revealed to us
yet, and as being like him.
That would be without sin.
We're not going to be identicalto him.
We're not going to lookidentical, we're not going to
act identical.
We certainly are not going tobe identical with the same
powers, because we're not goingto be God.
Just like we were made in hisimage, we will be glorified in
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his image, so in that respectwe'll be like him.
We will be without sin.
Sin will no longer be in thenew heaven and the new earth,
and our glorified bodies willhave no sin.
The creation will have no sinamongst it, and so we'll be able
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to worship him in our glorifiedstate.
I'm looking so forward to that,without my pride or
insecurities getting in my way.
I'll just be able to worshiphim with all my heart and soul
in mind.
That's going to be wonderful.
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Now, romans 8, verse 23,.
That reads Not only that, butwe also, who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, theHoly Spirit, even we ourselves,
groan within ourselves, eagerlywaiting for the adoption, the
redemption of our body.
So the Apostle Paul isreferencing just what I was
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talking about that we ourselvesgroan in ourselves, our spirits
that are alive.
We are anticipating ourglorified bodies.
We are anticipating anenvironment with no sin.
But we're not there yet, andthat's why we have aches and
pains, that's why we live theway we do in this broken world,
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because this is all part ofGod's master plan.
It's the way it is.
This is all part of God'smaster plan.
It's the way it is.
So, whether you like it or not,that's just the way things are.
Now there's parts of thisprocess I don't like going
through.
But as long as we lean againstGod, we lean against his word,
we have his promises and he getsus through it.
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He says eagerly, waiting forthe adoption, the redemption of
our body.
So the adoption then he'sreferring to is the fact that
when we are born again, we areadopted into God's family and we
are waiting for that adoptionto be completed and the
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redemption of our body.
We can also reference 1Corinthians 15, verse 49.
And as we have borne the imageof the man of dust, we shall
also bear the image of theheavenly man.
So borne the image to have itupon us.
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That's B-O-R-N-E, so past tense.
As we have borne the image ofthe man of dust.
Who's the man of dust?
Adam.
Because Adam sinned.
We are all born into sin and wehave or hold his image, the man
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of dust, so the carnal man.
But the good news is we shallalso bear so that's yet to come
the image of the heavenly man,man being capital M because
that's referring to Jesus.
So we currently have borne theimage and also bear the image,
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and there's like this transitionperiod I don't even really know
how to describe it, but kind oflike a hybrid.
Right, we got the carnal partof ourselves which we have not
gotten rid of, even though ourspirits those of us who are born
again are alive and well and weare thirsting to know more of
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our Heavenly Father.
We are awaiting, we aregroaning and waiting to be home,
to our heavenly home, becausewe are sojourners here.
We are in this world but we areno longer of this world, so we
don't call it home.
I'm sure there are many of youwho can relate with not fitting
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into the world around you.
The more that we walk with ourHeavenly Father, the more we are
spending that time in His Wordand praying to Him and being
around other brothers andsisters in the faith and
drinking in all of that.
The more we do that, the morewe grow spiritually and less of
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the world sticks to us.
The opposite of that is, themore that we hang around with
the worldly and we try to livelike them.
We try to fit in with them,whether it's our family, friends
that we grew up with, whateverit might be.
But trying to fit into thisworld just doesn't work.
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I find it very difficult toenjoy things that I once used to
enjoy and a lot of my friendsfrom the past they don't
understand that and reallythey're not my friends anymore.
They really want nothing to dowith me because I'm not fun to
them.
And being a Christian iswonderful, it's awesome and it's
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very fun.
It's got this wholesome fun toit, being a Christian Walking
with the Lord.
There's no pain.
That goes with the enjoymentand the fun, because there's no
lying, there's no cheating.
It's just growing with him andthere's so much to learn.
I'm sure, beloved many of youcan relate to that.
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There's so much in his word.
There's so much growing to doand things to understand.
And as we continue to gothrough life, we go through
small trials and big trials andwe experience life here in this
fallen world and every time weget through something because we
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have put our trust in ourHeavenly Father and we don't
lean on our understanding, butwe lean on Him as we change and
grow.
