Shabbat Shalom! We will continue today in our Bible study to discuss and to share from the first epistle of John, of Yohanan. And this time, I would like to begin with 1st John chapter 3. This is a beautiful chapter where Yohanan, the apostle, Shaliyah in Hebrew, he's writing to the family of God, to the Mishpacha, in his presentation, desire to see the family of God growing and serving the Lord and practicing that which will be honoring unto God and Father of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Today, in this ministry meeting, I'd like to take the first 10 verses of 1st John chapter 3 And listen how Yohanan, that is John, began this chapter, and he said, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and he does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. For sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth has not sinned him, neither knoweth him.

Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. And I am stopping here with verse 10 of this chapter.

You see, in the epistle of John, in the letter that Yohanan wrote to the family of God, in Hebrew we call it the Mishpachat Elohim, the family of God. When he is writing to the family of God, he is very much concerned, as a father concerned for his own children. A father and mother are concerned for their children. And he wanted that the believers will realize that they belong to the Father, to the Abba in heaven, that sent the Son, the Messiah. And so there will be a good presentation of the Father here in this world. And that ultimately, when we are going to be in the presence of our Father in heaven, he will be able to say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." He might say, "Well done, good and faithful son or daughter." Because God desired to see the family of God and the children of God, the children of the Father, pleasing unto him.

I don't have to tell you this. Every one of us that is a son or a daughter to our parents, we knew very well that when we did well, when we obeyed our parents and pleased them, they were happy with us. We gave them joy. And when we disobeyed our parents, we know very well that we gave them a lot of sorrows. And at times, those of us know very well the history of our own life. How many times we dishonored our own parents in our past. And how many times we didn't give them pleasure. It's very natural, very common sense for parents to expect from their children to give them joy.

Because they brought them into this world so they can please them and they can be a blessing to their own parents. And of course, the parents give the time and the energy and all what they have given to their children. It is very common sense in a human realm. Let alone when it's come to the things of God. And especially, brothers and sisters, when we think of ourselves as sons and daughters of the Father. Think how much pleasure Yeshua gave to his own Father. It must have been amazing when Yeshua walked here in this world. How much pleasure he gave to his Father when the heavens was opened.

Three times we read in scripture that the heavens was opened. And the Father said, "This is my beloved Son." Matthew 3. Matthew 17. There is a voice that came from heaven. And the Father spoke and said, "This is my beloved Son." Because Yeshua, Jesus the Mashiach, the Messiah gave so much pleasure to his Father. Well, God wants to see this in our life as well. And so in 1 John chapter 1 and 2, the Apostle Yochanan reminded the family, the Mishpacha, that it is important for us to have fellowship with the Father in order to live for him. He was emphasizing fellowship. But now from here on in chapter 3, he is emphasizing our sonship.

Now when we say sonship, it does not only apply to male believers. It is male and female. He is emphasizing the fact that we are born of God. We have a new life, a new birth. And that is what he does here in 1 John chapter 3. And let's look at these first 10 verses of this chapter. You might give a title to these verses. 1 John chapter 3 verses 1 to 10. "Behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us." In these 10 verses, Yohanan gives us three reasons why every believer in Yeshua the Messiah ought to live a godly life that is righteous and pleasing to the Lord. The first reason is because of the love of the Father.

The second reason is because of the price that the Son has paid. And the third reason is because of the indwelling of Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, what we have in these 10 verses, beloved brothers and sisters, we have the triune God, the Abba, the Ben, and the Ruach HaKodesh, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God, all involved in the life of the believer. Every one of us is part of this great family and all the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God are involved in the life of the people of God. Let's begin.

