The Power of God vs the Evil One | 1 John 5:18-19

Okay, beloved. Let's go ahead and turn in our Bibles back over to 1st John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5. I'll begin once again in verse 16. 1st John 5 16. God's Word says, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death.

There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should make requests for this. All unrighteousness is sin and there is sin not leading to death. We know that no one who has been born of God sins, but he who was begotten of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.

We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. This is God's Holy Word. Amen. So, we saw previously that there was an apparent paradox in verse 18, the beginning of verse 18, which says, we know that no one who has been born of God sins, and yet it says right in verse 16, if anyone sees his brother sinning, a sin not unto death.

And so we saw that the reason for this, why the text, the passage says that is because believers still sin, but they sin differently. They sin differently from unbelievers, because we as believers are born of God.

We are regenerated by God and and therefore belong to God. We belong to him. We are adopted by him and God keeps us and the evil one does not touch us. So, once again, we're going to continue to see that your interpretation of this text will reveal underlying religious traditions or biases of certain kinds.

And like I've mentioned before, they can be either good or bad. And this specifically may relate to the power of God and the sovereignty of God. How much God is really in control? And the meaning of the word world or the whole world, right?

That's a big, that's a big, that's a controversial term, not because it's hard to understand, but because of religious traditions. And also the power and influence of the evil one, especially over believers.

How much does that happen? And so that's why the sermon title for today is the power of God versus the evil one. And just to get this right out of the, the out of the way right away, this is not a competition between God and the devil, right?

There is no competition there. And that is because the devil is God's devil and he is on God's leash. Amen? He is God's devil and he is on God's leash. He is a defeated foe whose days are numbered and he knows it.

He knows it and so should we. And so the focus for today and particularly will still be on verse 18 primarily, but on the last part of it, the last path of verse 18. And you'll see there, there's yet another interpretive dilemma similar to the one we just dealt with last Lord's Day.

And think about what that is. Think about what that might be as we continue on through the message. Remember also that John, throughout the letter, has had a repeated heavy emphasis on the importance of knowledge, right?

On knowing. We know, we know, we know, all the way on to verse 20, right? He's repeatedly saying that, helping us to remind us and to assure us of certain things, gospel promises and indicatives, right?

Which brings us to the next review, the key question in passages like these. Is it law or is it gospel? Is it indicative or imperative? Command or promise, right? And I want to reread verse 18 from the net translation that has a better rendering of of the passage than the LSB does.

But the verse 18 says, we know that everyone fathered by God is a child of God, does not sin. But God protects the one he has fathered. God protects him, keeps him. And the evil one cannot touch him. Cannot touch him.

We know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So these are very clearly amazing gospel indicatives, right? God is the one who keeps us. God is the one who preserves us.

His saints, amen? God preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked, like the Psalms say. But keep this in mind. Keep this in mind for our interpretive dilemma that we're going to come across shortly.

Also, so oftentimes when we are dealing with a passage, especially a passage that has important terms, we need to define them, right? We need to define them correctly, properly, such as we, right? Who is we?

God, the evil one, touch. What does touch mean? And the whole world, right? These are the key terms. These are actually, not only are they key terms in this verse, in this passage, but they are primary subjects of John's entire letter, throughout his letter, right?

And that being said, we always need to make sure that we define the key terms properly within their context, the immediate context, and the whole biblical context, the whole counsel of God context, the analogies of scripture and of faith, in order to rightly handle God's word of truth, right?

In both in this passage and anywhere else, in order to understand or make proper sense of any passage. And there's a principle here that we need to be reminded of, is that when you define correctly, it leads to understanding correctly.

That's typically how it goes. If you don't define the terms correctly, you're not going to understand it rightly. That is fundamental. Defining correctly, the terms correctly, leads to a correct understanding of the verse in general.

So, who are the we? Right? Who are the we? And if you recall, we dealt with this previously many times. We know, right? We know that the we refers to true believers, true believers who have been born and fathered and protected by God, and therefore belong to him.