There's this remarkabletransformation that takes place
and that transformation, I argue, is far more adventurous, far
more fun than anything I used todo worldly.
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And then verse 3, and everyonewho has this hope in him
purifies himself, just as he ispure.
So of course that everyone whohas this hope is referring to
the born-again believers, allthose who are born again, and
they have this hope in him.
That's in Jesus.
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And that's this remarkablebiblical hope.
That isn't a boy do I hope Ihave some pizza for dinner.
I hope the weather is going tobe nice tomorrow because I have
things I'd like to do Now.
That's a hope that could be letdown.
We could be let down by thathope, but the hope that we have
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in Christ, that's a differentkind of hope.
In this kind of hope, it is acertain hope.
It will happen and we look tothat hope because that's what
gets us through difficult times,that's what gets us through
pain and suffering and misery isthe hope that we have in Jesus
Christ.
We know the time is coming.
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That's the hope.
So everyone who has this hope inJesus purifies himself, just as
he, jesus, is pure.
Okay, what does that mean?
It means we want to be like ourSavior.
We want to be like Jesus Savior.
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We want to be like Jesus andJesus is pure.
We don't want to live in thisstate that has pain in it and
suffering, and so when we doeverything possible to walk with
the Lord, we pray to ourHeavenly Father and we lean on
His understanding and we look tothat hope that we have in Jesus
Christ, when we decide to dowhat is righteous because it
(25:06):
honors our Father in heaven,when we live a life that we're
not cheating and lying, we'renot coveting, when we live a
life where we are content withwhat we have and not sit and
wish we had more.
All of this is a process ofpurifying.
So we are purifying ourself.
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It doesn't mean we have thepower.
This isn't the same thing assanctification.
We are justified.
As soon as one is born again,their sins are justified.
As soon as one is born again,their sins are justified, they
are paid for.
It's a one and done, and thenthe process of sanctification
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begins.
Sanctifying, that's the processof God, the Father, making you
his adopted son or daughter tobe in the image of his beloved
son, jesus.
So he sanctifies us as we readhis word, as we come together
with brothers and sisters infaith, as we walk the path of
righteousness and stay away fromevil.
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He sanctifies us, but many ofthose decisions that we make, we
make with the help of the HolySpirit and in that process of
sanctification that is purifyingourself.
Does that make sense?
The sanctification is what Goddoes to us, but what John is
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saying here that everyone whohas this hope in Jesus in him
purifies himself.
Those are the decisions that wemake.
That's the process each andevery time.
You decide you know what?
I'm not going to watch thatmovie with all the sex and all
the gore in it.
Well, you just decided topurify yourself.
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Because you make that decisionto do what's right.
Now we're told in the book ofPsalms I believe it's 103, it
might be 103.12, but I shallplace no wicked thing before my
eyes.
I hate the work of those thatturn aside.
It shall not cling to me.
So we don't sit and gawk at allthis artwork, all this work,
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all this behavior that the worldcontinues to do.
We don't put it before our eyes, we don't sit and watch it.
Instead, we purify ourself andwe put in front of our eyes
images that glorify our HeavenlyFather.
We read stories that are goodfor us, we talk in such a way
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that is healthy, we don'tslander, we don't swear and cuss
, and I'm one of those that youcan't tell me that it can't be
done.
Oh, everybody swears and cusses.
Yes, but we have the ability,with the Holy Spirit dwelling in
us, beloved, to change suchways.
I used to swear a lot when I wasyounger.
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In fact, I thought it was astaple of becoming a man that
the more creative I could getwith my cussing and swearing,
the better of a man that I was.
But that is something that,when I turned away from my sin,
I turned to my Lord and laiddown my life at his feet and
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said it's yours.
That was one of the firstthings that he took from me.
Is that desire and in a shorttime period, replaced it with
disgust when I hear myself orothers cuss and swear.
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So, yes, everyone who has thishope in him, jesus purifies
himself.
It's a process, it's an effort,and you must take that effort
upon yourself, and it'ssomething you decide to do each
and every day, because John says, just as he, jesus is pure, is
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pure.
