 Yes. So we are in 1st John chapter 3. We will now look at verses 10 to 12. If we could have someone read out verses 10 to 12 in 1st John chapter. 11 also faster? From 10 up to 12. For this is a message that you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another. We should not be like King who was of the evil one and murdering his brother. And why did we murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteousness. Yes. Okay. So here we see that John is trying to show how can we know whether we are children of God or children of the devil? Who is a true Christian? Who is a fake Christian? So how can we tell the difference? So here the argument that he presents is that anyone who does not do what is right, that is they are living in disobedience, they are living in outright sin, they are doing whatever they want to do. And they are saying, oh, we are sinless, we are incapable of sinning. So these actions of ours, they are not actually sinful. Okay. So people who are doing that who are not living in obedience, we automatically know that they are not true Christians. The other argument he presents is people who also are not living in an attitude of love towards the family of Christ. Such people also are not true believers. So again, you know, we need to remember he's not making general statements just like that. He's talking in a very specific context. He's talking about this issue which has come up where this Gnostic Christians are making all kinds of allegations. And so he's very, very specifically thinking about that. What the believers are facing right now in the church because of all the accusations being made by the Gnostics and by all the strategies and schemes that they are coming up to pull away more and more people from the church and you know, take them into their Gnostic system. So it's against all of this that he is writing. Okay. So these are not just general statements statements that he is making. He's trying to clarify this particular issue. So he says, how can we know in the situation in which you are living right now in your church? How can you know who is a true Christian and who is a fake Christian? You will see that these people who are going around and saying all kinds of high, mighty things. But when you look at their lifestyles, they're living in sin. And they have the, you know, temporary to say, no, no, no, this is not sin. We are incapable of sin. Such people know for sure that they are not true Christians. And the other thing he says is, you will observe that these people, even though they are, you know, they claim to be having some superior relationship with the spirit of God, they are not living in love. Why? Because they're separating themselves from the church. They're making accusations. They're saying that you people are inferior. They're doing all of that. And they are not willing to mingle with you, sit with you, eat with you, fellowship with you because they think that they are something superior. And is that the attitude of a true Christian? So he says, another way that you can know whether they are true Christians or fake is that it can very, very clearly be seen that they are not willing to love all the other believers and be with them. They're very big on words. They're very big on these new theories that they're coming up with. But when it comes to the actual practical lifestyle, are they living in love? Are they reflecting the compassion of Christ in their everyday walk? So he says there is no attitude of love. In fact, they are living in a hostile manner and making all kinds of allegations against other believers. So such people, automatically you should begin to be aware that such people are not true Christians. And he goes on to give an example. He says, Cain was like that. Cain was like these people who do evil things, who live an evil lifestyle. And so they automatically hate those who are living a righteous lifestyle. So they automatically feel this hostility towards those who genuinely belong to God. And in the same way Cain felt this hostility towards his brother, these fake Christians are feeling a hostility towards us. So watch out is what he is saying. So it says over here, we should love one another. For this is the message you heard from the beginning, we should love one another. So do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? There's a reason why he murdered him. Why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous and he couldn't handle it. He did not want to be exposed as doing evil things. He did not like it. Look at the interesting point which John is making here. He says, why did Cain murder Abel? Did it have something to do with sacrifices? It says the reason why Cain actually murdered his brother is because his own actions were evil and God pointed a finger at him and said, why is your face downcast? If you repent and do what is good, you also will be accepted. So the issue over here is not just something about sacrifices. There's something deeper. God says, why is your face downcast? Why do you not do good? If you do good, you too will be accepted the same way Abel was accepted. So over here we come to the core of what Cain was angry about. He was very very angry that God was not accepting him and God was clearly pointing a finger and saying, your lifestyle is evil. It is sinful. It is not good. And that really upset him. On top of that God approved of his brother and declared him to be righteous and we have other scriptures which support this. We will look at even those verses but the main point that is being brought out here is that those who are living in wickedness and they are trying to pretend that they are righteous. When their double standards are exposed, it makes them upset and they have this hostility towards those who are truly righteous, who