Right? That's very, very plain, very clear. And, so that being said, who is God? Who is God in the verse? That, that we know that everyone fathered by God does not sin, but God protects the one. He has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him.

And we know that we are of God. That we belong to God. So, who does this refer to? Obviously, this is none other than the one true God of scripture, the triune God of scripture. But in particular, it refers to God the father.

To God the father. Right? Because, the passage is clearly showing us that. God fathers us. We are fathered by God, the father. He regenerates us. He begets us. We are born of God, the father. And, because, because we also know that the son of God, the son of God, who?

God the father, has come, and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true, and that we are in him who is true. In his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God in eternal life. That's verse 20, later on.

Right? So, obviously, Christ is God. The spirit is God. The father is God. But it's primarily pointing to God the father, in this particular passage. Okay, so that's pretty clear. What about the evil one?

Who is the evil one? Notice that it's singular. The evil one. That's none other than Satan, the devil himself. And, it's pretty interesting, because if you study the use of this nickname, it's actually a derisive nickname for the devil.

It's a nickname of derision, of scorn, and disdain for who he is. It's not a compliment, by any means. I know rappers like to use derisive names, like Notorious B .I .G. It's like, that's not a compliment.

You're saying you're evil. That's a foolish thing to do. And so, um, it's a derisive nickname. And Christ himself uses it, right? He teaches us with that nickname. In Matthew 5 .37, he says, but let your statement be yes, yes, or no, no.

Anything beyond these is of the evil one, right? It's from the evil one. The devil, because he is the father of lies, dishonesty, manipulation, witchcraft, all of these things. And similarly, in our Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6 .13, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from who?

The evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forevermore. Amen. Right? So, it's a pretty common term in the scriptures. And if we turn back over to 1 John chapter 3, we will see it explicitly tied, the term tied to the devil himself.

And in 1 John 3, verse 8. Beginning in verse 8. Verse 8 says, the one who does sin is of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. The son of God was manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed abides in him. And he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested.

Everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God. As well as the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning. That we should love one another.

Not as Cain, who was of who? He was of the evil one. He belonged to the evil one. And the antecedent there is none other than the devil. And slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brothers were righteous.

Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you. Notice the term world there once again, in a negative sense. Just like in verse 19, 1 John 5, 19. And the world hates. It's personal. It's personal. And it hates God first.

That's why the world hates us, believers. And then if you go further back in 1 John 2, verse 13, you see once again the term being used by the apostle in this letter. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him who has been from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men, because you already have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you have known the father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who has been from the beginning.

I have written to you, young men, because once again you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have already overcome the evil one. The evil one. And a similar passage is in 1 John 4, 4.

Also, you are from God, little children, and have overcome them. Overcome who? The Antichrist. Along with the evil one, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Who is he who is in the world, beloved?

He who operates in the world, dominates the world, rules the world, none other than the devil himself, the prince of the power of the air, like the Ephesians also tells us. Even though he rules, he is still subsidiary to God.

God is ultimately the one in control. But so not only have young men, in particular, who are in the faith overcome the evil one, but everyone fathered by God is also kept and protected by him, such that the evil one cannot touch any true believer, like 518 says.

Interesting. So and the evil one cannot touch him. Notice the stress. The emphasis there cannot touch him. This is very, very clearly a precious gospel promise of divine protection from our mortal enemy.

Right from our mortal enemy. One of the three, the world, the flesh, and the devil himself. It is an extremely strong, emphatic statement. Cannot. Cannot touch him. The evil one cannot touch him. So then what does that mean?

What does that mean, beloved? What does the word touch mean here? And you will find if you study this word, the usage, that it has at least five different meanings. Five different meanings. And according to the lexicon, the BDAG lexicon, one of the standard ones, the word here is haptetai, haptetai.

