Text: 1 John 2:15-28
Father, we want to do your will today. We want to rejoice always. We want to give thanks in all circumstances. We want to pray without ceasing. We thank You for the privilege to gather as Your family, as brothers and sisters under the lordship of Christ Jesus. We pray that You would be exalted in our midst. Holy Spirit, we ask that You would come and reveal and illuminate the beauty of Christ and the glory of Christ and the all sufficiency of Christ and the supremacy of Christ. I pray that we would fall in love with You, Lord Jesus. Take us back to be with the Father. Thank you, Lord. We pray that You would speak now through Your word. In Jesus Name, Amen
If I were if I were to pick one person in the Bible to learn from, to emulate, it would be Apostle John. He wrote the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, and Revelation. And you remember John – he is the son of thunder who wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village because they utterly rejected Jesus’ request for I guess food and lodging. He said, can we call down fire? Can we can we burn up these people who rejected you? That was why he was given the nickname, son of thunder, along with his brother James.
Then, look at the transformation. Look at how much he changed. He became the apostle of love. He loves Jesus. He loves the brothers and sisters.
1 John 2
15 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
The one point for today is know the Truth, capital T, know the Truth and you will never be deceived by that which is false. Know the Truth, Jesus Christ, know Jesus and you will never be deceived by an antichrist.
John begins this letter 1 John 2:15 about a warning not to love the world. And he breaks it down – the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. And we know that as Christians, we are in the world but not of the world. And I just want to unpack that a little bit more.
Why is worldliness for a Christian so deadly? Why is it not an option that Christians, we are not of this world? We are not like this world. We’re not pursuing this world. Why is worldliness for a Christian deadly?
It says, if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. I just want to read some other verses where John talks about the world.
1 John 3
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Did you know that the world does not know you? The world does not know you in the same way that when Jesus came into the world, it says in John 1 that the world did not know Him. Does that mean they didn’t know He existed? Does that mean they never heard about Him? No, they didn’t know Him. They didn’t receive Him. They didn’t believe in Him. They did not know Him.
And for the church, the world does not know us. Plain and simple.
The world does not know us and that means that the Church, the true Church is a hidden Church. The Church is not the big megachurch pastor on TV, whom all the world knows about. No, the true Church is hidden.
The true Church is hidden. The world does not know us. It’s like, who are you? You’re so peculiar. You’re so odd. You’re not like us. That’s the reaction of the world toward the Christian and toward the true Church.
1 John 3
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
Why did Cain murder Abel? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. Not only does the world not know you, did you know that the world hates you? We don’t love the world because the world doesn’t know us and we don’t love the world because the world actually hates us.
And he talks about love vs hate. It says, love the brothers. Do not hate the way Cain hated his brother. And you have to understand, why did Cain hate Abel, at bottom? Why did he hate? And why did he murder Abel? Because Abel was righteous.
Cain was unrighteous. And this does not mix. Unrighteousness and righteousness do not mix.
So when an unrighteous world looks at a righteous believer or a righteous Church, what is the only reaction that the world has toward the Church? The world hates us, and if given a chance, the world will kill us.
You know in the state of New York, they just passed a law that you can abort a baby up until the day before he or she is born. And after that law was passed, you know what happened? The lawmakers stood up and they gave a standing ovation. Cheering for the murdering of babies.
A day before, I mean, we know that life begins at conception. How horrific, how grotesque, the day before a baby is born, you’re going to authorize in the state of New York that you are allowed to abort a baby, that you’re not murdering according to the law.
See, this is an unrighteous world. This world will murder you as a righteous believer if given the chance. That is why Lot, it says in 2 Peter 2, when he was living in Sodom and Gomorrah, an unrighteous city, what did it say about himself? It said, his righteous soul was tormented by what he saw and what he heard.
We don’t love the world. We are repulsive to the world. It’s nothing personal. The world hates you. It’s nothing personal. It is purely spiritual. The world hates you because you stand for Jesus. Because you love Jesus. Because you will stand on the side of righteousness. You will say, no, that is murder in the state of New York.
We don’t love the world because the world does not know us. The world actually hates us. And if given a chance, the world will murder us.
1 John 5
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Do you believe this? Do you believe that the whole world is under the power of the evil one? Of Satan? Do you believe that the whole world is under the power of evil embodied, an actual person of evil named Satan? That is why Jesus, when He’s being tempted by Satan, Satan offers Jesus the kingdoms of the world. Because it was in his right. He has control over the kingdoms of the world.