First of all, the first reason why we two live a righteous life and a life that is pleasing to the Lord is because of the love that God the Father bestowed upon us. Now, if there is anything that is really fascinating, is that why would God love any one of us anyway? Look how he began. This 1 John 3 verse 1, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God." Now, John is amazed here when he is saying these words. He says, "You know, look at the manner of love, what an unmeasured love of the Father towards us, that he called us, we, as he mentioned here, the children of God." Now, he is saying really today, brothers and sisters in Yeshua, the Messiah, listen brethren, listen Achim and Achayot, brothers and sisters, can you imagine of the love of God towards you, towards me, that he is now can call Gideon, or he can call any one of you by name and he says, "You are my son, you are my daughter." "Us?" "Us?" "We who rebelled against God, we who ultimately in many ways have dishonored him, we who have sinned against him, he is now wooing us and he brought us to become sons and daughters of the Father." It is amazing.

Can you imagine when a person that had been such an enemy of God, now he is turning him about, and he is making him instead of an enemy, he is making him a child of the Father. This is fascinating. Look, turn back to Romans chapter 5 for a moment, with me, just to show you what Paul, Shaul said in a different way, in verse 6 of Romans chapter 5, he says, "For when we were without strength, in due time the Mashiach died for the ungodly." He didn't wait for us to become godly, and then he will die for us. While we were still in an ungodly position, condition, the Messiah died for us.

Look at verse 8 of Romans chapter 5, "But God commended his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, the Messiah died for us." God did not wait for us to improve our condition and to become some kind of good people in order that he will send his son. No, while we were yet sinners, he sent the Messiah to die for us. And look at verse 10 this time, "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son." Brothers and sisters, just pause to think with me about that. When you sometimes have problems in your life, and you are discouraged, and you feel dismayed, and you are amazed at what's going on in your life, and you are disappointed in many things, in your friends, in your jobs, in your employer, in anyone around you, just realize this for a moment.

If you pause before the Lord and realize that you and I, we were enemies of God, we were sinners, we were without strength, and the Father loved us. And in spite of our condition, he was willing to do everything in order to purchase us, to bring us to be part of the family of God. If this is not an amazing grace, what can we say otherwise? No wonder that song that we love to sing, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch just like me. It's amazing. For God so loved the world in John 3:16. It's one of the greatest verses that we all know how to recite.

And that love is the Greek agapeo, the unconditional love of God to wretched sinners who really deserve to be punished. And yet God is saying, "I love you, and I would bring you into a relationship with me." And John, in 1st John chapter 3, is so taken over by that. And he says, "Behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons, the children of God." You know, King David, the king of Israel, in 2nd Samuel chapter 7, he was so overwhelmed with the love of God towards him, that he made him a king. And when Nathan came to him in 2nd Samuel chapter 7, and told him that God said, "I'm telling you, David, you are not going to build for me a house, but I'm going to build for you a house.

I'm going to make of you a kingdom. I'm going to give to you posterity. David, I'm going to do this for you unconditionally, David." And you know what David said when he heard this from Nathan? He said to God, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me into this relationship with you?" You and I, as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, as children and sons and daughters of the Father, can say the very same statement and even more, "Who are we? And what is our house? That the Father has set his love upon us to such an extent that he calls us now the sons and the daughters, the children of God." And that's why in the very same verse, he says, "Therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not." You know, when the world looking at us, you know, we all came to the meeting today.

When the people outside the unbelieving world look at you, they didn't see anything different in you. They look at you, they look at me, and they say, "Well, here's another human being here in this world. He's just like me. He's going to work. He's going to school. He's going to play. He's from this country or from this country. He's just like me." But you see, when the world look at us, they don't see anything different in us in that sense. They don't understand our positional relationship with the God of the universe as our Father. Of course, we're going to talk about it in a moment.

Our behavior shows somewhat that we belong to God. But when they look at us, we look just like the other neighbor, the other person on our job or at school. Wherever we are, we look just the same outwardly. The different it is that you and I are sons and the daughters of the Father. And the unbelieving world are really following Satan and the world and its system. And that's why John is saying to the brothers and sisters, if there is anything that ought to motivate the believer to live a godly life, the first thing is the fact that the love of the Father has bestowed upon us.