It is to make contact with a view to causing harm. So it is to touch in order to cause harm. Touch for the purpose of harming or injuring, to injure. Right? So but there's a little bit of this is this brings us now to the interpretive dilemma.

Right? Because is this correct? Is this accurate? If the devil cannot touch us, injure us, or harm us as believers, then how do we reconcile with other parts of the scriptures? What about Job? Right? What about Job?

What about Peter, the Apostle Peter? How do we make sense of that, beloved? So let's use the analogies of scripture and of faith to interpret scripture with the scriptures and to rightly grasp its doctrines by turning back over to the book of Job in the Old Testament.

Job chapter 1. In Job chapter 1 verse 8, we will find what happened to Job and what Satan, the devil did to him. The adversary, the accuser. So verse 8 says,. Then Yahweh said to Satan, Have you set your heart upon my servant Job?

And you should be very concerned, beloved, if the devil sets his heart upon you. That is not a good thing. For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.

And Satan answered and said, Yahweh and said, Does Job fear God without cause? Have you not made him a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side? What does that mean? Are you not protecting him?

Keeping him safe? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions and have increased in the land. But send forth your hand now and touch all that he has. Notice that word. Touch all that he has.

Destroy, injure. It's the same exact word used in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament that as in 1 John 5 18. It's the same word. Hapsai. Hapsai. He will surely curse you to your face, says the devil.

Then Yahweh said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only do not send forth your hand toward him. So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh. OK, so there we see there's a clear something's going on here.

Now, let's go move on to verse 13. By the way, the fact that the devil set his heart upon Job, there's a sense in which that's not a good thing, but it's also a good thing because Job was a righteous man.

So the devil goes after those God's people, obviously. So in that sense, it's a good thing. But in another sense, it's bad because he's going to try to touch or injure or destroy the believer and his surroundings.

So verse 13. Now, it happened that on the day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking. This is Job's sons and daughters wine in the house of their brother. The first born messenger came to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them.

And the Sabians who are these are Semitic people of Sheba, which is southwest Arabia. They were marauders. They fell upon them and took them. They also struck down the young men with the edge of the sword.

And I alone have escaped to tell you. While this one was still speaking, another also came and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the young men and consumed them. And I alone have escaped to tell you.

While this one was still speaking, another also came and said the Chaldeans set up three companies and made a raid upon the camels and took them and struck down the young men with the edge of the sword.

And I alone have escaped to tell you. And while this one was still speaking, yet another also came and said your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the first born.

And behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and touched the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people and they all died. And I alone have escaped to tell you. Wow. One thing after another.

To all of Job's surroundings. Verse 20. Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and he fell to the ground and worshipped. He worshipped God. Then Job arose. I'm sorry. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there.

Yahweh gave and Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh. Through all this, Job did not sin, nor did he give offense to God. Wow. So that's just. I mean, well, the verse 18 seems to apply to everybody.

But Job, how do we how do we deal with that? And so verse 3, chapter 2, Job chapter 2, verse 3 continues. It's not over yet. And Yahweh said to Satan, have you set your heart upon my servant Job once again?

For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast in his integrity. So you incited me against him to swallow him up in vain.

Satan answered Yahweh and said, skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. However, send forth your hand now and touch. Touch his bone in his flesh. Same exact word, hapsai, as in 518, 1 John 518.

He will curse you in your face. So Yahweh said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life. Then Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh and struck Job. He touched and struck Job with terrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

Wow. If you can't say, man, you ought to say, ouch, like Pastor Vody would say, right? How do we how do we how can we console Job here? How do we reconcile this this dilemma? Right. That the evil one cannot touch believers, according to 1 John.

But he touched all of Job's belongings, not just his belongings, but his own, all of his household, his family and his own health. The devil touched all of it, ransacked, pillaged, plundered, killed everything, livestock, everything.

Sons and daughters and all. So there's a few things we have to set in order here. Principles that we have to understand rightly. The first one is that Job is a special case, right? Job is a special case.