My mother tells a story of herbeing out with some family and
singing karaoke, or karaoke,however you want to pronounce it
.
So a lot of people were thereand having fun and somebody
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close to my mother went up onthe stage and sang some songs or
a song.
Some songs or a song that wasvulgar and very inappropriate
for someone who calls himself aChristian.
Looking back I can see that's atime in my mom's life that she
started realizing doing thiskind of stuff just isn't healthy
.
And then she shares thequestion that she asked because
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people were ridiculing, mockingmy mother for saying that was
very inappropriate.
But she asked those at thetable pointing at an empty chair
would you have sang that songif your priest or pastor was
there?
And then she asked what aboutif Jesus was sitting there?
Now the priest or pastor, thatdoesn't really seem to have as
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much weight as it used tobecause unfortunately many have
gone woke.
But I think of that image ofJesus sitting in a chair in a
room and if I'm talking acertain way, behaving in a
certain way or watchingsomething, would I do it if he
was sitting right next to me,because he is pure and that's a
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good way to kind of measurebeloved.
If your answer is no, Iwouldn't do that, I wouldn't act
that way or I wouldn't watchthat then don't do it.
Stop it, purify yourself.
Well, that's enough for today.
You are welcome to go to mywebsite, that's brmaulcom.
You can click on contact andget a hold of me.
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I'd love to hear from you Ifyou have any questions or
comments.
Whatever Christ is doing in yourlife, if there's anything of
God's word that, to you, justdoesn't make sense, whatever it
might be, I am here for you andI love you so much.
To all my brothers and sisterskeep up the good fight.
Keep reading our Father's wordeach and every day, pray to him,
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talk to him daily, get togetherwith other brothers and sisters
beloved every week and worshiphim.
Remember you are the church.
You don't need to go to churchbecause you are the church.
Go to a building and if thatbuilding's got a title on it
such and such church, well so beit.
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But you are the church.
If you don't know Jesus Christas your Savior, well, my prayer
is that you would take this verymoment now ask yourself why?
Why are you not following theone person, the man, god, that
loves you so much that he hungon the cross and, over 2,000
years ago, bled and his perfectblood paid for your sins?
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If you accept that gift becauseit is a gift and you must
accept it and there is nospecial formula there is nothing
that you have to do to continuebeing a child of God.
You don't have to go to churchto take communion.
You don't have to confess tosomebody else in cloth.
You don't have to do anythingto remain a child of God.
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But to become a child of God,romans 10 tells us that with the
mouth, one confesses the LordJesus and with the heart,
believe that the Father hasraised him from the dead.
So what does that mean?
Any kind of prayer that meansyou talk to the Lord.
It could be anything such asFather God.
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I have no idea what to expectto be your child, but I know
that I am filled with sin.
I need a Savior and I know thatJesus lived that perfect life
and I believe that he did thatfor me.
Forgive me of my sins, acceptme as your child.
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Something as simple as that.
There's no magic prayer.
You just have to mean it inyour heart and if you have, also
get a hold of me, let me knowthat you've prayed that that
you're born again, and I wouldlove to answer any questions you
have.
I'll get you whatever materialthat I can direct you towards to
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help you with your walk.
And until next time, god bless,thank you.
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and you arelistening to Living God's Way in
an Ungodly World.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
We are still in the book of 1John and we are starting chapter
3.
So today we'll be going oververses 1, 2, and 3.
(00:50):
As usual, I'll read it and thenwe'll back up and we'll unpack
it, but I do hope all is goingwell for you in your walk with
the Lord.
We live in a day and age wherethe world continues to change
rapidly it's non-stop and it canbe tough, very challenging, as
(01:15):
a Christian, to walk with theLord, to do things the way we
are supposed to, because,remember, he is the God, the
exact same God that parted theRed Sea.
He is the same God that spokeeverything into existence.
He is the same God that sentthe flood that killed and wiped
(01:38):
out everything except for eightpeople and the animals that were
put on the ark.
We have an amazing God, anamazing creator.