I don't deserve it. We don't deserve it. And that's why room for pride, there is none. Because Ephesians 2 says, "By grace are ye saved through faith, and this is not of your save. It is a gift of God, lest any man should boast." If there is anything we are to boast, he is to boast in the love of God towards us. And that's what John, Yohanan is emphasizing here. And he says the world doesn't know us. No wonder the world doesn't know us. Because the world does not know Yeshua, does not know the Father. The world is following Satan. The believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, belong to the Father.

By the way, it doesn't show here in the King James text. But in some texts in the NIV and any other translation, it says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." And it adds three more words. "And we are." You don't have it here in the King James Version, but apparently in some manuscripts, they found "and we are" in those manuscripts that really showing that it's not something that we're going to be in the future, but we are already now the sons and daughters of the Father. We are already now, we don't have to wait till we get to heaven, but we are already now the sons and the daughters of the Father.

And so he continues now in verse 2, because he's emphasizing in connection with the love of the Father, what we are going to be in the future in verse 2. He says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and he does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." You see, Yohanan is leading on to not only to say what we are now, but what we are going to be in the future because of the love of the Father towards us. We, it says here, it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we do know on the basis of the word of God, that when he shall appear, we are going to be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

And you know what he is speaking about, the appearing of our Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah. In the context, of course, the appearing has to do with the fact that when the Messiah will appear to take his own people to be with him, and we are going to be transfigured, changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. And we are going to be with him when he is going to appear to meet us in the cloud, in the air, and we are going to be taken to the Father's house, and we are going to be forever with him, but we are going to be like him.

Now what does he mean that we are going to be like him, like Yeshua, the Messiah? He doesn't mean that we are going to be little gods, obviously not. But what he does mean that we are going to be suitable for the presence of God. We are not going to have anymore the limitation that we have here. We are not going to anymore dishonor God as we often do here in this world. We are going to be just like the son of his love, like Yeshua, the Messiah, but it is going to happen when he is going to appear. There will be the resurrection of all the saints that have slept through Yeshua.

There are going to be the transformation. We are all going to be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, in the last trump, and we are going to be resurrected and ascended and meet the Lord in the air. And forever we are going to be with him. Never anymore to have the way we used to live here in this world with his failure and shortcoming and oftentimes dishonoring unto the Lord. What's going to happen when we are going to be with him? What's going to happen when we are going to be with him? Paul again, look how he presented before the believers to whom he wrote.

In Romans chapter 8 and verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn of many brethren. You see, we are going to be like the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah in a future day. And God had planned for us. You see, God who knew us a full time, and he predestinated us to become like his son. And what's going to happen? He predestined that we, the believers, will be conformed to the image of his son, that he, Yeshua, will become the firstborn among many brethren. You see, we are going to be like the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah in a future day.

And God had planned it to be so, even though we cannot fathom that. I cannot even begin to fathom what would it mean for us to be like Yeshua, the Messiah, and to be with him forever. And yet it is true. See, when we look at ourselves, and when we look at our lives today, we say, well, I do not know what's going to happen, how things are going to happen in the future. But, Yohanan, John is saying, we know on the basis of the word of God, not on the basis of our feeling. We know that when he shall appear, when Yeshua is going to come, we are going to be like him, because we are going to see him as he is.

And when are we going to see him? You know, Peter said in another passage, 1 Peter 1, 7, he says, whom having not seen, ye love. You see, we never seen Yeshua. You know, you might have seen pictures of him. Some have him blue eyes, blonde hair, long hair. It looks like he was born in, I don't know, wherever it is. But they forget that he was a Jewish man that was born in the land of Israel among his own Israeli people. He was a Middle Eastern Hebrew. He was born to the woman Miriam. He was born in Bethlehem, grew up in Nazareth. He is not from Scandinavia.

He was born right in the Middle East. And sometime you remember when they were searching for him, they couldn't even recognize him because he looked like one of the disciples. He looked like he was an Israeli, a Hebrew, a Jewish man. But you see, brothers and sisters, when we are going to see him, you know, it will be an amazing sight to see the one that loved us, to see the one that the world rejected, to see him in such a way that we are going to be pleased just to look for him, to see him, and to have the joy of our hearts because he was the one that had done everything for us.