He's he's he's an extreme case. He's an object lesson. It's an object lesson, like kind of like Aesop's fables. He is used by God to teach us a lesson. To teach us a lesson based on a very extreme example in the life of Job.

Right. So this is not typical of all believers in general. Even though we believers today still endure hardships and trials and struggles and sufferings and even spiritual warfare, not always to this extent.

It's it may still happen, but not not not generally speaking. So that's one thing to keep in mind. However, in light of that, yet God himself, God is the one who still kept, still preserved Job to the very end.

Not only that, but he also restored him and blessed him. Right. After the trial was over, he restored everything that he lost and then some. So and it's like Job said, the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away.

The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord Yahweh. Amen. God is still good. God is always good. And he never breaks any of his promises. But but is that all that there is to it?

Beloved, we need to keep working through this because there's other layers that we have to account for. So an additional question that we need to ask is, are there any covenantal differences that we need to account for in the passage?

Are there old and new covenant differences? And in that respect, I would encourage you all to go back and listen to the series on Knowing Your Enemy, The World of Flesh and the Devil, because I covered that in depth.

But the short answer is, yes, there is covenantal differences between the old and the new. There are many because, in particular, the seed of the woman, Christ himself, came down already, was born, died, suffered, bled and died for our sins and rose from the grave.

Amen. To the dismay of the devil and his minions. That's what the devil was trying to stop in the old covenant, corrupting the seed and all those things. Consequently, then, the devil and his demons tried to mess with God's spiritual seed, primarily now.

Believers, that's us believers. We have the seed of God in us who are born again by God. Now, in general, with more covert, more subtle means, deceptive, disguised means, as opposed to the not so subtle DNA corrupted and corrupting Nephilim giants of old, right?

So things have changed. But how much have they changed with respect to this issue? The devil touching believers, right? Let's turn now to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, where we see an important episode in the life of the Apostle Peter.

Kudos to my lovely wife for bringing this one up, reminding me of this. This is an important passage that we have to also take into account. Interpreting Scripture with Scripture. So Luke, chapter 22, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, verse 31.

Jesus is speaking to Simon. Simon, Simon, Peter, behold, Satan, the evil one, has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, all of the disciples, all of the apostles like wheat. But I, Christ, have prayed earnestly for you so that your faith may not fail.

And you, once you have returned, once you have turned back, you have repented and have been restored, strengthen your brothers. So Christ is prophesying to Peter about what was going to happen. So notice this here.

Even in the New Covenant, the devil still messes with believers. And yet Peter's denials are pictured here as temporary lapses, right? It's not a, it's not a permanent falling away from the faith. It's, it's a trial.

It's a sifting, sifting. It's really, it's a refining. It's a refining. It's to expose certain sins in believers to help us to deal with them, to bring them to light. Very important to keep in mind. But if the devil could not harm it, because remember it says cannot, he cannot harm or touch us, then why are we commanded, why are we also commanded to put on the full armor of God, right?

Why are we also commanded to put on the full armor of God? Why would we need armor if the devil can't touch us? So that you will be able to resist in the evil day. Like Ephesians 6 .13 says, resist who?

Protection from what exactly? Let's turn over to Ephesians chapter 4, beloved, to get more of that particular context. So you can see here sometimes there are interpretive dilemmas that require us to jump to several places in scripture to get a fuller sense of what it means.

And so that we don't read into something in the passage in isolation and think, well, yeah, the devil can't do anything to us anymore at all. Well, what does that, does that, is that exactly what it means?

We cannot disregard other scriptures because that would be to misinterpret or isagit the passage in its, in its context or out of context. So Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26. I'm going to read from the amplified.

It has a good rendering here. Be angry at sin, at immorality, injustice, ungodly behavior. Yet do not sin. Do not let your anger cause you shame, nor allow it to last until the sun goes down. And do not give the devil an opportunity.