are not practicing hypocrisy and double standards but really standing for God, they can't stand that. It makes them angry. So just to kind of touch a little bit very briefly on this whole Cain-Abel thing because it's been brought up over here. Both of them come and make their offerings and people come up with all kinds of elaborate explanations about why Cain's sacrifice was rejected and why Abel's sacrifice was accepted. One popular argument is that Abel brought a blood sacrifice. He brought a lamb. On the other hand, Cain just brought grains and so that was not acceptable. Now, we do not know exactly what instructions God gave them regarding the offerings. If we are to think that they were giving a Thanksgiving offering where Abel was bringing out of the gratitude of his heart and Cain supposedly was bringing out of the gratitude of his own heart, they would obviously bring whatever they have in their hands. Abel being a shepherd would obviously bring a lamb. Cain, on the other hand, is not a shepherd. He is a farmer. He grows crops. So he would obviously bring whatever is his. Moreover, we see in Leviticus chapter 2 verse 2 and in other places that grain offerings were considered a pleasing aroma by the Lord. God is not upset that one person is bringing a sacrifice from his line of livelihood and the other person is bringing his offering from whatever profession he is practicing. So that probably is not why God was upset. Also, another thing that is said is that maybe Abel brought a really nice fat lamb. On the other hand, Cain, maybe he just brought something substandard. But then we can see how much Cain values God's approval. He wants to be approved by God. So obviously, he would not have brought something substandard and something that is half rotten. He would have brought his best crop, I'm pretty sure. So that probably is not why God says no to him. Also, there are some people who say that Cain must have brought a... They say that Cain brought a sacrifice but Abel brought a gift because that is the way the translation happens in the Old Testament Greek translation, the Septuagint. It refers to Abel's offering as gift. The word gift is used. On the other hand, Cain's offering is referred to as a sacrifice. So they say, you see, when you make a sacrifice, you only have to give a portion of it at the altar, the rest of it goes back home with you. So Cain must have brought a sacrifice. On the other hand, Abel just gave a gift, which means he doesn't take back any of it home. All of it stays over there in the presence of God. Now again, I don't know whether it's a very valid argument, simply because in the Hebrew, original Hebrew where the verse is given, Genesis 4 verses 4 to 5, both of them have the same word being used. Both of them are called gift. Cain's thing is called a gift. Abel's offering is also called a gift. So, which is why they say that what actually made Cain unacceptable was his lifestyle. The way he was living was not right. So it was irrelevant what he is bringing. Whatever he brings will be automatically irrelevant because he is not bringing his heart. He is living an evil lifestyle, but he is just trying to make an offering. Now let's look at another verse which can maybe back up what we have said. Of course, we have a very clear explanation given over here in 1 John itself, where you have verse 12. 1 John 3 verse 12 where it says, why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous. So he did not like that. In Hebrews 11-4, it says, By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks. So Abel was a man of faith. He trusted in the Lord. He obeyed the Lord. He lived in a way that pleased the Lord because he had completely placed his trust in God and wanted to be under him. So obviously in contrast we would have to say that Cain was not a man of faith. He was not trusting in God. He was not following God's ways. He was not living in a way that would please and honor God. So when he brought his sacrifice, God considered it unacceptable and God in fact gives him a second chance and says to him, why is your faith downcast? If you do well, you too will be accepted. So all you have to do is change your lifestyle, start doing righteousness. You too will be accepted. But Cain instead of repenting, he decides instead to go in the opposite direction and take out his anger against his brother. So over here, John is telling, Don't be perturbed. Don't be disturbed by the terrible things that these Gnostic Christians who are in an influential position, they are treating you so badly but do not be disturbed by them and do not be attracted by them because these are people who are not people of love. They are like Cain. They in fact dislike anything that is righteous. They in fact have a hatred towards the things of God. So do not be troubled when they say bad things about you. It is to be expected. They automatically hate you because they are evil and you are righteous and they can't handle that. And also do not be attracted to them because if you go to them, you will discover that they are not a people of love. There are people who do not have the love of God in them. So do not be misled by them. So this is one very important teaching that he is trying to bring out to the true believers in the church. So moving on to the next thing that maybe we can look at, what are real believers like? What kind of a love do they show? You see, it's very easy to talk love but then when it comes to actually living out a life of love in that kind of a lifestyle, that involves much more. And so I think this passage is very valid. It was not just valid in John's day. It is very valid even now. If I claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and if I say that I love the family of Christ, how am I expressing it? How am I expressing