 So before the break, we were looking at how the children of God differ from the children of the devil in that the children of God will do righteousness. And the other difference that we see between the two categories is that the children of God will walk in love unlike the children of the devil who have murder and hatred in their hearts. So John now goes on to explain how the true children of God walk in love towards one another. What does it mean in practical everyday terms? So that he explains in verses 16 to verse 22. So if we could please have someone read out for us verse John chapter 3 verses 16 to 22. But this we know love because he laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for brothering. But whosoever has this world is good, goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him. How does the love of God abiding him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Amen. So here we see that it's not enough to love with words or speech like it says in verse 18. Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. So it's not enough to just say loving words. When it comes to action also we should be willing to display love. And here he specifically is talking about how when a believer is in need then we who are financially in a stronger position must not close our hearts to that person but we should give to them generously. So he goes on to say if we have this attitude then our hearts are at rest in the presence of God. God is pleased with us. On the other hand when we go into God's presence and we feel our hearts condemning us, it is because God who is greater than our hearts, God who is compassionate, God who is loving, whose heart is not like our sinful self-centered human hearts. So he convicts us and he causes our heart to be restless. So if that happens then we need to repent because if we repent and we act in love towards our brethren, then it says in the next verse, our hearts will no longer condemn us and we will have confidence before God. What confidence will we have before God that we will receive from Him anything we ask because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. What pleases Him over here in this particular case, us being generous and kind towards those who are in need. So we choose to lay down our lives like it says in verse 16 rather than shutting our hearts to the people who are in need. We choose to open our hearts to them and give to them because doing that pleases the Lord and when we have that kind of an attitude, our heart does not condemn us anymore when we go into His presence. On the other hand, if our hearts are being selfish and very miserly and stingy, then God who is greater and who knows everything, He condemns us in our hearts. And so if we feel convicted in the presence of God that we are not extending the help which we should be extending to other believers, then we should take that seriously and we need to lay down our life like it says in verse 16. In the sense we are willing to give them generously these people who are in need. And Deuteronomy 15 verses 7 to 10 brings out the attitude with which we need to give. It's a very good description of how giving should be done. So if you were to just turn in your Bible, Deuteronomy 15 verses 7 to 10, it says in verse 7, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them, rather be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need. And then in verse 10 it says, give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart. Then because of this, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. So very, very practical advice that is given over here in Deuteronomy 15. Don't be hard-hearted, don't be tight-fisted, rather be the opposite where you're not tight-fisted but completely open-handed and you're freely lending out. And how are you doing it? You're not grudgingly because you have to but rather because you care for that person with the same love that God has for that person. So he is saying it's not enough to love with word, John is saying in chapter 3, it's not enough to love with words or speech, but it must be done with actions and in truth, that is with genuine love which expresses itself in action. So if we are aware of people who are in desperate need and they are trying to get back on their feet, then maybe if we are in a position where God has blessed us financially, then maybe we can extend the helping hand and help those people get back on their feet. There may be families where they are trying to educate their children so that those children will be able to get a good education and be able to get good jobs and be able to stand on their own. So in such cases, if we are able to extend help, if we are able to help these children with their education extending some kind of financial help, that is a good thing because you are helping someone to stand on their feet in the same way. If someone has lost their job due to the recession and they have not been able to get another job for a long time and you know that that family is going through very desperate times, then maybe whatever little bit that you can do for them, you would be willing to do for them. So it's talking about instances like that. However, a word of caution regarding this matter, there are some believers who have this very bad habit of always leaning on other people and never standing on their own feet. Now that is not something which the Bible ever encourages. The Bible never encourages laziness. So if somebody is taking advantage of the love and concern being expressed by other believers and they are taking advantage of them and exploiting them, the scripture does not say that we need to support such people. So there is a right way to do it and we have to be cautious that we are not encouraging anyone to remain lazy. So to use the example which people use, that fishing example, don't just keep giving people fish, teach them to fish. So it is good when they are still learning fishing and they still do not know how to fend for themselves, help them, be there for them. But down the line, get them to become independent