And so Yohanan is saying, look what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us. We are now children of God. But don't forget that one day we are going to be like him. We are going to see him. And we are going to rejoice to see him. We are going to be with him, never to separate from him anymore. The one who is today despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows that had been acquainted with grief, that one that today people reject him, the believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, is going to see him one day and be like him one day, never to separate from him anymore.

And so he is saying in verse 1, now we are the sons of God. What we are going to be in the future is in verse 2, the Father's love will produce a day in which we are going to see him, we are going to be with him, we are going to be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And now notice what it says in verse 3. In verse 3, what we should be practically because of the love of the Father for us. And here is verse 3 of 1 John chapter 3. And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.

The word for every man is every person, every son, every daughter, every believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, that has this hope, are to practically purify himself. Why? Because he is pure. He is holy. He is separate from sinners. He is undefiled. Now, practically speaking, beloved brothers and sisters, we have to admit that oftentimes we are not pure in our thoughts, in our practices, in our desires, in our affections. Oftentimes we fail the Lord. That's why he says that is what you should be practically. See, what we are positionally, it's one thing, but what we ought to be practically is another thing for us to learn.

That's why we often teach the truth about union and communion. Union is positional. Communion is practical. And that's why we have here the love of the Father should produce pure living in the life of the believer. What is the hope? The hope of being with him. The hope of seeing him. The hope of going to be with him in glory. Everyone that have this hope, as it says, purifies himself, even as Yeshua, the Messiah, is pure. And that has to do with our practical walk with the Lord. Now, I want you to turn to Peter, 2 Peter chapter 3. In verse 10, we see another reason why we should live differently.

Because in 2 Peter 3, verse 10 and 11, the reason there is the judgment that is approaching in the coming day. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away, and the great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing, then all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of person art ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? You see, Peter pointed out there is a day of judgment that is going to come upon this world. And because these days coming, what kind of people you ought to be believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, it should produce in your life that reverence to God, because judgment is coming.

But you see, in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 3, the important to have the fear of the Lord in our lives is not out of the judgment that is going to come in the future day, but it is because of the love of the Father towards us. It's a response to the Father, the believer who has a hope, ought to have a desire to live a pure life. And when we don't and we fail the Lord, it is important to repent and to turn to Him in confession. That's why 1 John 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And then He also says, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8, and in 1 John chapter 1 and verse 10, He says, if we say that we have no sin, we make Him a liar. And the truth is not in us. So, we know that we fail God a lot, but nevertheless, beloved brothers and sisters, the believer who have this hope are to seek to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. He calls it here, to purify Himself, even as He is pure. You know, there is often time in the book of Psalms, Tehillim, and Proverbs, Mishle in Hebrew, this expression, the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now, in Hebrew, the word for fear, it's not to be scared, no. It comes from the Hebrew word, Yirat Adonai. Yirat means to have a reverence to God, to Jehovah, to the God of Israel. And therefore, out of reverence to the Father, out of reverence to God, the believer needs to seek, with the help of the Lord, of course, to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. And so, if any man has this hope in him, he purifies himself, even as he is pure. Notice it says, he purifies himself, meaning that remove the things that hinder us from living a life that is pleasing unto the Lord.

Self-judgment, repentance, making better choices for the Lord, rather than the choices that is for the flesh, and for Satan, and for the world. And that is an ongoing walk, as we walk here with the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, the first thing that ought to motivate us to live a pure life, a righteous life here in this world, is the love of the Father. You know, I heard a story of a group of people that one day, one of them said to the whole group, he says, you know, let's go to this place. And this place happened to be a place that is not a good place to go to.

And one of the girls said to the friends, he says, listen, I prefer if you take me home, he said, I do not want to go to this place, it's not a place for me. So one of the friends said to her, he says, ah, why, are you afraid of your father, that you are going to go there, that your father will punish you? And you know, what was her answer? She said, no, I'm not afraid of what my father will do to me. I'm afraid that I will hurt the heart of my father. You see, sometimes we neglect to realize how much pain we give to God in the manner in which we behave.