He is righteousness and he islove, and he is definitely worth
our every fiber of beingbecause he loves us, even though
(02:01):
we have messed things up.
We, as his creation, broughtsin into the world.
That was still part of hismaster plan, but he loves us.
How he has the patience, Itruly don't know, but he does,
and I am certainly glad of itbecause I know he's needed a lot
(02:24):
of patience with me.
So let's go ahead.
We'll begin Chapter 3, verse 1.
Behold what manner of love theFather has bestowed on us that
we should be called children ofGod.
Therefore, the world does notknow us because it did not know
(02:44):
him Beloved.
Now we are children of God, andit has not yet been revealed
what we shall be.
But we know that when he isrevealed, we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is,and everyone who has this hope
(03:05):
in him purifies himself, just ashe is pure.
Lord, I pray for guidance as Iteach.
Let only your words, not my own, depart from my lips, and,
father, open the hearts of thosewho are listening and help them
to hear you speak to them aboutyour Son, and in his name I
(03:31):
pray Amen.
All right, so let's back upChapter 3, verse 1.
Behold what manner of love theFather has bestowed on us that
we should be called children ofGod.
All right, so what kind of loveis this?
As we are in the world we seethe Hollywood version of love,
(03:58):
and that is defined by artists,those who have been in love,
those who wish they were in love, those who have been hurt by
love, but as people.
So the love that we see on TV,the love that we see in movies,
(04:20):
that's not this kind of love.
No, and I am so grateful thatit isn't this kind of love
that's being referred to here inGod's Word, because that's an
emotional love.
That's the kind of love wherewe see somebody, and how he or
she makes us feel determinesvery much so how much we love
(04:44):
them, how much we give ourselvesto them.
It's the kind of love that ismeasured upon what a person can
do.
For me it's a self-centeredlove, but we're talking about
agape love and beloved.
(05:05):
This is the kind of love thatonly comes from God, and to
understand agape love one needsto be born again.
There is no other way aroundthat, because it takes the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of the TriuneGod, to counsel, to teach what
(05:25):
agape love is all about and togive us that grace needed to
empower us to be able tounderstand it and to be able to
receive it and to give it agapelove.
So when John says behold whatmanner of love the Father has
(05:45):
bestowed on us, that we shouldbe called children of God, he is
calling us his children, whichis remarkable because of what we
, mankind, have done to him andevery single one of us.
We are born spiritually dead,so we don't understand him and
(06:12):
we are born an enemy of him.
How can I say that?
Well, I can say that becauseJesus said you are either with
me or against me.
There is no middle ground.
There is nobody who can saywell, you know, I love Jesus,
but I'm not going to reallyfollow him, but at the same time
(06:34):
I don't hate him, so I'm notgoing to fight against him.
Nope, there's no middle ground.
So, since there's no middleground, we are either following
him we have given our life tohim or we're not.
And for those who are born again, who their spirit has been
(06:58):
awakened by the Holy Spirit, hasbeen given life, well, he calls
those individuals his children.
So you are a son or a daughterof God Almighty.
That's the agape love.
Therefore, the world does notknow us, john says, because it
(07:20):
did not know him.
That can be a tough one,beloved.
I understand that.
I fully believe that everyChristian has those in their
life that are not born again anddo not understand what it is
that we live for or, moreappropriately said, who it is
(07:43):
that we live for.
Because the world doesn't getit that we live for, because the
world doesn't get it, includingthose who fill the pews in
churches around the world thatare in the realm of Christianity
.
These religions that themembers, the people who go to
the churches, look a lot like achild of God, but many of them
(08:06):
do not understand becausethey're not born again, so they
do not have the Holy Spiritdwelling in them.
So John says, therefore, theworld does not know us.
It's much easier to deal withthe world at a distance, when
it's people we don't know, it'speople that we can walk away
(08:27):
from because they're not in anyway, shape or form a part of our
lifestyle, they're not in thesame house, they're not in our
same family, they're not in thesame neighborhood.
When we can look at a peopleand think they don't get it
they're very aggressive, forexample, or they're very violent
(08:48):
Well, it's easier then at thatpoint to accept the fact that
they don't know us because theydid not know him, and that's
Jesus.