where they can do their own fishing. So yes, when the person is down and out, we should be there to extend help. But see to it that they get back on their feet and take responsibility for themselves and their own family and start working and earning. So as long as we do this in the correct way, because proverbs, especially proverbs, talks about laziness and how God hates laziness and how it's against people who do not take responsibility for their lives. So keeping that in mind, as long as we choose to help people who are in need, this is something that pleases the Lord is what it says in verse 22. So he speaks about the love that we need to have towards one another in practical terms and then he continues this idea of laying down our lives. So in the same way Jesus laid down his life, we too must be willing to lay down our lives. And along those lines, he also talks about verses 7, 8 and 9. So we are in chapter 4 now. First John chapter 4, if someone could please read out for us verses 7, 8 and 9. Yeah, first John chapter 4 verses 7, 8 and 9 please. Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not love God for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested in the word answered. God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Yeah, it very clearly John says in verse 8, he says, whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. So if we are saying that we are followers of this living God, a God who is love, then we must be walking in love. So if we are not showing any concern or compassion for one another, if we are not there for the other believers, then it proves that maybe we don't even belong to God because God is love. So and if Christ is being formed in us, then we will obviously have to at least look like him in our actions, in our choices. So he goes on to talk further regarding this, but we will pause here for a moment at verse 9 to clear up a wrong teaching that sometimes creeps in due to the defective translation of this particular verse. So verse 9, it says, this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his, if you are reading NKJV, you would say he sent his only begotten Son. If you are reading NIV and many of the other versions, he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. Now this term begotten Son has created all kinds of problems for the Christian community, especially with the Muslims who debate and they say, okay, according to your scriptures, God seems to have begotten Jesus. He has given birth to Jesus is what they say. So they say Jesus is a created being. So he is just maybe a prophet. He is not really God. That's one line of argument which the Muslim debaters take up when they are speaking with Christians. So just to throw light upon this verse, NKJV translates this verse and says, God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. And it's the same even in John 3.16. John 3.16 also has got the very same wording. Now, why do NKJV translators use this particular wording? It's because they believe that this term, his only begotten Son in your Greek that would literally be his monogenes son. That only begotten, that word only begotten which they have translated. It's actually the Greek word monogene. And so they choose to translate this Greek word monogene as only begotten. Why do they do that? Because they believe that the Greek root word from which this word monogene has been taken, they believe that the root word is genao, which literally means to give birth to. So they believe that the Greek root word which is used over there is genao, to give birth to. So therefore they translate it as God has sent his only begotten son. His monogene is only begotten son. But many of the other translators including NIV, they say if the root word is actually genao, then how come John did not spell this word differently? Monogenes should have had two Ns. If the root word is genao, then monogenes should have had two Ns. But then if you look at the original Greek, there is only one N. And so they say maybe the root word is actually not genao. Maybe the root word used over here, the root word which John had in his mind was the other Greek word genus or genos, g-e-n-o-s. You know this is a word that we are very familiar with if we are from a science background. We talk about how all the animals belong to different genus, different species. So this is that word g in English. We use the spelling g-e-n-u-s, but of course in Greek it's g-e-n-o-s. So they say it has one single N. So maybe the root word is actually genos. And this monogenes is meant to signify that. And so they translate this particular verse as one and only son. Rather than using that other term genao which is talking about begetting, giving birth to, they choose to use the other translation which is one and only. In a sense, genus is basically talking about one species, unique species or one of a kind species. So that word genus, it's talking about one specific type. So this son of God is one specific type. One and only. I mean there's no other like him. He's unique. He's one of a kind. And they also use another argument to back up what they are saying because the same word monogene gets used also in Hebrews 11, 17, where it's talking about Isaac's son. And over there, Isaac's son is described as one and only son. So if we were to look at Hebrews 11 verse 17, it reads over there, he who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his monogenes son. He was about to sacrifice his, you know, NKJV of course will say his only begotten son and NIV will say one and only son. But how are we to understand Hebrews 11, 17? If we were to say that Isaac is one and, that Isaac is his only begotten son, it does not make sense because Abraham did not have only one begotten son. He had two begotten sons. So Isaac cannot be called only begotten because Isaac was not the only begotten. Ishmael was also begotten. On the other hand, if you're taking this monogene, the word monogene to mean one of a kind, then it makes perfect sense because God said that he is supposed to sacrifice that particular, that unique son Isaac. It