That means every institution is under the power of the evil one. That means our financial global system is under the power of the evil one. That means our academic institution is under the power of the evil one.
We have some homeschool kids here. And I commend you for that. Because, Christian parents wonder, how is it that my child in college is falling away from the faith? Why is it that in droves the vast majority of college kids who grew up in the church, why do they fall away? It’s because the parents did not understand this truth. That the power of the evil one pulses throughout the whole world, that he owns every institution. They thought it’s no big deal to send their kids to public school. They don’t understand there’s an agenda there. They don’t understand there’s brainwashing that happens in schools.
Parents thought, social media is harmless. Everyone’s doing it by the time they’re in high school. Just let them see and read everything. There are no boundaries. I’m taking my kids to church – that’s my duty. That’s all I have to do. Just bring them to church. The school, social media, the media, Hollywood. Christian parents don’t understand that everything is under the power of the evil one.
If we believed this, we would interact with the world very differently. I think the worldliness of the parents is exposed by what they think about their kids going to college. How much hope do they have in the name Harvard for Asian parents? Do they not understand this simple principle that the whole world is controlled by Satan?
Why do we not love the world? Because the world does not know us. The world hates us. And because of our love for Jesus and lives of righteousness, if given a chance, this world will kill us. This world is under satanic control.
So why wouldn’t we love the world? The worldliness for a Christian is deadly. That is why the eyes, the desires of the flesh, we must deal with that. How do we get corrupted? We indulge the desires of the flesh. Eating the best foods. Sleeping in. Living comfortably. Sailing on a yacht. Barely working only when you feel like it. Having your own schedule. Enjoying life. That is indulging in your flesh, brothers and sisters.
For many, that is the dream. When can I retire early? Just do all the traveling. Just enjoy, love this world. Let me love this world through my flesh. You know for the Christian, our response is, no, this flesh needs to be crucified. I need to beat my body. I need to have self-control. That is a fruit of the Spirit. I cannot be controlled by my flesh. This body is a is a temple of the Holy Spirit. My body is a living sacrifice. I want to use it for the Lord, meaning, I cannot indulge in my flesh.
What about the desires of the eyes? Jesus says in Matthew 6, that if your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. Meaning, what you look at, what you take in, what you consume, if your eye is bad, your whole body is full of darkness.
See, we don’t love the world. We are very careful in our contact with the world. We’re very careful. Instead of looking intently at this world, we look upon the face of Jesus Christ. We fix our eyes upon Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. We don’t look at Facebook for hours. If you do, then you risk becoming darkened.
You’re loving this world. You’re loving the attention that the world gives you. Christian, we must forsake this world. This world is passing away. It says in 1 John 2. It’s passing away so why put all of your attention on the world that is a passing that is passing away?
Desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Pride of life means boasting about yourself because of what you have amassed – your credentials, your job title, your possessions.
The fact that you’re Christian, does that make any difference in how you spend your money? Are you doing everything that everybody else in the world is doing when it comes to money and retirement and investments? These are clues that you’re living for the pride of life. Because you do all these things and you amass a kingdom for yourself and you say, look at me. Look at me.
But the Christian, we don’t take pride in that. What do we boast in? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We’re a sojourner in this life. We’re just passing through. We’re so looking forward to the next life. That is what it means to be not of this world.
So even before we can know the Truth, we need to repent of our worldliness. We need to repent of our worldliness that lives in three categories: desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. Look at those three areas. There’s plenty to repent over because the Christian, we are not worldly. We are not of this world.
We’re all of a different kingdom. The moment you met the Savior, you were transported to a different kingdom. You have a different passport. You’re not of here anymore.
1 John 5
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Not only are we not supposed to love the world, we are supposed to overcome it. You’re not supposed to be enslaved by it as you pursue it. You’re supposed to conquer the worldliness in you. You’re supposed to subdue it. You’re supposed to prevail over it. You’re supposed to overcome. You can’t be a friend of God and a friend of the world at the same time. You’re supposed to overcome the worldliness in you. To be set apart, to be holy. And how do you do that? It is your faith in Jesus – it overcomes the world.
1 John 2
20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge… 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
So what is this anointing? Sometimes, people throw around the phrase, that person is “anointed.” I don’t like that use of the word because that makes it sound like this person has some kind of a spiritual gift. He’s gifted. He’s anointed. He’s using his anointing to preach, or do whatever. That is not how John uses the word anointing.