What's harder is when it'sthose who are in the same house
as we are in the sameneighborhood, those that we work
(09:10):
alongside, those that we evengo to a church and worship
alongside, and these can beaunts and uncles, husbands and
wives, our children, our parents, our grandparents.
Many close friends I mean afriendship after all is often
(09:32):
formed because we share likethings with that person.
Maybe we became friends inschool.
We like the same topics, welike to learn similar things, or
we become friends with somebodythat we work with.
Well, right away we havesomething in common because we
are at the same job, maybe evendoing the same tasks together.
(09:56):
So friends often have things incommon In that friendship.
When it's revealed that one ofthem is not a born-again
believer in Jesus Christ and oneis Now, there's suddenly that
separation.
There is a part of thatborn-again person that the
(10:18):
unbeliever doesn't know, doesn'tunderstand it.
And John tells us that.
Now, that kind of love whenJohn says behold, what manner of
love.
If we want to look at that love, one passage that we can look
at is John 3.16.
God so loved the world that hegave his only begotten son that
(10:42):
whoever believes in him shallnot perish but have everlasting
life.
That is the kind of love thatyou can look at.
There is sacrifice in that love.
Agape love is the kind of lovethat gives with no expectations
(11:03):
in return.
And isn't that very difficult,very hard to do when we are
dealing with flesh, when we aredealing with still being in a
sinful world, a sinfulenvironment all around us,
dealing with our flesh, thesinful part of us, because we
(11:24):
have not been glorified.
So, since we are not glorified,we are still battling with this
broken down body, this brokendown flesh, and wanting to
appease it.
But God so loved the world,that's everybody beloved.
(11:45):
Don't let anyone tell youotherwise.
Okay, there is no such thing asthe elect in the form of
selection, and what I mean bythat is any mention of elect
refers to those who arefollowing God.
They weren't selected, and Iknow that word sounds really
(12:08):
similar elect and being selected.
But the elect is thoseindividuals who, with the grace
of God, with faith, believes inand accepted Jesus Christ as
their Savior and Lord.
It is not people who have beenselected in that way.
(12:31):
Only those people can go toheaven.
For God so loved the world, theagape love is he gave his only
begotten son.
He chose to give his onlybegotten son, jesus Christ.
And Jesus willfully went to thecross to die for our sins, our
(12:58):
iniquity.
That's love.
And the powerful part aboutthis, if you think about that,
is he did this knowing that manyare still going to reject him.
Verse 2, beloved, now we arechildren of God.
(13:19):
Now we are children of God.
So, even though we do live inthis sinful state, in these
sinful bodies, we are nowchildren of God.
Take great comfort in this,beloved, that there's no hoops
that you need to jump through,there's no tests that you need
(13:42):
to take from time to time tomake sure that you qualify to be
a child of God, that there's nosin that you can commit, that
you can do.
That is going to tear you apartfrom the grip of your Heavenly
Father Impossible, there is nosuch thing.
That is not biblical.
(14:03):
We cannot lose our salvation.
You either have salvation, whichthere are many that look like
they have salvation.
They look like a child of God,but they don't have salvation.
They are not heaven bound.
Why?
Because they do not know Christin their heart.
(14:24):
They know him in their head.
They love the idea of followingJesus.
They love going to a church,which, again, we don't go to
church, we are the church.
I encourage born-againbelievers to not use that term.
I'm going to church.
(14:45):
No, you're going to worship.
You're going to a service toworship the Lord, but you're not
going to church because you arethe church.
But there are many who go to achurch building because they
love what it has to offer, butthey're still not a child of God
(15:10):
.
But John saying Beloved, now weare children of God and it has
not yet been revealed what weNow.
That's going to be quite thereunion, when we can be in the
(15:42):
presence, the physical presence,of Jesus Christ and for all
eternity live in God's presence.
But right now we are not inthose bodies, we are not living
in our glorified state.
So we're in this transitionperiod and so, no, it hasn't
(16:03):
been revealed to us what we'regoing to be like.