my love? It has to show up in my actions. It's not enough to just talk. So if someone could read out this chunk and even as we are reading this passage, I want us to look at what Jesus is saying over here through John. What is the Holy Spirit teaching us about how love should be shown? So if you are loving in this kind of a manner, then yes, you genuinely are behaving like someone who belongs to the family of Christ. So 1 John 3 verses 16 to 22, if someone could read out and if the rest of us could just pay attention to what is being said. By this we know love that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the worst goods and sees his brother in me, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abiding him? Let us children, let us not love and work or talk but indeed in truth. By this we shall know that we are proved and reassured our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we will seek from him because we give his commandments and do what pleases his commandments and do what pleases him. So here it says, if anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? So these fake Christians were probably in that category. They had money in their hands, they had influence on their side. But when they saw people in need, their own brothers and sisters in the Lord, they were not doing anything for them. And then it goes down to say, you know, okay, yeah. So in verse 18 he says, Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth, you know, in genuineness is what he's saying. And in verse 19, this is the teaching that he is giving us. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence. If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything. He says, you know, you need to make sure that you are living in the truth. When you go into his presence, your heart should be at rest in his presence. You should be able to say, okay, my heart is not condemning me. So how can you have a heart which is at peace when you go into his presence? If you are doing what pleases him, he is a God of compassion. He is a God of love. He wants to reach out to those who are in need and provide for them and help them. So when you go into his presence and you feel this restlessness in your heart and your heart is saying, you're not reaching out in love and being generous, then you better do something about it. So he says, if our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything. So when your heart is restless within you and it is telling you that you're being miserly or you're deliberately not helping, realize that God is greater. His heart is a heart of great compassion and much generosity and you are supposed to imitate him. So don't follow your carnal heart which wants to hold on to your positions, which doesn't really want to let go, which doesn't really want to be generous. Do not follow your heart which is little and narrow and restricted in its thinking, but rather realize that God is greater and he knows the motives of your heart. He knows whether your heart is being stingy and selfish or whether it is being generous and selfless. So when you're in his presence, your heart will stir up inside you. It will condemn you in case you are not living actually in love. You will sense it and so when you sense that, you know, take action. Bring yourself in line with him so that your heart can be at rest regarding this matter. On the other hand, if your heart is not condemning you, it means that, you know, you are living right. You are living in love with people and you are being generous. If that is the case, you can be confident and ask God for whatever you need because in the same way you were, you know, compassionate enough to provide for others. Now he will in the same way, compassionately provide for you. So you see in a way, what you are, you know, giving out to others, the measure in which you give out to others, it will be given to you in the sense how much compassion are you exercising in your interactions with the other fellow believers. In that same measure, God will also, you know, give to you. Of course, God is more generous than that. You know, even sometimes when we are miserly and unhelpful, he still helps us. But there's an important point being made over here when you go into his presence and your heart is stirred up about this thing. It says immediately take action, be at peace with him regarding this matter because God knows everything. He knows the motives of our hearts. And in the same way, we are being compassionate and generous towards others. He too will be compassionate and generous towards us. You know, when it comes to our prayers and our requests and our needs, very, very important passage, you know, and we can see a reference to this even in Deuteronomy chapter 15 verses 7 to 10, because they say that most probably, you know, John was picking up these principles that he's teaching over here. He was basically picking them up from Deuteronomy 15, 7 to 10. If you could turn in your Bibles to that, you don't need to read it. I'll just kind of highlight a few things. But the very, very same things which we talked about just now in 1st John, you know, chapter 3, the very same things you see them being mentioned over here in this Deuteronomy passage. So Deuteronomy chapter 15 verses 7 to 10, you know, in Deuteronomy 15, 7, it says, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards those who are in need. The exact opposite is mentioned in 8. Rather, be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need. And then in verse 10, it says, Deuteronomy 15, 10, it says, give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart. Don't give it grudgingly because you have to. You've been ordered by God and now there is no choice. Don't do it that way. Rather, give it generously because the Lord has been so