1 John 2:27 is just a terrible translation, the last half of the verse. Just as it has taught you, abide in him. What is this anointing? Is it an “it”? This anointing given by the Holy One, that is in us, that teaches us, is it an “it”? Because here John is talking about the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit an “it”? No, he’s a “He.” He’s a Person.
And this anointing, this “chrisma” teaches you about the “Christos.” You see, it’s a play on words. The “anointing” of the Holy Spirit in you, the chrisma, teaches you about the Christos, the Anointed One. And who is the Anointed One? Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit in you teaches you and points you to and reveals to you the supremacy of the Anointed One. The anointing and the Anointed One, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. The role of the Holy Spirit in all of us is to teach us about the Anointed One. The anointing teaches us about the Anointed One. The chrisma teaches us about Christos.
People think the Holy Spirit is about the gifts. And I believe in the gifts. I want all the gifts. But that is not the primary function of the Holy Spirit. We ask for the filling of the Spirit so that the Spirit can teach us about Jesus Christ. And what specifically about Jesus does the Holy Spirit tell us to do? In 1 John 1:27 – the Holy Spirit tells us to abide in Jesus.
If I were to boil down all of John’s letters, Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John and Revelation, I’d boil it down to three words – abide in Jesus. That is John’s message. If you listen to Paul, you might get a different take away. Although they’re the same, reading Paul may not be as clear because there’s a lot more to sift through. John is just so clear.
The essence of the believer is abide in Christ. If you abide in Christ, you will not be deceived by an antichrist spirit. If you know the Truth, you will not be deceived by that which is false. Because the Holy Spirit in us helps us to discern and test the spirits that are in others.
1 John 2
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
So 2,000 years ago, when Jesus came, the end-times began. And John is saying that in his current day, two thousand years ago, he sensed that we are in the last hour. And how did Paul, John and the apostles, how did they perceive that they were in the last hour? They saw the vast number of antichrists who are deceiving the Church of God.
In many of Paul’s letters, he is trying to correct the Church that is falling toward deception and he’s trying to bring them back to the true Jesus. The term “antichrist” – we might think of it as somebody who opposes Christ directly. Somebody who preaches against Christ directly and blatantly. That’s only one definition of the word. The other definition of antichrist is somebody who raises himself and puts himself or puts something else in place of Christ.
It’s like you promise one thing, but I’m going to slip in something else. It’s like Satan masquerading as an angel of light. You cannot tell just by looking at it. You can’t tell that someone has an antichrist spirit from first glance. You can’t discern just by hearing them once or meeting them once. You cannot tell.
1 John 2
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Where did they go? If they’re not with us anymore, where did they go? They went out somewhere. Where did they go? They went back to the world. You see why it’s important that we deal with our worldliness? Because our worldliness are openings for deception to creep in. And once it creeps in, guess where we will return to? To the world.
These antichrists, these false brothers and sisters, they were once together with the believers. And they went out, back to the world and John says, they went out from us and they are not of us. They’re not of Christ. They’re not of the kingdom to come. They’re of this world. That is why they went back to the world.For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
And so, these antichrists are those that you know. They used to walk with you. We used to be pursuing the same goal. We used to talk about abiding in Christ and the supremacy of Christ, but along the way, they went back to the world. They are no longer continuing with us.
1 John 4
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
What percentage of Christian leaders in this world are now false? Is it a small problem? Are we talking just a handful of people here and there? I don’t know the percentage, but it just says many. And that was 2,000 years ago. How much more now? How many more? Before the capital “A,” Antichrist, comes, how many more lowercase “a” antichrists are now here? They are many.
That is why we are to test the spirits.
1 John 2
22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
You might say, what’s the big deal, do we really have to test the spirits? When we walk into a church, do we have to test the spirits? Isn’t it obvious who the antichrists are? If they confess Jesus, they’re on our side, right? If it’s that obvious, we would not have to test the spirits. If just because they preach an Orthodox gospel message, therefore, they are safe. Therefore, I open up my ears. The fact that we have to test means assumes that knowing who to listen to and who not to listen to is not obvious.
You can’t tell by looking at a person once. Of course, you know a tree by its fruit. So if you’re with this leader for a long time, you should see a character emerging. And that character flaw is a red flag. You should see a temper. You should see a domineering Spirit. You should see a lack of humility there. There are plenty of clues that if you get to know a person.
But let’s say we see them from a distance. We just met them. You listen to their message – Oh, they mentioned Jesus. They confess Christ. They must be good. If it’s that simple, we would not have to test the spirits. If it’s that obvious, you would not have to test.