We can look back at when Jesuswalked the earth, what we have
in the scriptures, descriptionsof him when he was raised from
the dead and he was in hisglorified state.
So, yes, we have some idea, butit hasn't been revealed to us
(16:26):
yet.
So, yes, we have some idea, butit hasn't been revealed to us
yet, and as being like him.
That would be without sin.
We're not going to be identicalto him.
We're not going to lookidentical, we're not going to
act identical.
We certainly are not going tobe identical with the same
powers, because we're not goingto be God.
Just like we were made in hisimage, we will be glorified in
(16:51):
his image, so in that respectwe'll be like him.
We will be without sin.
Sin will no longer be in thenew heaven and the new earth,
and our glorified bodies willhave no sin.
The creation will have no sinamongst it, and so we'll be able
(17:12):
to worship him in our glorifiedstate.
I'm looking so forward to that,without my pride or
insecurities getting in my way.
I'll just be able to worshiphim with all my heart and soul
in mind.
That's going to be wonderful.
(17:32):
Now, romans 8, verse 23,.
That reads Not only that, butwe also, who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, theHoly Spirit, even we ourselves,
groan within ourselves, eagerlywaiting for the adoption, the
redemption of our body.
So the Apostle Paul isreferencing just what I was
(17:56):
talking about that we ourselvesgroan in ourselves, our spirits
that are alive.
We are anticipating ourglorified bodies.
We are anticipating anenvironment with no sin.
But we're not there yet, andthat's why we have aches and
pains, that's why we live theway we do in this broken world,
(18:22):
because this is all part ofGod's master plan.
It's the way it is.
This is all part of God'smaster plan.
It's the way it is.
So, whether you like it or not,that's just the way things are.
Now there's parts of thisprocess I don't like going
through.
But as long as we lean againstGod, we lean against his word,
we have his promises and he getsus through it.
(18:43):
He says eagerly, waiting forthe adoption, the redemption of
our body.
So the adoption then he'sreferring to is the fact that
when we are born again, we areadopted into God's family and we
are waiting for that adoptionto be completed and the
(19:06):
redemption of our body.
We can also reference 1Corinthians 15, verse 49.
And as we have borne the imageof the man of dust, we shall
also bear the image of theheavenly man.
So borne the image to have itupon us.
(19:28):
That's B-O-R-N-E, so past tense.
As we have borne the image ofthe man of dust.
Who's the man of dust?
Adam.
Because Adam sinned.
We are all born into sin and wehave or hold his image, the man
(19:50):
of dust, so the carnal man.
But the good news is we shallalso bear so that's yet to come
the image of the heavenly man,man being capital M because
that's referring to Jesus.
So we currently have borne theimage and also bear the image,
(20:16):
and there's like this transitionperiod I don't even really know
how to describe it, but kind oflike a hybrid.
Right, we got the carnal partof ourselves which we have not
gotten rid of, even though ourspirits those of us who are born
again are alive and well and weare thirsting to know more of
(20:38):
our Heavenly Father.
We are awaiting, we aregroaning and waiting to be home,
to our heavenly home, becausewe are sojourners here.
We are in this world but we areno longer of this world, so we
don't call it home.
I'm sure there are many of youwho can relate with not fitting
(21:01):
into the world around you.
The more that we walk with ourHeavenly Father, the more we are
spending that time in His Wordand praying to Him and being
around other brothers andsisters in the faith and
drinking in all of that.
The more we do that, the morewe grow spiritually and less of
(21:23):
the world sticks to us.
The opposite of that is, themore that we hang around with
the worldly and we try to livelike them.
We try to fit in with them,whether it's our family, friends
that we grew up with, whateverit might be.
But trying to fit into thisworld just doesn't work.
(21:45):
I find it very difficult toenjoy things that I once used to
enjoy and a lot of my friendsfrom the past they don't
understand that and reallythey're not my friends anymore.
They really want nothing to dowith me because I'm not fun to
them.
And being a Christian iswonderful, it's awesome and it's
(22:05):
very fun.
It's got this wholesome fun toit, being a Christian Walking
with the Lord.