would not have, you know, fulfilled God's purposes if he, you know, had gone to sacrifice any other son. Why? Because this is what God says in the next verse and it's literally there over there in Hebrews 11 verse 18. So in Hebrews 11, 17, it says, he who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his monogenes son. Even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. So this is one of a kind son. This is the son through whom God is going to establish his covenant. This is the son through whom God will be, you know, reckoning the future generations as part of his covenant. So this is a one of a kind son, this Isaac. And this is the son which Abraham becomes ready to sacrifice. So most of the translations will say only begotten was a wrong translation. The root word actually was Janos, which has got a single N. And so the word monogenes also has got a single N. On the other hand, if Genavo, which means giving birth to had been the root word, then John would have used two Ns in the monogenes. So this is all grammatical, but it helps bring out a very important concept that it's not talking about God giving birth to Jesus. It's not talking about, like, you know, some Muslims very critically say God got married and then he gave birth to a son. It's not saying any of those things. It's talking about one of a kind son, a divine being who is equal with a father. So John is talking about that son coming into the world and being offered as a sacrifice on our behalf. That was the kind of love that God expressed. And now we believers are supposed to express that same kind of love towards one another. So he builds further on this concept in the next few verses where he says, this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. So he says, dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. And then he says in verse 12, no one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. You see, nobody has seen the unseen God except Jesus Christ, you know, who has literally seen the Father. So no one has seen God, but what they can see is the love in which we live towards one another. That demonstrates to the world who this unseen God is. So they cannot see the unseen, they cannot see the unseen God because he's, you know, he's not physically visible. But when they look at the Christian community and how the Christian community lives, you know, in their interactions with one another, they begin to understand that, oh, this living God, he is love. And this is, you know, the kind of attitude that he has towards the people that he has created. They understand that from the lifestyle that we live. So therefore, John says over here in verse 12, no one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. So this is what the people will be able to see, the world will be able to see, you know, in us. Alright, if we were to move into 1st John chapter 5, if we can have someone read out verses, we are from verse 1 up to verse 5, please. 1st John chapter 5, verses 1 to 5, please. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God, and everyone who loves him, who begot also loves him, who's begotten of him. By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God, overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is He who overcomes the world, but He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Amen. Amen. So there are two aspects of overcoming that are talked about over here. One of course is keeping the commandments of God. So a person who loves the Lord, who has been made complete in this person. So that person is eager to purify themselves. They're eager to imitate Christ. They're eager to walk in love towards other believers. That is the way they are. So they don't find the commands of God burdensome. They're eager to fulfill it because they want to please Him. They want to bring joy to the heart of the Lord. So the commands of the Lord are not burdensome and they choose to overcome the world in the sense. They choose to overcome the evil temptations, which are fighting against the commands of God. So they choose to keep the commands of God rather than given to those evil pleasures of the world. So in that sense they are overcomers. But there's another kind of overcoming as well. That is, this is the victory that has overcome the world. It says in the second part of verse 4. This is the victory that has overcome the world. Even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. So here very note directly, he's pointing towards those fake Christians with their false doctrines. They are people who first of all were not overcoming the world in the sense they were indulging in the things of the world rather than overcoming them. But the reason that they were acting like that, living as part of the world, indulging in the things of the world is because their faith first of all was founded on the wrong things. They did not believe in the Son in the divine and in the divinity of Jesus and the humanity of Jesus. They did not believe in the full divinity and the full humanity of Jesus. Their faith was based on wrong doctrines. So people who have the right faith, who truly believe in the full divinity of Jesus and who fully believe in the full humanity of Jesus. Such people, because of the faith in the right doctrine which they have, they will automatically keep the commandments of God and overcome the sinful pleasures of the world. Because they have been renewed on the inside by God due to the faith which they have placed in him. So he goes on to talk about the right kind of faith which a believer needs to have because that's the starting point. Once you have that right faith in the right doctrine and you have become a part of the family of God, then that desire is there inside you to follow his commandments and you start overcoming the world, you start living in victory over sin. So the starting point is having the right faith in the right doctrine and he goes on to talk about how these false teachers are promoting a wrong doctrine and that is what is mentioned in verses 6, 7 and also in both 6 and 7, 6, 7, 8. If