Well, good morning, church. If you will turn in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2, verse 15 through 17. I'd like to spend a few hours this morning here. Lord willing, we will be done by noon. My question for everyone here this morning is if you were to take an honest examination of your life to see what your desires are, what your passions are, what your goals are, where your pleasures are found, where your time and your energy is most given to and spent, what would you find? If you were to answer those questions, what has your desires, where are your goals, what are your passions, where is your time, where is your energy, what would you find those things to be in? If people from all areas of your life were asked to describe the person that you are, what would be said of you? Would love for God be the foundation of everything found and said about you? Or would it be love for the world? 1 John 2, verse 15 through 17, the word of God reads, do not love the world or the things in the world, If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but Whoever does the will of God abides forever. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that this morning you would, by your Spirit, expose the areas of our hearts, Lord, where we wonder from your commandments, where we fall short in our obedience, where we've grown cold in our love for you and your church. Lord, I pray this morning that we would come to a honest examination of our own hearts to see whether or not we'd be defined as loving the world or loving you. Lord, I pray that you would stir within our hearts to bear much fruit for your glory, that we would realize the reality is that this world is passing away. Lord, I pray that we would live for the kingdom that cannot be shaken. Pray all these things in Christ's name and by your spirit, amen. Four points. The love of the world. The love of God. the love that passes away, the love that is temporary, and the love that is eternal. Point number one, the love of the world. John is not speaking here in verse 15 and 16 when he says, do not love the world or the things in the world. He is not speaking of those physical realities of the world. He's not talking about creation that declares the glory of God. He's not talking about those earthly blessings that come from God, whether that be food and drink, clothing and shelter. But what the Apostle John is speaking of in this text is that evil world system that lies in the power of the evil one. To love the world in this way is to live for those fallen realities. To live for those fallen realities that are of this world and to pursue idolatrously with all our hearts materialism and pleasure. This is to live contrary to God and at enmity with God. James 4.4 says those who seek to make themselves a friend of this world make themselves an enemy of God. The Apostle John gives us three descriptions of what it is to love the world. The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. The desires of the flesh we see in Galatians chapter 5, verse 19 through 20, where it says, Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Romans 1, we have those who have suppressed the truth of God in their unrighteousness, those who have traded the truth about God for a lie. Rather than believing the word of God as revealed from God, they are believing the lies of this wicked world system, all the vain philosophy and empty worldviews out there that are contrary to God. They've exchanged this truth for a lie, the scripture says, And it says that they are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. This is the love of the world. This is what it is to live in the desires of the flesh. Jesus shows us in Mark chapter 7 that these things are birthed from our very hearts. In Mark 7, Jesus says, for from within, out of the heart of man, Come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. Romans 8, last one, for the desires of the flesh. In Romans 8, verse 5, it tells us, for those who live according to the flesh, that they've set their minds on the things of the flesh. Everything we've listed already so far, this is what their minds are set to do, to live for themselves, the gratification of the flesh, to live for this world, to live contrary and rebelliously against the Lord of glory. It says, for to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it can not." There we see the inability of man to please God, to obey God in and of themselves, fallen, depraved, estranged. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. This is one of the descriptions that John gives, the desires of the flesh. All of these things are contrary to God. Secondly, the desires of the eyes. We're in the first one, we have everything that comes with gratification and pleasure, generally speaking. Here we have the desires of the eyes, which you could call covetousness. Covetousness, which is idolatry, according to Colossians 3, verse 5. Coveting what is not yours. Exodus 20, 17, in the law of God, we read that you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his possessions, right? And so you see, and with the eyes you covet, and with the eyes you long and desire for that which is not yours. Or you desire something that maybe is not sinful to have, but you covet it because you're discontent with what you have. You refuse to be content with what God has given you until you can have that one more thing. This is covetousness, this is idolatry. Where we should find pleasure and satisfaction and joy in God, sinful fallen man finds it in those things that rust destroys and moths eat and thieves break into steal. This kind of covetousness is what caused David to fall into grave sin. when he saw Bathsheba and he desired her, another man's wife. And the desire led to action, sleeping with another man's wife. This is what brought about the fall of man. When Eve looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasing to the eye, she desired it. Thirdly, the pride of life. This is to live for yourself. This is to live for all you can get. This is to live for the praises of men, to live for your own glory, the pride of life, to see yourself as more than you ought to, to live as if you are the center of the world. This is how men and women live