All right, Brother Conrad, if you'll come. And we do have a lot of new faces here tonight, so if you'll introduce yourself somewhat, just share a little of the vision, and then we'll be glad to hear your brother. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, it's a joy to be with you this evening and to bring God's word to you. As has already been said, my name is Conrad Mbewe, pastor for the Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, a country which is just south of the equator. but right in the middle of the tropics, so we lie between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn. As has been said, I'm also involved fairly deeply with the establishment of the African Christian University, and we do have a website where you can pip. For those of you with pen and paper, it's www.acu, which stands for African Christian University, dash USA, That's really the address, and there's a lot of information there. You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter that keeps you updated with both the progress and challenges that we're going through. And as has already been said, I'm involved with raising finances to establish this university, especially in terms of buying land and beginning to put up structures. And that's the mammoth task that has enabled me to ask our church if I could spend a lot more of my time with the university project than I have been doing otherwise. So that's what this year will be all about. I have one month trip. This time I'm in the U.S. After I go back for two weeks, I'll be back again in other parts of the U.S. for about three weeks, and this time it will be on the eastern part of the country. And then, as was mentioned, later on in the year, in August, I have Finland, England, Wales, and a very brief time here to do with the Gates Seeing Conference. I'll be speaking there. Otherwise, do pray for us as much as you can, because it's not the kind of thing you want to take on your shoulders lightly. getting University of the Ground, a lot of questions, a lot of challenges, but hey, the doors opened about three years ago. We do have students and we're already seeing something of its immediate fruit, but we still have a long way to go to see the kind of fruit that will induce season impact, the nation and even beyond. Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John and chapter three. 1 John and chapter three. As you do so, let me give you a little bit of the lay of the land, what I am proposing to do. When I realized that I will have three opportunities to be at Dominion Baptist Church, I began to ask myself, what is it that I can share that will easily be packaged into three messages? Not that I realized that all of you would be here all the time, but in these days of technology, it's fairly easy if you miss one or you miss two, to still say, hey, I think I loved what I heard, let me download the rest. So I really thought, let me package that together. Since back home in Zambia, I went through First John completely, My mind no doubt rested in a passage like that, asking the question, what is it that I can find there that would be of benefit to the brethren? And since the book is on the subject of assurance of eternal salvation as is clearly manifested from chapter five and verse 13 where John says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life, I thought let me pull out three significant sections of this book that bring out something of the way in which we can test ourselves as to whether we are in the faith or not. So Sunday afternoon, I dealt with the first chapter and the second part, where the whole subject of assurance is grounded in our knowledge of the gospel. The way we answer the question, are you a sinner, how do you hope to be accepted by God? And we saw there that the average person will want to downplay the reality that they are because they are hoping that that way, God may say, well, you're not too bad. Therefore, come into heaven. And what we saw was that a person who's a genuine believer, someone who has come to embrace God's grace through the gospel, acknowledges that I'm a sinner who deserves to perish. But that you, O Lord, have provided a substitute. in the person of your son the Lord Jesus Christ and in him and in him alone I put all my trust. That's what we went on to see yesterday in the afternoon. Today I'm skipping into chapter 3 and we're looking at verse 4 down to verse 10 and there Again, it's fairly evident that the Apostle John is dealing with this whole issue of how do I know that I'm a child of God? But this time, he is really saying, if your life has been morally transformed, if your life has been morally transformed, In other words, where there once upon a time was a love for sin, there is now a love for holiness. And that where that is missing, it doesn't matter how much church and religion you have in your life, you are not yet converted. So what I want us to do then is to read, beginning with verse one, where the Apostle John is celebrating what God has done in making us his children, and then from verse four down to verse 10 will really be our text. But let us read it. 1 John chapter three, beginning with verse one, and I'm reading from the English Standard Version. See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him, and here's the hint, purifies himself as he is pure. So there's a clear desire for holiness. and doesn't end with a desire, it works itself out in practical application in seeking holiness. Well, he goes on to say, and let me just read this and then we will break it down and look at it together. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins. And in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning for God's seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who the children of God are and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Now those are hard words. They are strong words, especially because they are being spoken to individuals, like all of us at the moment, who know that we are not absolutely righteous. And consequently, we tend to say to ourselves, now hang on, let's try and make sure that we interpret this correctly. And it's fairly easy for us to make correctly mean that we remain comfortable with the lives that we are living. When really correctly ought to be in the light of the rest of scripture. So that it is not contradicting how God has revealed himself. Well, whatever issues we might be dealing with in our own minds as we come to a passage like this, one thing is sure, John has gone into the fact that one way in which we realize whether we are children of God or children of the devil has to do with a moral test. the way in which we process issues of sin and salvation. And the very first issue that John therefore deals with is a definition of what sin is, the very reason why it must be a defining point. He says this in verse four, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. The point that he's making there is fairly straightforward and it is this, that you see God is the great law giver. And therefore, whatever we may have to say concerning our acceptance with him, one issue that we need to process is that with respect to his law, how are we before him? Now clearly, if you've ever grown up in a home where parents are strict, are strict enough to speak in terms of this is right and this is wrong, you know how it is that your relationship with them often is either destroyed or worn by the way in which you obey the rules of the home. You cannot turn a part of your home into a little colony where your personal rules as a teenager reign supreme, and yet it is in your parental home. You can't do that. And if you insist, all that your parents will do finally is to say to you, well, there is the door. There's a whole world out there that you can live in according to your laws and your rules. As long as you remain here under my roof, this is the way you are to behave. Well, it's the same with God. When we are discussing issues of sin, we are really talking about breaking God's law. And he is the law giver. And consequently, immediately we begin to realize that it's a matter we need to take seriously. Now I bring this point in, in a day in which the word of God is being reduced to a secondary level, even in the church. Culture. and acceptance of the norms that culture is bringing in is now what is supreme. And friends, that's to deceive ourselves. Because God doesn't change. His law doesn't change. Sin is lawlessness. And because it is lawlessness, a throwing aside of God's law, we easily end up on the wrong side of God. So that's where he begins, so that we can immediately realize this is what we are up against. But John doesn't end there. He goes on to also argue that sin is contrary to Christ's saving mission in the world. It's contrary to his saving purpose. Look at verse five and verse six. Verse five and verse six. The Bible says there, you know that he appeared in order to take away sins. and in him there is no sin. What's the consequence of that? Verse six, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning, no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. That's a very categorical way of speaking. He's saying that Quite apart from sin being a breaking of God's law, it's also contradicting the very purpose for which Jesus came. He came to be a savior. A savior from sin. He himself has a sinless nature. He came for a saving purpose. And that saving purpose, I love the way he puts it here. It is to take away sins. Now, there are two ways in which we can understand this. One would be in terms of the way John the Baptist referred to him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In other words, dealing with the guilt of our sin. But another way in which we can understand it is to borrow the words of Paul to Titus. Titus chapter two and verse 14. This is the way he puts it there. He says, I'll start in the heart of verse 13. Our great God and savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness, there we have it, and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. So that's not just referring to cleaning up our records in heaven, it's referring to cleaning up our hearts on earth. That's what he's talking about there. redeeming us from all lawlessness, the very lawlessness that is the equivalent of sin. He came to buy us back from that life and consequently to purify for himself a people who are absorbed, taken up with good works. So clearly, Anyone who says Jesus Christ has saved me must show the evidence, not just by claiming that my records in heaven have been purified, but it should also be able to show that my heart on earth has undergone a change. Jesus has indeed saved me. It's like an individual who is claiming that you have taught him how to drive, and you've taught him well. He has passed his test. And then when you inquire about his actual driving experience in the last few weeks, well, he's caused quite a few accidents. They've withdrawn his license. Now clearly, he may have sat in some kind of lessons, but he did not learn how to drive. So if you are claiming that Jesus Christ has saved you from