Do not give him an opportunity to lead you into sin by holding a grudge or nurturing anger or harboring resentment or cultivating bitterness. Right? Amen. This is a very important admonition. Do not give the devil a foothold, an opportunity to mess with you, to, by taking advantage of you through your flesh, the unredeemed part of our nature.

Primarily our bodies leading us to sin. And similarly, 1 Peter 5, 8. Right? Be of sober spirit. Be watchful because your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, seeking someone to devour.

We must therefore be watchful. Now, turning over back to Ephesians 6, 12, we find yet more of this spiritual warfare that the believer, all believers are engaged in. We are in spiritual warfare constantly.

For we do not wrestle, notice the term, wrestle, fight against flesh and blood. But we do wrestle, not just resist, but wrestle. We fight actively against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers, the world powers, the world rulers, kosmokrator in the Greek, world rulers, cosmic rulers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places, in the heavenly places.

Right? This is the reality of the believer in everyday life that we have to face. The world, the flesh, the devil. Ephesians 6, 16 more clearly tells us, in addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of who?

The evil one, the evil one. There we see once again, the evil one. We need protection from the evil one with the full armor of God, the shield of our faith. So how then do we reconcile all of this, given all of these things, beloved?

For this, I want to turn to a very helpful and important chapter from our 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, the chapter 17 on the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of the saints, of believers.

Section one says, the elect are those whom God has accepted in Christ the beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his spirit and given the precious faith of his elect. These can neither totally, neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace, but they shall certainly persevere in grace to the end and be eternally saved and kept and preserved for God will not repent of his gifts and calling.

Therefore, he continues to bring about and nourish them in faith, in them faith, repentance, love, joy, hope, and all the graces of the spirit that lead to immortality. Ultimately, many storms and floods may arise and beat against them, yet these things will never be able to sweep them off the foundation and rock upon which they are fastened to by faith.

The rock who is Christ, not Peter, but Christ. So, even though unbelief and the temptations of Satan, the evil one, caused the sight and feeling of the light and love of God to be clouded and obscured from them for a time, for a season, like it did Peter at that point when he fell to the temptation of the devil, yet God is still the same yesterday, today, forever, and they are, believers are sure to be kept by his power until their salvation is finally complete.

Amen. Then they will enjoy the purchased possession which is theirs, for they are engraved on the palms of his hands, our sovereign savior's hands, and their names have been written in the book of eternal life from all eternity, from eternity past, from before we were even born.

Beloved, that is a powerful summary of what scripture teaches about this very thing. This is how we make sense of this passage in 1 John 5 18. Beloved, this is how. We have to be careful not to define terms in such a way that will contradict other passages, and yet here we see an amazing collection of God's promises to us who are in Christ, redeemed by him.

Section three of that same chapter in the confession says, they or we, true believers, may still fall into serious sins through the temptations once again of Satan, the evil one, and of the world, and of the flesh, or the power of corruption remaining in them, and neglect of the means for their preservation, the means of grace, and may even continue in them for a time, for a season.

In this they incur God's displeasure, grievous Holy Spirit, have their graces and comforts impaired, have their hearts hardened, their consciences wounded, and hurt and offend others. We've seen that many a time even in our church, beloved, right?

And bring present chastisement or discipline upon themselves, yet they will in time renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the very end, beloved. Amen. Amen to that. That is God's power over the devil's power, and not only that, beloved, but our sovereign God and Savior, not only does he preserve us from trials, temptations, attacks from the enemy, he equips us to deal with it all, but he also graces us with repentance, and he purposes, he purposes any and all evil for our sanctifying good, and ultimately, that we can also not lose sight of with respect to this important passage in 1st John, because our Heavenly Father himself, remember that passage in Job, the passage in Job that described Job's family and household and belongings being ransacked, it said the fire of God rained down.