someone could read out, there's an important point that he is making over here regarding these false doctrines. So verses 6, 7 and 8 please. This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not only by water but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is truth for there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one and there are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water and the blood and these three agree as one. Yeah, it sounds all very mysterious to us because I mean we are not really getting what John is saying but when we look in the context of the background of these false doctrines it becomes clear. You see when we talked about those Serentians if you remember in our introduction, they were the people who believed that temporarily for a little while Jesus became divine. So the Serentian Gnostics, their viewpoint was that Jesus was born as a normal human being but then during the time of baptism when he descended into the waters at that time they say the Christ Spirit came into him and so he became temporarily divine. But then when he was hanging on the cross, the Spirit of Christ leaves him and goes away and he comes back to being a normal human being. That was their belief. So they believed in the water but they did not believe in the blood. So here in verse 6 John is saying, this is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only but by water and blood. In other words he is saying the water represents the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Okay, so at that time he was fully divine, fully human. The blood represents the end of his ministry. At that time also he was fully divine, fully human. That is the true doctrine. On the other hand these people, they are placing emphasis on the water part of it, the baptism part of it because you see they are Gnostics. They are talking about secret revelation, secret knowledge, all of that. So they believed that the Holy Spirit descended upon some chosen ones and imparted some divine revelation to them and then they would have mystic visions and all kinds of supernatural experiences. Those are the things that they were emphasising upon. So they were teaching that when Jesus went into the waters, something happened to him. The Spirit came upon him. He became something else. And so now they, the chosen ones are also having those kind of supernatural experiences. So they had much belief in the water but they had no belief in the blood. So the sedentions in fact went to the extent of saying that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, the Spirit of Christ left him and went off. And he just became a normal human being. They are denying the power of the blood. They are denying what Christ did on the cross. But John says in verse 6, the Spirit who testifies to the truth, he says that Jesus came not just by water but by blood. That is, he not only did the first portion of baptising and being baptised but he has also done the latter part where he has become an atonement for us. There was another doctrine which some people had. It was promoted by somebody named Basilite. It doesn't really matter. It may not come in your exam. So that person, he taught the wrong doctrine that, you know, if you remember when Jesus was, after Jesus was flogged and whipped and all of that, he was asked to carry his cross up to Kolkota. Because the criminals were supposed to carry their own cross all the way to the place where they would be crucified. So at that time Jesus had been already so weakened by the torture and the whipping. He did not have the strength to carry that large heavy wooden beam. And so then the catch hold of one conlooker, someone named Simon of Syrene, and they make him carry the wooden beam because Jesus is not in a condition to carry it. And so this false teacher, he came up with the doctrine that God miraculously made the Simon of Syrene look like Jesus. So actually the person who got hung on the cross was not Jesus. It was Simon of Syrene. Now we know it makes us wonder why all these silly theories, what on earth do they have against Jesus dying on the cross? Why they're denying that? It's Satan's desperate attempts to somehow, you know, wipe out all records of what was done on the cross. You see, he got the shock of his life. He thought that by putting Jesus on the cross, he's going to have a great victory. He didn't realize that thing, that act of humiliation which he thought is going to be doing to the Son of God. He didn't realize that that is going to be the final ultimate action of victory and triumph. So ever since then, in the first early days of the church, he wanted to somehow quash what had been done. He wanted to somehow hide all traces of what had been accomplished on that cross so that the power of the cross is completely taken away, wiped out. And the church goes off into all kinds of mystical experiences and all kinds of spiritual encounters and all those fake new age, maybe we could call it old age, but, you know, like the kind of new things which are coming up. Satan wanted to take the church into those kind of mystic things because, you know, like it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 6 to 8, none of the rulers of this age understood it for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. I mean, they didn't realize what a great act of triumph was going to come out of that cross. And so these rulers of the age, you know, they allowed it, thinking that they were accomplishing something. And then when they realized that they had been completely, totally defeated through the cross, then they wanted to wipe out all the truth about the cross. And so you had this series of false teachings rising up one after the other, trying to take away the power of the cross. I mean, if you were to come up with this theory that Jesus was just a human and then when he was hanging on the cross, the Spirit of Christ left him and went away. You're talking about one normal ordinary human being dying for other sinners. In what way would that be effective? We needed a fully human person who will