What a joy it gives the heart of the father when he sees his children want to please him. Just out of the fact that I'm your son and you are my father. I want to do it for your sake, for your joy, not because I'm afraid of you, but because I want to give you honor. And I know it will displease you, my God and my father. Imagine how would it make different in our life if we would think like that. Oftentimes we do right thing because we're afraid that God will discipline us otherwise. But can you imagine if we would do things out of the love for our father, for our Abba?

Yeshua said, I always do the things that please the father. Yeshua said in John 4, 34, my meat and my drink is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. I do things because I love my father. What a beautiful thing to see that. So the first thing that ought to motivate us to live a godly life is because of the love of the father. Now notice in the next verses, verses 4 to verse 8. The second reason is very connected very much with this. It's because of the price that God the Son had to pay for us in order to bring us to be children of God.

So he began in verse 4. John described what sin is. Well, look what he says in verse 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresses the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. What is sin? Here's a description of what sin. In Hebrew we say chet. Sin oftentimes is missing the mark. Chet. But we find out that what is sin? Sin is simply a violation of the law. Every time we violate God's law, God's word, simply it is sin. It doesn't matter how we call it, how we shape it, how it happens. Sin is a transgression of the law. The Bible gives us various descriptions of what sin is.

1 John 5, verse 17. Sin, again, described to us in this very same book. All unrighteousness is sin. You know, every time we do something wrong, unrighteous, it is sin. And when we think about it, how many times we do things that are not right. John described this to us. Look how Paul describes sin in Romans chapter 14, in verse 23. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. How many times we did things simply not because of simply trusting the Lord that this is the right thing. It was simply without faith in God and faith in what he is teaching us. That's also, according to the scripture, is sin. Here's one more description of sin.

In James chapter 4, Yaakov chapter 4, in verse 17, he says, Therefore, to him that knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. When I think about our life, how many times we know to do the right thing, the good thing, and instead of doing it, we don't do that. As far as the Bible is concerned, it is sin. It is chet. And so, according to these verses, what is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. And then he says, whosoever commits a sin transgresses the law. You know, every time that we disobey God, we commit sin, and we commit a sin, this is a transgression of the law.

What is a law? A law is a sign that says, don't do that, or do that. For example, if there is a sign outside that says, don't walk on the grass, and you step on the grass, you violated the law. And so, what we find out, that sin is so serious, and they're meant to be punished according to the law, so, immediately, we find out the reason that Yeshua the Messiah came to this world. Verse 5. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. And in him, there is no sin. You see, the reason that Yeshua the Messiah was manifested, have appeared here in this world, the reason that he was born in Bethlehem.

You know, brothers and sisters, I know that many people on the 25th of December celebrate the birth of the Messiah, but they neglect to realize that the reason that he came to this world is not only to be born here, and to live a long life, but he was born, he appeared, so he will have to go to the altar, to the cross, and there to be punished for the sin of this world. And you notice what John is saying in verse 5. And you know that he was manifested, he appeared to take away our sins. Notice he used the word to take away, and not to atone, not to cover our sins, but to remove them.

Totally. John chapter 1 and verse 29. John, the baptizer, Yohanan Amadbil, declared, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of this world. In John chapter 1 is singular sin, the root. In 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4 and 5, it is sins, more than just the root, but the whole fruit, you might say, that which come out of the root, all the plenty, the multitude of sins that we are committing. He appeared to this world in order to take them away, to remove them. And you know, when God looks at us, he doesn't see us anymore as sinners. He looks at us as saints, that their sins have been totally removed out of us.

He looks at us and he sees the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah, and our sins have totally been removed as far as the east is from the west. So does our sins have been taken away from us because he came to this world and he paid that price on the cross, on the tree. He was judged that our sins will be taken away, that we will never need to be judged at all because of his finished work. And so he appeared, according to verse 5, in order to take away, to remove our sins completely. That's how we know that we are cleansed and forgiven and washed away because he removed every sin that we have committed.