There's no pain.
That goes with the enjoymentand the fun, because there's no
lying, there's no cheating.
It's just growing with him andthere's so much to learn.
I'm sure, beloved many of youcan relate to that.
(22:26):
There's so much in his word.
There's so much growing to doand things to understand.
And as we continue to gothrough life, we go through
small trials and big trials andwe experience life here in this
fallen world and every time weget through something because we
(22:47):
have put our trust in ourHeavenly Father and we don't
lean on our understanding, butwe lean on Him as we change and
grow.
There's this remarkabletransformation that takes place
and that transformation, I argue, is far more adventurous, far
more fun than anything I used todo worldly.
(23:12):
And then verse 3, and everyonewho has this hope in him
purifies himself, just as he ispure.
So of course that everyone whohas this hope is referring to
the born-again believers, allthose who are born again, and
they have this hope in him.
That's in Jesus.
(23:32):
And that's this remarkablebiblical hope.
That isn't a boy do I hope Ihave some pizza for dinner.
I hope the weather is going tobe nice tomorrow because I have
things I'd like to do Now.
That's a hope that could be letdown.
We could be let down by thathope, but the hope that we have
(23:55):
in Christ, that's a differentkind of hope.
In this kind of hope, it is acertain hope.
It will happen and we look tothat hope because that's what
gets us through difficult times,that's what gets us through
pain and suffering and misery isthe hope that we have in Jesus
Christ.
We know the time is coming.
(24:17):
That's the hope.
So everyone who has this hope inJesus purifies himself, just as
he, jesus, is pure.
Okay, what does that mean?
It means we want to be like ourSavior.
We want to be like Jesus Savior.
(24:45):
We want to be like Jesus andJesus is pure.
We don't want to live in thisstate that has pain in it and
suffering, and so when we doeverything possible to walk with
the Lord, we pray to ourHeavenly Father and we lean on
His understanding and we look tothat hope that we have in Jesus
Christ, when we decide to dowhat is righteous because it
(25:06):
honors our Father in heaven,when we live a life that we're
not cheating and lying, we'renot coveting, when we live a
life where we are content withwhat we have and not sit and
wish we had more.
All of this is a process ofpurifying.
So we are purifying ourself.
(25:29):
It doesn't mean we have thepower.
This isn't the same thing assanctification.
We are justified.
As soon as one is born again,their sins are justified.
As soon as one is born again,their sins are justified, they
are paid for.
It's a one and done, and thenthe process of sanctification
(25:51):
begins.
Sanctifying, that's the processof God, the Father, making you
his adopted son or daughter tobe in the image of his beloved
son, jesus.
So he sanctifies us as we readhis word, as we come together
with brothers and sisters infaith, as we walk the path of
righteousness and stay away fromevil.
(26:12):
He sanctifies us, but many ofthose decisions that we make, we
make with the help of the HolySpirit and in that process of
sanctification that is purifyingourself.
Does that make sense?
The sanctification is what Goddoes to us, but what John is
(26:36):
saying here that everyone whohas this hope in Jesus in him
purifies himself.
Those are the decisions that wemake.
That's the process each andevery time.
You decide you know what?
I'm not going to watch thatmovie with all the sex and all
the gore in it.
Well, you just decided topurify yourself.
(27:00):
Because you make that decisionto do what's right.
Now we're told in the book ofPsalms I believe it's 103, it
might be 103.12, but I shallplace no wicked thing before my
eyes.
I hate the work of those thatturn aside.
It shall not cling to me.
So we don't sit and gawk at allthis artwork, all this work,
(27:25):
all this behavior that the worldcontinues to do.
We don't put it before our eyes, we don't sit and watch it.
Instead, we purify ourself andwe put in front of our eyes
images that glorify our HeavenlyFather.
We read stories that are goodfor us, we talk in such a way
(27:47):
that is healthy, we don'tslander, we don't swear and cuss
, and I'm one of those that youcan't tell me that it can't be
done.
Oh, everybody swears and cusses.
Yes, but we have the ability,with the Holy Spirit dwelling in
us, beloved, to change suchways.