merciful to you with your prayer requests. Whenever you went to Him, He gave you lavishly, generously. Now show that same love to others as well, you know. So it says in Deuteronomy 15, 10, 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 a very important vital teaching is being taught over here, you know, by John. He is saying, don't be like these fake Christians. They are big on words. When it comes to lifestyle, pathetic, they're very stingy. They have very hard hearts. Their hearts are not even moved by the pain that they see. So do not be like them. So having said that, just to add a word of caution or maybe a word of wisdom, whatever, you know, there are people who take advantage of this. They will go on and on asking you for financial support, but they will not get a job and begin to work. So if you see that, do not encourage laziness. God never supports laziness. If you open your book of Proverbs, he will use the harshest words about laziness. So never encourage someone's laziness. If they are genuinely in need and you are in a position to help them get back on their feet. So the thing to remember is don't just keep giving people fish. Teach them how to fish so that they can stand on their own feet and do their own fishing. Anything that you can do to help a person get back on their feet, please help them. And if they're in the process of trying to get back on their feet and they're still in the process and they have not reached, you know, got a job or something. Yes, very, very much help. Be very, very helpful. But never be a person that they can, you know, just depend on like one support and they never, ever bother to do their own fishing. No, that would be a very, very wrong way to go about it. So if someone is trying to get on their feet or do whatever you can to help them. But never, ever encourage laziness is what I would say from my side based on practical experience. Yeah. Another thing that I thought, you know, we could really talk about was this verse because again, there's a lot of controversy regarding this. So we've, you know, we just quickly come over here into chapter four. And the passage that I have in mind is chapter four versus seven to nine. So if someone could please read out, you know, first John chapter four versus seven to nine. Yes, ma'am. First John chapter four, seven to nine. Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He that loves not knows not God for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Here it says, you know, we let us love one another for love comes from God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. So after saying that you are a child of such a loving and compassionate God. And you know, if his sperm or in other words, his Holy Spirit is living in you, then you should be something like him. You should be imitating him. In fact, your heart should be like his heart. So obviously it is very, very essential that we should live in love and we should show our love to those who are in need. And then it goes on to say, how did God demonstrate his love? He did so by sending his one and only son into the world that we might live through him. You know, we would not even have life. We would die. We would be destined for hell. The only reason that we have of an eternal future in God's presence is because he sent his one and only son. And now the main problem over here is the way this particular term is translated. It has led to a lot of, you know, doctrinal confusion and it has unnecessarily brought us criticism from the Muslim community which say, oh, you're saying that God gave birth to Jesus, is it? Oh, that means he has a wife sitting somewhere and okay, what kind of a God is that? And there's a lot of unnecessary, you know, controversy that has been stirred up just because the translation was wrong. Okay, so we, I would really like to just touch upon this even though it may take a few minutes. So over here, the Greek word used over here in our chapter 4 verse 9. It says, this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his monogamous son into the world. Okay, God sent his monogamous son into the world. And KJV mistakenly translated it as only begotten. Okay, the only one given birth to, the only one given birth to, okay, would be the literal meaning of that. So that's the kind of wording that they used. And of course, even NKJV now continues to use that same word. But if you will notice in almost every other version, they are using the other term. They'll either just say only son or, you know, NIV tries to say one and only son. It's trying to bring out the actual meaning of the word. So NKJV, why are they still holding on to this term only begotten? Why do they translate this as only begotten? Because they believe that this word monogenes is derived from the root word genao, G-E-N-N-A-O. Okay, they believe that this word monogenes is derived from the root word genao, G-E-N-N-A-O. Because that particular word, that root word, it means to give birth to. Okay, but most scholars today will point out that monogenes is not derived from genao, but rather it is derived from another root word, a different root word, which is G-E-N-O-S-J-NOS. Now anyone from a science background would be actually familiar with this word genus species. You know, something which belongs to a particular genus or a particular species. So, their argument is that if monogenes has been derived from the word genao, then monogenes would have had two Ns in it. Because G-E-N-N-A-O has two Ns, monogenes would have been M-O-N-O-G-E-N-N-E-S. But that is not the case. If you look at in your Greek Bible, you will see that the spelling used over there is M-O-N-O-G-E-N-E-S, only one single N. So, the root word is not genao, which is giving birth to, but rather the root word is genus. So, what would, how would we understand that? It would be mono is of course one and the genus would be your, you know, your species or your kind. So one kind, you know, one specific category, one specific type or kind would be the meaning. Just to, you know, bring out a little more clarity regarding this, Hebrews 11-17 is a big help in understanding this. Because that, you know, it uses the same word over there for Isaac. And that really helps us. So if you could have someone read out Hebrews 11 verse 17. Is anyone here? Hebrews 11. Go ahead. By this is love perfectly. Hebrews 11-17. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son. Okay, so over here, it's the very, very same word that is being used. He was in the process of sacrificing his monogeness. Now we know very clearly that Abraham did not have only one begotten son, right? It's the very same word over here, monogeness. So over here, we will not translate this only begotten because we know very, very clearly that Abraham begat two sons. This was not, Isaac was not his only begotten. There was one more begotten, you know, which is Ishmael. So he had two sons. Then why on earth is Isaac being called only son? Because you see, he's the only species, the only kind of this type of son. Because this particular son is unique, he's different. He's one of a kind in the sense, God says, it is through him that I will make my covenant. Which is what it says in the next verse, Hebrews 11 verse 18. Even though God had said to me, said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. So this covenant will be established, the covenant which God is establishing with Abraham. I am choosing one particular specific son for that purpose. Through him, this covenant will be fulfilled. And so that son, I'm talking about that particular son, you sacrifice him the only kind or the unique kind. You know, if you were to literally translate the word monogenous, the one, the unique, the only species of his type. Okay, so like that in that sense, Isaac, so you can't just, you know, if Abraham had 10 sons, he can't go choose whom he wants to sacrifice. He has to sacrifice that unique type, the one which God has his eye on. So in that sense, Jesus, who was sent by God into the world, he is one of a kind son, that unique son. Not like any other, we are all children of God, right? But he is monogenous. He is one of a kind. He's one separate species and none of us is actually like him. You know, we will be like him in our character. So ethically, we will become like him when we see him, but we will never be, you know, from the very beginning without origin, always existing divine. No, we would never be that. So over here in this verse where God demonstrates his love, it is saying he sent his unique son, his one of a kind son. You know, that son is sent into the world so that we can have eternal life through him. It is not talking about God begetting or giving birth to Jesus. That term is simply not at all used, all right? So it just helps if we can know that because if someone from the Muslim community brings up that particular argument, we can explain to them and tell them. You see, that was just a mistake made in one or two translations. On the other hand, now we know, you know, a lot of work has been done, research has been done to show that the root word that was taken was not janao. The root word was genus, which basically is talking about one of a kind, one type, one species, that sort of thing. Something unique, something, you know, which is different from the others. So we could maybe, you know, answer along those lines if such an argument were to come up. Yes, brother, go ahead. Yes. Very quickly, Pastor, an observation and a comment. Number one, John 316 that we very, very much know that says, for the gospel of the world, that he gave. So it's not only begotten, it's just only son. Oh, you, I don't know, I'll have to go to my Bible hub and look it up. I do not want to answer that. Okay, okay. But if it is the same thing, because I presume we have established that is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John. There's writing this. So for on consistent basis, I believe maybe, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe after you check, if it's the same thing that it just goes to prove the authorship of both books. That's why I just wanted to observe. Yeah, I mean, who knows what if it monogenes is not used over there. I'll have to check that because only then you know, you can just go to Bible hub and look it up. So then the clarity would be there. So it's a very good question. I had not thought about that verse while preparing for this. Yeah. So let us see. And I'll put it in the stream page because you know, all of us who are in Google have access to the stream page. So I will post the answer over there without fail, maybe by the by evening or something. So you will be able to know all of us will be able to kind of look at that. I will throw light on that later. Oh, yes. Just moving on to another thing that I wanted to touch upon, which would actually be in our chapter five. Okay, we have 10 minutes, right? All right. So in chapter five, you know, I'm not I'm not talking about many other things which are mentioned in chapter four simply because there's a lot of repetition. John is really pouring his heart out. He's bringing out some main specific things. One of course is love and the other is, you know, putting your faith in him and, you know, you know, trusting in what was given to you originally. And then the third main theme that he keeps talking about again and again is that, you know, because we have been given the spirit, we must, you know, follow what was told to us by the spirit originally. These are the main concepts that keep running again and again. So I have not gotten into all of those because