Past, present, future, all have been removed totally as far as God is concerned. Even though at times we fail him here in this world, but positionally he removed all our sins away. But you notice he adds here, in verse 5, and in him is no sin. Not really fascinating, this expression here. You know, in the Bible you have three men who specifically wrote about Yeshua the Messiah. They were Hebrew men, Jewish men. One of them is Yochanan here. Another one is Shimon Petros in the book of Peter. And another one is Paul, Shaul. All of them wrote something about Yeshua the Messiah in connection with his purity.

Every one of them was a different type of a man in their practices. Peter was a man of action. Peter said in 1 Peter 2, verse 22, that he did know sin. Paul was a man of knowledge. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, said, He knew no sin. John was a man of feeling and affection. So John said, here in 1 John chapter 4, verse 5, that in him there is no sin. And you know, that tells us of the purity of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, the sinless one, who did no sin, who knew no sin, and in him there was no sin. All these three Hebrew men describe the person of Yeshua the Messiah as the sinless one.

And so he continues here in our chapter. And he says in verse 6, the believer is to abide in Yeshua the Messiah. In order to be able to live a righteous life, we have to stay close to him. And so he says here in verse 6, Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth has not seen him, neither have known him. Now what does it mean that whosoever sinneth has not seen him, neither knoweth him? Now you see, to abide means to have fellowship with him. And if a person abiding close to Yeshua have fellowship with him, it enables us to be washed and cleansed and to be able to walk a life that is pleasing to God.

But if we don't stay close to him, and we carry on in an unjudged sense, it's only show that something is wrong. And that's why he says, whosoever sinneth has not seen him, neither know him. In other words, a person that habitually, continually, always carry on in a life of sin, only show that he or she do not really belong to him. See, a believer might sin, repent, and be restored. But a person who lives habitually, continually, a life of sin, and doesn't judge himself, only proves where he or she really belong, to whom they belong. And that's why there is this expression here, whosoever, according to verse 6, sinneth, has not seen.

That just means sinning continually, habitually, without to recognize that they belong to the Lord. That only proves that they have never really have been belong to the Lord in the first place. That's why, by the way, for a believer who sin, 1 John 1, 9 is the remedy. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But a person that keeps on keeping on, and never judging himself or herself, and turning away from their sins, only proves that they have really never had even the beginning of a relationship with the Lord. You remember the prodigal son?

When he left the father? And he went down, down, down, all the way, he went for the father all the way to the pig pen, and he wished to eat the husks of the pig's food. And then he came unto himself. And then he came back to the father. He said, I'm going to go back to my father. You see, this prodigal son was a son all along. Even though he went down to the pig pen, he was always a son, and he came unto himself, and he went back to the Abba, to the father. You see, but a person who is not a child of God will continue right there, and will remain right there, away from the father, and only approve that he have never had a relationship.

He was not a son at all, or a daughter at all. And so here we see the importance of realizing, whosoever abideth, sineth not. But whosoever sinneth, continually, habitually, as a way of life, only prove that he or she really not belong to the Lord. As it says here, they have neither seen him, not even know him. He continues in verse 7, and he's now talking to the little children, to the believers, to the sons and the daughters of the father. He says, let not men deceive you, verse 7. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even if he is righteous. Apparently, already in the first century, there were those men who were trying to deceive the believers.

And they were telling them, listen, you can be a son or a daughter of the father, and you can carry on in your own life. You don't need to have a self-judgment, and restoration, and repentance to the Lord, and be restored. You can carry on in your own way. Well, you remember what Paul said in Romans chapter 6? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Romans chapter 6, and verse 1. How is that possible? We who have been baptized unto him, have been brought in to be part of the body of Messiah, we ought not to live anymore in this kind of lifestyle. A believer will seek to live a righteous life, and the reason for that, it is because he is a child of God.

And so verse 7 says here, little children, don't let anybody deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he, that is Yeshua, is righteous. In other words, doing the right things, and not to allow others to deceive us. And we are such a gullible people, we often allow others to deceive us, whether it is by doctrinal things, or practical things. That's the way it is, because we still have the sin nature in us. And now go down, notice in verse 8, this is the last verse, connection with the price that the son have paid for us, which are to motivate us to live for God.