all throughout the world around us. And if we're honest, we tend to too. when we don't put others before ourselves, when we don't help the brother or sister when we have the world's goods, and we don't help them when they're in need. This is the pride of life. We love what we have, we love who we are, and this is what we're content with. This is the love of the world, not the love of God. You see this in the Pharisees in John chapter 12, verse 43. John chapter 12, verse 43. The Pharisees say, Nevertheless, many, even the authorities, believed in Him. But for fear of the Pharisees, they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. And with the Pharisees, they walked through the common places, and they desire the praises of men. They loved their own glory. We see this with the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. When he has, he's dressed in purple linen. He has all that he could ever want. He's rich, very wealthy. And you have Lazarus who sits at the gates only desiring that he could just have the crumbs that fall from the table. The dogs lick his sores and he's left in his situation, but the rich man who has the pride of life, who loves his life, is unwilling to stretch out a hand to even help poor Lazarus. Here it says, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried and in Hades being in torment. He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in anguish in this flame. But Abraham said, Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he's comforted and you are in anguish. Living for the world. He had all that he could want. Fine linen, possessions, money, food. But he didn't have God. The richest man turned out to be the poorest man. The poorest man turned out to be the richest. You see, what John is showing us here is you cannot love the world and God. You cannot serve two masters. In Matthew chapter 6, Verse 21 and verse 24, Jesus says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In verse 24, he says, no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Our hearts are narrow. We're either given for the world or we're given for God. You cannot have both in your hearts. The Apostle John does not deal. Here we see it's very black and white. It's very clear what John is saying here in 1 John 2. that if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. John does not deal with different nuances. He doesn't speak in shades of gray. The apostle John speaks very black and white. Either you love the world or you love God, but you cannot love both. What do we do when we find ourselves being tempted by the things of this world? What do we do when we find ourselves getting entangled with snares and with traps? What do we do when we find ourselves to have wandered away from the path of righteousness because of enticements? Well, the Bible says that this is what you're to do. You're to put to death what is earthly in you. Colossians 3, 5. Romans 8, 13 says that if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. How can you do this? Romans 8 shows us. The Spirit of God who dwells within the believer empowers them and enables them to live out Christianity with the power to overcome their sin and to walk in righteousness. He's the helper. He's the one that Christ gave us. He's the one you should call upon. And he's the one that you can live wholly because of. And you're commanded, put to death what is earthly in you. What if you've wandered off into extreme sin? What if you've fallen into a deep pit? Well, Jesus shows us in Matthew 18 that when you are dealing with severe sin, it needs to be responded to with a radical response. Listen to what he says. If your hand causes you to sin, Cut it off. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. He says it's better to go to heaven lame or crippled or with one eye than with both feet, both hands, and both eyes to go into the hell of fire. It takes a radical response to sin, grave sin. Obviously Jesus is not teaching here self-mutilation. This is metaphorical or exaggerative language here, but he's getting the point across that you must respond to your sin with absolute severity and urgency because it's a matter of heaven and hell. Romans 13 verse 14, it shows us that we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ every day, every moment, in order to prevent the flesh from gratifying its desires. What is the daily disposition of your hearts? Every day when you wake up, what is that default setting in your mind? What is that disposition? What is the first thing you think about when you rise out of bed? What is that ongoing thought in your mind as you go out throughout your day? What is it that you think upon when you lie in your bed that night? Are you putting on the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you walking as Christ walked? Are you living as Christ lived? Are you speaking as Christ spoke? Are you living for the glory of God? You see, this was the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when His disciples asked Him if He's had anything to eat? And He says, I have food to eat of that you know not of. My food is to do the will of my Father. Church, is this your food? Is this your sustenance? Is this the disposition of your heart that every moment of every day that you want to glorify God and live for Him? Secondly, John shows us a contrast of loving the world with the love of the Father. To have the love of the Father To have the love of the Father or for the Father, a genuine love for God, is to keep His commandments. John 14, 31, we see that obedience to the Father's commandments was a direct result of Jesus' love for the Father. John chapter 14, it says, Jesus says, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. And so His obedience was because of His love for the Father. In 1 John 2, 5, just a few, at the beginning of the chapter that we're in, we see But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. What does this mean that the love of God is perfected in us when we keep his word, when we keep his commandments? Well, it doesn't mean, this does not indicate that we are perfect in the sense that we become sinless. First John 1.8 shows us that. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But what this is, this shows us that our love for God is perfected when the fruit of our lives are consistent with the claims on our lips. When you claim to love God, when you claim to know God, what does that look like in your life? We say a lot of things with our mouths, but what do we do with our lives? We claim a lot of things with our mouth, we make a lot of allegiances with our mouths, but what does that look like practically in our lives as Christians? 1 John 2, 4, we see this issue that is prevalent, especially in the Bible Belt, Where it says, whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Again, John dealing black and white, very cut and plain. Anyone who says, I know Jesus, but does not keep his commandments is a liar. and they do not have the truth. If you, sitting in here today, say that you know Jesus and that you love him, but you walk in darkness, the Bible says of you that you are a liar and that you do not have the truth. This is the shocking reality that we all have to come to grips with. This is what we have to examine in our own hearts. As we read, the Lord says through Isaiah, this people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Is that you? Is that a description of you? Do you honor the Lord with your lips, but with your life you live contrary and neglectful of him? Or as Jesus put it, why do you call me Lord, Lord, but do not do what I say? Our obedience is not from a dry obligation. As Christians, we obey God and desire to obey God because we love Him. Is your obedience to God sparked by love? Or is your obedience to God sparked by obligation with dragging feet to do what He says? Or when God says you run and you do with joy and gladness because you love Him. What is it for you? The love of God and the Christian has been poured into our hearts. Romans 5, 5. The psalmist in Psalm 119, 97, this resonates with Christians. The psalmist says, oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Can you say that? Do you love the law of God? Do you love his word? Do you delight in his word? Do you read his word? Do you memorize his word? Do you walk in the light of His Word? Does this resonate with you? When Jesus was asked, what is the greatest commandment? He said, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment, and a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments, love of God, love of neighbor, hang all the law and the prophets. All of this Old Testament, it all hangs on those two commandments, love of God, and love of neighbor. This is to have the love of the Father. Joyful and loving obedience. If I asked you today, how are you loving God? What would be some of your responses? What does loving God look like in your life, day to day? Including Monday. How are we loving our neighbors? How are we loving our brothers and sisters? How are we loving the church? I get this quote from Jeff, from a guy that he's reading. And he says, quote, If our common life is not a common course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affections, we do not live the lives of Christians. Number three, the love that's temporary. In verse 17, it says, and the world is passing away along with its desires. Do not love the world or the things in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life. And then we get this truth here in verse 17, that to love the world is only temporary. The world is passing away. The love for the world is a false love. It's not even true love. For God is love, 1 John 4, 8. And whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him, 1 John 4, 16. Love is from God, and only those who know God and have been born of God can love, 1 John 4, 7. And love is forever. First Corinthians 13, eight. But this love, or deep affection, and the world is passing away. This is not true love. This is a wicked, depraved, fallen version of love. This is a love that is temporary. This is just deep affection and desire for that which is ungodly. It is all going to come to an end for you and I. All of it, everything here, everything we see, everything we experience in our day to day lives, all of this is all going to come to an end. Either in our deaths or at the return of Christ. but it's coming to an end. The world is passing away. I can't say it enough. We live every day like we're gonna be here tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day. We live and we make vacations and we make plans as if we have another month, as if we have another year. We live our lives as if we have all the time in the world. But 4,000 people in America alone are gonna slip into eternity today. 150,000 people worldwide. When will that number tick up for you? No one knows his hour. No one knows his time. But death is coming. It's inevitable. Are you living for the world that is passing away or are you living for the glory of God? Jesus spoke of a man who was wise and a man who was foolish in Matthew 7, 24. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, he says, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them, not just hears, but does them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall. Why? Because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Dear friends, what have you built your house upon? What is your house built upon? What is your foundation? What is your purpose for every day? Your meaning in life? What is it you live for? What is it you desire? What is it that you find your identity in? Is it something that is perishing and passing away of this world? Or is it in Christ by faith? Oh, that we would be like that man of faith, Moses. In Hebrews 11, when it says, by faith, verse 24 in chapter 11, It says, by faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He chose rather to suffer and to be with the people of God, to obey God, to serve God, to follow God. He traded all the treasures of Egypt for that. Why? One's temporary, one's eternal. One's worthy of our worship and praise and obedience, and one is not. One has created us, owns us, deserves our lives and our obedience, and one doesn't. God is our creator. God is holy. God's name is lifted high above all names. He is the one that we ought to worship. He is holy, holy, holy. He is perfect. In Him and His Son, there is joy and fullness of joy. There is peace with Him by the blood of Christ, and there is pleasure forevermore in knowing the living and true God. The love that's eternal. Verse 17 of our text, 1 John 2.17, the last half says, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. What a sweet and glorious truth. Whoever does the will of God lives, abides forever. Without end. You live in the will of God. You're in Christ. You're living for Him. You'll live forever. We who are in Christ will never perish. Never. There's no condemnation. There's no attack. There's nothing. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. He's the one who justifies. Who is there to condemn? See, the Bible says that we should fear God and not man. Why? Because man can kill me, but that's all. He can't do anything with my soul. But God, after killing the body, can cast both body and soul into hell. Man can do nothing. I say it all the time. You can't really kill a Christian. You can only change his address. Those who are in Christ live forever. Eternal life is knowing God. John 17 verse 3. And having all the joy and blessedness that there is in God. This is eternal life. This is what it means to live. When we talk about eternal life, we're not talking about existence. We're talking about all of the joy and blessedness that there is in God. You see, the damned, they exist forever. In one sense, they live forever. But they don't have the joy of God. They don't have the pleasure of God. They're not in fellowship and relationship with the Father and the Son and the Spirit. They're in eternal death. Eternal death not being annihilation, not being a ceasing to exist, but eternal death being nothing but misery and pain and suffering under the wrath of God because of their sin and their rebellion and their rejection of the Lamb of God. Dear Christian, be encouraged. This is a blessed state for us who have faith in Christ, that nothing, nothing can do anything to our salvation. Our salvation cannot be lost, it cannot be taken, and it will never perish. It will never pass away. The world will pass away. All of the pleasures of the world are gonna pass away, but Christ will not. Eternal life will not. Being in relationship with God and right fellowship with Him, will never pass away. What John wants to warn against is worldliness. In 1 John chapter 2, the whole book of 1 John, we know that this is written with many tests throughout it to know whether or not we're truly saved. 1 John 5.13, he 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. You can know. You can have certainty that you're a Christian. You can know for certain that you're going to heaven. John writes many of these tests all throughout this book to help us have assurance and to know. He writes all these tests really to expose whether or not our profession is true or false. You see some of these leading up to where we are in chapter one, verse five and six. It says, this is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. How many people do we know that that's them? Or maybe it's you. Do you say that you have fellowship with God? Do you say that you love Him while you walk in darkness? Jesus says the same thing in John 12. He says, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness. You cannot love the world and love God at the same time. Chapter two, verse four, as we read earlier, whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments, liar, doesn't have the truth. Verse nine, whoever says he's in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. To be in the light is to love. Those who don't love don't know God. God is love. In our text, we see this test. Those who love God do the will of God. Here's the test in our text this morning. Here's the test for you to test yourself, to look at yourself. Those who love God do the will of God. Are you doing the will of God? Are you? You. Are you doing the will of God? The will of God is that we live holy and obedient lives, being conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The will of God is that we live for Him. Three texts, 1 Thessalonians 4. 1-8, it says, Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification. This is the will of God, that you be conformed into the image of Christ. that sin be purged out of you, and that you grow in holiness and righteousness, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, As we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you, for God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Listen to that, this is the will of God, your sanctification. God has not called us for impurity. He's called you in holiness. If you're a Christian, you are to live a holy and righteous life. Are you living a holy and righteous life? Are you growing in holiness? Are you looking less like the world as time progresses and more like Christ? Or do you only look the same or worse? Romans 12, Romans chapter 12, verse 2. It tells us, do not be conformed to this world. Do not love the world. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. How do you renew your mind? reading, meditating on the word of God. This is the truth. Jesus prayed in John 17 to the Father, sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. If someone says something contrary to the Bible, the Bible is right, they are wrong. When the culture says something contrary to us, they are wrong. When your friends or your co-workers or your family members think they're wise and they have it all figured out and the Bible's really dumb, they're wrong. The Bible is true, always true, perfectly true, and everything that contradicts it is false. You can bank everything on this. This is all you need. You live your life with your face in this book and you can't go wrong. This word is a lamp unto your feet, a light unto your path. How does a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. The Word makes us wise, the Word conforms us, the Word warns us, the Word reveals God and who He is to us. It's through this revelation that God has given us that we come to grow in our knowledge of Him and our experience of Him. renew your mind, fill your minds with the scriptures, fill your minds with the word of God, not all those other things out there, all those things that are passing away, all those things that are perishing, all those things