it would become a bit of a repetition for us. So coming over here into the fifth chapter, after having said all that he has said, now 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. So you know, he's like now like kind of reaching his conclusion tree. So he says, based on all these things I have told you, I've told you how you can distinguish between a fake Christian and a true Christian, how a true Christian would actually live, what their lifestyle would look like, you know, what their obedience would look like, what their attitude is regarding sinfulness, regarding perfection, they're not pretending that they are perfect. They know that they are perfect in the spirit, but they know that, you know, at the mind level, they would still need to work on themselves. So you know, he's just bringing out all of these facts and then having said all of those things, he assures him and says, see, because I know and that is why I have made a clear presentation of everything. So now you will know, I want you to know that you have eternal life, you know, he says. So he wants them to have that assurance that they are in the family of God, and that they have nothing to fear. And then he goes on to talk about verses 14 and 15, if we can look at. Yeah, someone could read out chapter five verses 14 and 15. From this is the confidence that we have to write him that if we ask anything going to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have access to him. Yes. Now, NIV says this is the confidence we have in approaching God. But actually that's not very accurate because over here that word that is Greek word that is used over here, it just literally means the constant confidence we have with God. Okay. So maybe that just that word with would have been a better translation. Okay. If you could just give me a minute. Yes. So if we were to literally translate that Greek word over there, rather than saying we have rather than saying approaching God, we would just say with God. This is the confidence we have. You know, when we are in him, when we are with him probably would be a better term because that's the same term that is used for, you know, describing Jesus in John 11 where it says in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. So that same term which is used over there is used over here. This is the confidence we have with God. You know, when you're literally in with him in his presence, when you're in his presence, we can have this confidence that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Okay. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him. So here are the word here, which is used over here. It's not talking about just someone who is hearing a sound, but rather it is talking about someone who hears and immediately reacts and responds to that and reaches out to, you know, do what is being said. So it's not talking about passive hearing where you hear a lot of sounds around you, but it's talking about active listening where you reach out to the person who is asking and you do something for them. So we can have this confidence that he's not just simply hearing in a passive way, but rather he's actively listening to what we are, you know, requesting and he will help us. So it's a very beautiful thing that he's telling these believers who are very confused or worried whether they are part of God's family or not. And John is saying over here, you can be confident that if you are in the presence of God, that if you are with him, your needs will be taken care of. Whenever you open your mouth, whenever you ask for anything, he's actively listening and he will reach out. He will give you what you have requested. So have this assurance. Do not be afraid. Do not wonder whether you're part of his family or not. So he is giving them this assurance. Another thought we can maybe just take away from this is we have verses which talk about how you should go into God's presence and place your requests before him. Of the most popular being in Hebrew 4 where it says go boldly to the throne of God. So yes, we are meant to go to him with our needs, but another way that we can see it is we don't just go to him. We are always with him, always in his presence, the same way the word was with God throughout eternity, always in his presence with him. We too actually are like that. So it's not like I said, you know, we are carrying all these burdens on our own. And then when the time of need becomes like really acute, then we go to him with his burdens and you know, life is a struggle. We don't have to look at life that way. We are always with him in his presence. He is carrying the burdens. We are just walking in step with him on a day to day basis and we just open our mouths and we talk to him and he listens to what we are saying and he responds. So we don't have to think of it as a lonely, difficult, hard life where we are carrying all these Christian responsibilities and we go into his presence with our burdens and we lay it down in front of him. You know, I mean, sometimes it's like so weighty. It is so difficult. On the other hand, don't picture yourself going into his presence. How they just picture yourself as always being with him because that's literally the Greek used over here. This is the confidence we have with God when we are in his presence. You're constantly there with him. He is constantly aware of what's going on in your life. So all you do in your time of need is you just open your mouth and you start talking to him and it says we know that he hears us. Whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him. So that's this deep assurance that we can have in his presence. Ouch, we are almost out of time. If I thought maybe we could really look at verses 16 and 17 because there's a lot of unnecessary controversy around these