I used to swear a lot when I wasyounger.
(28:11):
In fact, I thought it was astaple of becoming a man that
the more creative I could getwith my cussing and swearing,
the better of a man that I was.
But that is something that,when I turned away from my sin,
I turned to my Lord and laiddown my life at his feet and
(28:33):
said it's yours.
That was one of the firstthings that he took from me.
Is that desire and in a shorttime period, replaced it with
disgust when I hear myself orothers cuss and swear.
(28:53):
So, yes, everyone who has thishope in him, jesus purifies
himself.
It's a process, it's an effort,and you must take that effort
upon yourself, and it'ssomething you decide to do each
and every day, because John says, just as he, jesus is pure, is
(29:16):
pure.
My mother tells a story of herbeing out with some family and
singing karaoke, or karaoke,however you want to pronounce it
.
So a lot of people were thereand having fun and somebody
(29:36):
close to my mother went up onthe stage and sang some songs or
a song.
Some songs or a song that wasvulgar and very inappropriate
for someone who calls himself aChristian.
Looking back I can see that's atime in my mom's life that she
started realizing doing thiskind of stuff just isn't healthy
.
And then she shares thequestion that she asked because
(29:57):
people were ridiculing, mockingmy mother for saying that was
very inappropriate.
But she asked those at thetable pointing at an empty chair
would you have sang that songif your priest or pastor was
there?
And then she asked what aboutif Jesus was sitting there?
Now the priest or pastor, thatdoesn't really seem to have as
(30:20):
much weight as it used tobecause unfortunately many have
gone woke.
But I think of that image ofJesus sitting in a chair in a
room and if I'm talking acertain way, behaving in a
certain way or watchingsomething, would I do it if he
was sitting right next to me,because he is pure and that's a
(30:43):
good way to kind of measurebeloved.
If your answer is no, Iwouldn't do that, I wouldn't act
that way or I wouldn't watchthat then don't do it.
Stop it, purify yourself.
Well, that's enough for today.
You are welcome to go to mywebsite, that's brmaulcom.
You can click on contact andget a hold of me.
(31:08):
I'd love to hear from you Ifyou have any questions or
comments.
Whatever Christ is doing in yourlife, if there's anything of
God's word that, to you, justdoesn't make sense, whatever it
might be, I am here for you andI love you so much.
To all my brothers and sisterskeep up the good fight.
Keep reading our Father's wordeach and every day, pray to him,
(31:32):
talk to him daily, get togetherwith other brothers and sisters
beloved every week and worshiphim.
Remember you are the church.
You don't need to go to churchbecause you are the church.
Go to a building and if thatbuilding's got a title on it
such and such church, well so beit.
(31:55):
But you are the church.
If you don't know Jesus Christas your Savior, well, my prayer
is that you would take this verymoment now ask yourself why?
Why are you not following theone person, the man, god, that
loves you so much that he hungon the cross and, over 2,000
years ago, bled and his perfectblood paid for your sins?
(32:20):
If you accept that gift becauseit is a gift and you must
accept it and there is nospecial formula there is nothing
that you have to do to continuebeing a child of God.
You don't have to go to churchto take communion.
You don't have to confess tosomebody else in cloth.
You don't have to do anythingto remain a child of God.
(32:43):
But to become a child of God,romans 10 tells us that with the
mouth, one confesses the LordJesus and with the heart,
believe that the Father hasraised him from the dead.
So what does that mean?
Any kind of prayer that meansyou talk to the Lord.
It could be anything such asFather God.
(33:05):
I have no idea what to expectto be your child, but I know
that I am filled with sin.
I need a Savior and I know thatJesus lived that perfect life
and I believe that he did thatfor me.
Forgive me of my sins, acceptme as your child.
(33:28):
Something as simple as that.
There's no magic prayer.
You just have to mean it inyour heart and if you have, also
get a hold of me, let me knowthat you've prayed that that
you're born again, and I wouldlove to answer any questions you
have.
I'll get you whatever materialthat I can direct you towards to
(33:49):
help you with your walk.
And until next time, god bless,thank you.
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