sin, well, let's say it. Let's say it. If in the process, your life is still steeped in selfishness, self-centeredness, and self is ruling supreme against the laws of God, Yes, you may have listened to the message called the gospel, you may even be able to recite it to other people, but Jesus hasn't saved you yet. That's the point of the Apostle John here. You are still in the sin that he came to deal with. As if that's not enough, John also argues that you're not only still in sin, but you are still a slave to Satan. You're still in the clutches of the evil one. Clearly, you have not been rescued. And I love the way he puts it, this time in verse seven and verse eight. verse seven and verse eight. He's basically transposing or changing the direction. Initially, he had said Jesus came to save. Therefore, if you're living in sin, you're not saved. He's now saying, if you're living in sin, you are still deceived by the evil one. Jesus came to destroy his work or his hold on you. Let's read those two verses because the argument is congenial. It continues. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Listen to this. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. That's what he came to do. So clearly, if Satan is still achieving his purposes to defy the rule of God through your life, Well, then what Jesus came to accomplish, he hasn't accomplished through you. In Matthew chapter seven, the Lord Jesus Christ put it this way, towards the end of the great sermon on the mount. Matthew seven and verse 16. Matthew seven verse 16. I begin reading from verse 15. If you are there. He says, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing and here is the reality about them on the inside. But inwardly are ravenous wolves. So how will you know? what people are like on the inside. Should you have some kind of spiritual stethoscope so that you may know what's transpiring inside? Here is what Jesus says. You will recognize them by their fruits. Simple. No need for you to start imagining what could be on the inside. Simply look at the activities on the outside. That's what will tell you what's happening on the inside. And he argues, he says, are grapes gathered from thorn bushes? The answer is no. Or figs from thistles? He expects a negative answer, no. So every healthy tree bears, there we are, good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. Again, a healthy tree cannot, is not able to bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and then he says, thus you recognize them by their fruits. That's the point. How do you know whether you are still in the domain of the devil? No need to call a prophet to come and do his little prophesying around you. The answer is quite simple. How is your life? How is your life? Who is it that you are actually living for deliberately? If yours is a life that is still being lived after sin, That's the fruit, then clearly you are still not converted because what Jesus came to destroy is still very, very present within you. Again, you can't miss the directness there. And we need to examine ourselves as individuals because we only cheat ourselves when we try to redefine the Christian life in reality. Back home, normally when we're playing with little kids, one of the things we like to play with them about, and I'm talking about toddlers now, is we say to them, come, come and jump this rope. And so we'd have one person on that end, another person on this end, and then the little kid would come running. And just before the kid runs, as you know, kids, the poor little thing closes the eyes and then jumps. And all you do is take the rope right down to the ground. And then when he or she opens her eyes on the other side, you've lifted the rope and you say, ah, well done, well done. Feels very nice. But that's for toddlers, you see. You don't do that with respect to souls going to heaven. You don't bring down the standards right to the floor so that the devil himself can enter heaven, you don't. And that's the argument of John here. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. The devil's works being that of making people to sin against God, stubbornly sin against him, to rebel against God, that's his work. Jesus came to reverse that all together. We should not assure people that they are still saved and going to heaven when we can see with our own eyes that they still live for themselves, stubbornly pursue the way of sin. So that even when you confront them with what God's word says about the life that they are presently living, they are angry with you, and angry with God's word, they must still continue. Such people are not yet Christians. Now brethren, I don't know about life in America, but in Zambia, this happens so often, it causes my heart to bleed. Really. I recall one situation where I was still working in the mines by then and I was staying in an apartment. Opposite our apartment was another one where there was a single parent staying, a lady. God has his ways. The weekend before, I was in another town, a neighboring town. attended church and I saw what was called a dedication of babies. So, young parents were there and they were having their babies prayed for and so on. And I was able to recognize, well, I didn't know them, but I saw their faces. Well, in the course of the week, from my apartment, I see a gentleman, one of the ones that were in front having their baby dedicated, coming out of this single parent's apartment. By the car, they were kissing, showing that there was a lot of affections there. And finally, the gentleman went into his car and left. So, like