He says, God's son Yeshua appear in this world for another reason, to destroy the works of the devil. Look at verse 8. He that commiteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now you notice, brothers and sisters, that in these verses, we find out two reasons, why the Messiah Yeshua appeared here in this world. First of all, in verse 5, he was manifested to take away our sins. Secondly, in verse 8, he appeared at the end of verse 8, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Now, what is the devil doing? You see, the devil, Satan, in Hebrew we call him Hasatan, the devil has all sort of works in which he attack the people of God. He's very clever. You and I don't see the devil. This Satan is so powerful, while he cannot take away our eternal relationship with Yeshua the Messiah, this has been done once and for all through the work of Yeshua the Messiah. What he can do, he oftentimes does all sort of works to hinder us, to cause us to stumble and to fall, to tempt us, to deceive us, to trick us, to draw us away from nearness to the Lord.

He does, and many times, he is successful if we are not watching for that. So, the second reason that Yeshua the Messiah came to this world is not only to remove our sins once and for all when he died for us on the tree, but he was manifested in order that he will empty the power of Satan against the people of God. And so listen to some verses that I want you to turn with me for a moment. Turn with me for a second to 2 Corinthians. Look at the works of the devil. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 13, 14, and 15. Paul is writing about those who follow Satan and his messengers.

He says in verse 13, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves unto apostles of the Messiah, and no marvel, he says. For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if these ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. You notice the word works? See, one of the things that he does, he tricks the people of God. His works is to deceive us. He is called in the Bible a deceiver. You remember the first time that he deceived was already in the Garden of Eden, Gan Eden, where he deceived Chava, Eve.

Some of the works of the devil is to trick us. And you see, Yeshua appeared, according to verse 8 of 1 John chapter 3, that he might, as it says here, destroy the works of the devil. How can he destroy the works of the devil? Well, he has empowered us. To enable us, the believers, to live a life that is pleasing to God, and we will be able to not allow Satan and his followers and his ministers, as he's called in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, to trick us, not to allow him to trick us and to hurt the people of God. Look at another verse in 1 Peter chapter 5. Again, the works of the devil, if he doesn't succeed to trick the people of God and to deceive us, according to 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 8, we find out another thing that he does.

Peter, Shimon Petros is saying, be sober and vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour. You know, Satan does this like that. If he doesn't succeed to trick us and to influence us, then he attacks us. It's a roaring lion. He's causing havoc. All kind of things he does in order to hinder the people of God from living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. And that's why Peter, Paul, and also John, showing to us that the devil, Satan, does not stop with his attack upon the people of God. And when Yeshua the Messiah came to this world, he appeared to remove our sins away from us, but he also appeared here, according to verse 8, to destroy the works of the devil.

And how he destroyed them? By drawing the believers to follow after him, by empowering the believers to live for him, and Satan has no power whatsoever upon a believer who walk with the person of Yeshua the Messiah. We are never to flee him. The Bible never tells us to flee him, but we are to resist the devil. And he will flee from you. And how we resist him on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And so, the first reason that are to motivate us to live for the Lord here in this world is the love of the Father. The second reason that are to motivate us to live for the Lord here is the price of the Messiah, the Son, Yeshua, paid for us on the tree, on the cross.

Now, let's look at the third reason. And this is the last verses here that we have for us here in this portion. And this is in 1 John 3, verses 9 and 10. And the third reason is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God in every believer in Yeshua the Messiah. And so, look at this, beloved brothers and sisters. And I'm reading now in verse 9. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. And so, here is the third reason. It is the fact that we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God.

Now, brothers and sisters, again, we do not even see how is it that the Holy Spirit of God indwelt in every one of us. We don't see the person of the Holy Spirit of God physically in our eyes. But we know it on the basis of the Scripture. When the Bible say, for example, in John chapter 3, when Yeshua the Messiah said to Nicodemus, to Nakdimon, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You must be born again, or born from above. The new birth is that new life that the believer received the moment he or she have accepted Yeshua the Messiah.