that are temporary, fill your mind with the word of God. He says, be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. Here's the will of God. It is good, acceptable, and perfect, he further adds. Do you struggle? Well, before we get to that, 1 Peter 4, one more text. 1 Peter 4, one and two, says, Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. For the time that has passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passion, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. You beginning to see the picture of worldliness, of this passing world? This is the will of God, not to live for human passion. It's contrary to human passion. Do you struggle to do? Do you struggle to live for the will of God? Do you struggle in your Christianity? Do you fall short as you seek to live for God and be dead to the world? Are you weak in your faith at times? Are you trucking along the best you can, but you're stumbling, you're falling, but you're seeking to keep your face in the Word, you're seeking to keep your eyes lifted upon God, you're trusting Him? This is the will of God also, that you call on Him, rely on Him, and find refuge in Him. See, dear saints, you can't do it by yourself. You can't be holy in your own doing. You can't live for the will of God by the arm of the flesh. You need help, you need the Spirit, you need the Word, you need Christ. You could pray the prayer of David in Psalm 143, verse 10, and lean on the Lord and keep trusting him. He says, teach me to do your will. For you are my God, let your good spirit lead me on level ground. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on level ground. What a precious text. This also, shows us our need for the Word of God. The Word reveals truth to us, the Spirit empowers us to live it out. In our text in 1 John 2, as I already said earlier, He's giving us a test. He's exposing falsehood. He's warning the brothers and sisters in Christ, telling them not to love the world, warning them that loving the world is passing away. To love the world is not to have the love of the Father. To love the world is to perish. To love the world is to go to hell. But to love God, to abide in the will of God, is to live forever. This is the warning. He's forcing them to examine themselves. He does this all throughout here. And so church, what we need to do today is we need to examine ourselves in light of this text. As I started out this sermon with, if you look at your life, if you examine your life, where your desires are, where your passions are, where your goals are, what you give your time and energy to, What would you find? If you asked people in your family, people in the church, people in the workplace, people wherever you do your hobbies, if you asked them to describe you as a person, what kind of things would they say? What would be the description of your character? The warning here is to put your love in the wrong place is eternally costly. To love this world is to be damned. To love God is to abide. Jesus tells us along the same thought, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven. Who's going to heaven? The one who does the will of my Father. Jesus tells us very explicitly here, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, is going to heaven. They say they're a Christian. They say they're a Christian. They all say they're a Christian. We say we're Christians. If we are not keeping and abiding in the will of God, if we are not living in obedience to God for His glory, if we're not growing in holiness and sanctification, it doesn't matter what you say. Jesus says, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, is going to heaven. How do you know that you are? Where's your assurance? What is your hope lying in? In Mark chapter three, 33 through 35, Jesus says, who are my mother and my brothers? And then looking at those who sat around him, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Dear church, this text is very important. All the Bible is important. But this text we must wrestle with because in this text we find out whether or not heaven is our home or hell is our home. Do you love the world or do you love the Father? What are you living for? Where do you find purpose? Where do you find meaning? What is your identity, as I asked earlier? I want to ask this question, but I don't want to answer it for you, but I have two cautions. One, I don't want to trouble your assurance and leave you hanging. And secondly, I don't want to answer it because I want the question to linger in your mind that by God's will, He would work it for your good. And the question is this. If the people in Matthew 7 said, Lord, Lord, they believed that Jesus was their Lord. They believed that He was their Savior. They thought that He was their God. They're calling Him Lord, Lord, if those in first John two who say, I know him, thought they knew him, they claim to be in fellowship with him. These people thought they were Christians, called themselves Christians. We see in Hebrews that you can be deceived. If these people thought they were Christians. But on judgment day, found out, or heard from Christ, depart from me, all you workers of lawlessness. The question is, how can you know that that won't be you? If they believed that Christ was their Lord, they believed themselves to be saved, they believed themselves to be Christians, they were shocked when Jesus said this to them. We've done this, we've done that, all this in your name. And He says, depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness. If they believe themselves to be saved, and you believe yourself to be saved, and they found out they weren't, how do you know, dear friends, that that won't happen to you? Where's your assurance? Where's your certainty? What are you trusting in? What are you hoping in? And please, If this troubles your assurance, or you have questions, come to me, Jeff, Jack, Tony, any of the elders, and talk to someone, but I'm not answering the question for a reason. I want it to linger in your mind. One last time. If these people in Matthew 7 claim to know the Lord, found out that they were deceived, and they found their place in hell, how do you know that that won't be you? Do you love the world or do you love God? Brother Jeff.