Did you know that when it says, one who “denies” Christ, it means the one who “refuses to affirm” Christ. It’s not talking about a word coming out of your mouth. If you are refusing to affirm Christ, or refusing to confess Christ, we are not merely talking about words that are coming out of your mouth. Satan can say convincing things through his mouth, but does he believe anything he is saying? No, he is a liar. He knows that Jesus is the Son of God. He will tell it to you to your face. But does he believe in Jesus, trust Jesus, follow Jesus? No.
Peter, when he denies Jesus, it is the same word. He disowned Jesus. He knows Jesus. He confessed Jesus, but in that moment, he denied him, he refused to affirm Jesus. That is the opposite of confessing. Instead of denying, disowning. You fully owned him before. You fully believed in him before. That’s the meaning of confessing Christ.
And there are many world religions right here in these couple verses. You see the major religions – Islam, Judaism. It says it there. If you deny the Father and the Son, you’re an antichrist. If you deny the Son, you don’t have the Father. Believing in only half, 50%, is still hundred percent wrong. If you only have half, only the Father and you deny the Son, you’re dealing with an antichrist.
We have to test the spirits and it is not so obvious. You need to pray and the Holy Spirit will help you. That is why He is there. He will keep pointing you to remain on the path to abiding in Christ. He is telling you, here is Jesus and if you know Him, you can smell the counterfeit. The Anointing tells you about the Anointed One. The chrisma tells you about the Christos. If you know the Truth, you will not fall for the counterfeit. That is why we test the spirits with the help of the Holy Spirit. We test the spirit behind this person. You can’t tell by their words. You can’t tell by meeting them once. You have to test. Holy Spirit, is this somebody I should open my ear to? Should I trust this person? They’re saying all the right things. It’s doctrinally sound. Does that mean I should trust them?
And if you take this step before going on YouTube and listening to all the messages that are out there, you test the spirits and ask the Holy Spirit to help you, should I listen to this person? The Holy Spirit will tell you, no, something is off. Then, you do a little digging and you see the articles and many things have come out about that person. You didn’t know because he or she looks looks good on the surface.
1 John 4
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
Remember, I said, the false brothers and sisters, they were once with with us. The antichrists, where did they come from? They came from the church. They were here with us. Yet they do not continue with us. They went back to the world. And now they’re in the world, and verse 5, they are from the world, these false teachers. They went back to the world. They are from the world. They’re speaking from the world and who listens to them? The world.
Celebrity pastors, watch out. Be very careful who you listen to. If someone is famous, watch out. If somebody is so famous in the world that Oprah would invite them onto her show and interview them and ask them, what do you believe about the Bible? What does the Bible say about this issue and they have many New York Times best-selling books, they are the big name conference speakers, watch out. If CNN wants to interview a Christian pastor and they call this person for a quote, watch out.
Because if the world is listening to you, pastor, minister, celebrity preaching, you are in big trouble. And if you do a little digging, it’s shocking – many of these big names, you would be surprised how much money they have. They seem like they are tithing and they’re giving all of it away. But you see their net worth, it is shocking. These pastors are richer than CEOs. They are from the world and the world listens to them. The world buys their books. They read their books more than they read the Bible. That is antichrist.
Be careful who you listen to. Test the spirits. Ask Holy Spirit. Am I allowed to listen to this person? And the megachurches hire someone who used to be a CEO of a startup. It grew to become a unicorn and he sold it for big money. He went to Harvard Business School. He’s slick. He’s got all of his programs down and then he applies all of his worldliness to the church.
Is that how Jesus did it? Was Jesus a celebrity? When the synagogue was doing a big conference, did they invite Jesus to speak? Did Jesus have a lot of money? I think the case is so clear. We are called to live like Jesus and Jesus was in the world and the world did not know Him. And what do the world do to Him? They nailed him to a cross.
So for the believer, there cannot be any worldliness in us. If there is, we are vulnerable to deception and we risk going back to the world. That’s where Christ saved us from, from the world. He ripped us out from the power of the evil one in the world and you want to go back and be worldly?
1 John 2
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
All of our lives will culminate in this moment.
If you have the Anointing, you will know who the Anointed One is. If you know Jesus, you know the Truth and you will not fall for that which is false. If you spent your life abiding in Christ and remaining close to Him and getting to know Him, when He is finally revealed at the last moment to wrap all things up, you will be confident. You’d be so happy that He’s here. You didn’t want to be in this world a day longer than necessary. You’re so happy to see the Anointed One. You’re so confident. You’re running to Him because you spent your whole life abiding in Him and the Holy Spirit is there to guide you so that you can keep abiding in Him.