a zealous young Christian, or younger than I am now, I went to confront this lady and said, look, I saw this with my own eyes. This vehicle was parked by your apartment the whole night, and this is what I saw in the morning. The lady was angry, and she said to me, you mentioned this to my church, and I'm going to pour boiling oil over your head. So being young as I was in those days, I went, I stood by the doorside, and as I was opening, I said to her, you better turn on your stove and start boiling your oil, and out I went. That wasn't the worst disappointment. It was when I went now to speak to the church leaders. I said, I'm willing to be a witness. I saw this with my own eyes. The two church leaders looked at each other and they said, no, we can't bring it up. Because if we confront her with it, we will lose her. And it didn't. I mean, that broke my heart. Church leaders are refusing to confront sin when someone is willing to have boiling oil poured on his head as a witness. You cannot change this. You can't. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. And if a person is saved, there must be individuals who want to live a holy life. And if for any reason they are found out to be on the wrong side, they yield to his lordship instead of what we saw there. Very quickly, one more thing, and then I'll come back to the story. A few years later, the same leaders came to me and asked me to preach in their church. So I asked what they should preach about, and they said commitment, because our members are not committed. So I said, but why don't you preach to them about commitment? And they said, well, you know, us, they will know that it's them we are talking about. But if you come from somewhere else, And then you preach on commitment, they will think it must be God speaking. Because, I mean, you've not been around to see. Now, again, here's my, well, what I did to them was to say, sorry, I won't do the deity job for you. And I never preached for them. Because strictly speaking, that's why the church leaders are there. is to say, brethren, look at the price that God has paid in order for us to come into glory. How should we respond to such infinite, eternal love? How? And when souls are ravished upon the gospel of Christ, invariably they will say, I need to love him back. But anyway, John doesn't end with the fact that Jesus came to destroy the works of the evil one. He adds the fact that the new birth rules out a life of sin. It's very nature, it rules out a life of sin. Let's look at verse 9 and he's categorical here. Now I know At least my vision tends to add this practicing, practicing. It's clearly in order for us not to think that John is suggesting that if you sin, a sin, then you belong to the devil, because clearly none of us would say that we finished today without a single sin, and so it's some interpretation added there so that we can understand that it's not just about a sin, but a life of sin, practicing sin. So he says in verse nine, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him. and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. Now it's crucial for us who understand the Christian faith to be clear about this, that The Christian faith is not simply a decision to begin to live by a certain code of conduct. It's more than that. It is regeneration. The Spirit of God doing a heart transplant taking out of us this heart of stone, this stubborn, sinful heart, and putting into us a heart of flesh. In other words, a heart that's malleable. One that God himself can continue molding as he pleases. And that same spirit of God who does that spiritual operation equally comes to dwell within. And so we have the definition that God's seed abides in him, that life giving seed and this person is born of God. Earlier on in chapter two, this is the way John had put it. I begin reading from verse 28. Just before talking about that exclamation, the man of love, the father has given us that we should be called children of God. Listen to verse 28 and verse 29. And now little children abide in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, which he is, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him, has been born of him. That's how you know because regeneration is real. And once we lose that, that genuine testimony that Jesus changes lives, we've lost the cutting edge of the Christian faith on earth. That's what we've done. It's what he came to do, to transform people like Saul with that selfish murderer spirit into individuals that now crown him as Lord. And that's what we need to see, this real change. A few minutes ago I was being shown two magazines that we produce in Zambia. On the picture of one of them is a pastor who in fact died last month. from kidney failure. But what is interesting was today I got a message of a young lady that this same pastor was reaching out to. She used to be a member of our church. We excommunicated her as she went on stubbornly in sin. This pastor and his wife began to reach out to her. Initially, I don't want, leave me alone. Slowly but surely, as they're leaving literature, she begins to read the literature, and then he died. And she said, this is the testimony I was reading today, she said she attended his funeral. and the funeral message together with the reality that here is a person who had reached out to me. She said before the sermon finished, she broke down and began to weep. Got home, settled issues with God. But this is what I love. She said, I was never a Christian before. This is when I've truly become a Christian. And she speaks in