So, Yohanan is now saying, here is the third reason that ought to motivate us to live a godly life is because, verse 9, we are born of God. We are born of God. You see, every one of us was born to our parent, to our father and our mother, the natural father and mother. And ultimately, every one of us are descendant of Adam. We have the Adamic nature. But once we became believers in Yeshua, once we confessed our sins and repented and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. We have embraced Yeshua the Messiah. We have acknowledged that he is the one who died for our sin.

That moment, we received the new birth. The Holy Spirit of God came to indwell a person who accepted Yeshua the Messiah. And now, we have been declared justified because now we became born from above, born of the Holy Spirit of God. Now, let's please bear with me. Romans 8, in verse 9, just to conclude here, Paul said about those who might claim to have the Holy Spirit of God in them, he said to them, if any man has not the Spirit of the Messiah, he is none of his. Every person who is part of the family of God is born from above, is born of the Holy Spirit of God.

Look at another verse in 2 Peter 1 and verse 4. Peter said, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Notice, it says here, you have received a divine nature. You know, when we have accepted Yeshua the Messiah, in addition to the old nature that we have, we also have a divine nature. You know, sometimes the Bible calls it the old nature, this is Adam, the new nature, this is in Christ, in the Messiah. In other words, the old man, that is in Adam, the sinful nature that we have, and the new man, Colossians speaks about it, this is the new nature that we have.

In other words, the flesh and the spirit, you remember in Galatians 5, 16, walk in the spirit, the new nature, and you will not fulfill the last of the flesh, the old nature. We have two natures. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, we have a seed that have been placed in the believer, and it's called God's seed, in contrast to the corruptible seed that came through Adam. Again, look at this verse, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 9, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. Why? For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Now, this is such an amazing truth to understand.

Every time I sin, it's the Adamic nature, it's the old nature, it is the flesh, it is the old man. Every time I walk in righteousness, it is the new man, it is the new nature, it is of the spirit, it is God's seed. So you see what happened? We have two natures. Have you heard the story? about a man that did something wrong against the law, and he violated the law. And so he was taken by the police before a judge. And he was standing before the judge, and the judge said to him, well, you have done this, and you deserve to be going to jail.

So this person, of course, because he was a Christian who failed, a believer who failed, who sinned, and done something wrong, he says, you know, judge, you see, I have two natures. It was not my new nature, it was my old nature who sinned. So the judge, who was a believer, said to him, well, since you possess both natures, and you deserve to be put in jail, I'll put both, your old nature and your new nature, in prison. You see what happened? Every one of us are possessing two natures, and we are struggling with this every day. We have the seed of corruption, this is the Adamic nature, but when we became born again, born from above, we have God's seed.

Now please go back to 1 Peter 1 and verse 23. Peter is saying, being born again, listen, not of corruptible seed. You see, when we become born again, we are now being born again, but not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed. You see, there is the corruptible seed, which is the Adamic seed, the Adamic nature, the flesh, the old man, but there is God's seed, which is not a corruptible seed, which according to 1 John 3 verse 9, it says, his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. So, now in conclusion, in the last verse here, John is now saying in the last verse, there will be righteousness and love in the life of the children of God, evident if they are in fellowship with the Lord.

And that's why he concludes here in verse 10, and this, the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. There will be an evidence in our life that we really belong to the Lord when we seek to live a life for the Lord, when there is doing righteousness and loving our brothers and our sisters, that is an evidence that we really belong to the Lord and we are the sons and daughters of the Father. So, the children of God are manifest, the children of the devil are manifest, there is a distinction between two groups, two companies, one belonged to the devil and one belonged to our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

Well, brothers and sisters, three reasons to motivate us to live a Godly life. Number one, the love of the Father towards us, number two, the price that the Son had paid for us, and number three, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every believer in Yeshua the Messiah. Well, may God bless those thoughts to all of us, and may God help us to live a life that is pleasing to Him.