The fire of God rained down. It wasn't just the devil behind it. Ultimately, God was behind it all. He's the one who predetermined all these things, and the Father, God, puts us through these trials, even when they come from the devil, in order to purge us and prune us and sanctify us to grow us in conformity to Christ, our beloved Savior, right, to give us self-awareness of our issues so that we can identify them and deal with them, resolve them like he did with Peter when he restored him.

Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Do you love me, Peter? He brought that sin out so that it could be dealt with by Peter and repent. Repentance can take its healing balm in our lives, so I want to close us today, beloved, with Romans chapter 8, this awesome chapter.

This is a great way to sum everything up in Christ, in union with him, how all of these things work together for our ultimate good. Romans chapter 8, verse 28. I would be remiss not to quote this passage in light of what 1 John 5 18 says.

I'll read that first before we do Romans. We know that no one who has been born of God sins, but he, I'm sorry, but God protects the one he has fathered, and the evil one cannot touch him, cannot touch him.

So in light of that, Romans 8 28 says, and we know, notice again that emphasis, we know, we have knowledge of this truth, that for those who love God, all things, all things, good, bad, ugly, evil, indifferent, whether they come from the devil, demons, it doesn't matter.

All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Amen. Because those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. That's why these things are done to us sometimes.

Like Romans 5 also says, affliction, trials, they bring about character, and hope, and love, and all of these things, which doesn't put us to shame. So that he would be the firstborn among many brothers, Christ.

And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also glorified. Those whom he justified, he also glorified. He will keep until the very end, beloved, without fail. What then shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, who is against us? Who opposes us? He indeed, he who indeed did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us, mediates for us.

He is our paraclete, our advocate, our defense attorney, our divine defense attorney. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long.

We were counted as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things, all these evil things that may befall us, in all these things, we overwhelmingly still conquered through him who loved us. All of them.

Remember what Christ and what God has told us. He has overcome the world. He has, we have overcome the evil one in him, in Christ. For I am convinced, we can know with certainty, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, not even the evil one, not even ourselves, will be able to separate us from the love of God at all.

Beloved, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Amen to that. That is an amazing chain of promises that God has given us, and God has done for us, and works in us, for our ultimate good. The devil cannot truly touch us or harm us, because God purposes all of those things for our ultimate good.

That's the beauty of God's power. Only an omniscient, sovereign, omnipotent God can do such a thing. Just like when Joseph's brothers betrayed him, they meant it for evil, but God purposed it all for good, and even to save Israel from famine, and those hardships.

So we can know, beloved, we can know and have confident assurance, like 1st John also says repeatedly, that He keeps us close to Him to the very end, because He always finishes the good work that He starts in us without fail.

Without fail. And God's people said, Amen. Let's go ahead and bow our heads now with a closing word of prayer. Our precious, gracious, heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for this amazing chain of divine promises that you have given us, Lord, in your Word.

The power of your Word that comes alive in us, as it works, as your Word works in us, and sanctifies us, to conform us, to convince us of these truths, Father, of these promises, that they are ours. They belong to us, because you have given them to us by means of your Son, and of your grace, and mercy, and love for your people, your beloved, who are born by your grace, by your Spirit.

We thank you, Father, for all of these things. We ask that you help us to bask in your goodness and in your grace, even when hardships may befall us and come upon us. Help us and remind us in these difficult times that many of us may be going through even now, even if they may be assaults from the enemy.

Help us, Lord, to remind us that we will never fall away ultimately, and that all of these things will be used for our good, so that we may continue to be conformed to the glorious image of your perfect Son, Christ Jesus, in whose precious, mighty, all-powerful name we pray, who has power over the evil one and everything else.

Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of Thorncrown Covenant Baptist Church, where the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical, reformed, historic, confessional, loving, discerning Christians who evangelize, stand firm in, and earnestly contend for the Christian faith.

If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area, or for more information about our church, sermons, and ministries, such as Semper Reformanda Radio and Thorncrown Network Podcasts, please contact us at thorncrownministries .com.

And may the mercy, peace, and love of our Triune God be multiplied to you.