But if you are deceived, and instead of abiding in Christ, an antichrist spirit came in and slipped in something else other than Christ – slipped in church missions, small group, community service, good works – an antichrist slipped in something else and that thing became the pursuit of your life.
You know, it’s possible – you can spend your whole life serving Jesus and not know Him. Matthew 7. It is so possible to serve Him, live for Him and not know Him. Satan would be so happy if you’re you’re dead tired serving Jesus so that you in the end you have no energy to actually know Him.
If an antichrist slipped in and something got put in place of Christ, even a good thing, a second-tier thing, Jesus is first, there’s nothing else at Tier 1… If an antichrist slipped in a tier 2, tier 3, tier 4 thing as supreme in your life, and if you live that way for several decades, and then Jesus appears and you realized Jesus, I didn’t know you, Jesus. I’m not ready for you. I was working, but Jesus, I didn’t have time to pray to You. When Jesus is revealed on the Day of the Lord, it will become so clear in that moment what we’ve lived for.
And if you have not abided in Christ, when He is revealed, you will shrink back in shame. Even many people in the Church will shrink back in shame because the Church is not teaching the supremacy of Christ with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When Christ is revealed, either you’re confidently running toward Him, or in shame, you’re shrinking back.
The Holy spirit is prompting you each day – abide in Jesus, abide in Jesus. That is the purpose of the Anointing. He pushes you to Jesus, He reveals Jesus, He teaches you about Jesus. So that you will not be ashamed when He comes back. There will be many antichrists and many people deceived by antichrists. When Jesus is revealed, they will be ashamed because they don’t know Jesus.
It is my testimony that I spent a bulk of my Christian life with Jesus as not number one. That’s why after many decades, I didn’t know Him. And I started over a few years ago. The pursuit of my life, and I will preach this until the day I die, the pursuit of my life is to know Him, to abide in Him. Holy Spirit, help me, that I may know Him. Give me the Anointing, Lord, so that I can know the Anointed One.
Father, we repent of our worldliness – the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life. You saved us from this world. This world that does not know You. This world that hates you. This world that killed You and will kill us, if given the chance. The world that is under the power and the influence of the evil one.
You saved us from that. You rescued us from that, Lord. Forgive us for going back to the world, for wanting to be praised in the world, for wanting to do what all the other people in the world are doing, for not truly believing that evil is in control of this world – Hollywood, entertainment, the media, the schools, every institution, everything.
Lord, you say in your word that the world is under the power of evil. If we just mindlessly go through the system, no wonder so many people who come out on the other end are lost spiritually.
Father, as parents, we want to guard our kids as best we can. We want to guard them from the power of the evil one as long as we’re able. We want to protect them from evil. One day, we will release them into Your care. They will be in the world, but hopefully, you’ve taught them how to fight, how to discern, how to test the spirits, even the the religious system is under the power of the evil one.
And many Christians simply do not discern. They just listen to all the celebrity preachers who are millionaires. we buy their books. You warned us 2,000 years ago that many antichrists have come and that many more would come. The floodgates have opened. The gates of hell are open. These antichrists are flooding this earth.
Forgive us, Lord. We repent of all worldliness. Identify the areas in which we are still worldly, that we would repent. We ask for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Fill us with the Holy Spirit, Lord. Fill us with the Anointing so that we can see and know and abide in the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.
If we know the Truth, we will not fall for that which is false. If we abide in Christ, we will not be deceived by an antichrist. Holy Spirit, help us to discern. Help us to test the spirits. Just because they mouthed the words of Jesus, that is not enough, Lord. We need to test every person, every situation. Thank you for the Anointing.
We ask that you would reveal the all sufficiency of Christ as we partake in the Lord’s Supper. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that covers body, soul, and spirit, that sanctifies every part of who we are. Clean up our eyes. Clean up our desires. And may we boast in only you, Lord Jesus, and You crucified.
We thank You for allowing Yourself to be hated and murdered by this world. And as people of God, we partake in this knowing that you are our Master. We are servants. Of course, we don’t expect to be treated better. The world hated you. So the world hates us. The world crucified You. In the end, perhaps the world will crucify us. Help us to be ready, Lord. Help us to be ready for the last hour. It is upon us. Thank you. In Jesus Name, Amen