verses. And they're actually very, very simple because people generally pull them outright out of context. They have not gone through the entire first epistle of John the way we have gone through it. We have not looked at the background. They are not aware that these poor believers were struggling because of the Gnostics. The general believer is not aware of these things and so they just pull out verses 16 and 17 and get really confused about the whole thing. When actually there is nothing to be puzzled about over here in these two particular verses. So verses 16 and 17, if someone could very quickly read out those two verses please. Anyone see this brother? Pranik Singh has saved my leading to death. He is asking God to give him life. To those who come to sing that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrong doing is sin but there is sin that does not lead to death. Okay, so he is talking about brothers and sisters who commit a sin. He touched upon it already in chapter one. He said there will be times when you will sin. When you will fall because you still have an unrenewed mind. It will happen. When that happens, go to the Lord. Seek repentance. Confess your sins and God is just and faithful and he will forgive. So over here he is basically saying that he is wrapping up all the things that have been covered. So this is like a summation and he is saying. So when you see a brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death. You should pray and God will give them life. So here he is talking about believers, brothers or he is talking about people who are part of the family. So he is saying they made a commitment to the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus became the propitiation for their sin like it says in 1st John chapter 2. So we are not talking about these fake Christians. We are talking about true believers who made a genuine commitment to the Lord. They believed in the teachings which Jesus had originally taught and the Holy Spirit has confirmed that to them in their heart. They are standing upon the truth and so the sins which they are committing are not sins leading to death. They are already part of the family of God. So these sins which they are committing, yes, what they are doing is sinful. They must repent and when they do that God will forgive them. So these are not sins leading to death in the sense all of their sins have already been paid for and washed away by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. So anything that they do tomorrow, anything with any sin that they commit next week, that sin does not lead to death. Your next week sin does not lead to death simply because the atoning sacrifice already has finished washing away all of those sins and God's wrath is not against you any longer. So please pray for these believers. Pray that the Lord would forgive them that they would get back on their feet and the assurance given is that they will be given life. Resurrection life, when the rest of the believers receive it, they too will receive resurrection life because these people are feeling scared whether they are part of God's family and they are worried what's going to happen to them. So John is assuring them and telling them the sins that you do do not lead to death. There's a propitiation that has been made for you. You are now righteous. So do not be afraid. You will have life. You will be given eternal life, resurrection life after you die. So you are in the family. You have nothing to fear. Go ahead and intercede for one another. Support one another in prayer so that you will remain strong and not sin. But if you sin, you will still be forgiven. You can still have resurrection life. But there is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. He clearly clarifies. He says and so he again clarifies and says all wrongdoing is sin. And there is a sin that does not lead to death. So the things which the believers are doing, yes, it is sinful. But the propitiation of Christ has already taken care of that. So your sins will not lead to death. You will still have eternal life after you die. On the other hand, these fake Christians who are doing the sinful things that they are doing, those sins will definitely take them to their death. No point in interceding for them because if you intercede for them, those sins will not just simply be removed because they have to first of all come to Jesus and say Lord, we believe that you were fully human and you were fully divine and you actually went on the cross physically and made an atoning sacrifice for us. They have to admit all of those things which they are denying right now because of their Gnostic background. They would need to make that full commitment only then can their sins be forgiven. Otherwise, the sins which they are doing are definitely leading to their deaths. No point in offering a prayer for them because they are headed for judgment unless they submit to Christ and actually accept all the truth about Him. So it's just basically talking about that. It's not talking about some great mysterious hidden sin that leads to death and another kind of sin which does not lead to death. It's nothing mysterious about this passage. It's just talking in line with what He has already said throughout His epistle. I'm so sorry I've eaten up your time. I'll just say one sentence of prayer and we'll close. Lord Jesus, we just thank you so much for the things that we could cover today and Lord, I pray that all these important lessons, you will bring them back to our minds as and when we require them. Bless the students of Lord even as they work on all of their final assessments even as we are wrapping up the semester. Thank you Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much for being patient and yes, we will log off right now.