terms of the fact that even my husband is noticing the change. In other words, regeneration, the work of God's spirit, as he makes us new from death to life and comes to dwell within us, must produce change. And a person should be able to say, I may not be perfect, but something has happened to me. My own conversion was along similar lines. We had been going to church all our lives as a family. My mom died when I was nine years old, so her elder sister went, fostered us through our teenage years. My elder sister was the first one to come back to dad's home when she came to university. A year later, I came back, and hey, I found a completely different sister. I was wondering what happened in this one year we were apart. And I've never forgotten this thought going through my mind. If this is what it means to be a Christian, I'm not. If this is what it means to be a child of God, I'm not a child of God. And that's what the Lord used to get me to seriously start searching. Because evangelical Christianity is real. And I want to repeat, we must not compromise on that. It might fill our pews with numbers, but it won't change the numbers for heaven, it won't. Because where God intends to save, he regenerates human hearts. You live a righteous life not because you want God to accept you. You live a righteous life because he has accepted you. It's the fruit of that acceptance. Well, brethren, Time is on our end. One more point, and it is the summarizing statement of John. The summarizing statement of John, and basically he's saying, answer the question whether you are guilty as charged. as charged. What is the evidence of your life? Now the second part is what I'll deal with tomorrow, which is the issue of love for brothers. But it's the first part. He's summarizing everything now. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. And here's the first part which we'll deal with. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Period. And the reason why the Apostle John can speak this way is because God is in the business of saving the children of the devil. He's pulling them out of that kingdom. And so you should be able to say, okay, is there something of a holy life in me? Not something I'm doing by cranking in order to achieve acceptance with him, but a new life that is flowing right through me. Remember, he's not saying, are you a person who can't remember the last time you ever sinned? Because if he was saying that, it would contradict chapter one, which you saw yesterday in the afternoon. So to the question, have you sinned? Remember, a person who's trying to say, well, okay, at least I'm not sinning like that one, and so on, is clearly already lost. It's a person who says, yes, I have. I've gone to the savior, pleaded with him that his blood may wash away my sin. But what we are saying here is the fountain The heart, the you that makes you you, if we're to peel you like an onion and finally reach the center of your being, will we find a life there that is seeking to transform the personal life? the home life, the school life, the working life, whichever life that you are in, to be a place where God is honored, God is glorified, God is worshiped, God has preeminence in the person of his son. Will that be true of you? Or better still, if someone came to your home or to your workplace or your classroom, and simply said, I'm looking for a Christian. Will somebody say, oh yeah, if you're looking for a real one, he's over there. A real one. Or will they say, well, in here, all of us are Christians, all of us. Well still, will they say, if that guy can go to heaven, we are all going to heaven. Because they can see from the life that there is no distinct aspect in terms of holiness, godliness, seeking a life that is morally pure. Not to win salvation, but because you are saved. Well brethren, if as I've gone through this, you are sitting there saying you hate what you are hearing, most likely it's because the Lord hasn't saved you yet. And it's very uncomfortable. It is. But you see, the answer is to simply go to Christ. He is the one who recreates us by his grace and mercy. That's all. Simply go to him asking him to do for you what he has done in others. He is a savior. That's why he came. He's come to change sinners into saints. He will do it for you. To the point where you too can testify that once upon a time you were walking in sin, but he has saved you. And may that be one way in which you will gain assurance that clearly this is not me, it's not me trying to be something, it's me in terms of someone having done something with a rotten and sinful heart. So can God begin a work and then abandon it along the way? No. He who has begun this work will finish it in glory. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, as hard-hitting as these words of John might be, we thank you that they are also assuring. For many of us know where we have come from. That ours was a life of sin. A life of self-centeredness. And then by God's word at last our sin we learned. We trembled at the law we had spurned. until our guilty souls imploring turned to Calvary. And Lord, thank you that mercy there was great and grace was free. Pardon, there was multiplied to us and there our burden of sin was completely rolled away at Calvary. Thank you that many of us, even in here tonight, can testify that you've changed our hearts. You've transformed us from the inside out. How we pray that this may be true of those who don't have that testimony. That they too may be able to say, Jesus has saved me. We plead for this. In Jesus' name, amen.