represent humanity and we also needed a fully divine being who is completely sinless and who can pay the price on our behalf. If you take away the full divinity and full humanity of Christ, there's nothing left on the cross. There's no power left in the cross. So these false teachers were being used by Satan to try and somehow wipe out the power of the cross. So today we should just stand on this gospel because there's great power in the simple gospel. I mean, if we are not high-five preachers who can sound like accomplished speakers, doesn't matter. If we can just present the power of this cross and what Christ did on that cross for us and if we can tell that the simple act of trusting in the work of the cross can change your life. It can lead to Christ coming into your life and you can be renewed. The Holy Spirit will change you into a new creation. We can just present these simple facts even though they don't sound as philosophical and wise as maybe the teachings of the New Age people. Doesn't matter if we don't sound as influential and soothing as them. But this power in this and Satan is now bringing in the New Age teachings because he doesn't want people to understand the power of this cross and what was done on it because in that lies the solution for humanity. In that lies the salvation for humanity. So there is great power in this and even today, at that time they had those false doctrines of that age. Today we have a new set of wrong teachings which are attracting people away. Christians are talking about meditation and they don't really mean meditation on the scriptures. They are talking about other kinds of meditation. They are talking about all kinds of energies and powers which are there which they can draw upon and a lot of mysticism is creeping in. Christians are getting into such things and they are denying the power of the cross. So in verse 7, this is what John says. For there are three that testify the spirit, the water and the blood and the three are in agreement. So these false teachers want to emphasize the spirit and the water but they want to ignore the blood. They want to ignore the work that was done on the cross. But all the three are in agreement. You can't say you're going to accept two and leave out the third. All three are testifying to one truth. Of what Jesus Christ did in his full humanity and his full divinity on this earth. So you can't just take two witnesses and try to stifle the voice of the third. The blood is also speaking the same thing which the other two are speaking. And so because all the three are in agreement and testifying about what Jesus has done they can't just accept half the gospel and reject the other portion of it. So that's the case which John tries to build up to defend the true faith over here. And therefore he says in verse 13, he says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. He's saying be assured that you do have eternal life and we do not know what is awaiting us but all those things are there for you. It is a reality. So he's assuring them that they do not need to be shaken by these false teachers just because they sound so intellectual and so spiritually superior. And then in verse 14, this is what he says. This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask we know that we have what we asked of him. This is in a way partially connected to what we had seen earlier an earlier scripture where it talked about oh I wish I had noted down that verse at that time. In that portion where we were talking about the attitude with which we need to love one another where it's not just in words but also in action. If someone could please find that verse for me. Okay, okay. First John chapter 3, verse 18 onwards and then when we come down a little bit. Yes, verse 22. So in first John chapter 3, verse 22, this is what John had said. We receive from him whatever we ask because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. So when we adopt this generous attitude towards other believers and we help them, we give them what they require. In the same way God also is generous with us so we can have the confidence that he will be equally generous with us and give us all that we require at our end. And the same thing is being voiced over here in this fifth chapter. This is the confidence we have in approaching God that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us because we are walking according to his will. We are open handed in our generosity towards believers in need so we are following whatever he has laid on our hearts and because of that when we come to him, he will hear us. And it goes on to say in verse 15, if we know that he hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him. Now over here this first portion in verse 14 where it says this is the confidence we have in approaching God. Now that would be the NIV. Can someone read out for us the NKJV version of that? Verse John chapter 5 verse 14. If you could read out. Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. Okay so here the NIV has not done that well in the translation. This is the confidence we have in him. It's not just us approaching him. You know we are literally our status is that we are constantly in him. It's not that we just approach him from time to time but rather we are literally always in him because the Greek over here that is you the word, the term that is used over here you know Prostantheon. That is the exact Greek phrase that is used in John 1.1 It says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. That same word, the word was with God. That is what is used over here. This is the confidence that we have in God, with God. You are literally in the presence of God always. And when you are in that kind of a position where you are always in him, with him and therefore because of that you are walking in his will. When your position is that you can automatically ask him whatever you require and he will hear and he will provide. So that's the Greek phrase. It's not talking about people, believers who only approach him from time to time. That's another aspect of it. I mean we see that in Hebrews chapter 4 where it says how we approach the throne of God with our needs and then we will be given what is required for us. You know that is there. So yes in that literal sense it is true that we approach the throne of God but it's also a reality that we are continually constantly in him. The same way the word was with God always continually in his presence. We too are in him continually. And so understanding that if we align our will with him and we ask our requests with that attitude you know with the daily we are aligning our will with him whatever we are asking for he will hear he will grant. That is the assurance that John is giving to the believers over here. And so he goes on to say because we have that kind of a privilege where God is willing to give us all that we are asking for this one prayer request which we can make for believers is what he says. And he goes on to talk about verses 16 and 17 a lot of controversy surrounds these verses but if you look in the overall context you know it's very simple what he is saying over here if someone could read out for us verses 16 and 17. Anyone says his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death he will ask and he will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that you should pray about that all unrighteousness is sin and there is sin not leading to death. So if you look at first John he's been talking throughout about the false teachers and he's been talking about assuring the true church that they are the children of God so they don't have to be worried about what the false teachers are saying in the same context he's now talking about a sin which leads to death and he's talking about sins which do not lead to death. So he admits in verse 17 he says all wrongdoing is sin. Like he explained right in the first chapter itself we are people who do wrongdoing sometimes and it is true that God sees it as sin. So we do admit that yes sometimes we know we sin it is something that a believer must admit but these sins do not lead to death because there has been a propitiatory work done on our behalf so the sins which the believers are doing does not lead to death so when you see a believer, a brother or a sister committing a sin and they are believers they are committing a sin it is not going to result in eternal condemnation so in such cases please pray for these people that they will come back to God that they will not continue to backslide because at that time the real danger was that these people would go away to the false teachers they would leave the true church and go away if they continue in their sinful ways because once you start sinning the teachings of the false teachers will start sounding very pleasing and there you don't have to lead a holy life so he says if you are seeing a brother or sister committing a sin and you know that this kind of a sin does not lead to death please pray for them please intercede for them so that they will be able to enjoy the resurrection which God has promised and it says over here and God will give them life it is talking about the resurrection life which has been promised to all of us for whom there are great things awaiting which the details of which have not yet been revealed so he says please intercede for such believers pray for them now I am not asking you to pray for the people who are sinning you know and their sin is going to lead to death so he is saying I am not asking you to intercede for the fake you know believers I am not asking you to intercede for those false teachers and the false church I am not asking you to intervene for them and intercede for them because their sin is going to lead to death But these true believers, when you see them sinning, don't take it lightly, intercede for them because we are in the presence of a God who will hear our prayers, who will give us whatever we require. So he is asking them to guard each other, to preserve the true church, to preserve the true believers so that they do not have to suffer. So that is the aspect which is actually being brought out in this verses 16 and 17. It's not talking about some mysterious sin which will lead to death and some other mysterious sin which will not lead to death. No, it's just talking about believers, when they sin, like he says very plainly in verse 17, all wrongdoing is sin. But then there is a sin that leads to death and in the case of believers, it's not that kind of a sin because all of our sins have already been cleansed through the work of atonement of Jesus Christ. So such people, if other believers can prayerfully intercede for them and if they can help in pulling them back from backsliding, then they too can enjoy the resurrection life which Christ has promised to all of us. So we literally have about 2 minutes left. There are no questions posted. So yeah, maybe we can conclude with a word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much for all the learnings that we were able to get from this first epistle. Lord, we are living in an age where the gospel is getting diluted. Christians are chasing after the things of the world just like the pagans and so they would prefer to hear a diluted gospel which is not calling for full commitment, which is not calling for full righteousness and Lord, we who are living in a world like that, we pray O Lord that you would help us to continue preaching the true gospel, that you would cause us to emphasize the things which you have laid stress on, living in love towards one another, living in righteousness, overcoming the world, having the true faith to which the Spirit Himself is testifying. O Lord, help us to hold on to these things and with great emphasis present them before believers so that Lord, nobody is led the way, so that nobody falls into stagnation or falls into a very slack attitude. But that Lord, we would all remain passionate, we would continue purifying ourselves so that Lord, we can walk into the things which you have planned for us in the new heaven and the new earth. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you.