In the sermon 'Do You Love God?' by Douglas Campbell, the focus is on understanding what it means to love God according to 1 John 5:1-3. The sermon emphasizes the theological notion that belief in Christ and being 'born of God' are interconnected, highlighting that true belief involves trust and results in a changed life. Campbell addresses the confusion around the order of salvation, asserting that being 'born again' is a prerequisite for genuine faith and repentance. He stresses that God's commandments are not burdensome to those who truly love Him, and that such love should extend to the children of God. The sermon also critiques modern, secular approaches to life and education, urging believers to prioritize eternal truths over worldly comforts. Campbell calls for an examination of one's faith, urging listeners to ensure their love for God is genuine and to seek Him earnestly through His Word and Spirit.

Good morning. If you would turn with me to 1st John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5. This morning I'd like to look at 1st John chapter 5 verses 1 through 3. 1 John 5 1 through 3 the word of God tells us everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

And everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning.

In a season, Father, we remember Christ, our Savior, coming to earth, taking upon flesh, experiencing what we experience. Experiencing what we experience. Father, though as we think of the the birth of Christ, birth only into the flesh, Father, for as Your Word says that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God, that Christ was in the beginning. And yet chose within the perfect Trinity, the perfect communion between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that demonstration of perfect love chose to come, to be separated. And Father, as we think, as we know the story of our Savior, that even though He experienced what we experienced here on Earth, Father, he knew there was going to be a time when he would be completely separated when your wrath would be poured out upon him when you would turn away and father apart from that the Christmas story isn't a good story, or better worded, the Christmas account isn't a good account on our behalf.

And so Father this morning as we we thank what we what we have what we have sang what we have read what we have heard in Christ alone our hope is found in Christ alone. And Father, back to John, we're reminded Christ is the Word. So Father, this morning as we turn to Your Word, Father, we need the Holy Spirit. We need You to change us. Father, set it in our hearts that we might aspire to be conformed to the image of Christ.

And Father, we ask that you would conform us, that you would change us. Father, this morning we pray that your Word would be made alive in our hearts, that we would understand it, Father, and that we wouldn't respond as the hard heart would, that we would shrug it off, that we would harden our hearts even further. But Father, we pray that you would soften our hearts. Break them, Father. Break them that we might be conformed to the image of Christ.

Father, for your glory, thank God you might be glorified in this area. For you, Father, we ask, we plead, change us today. We ask in Jesus name, amen. Amen. This morning as we turn for just a brief time to look at 1 John 5, 1-3, we open with that first verse, 1 John 5, 1.

Let us read it once again, says, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. As I read that first section of that first verse right before the comma, I'm reminded of something that I heard, I'm sure, in school, as all of you have heard in school. And this saying is very hard to comprehend if you are thinking from a worldly perspective. And within this we get a similar theological question answered. But the thing that I would like you to think about first is something that many of you have probably all been asked to try to give you a brain teaser by someone who perceives themselves as very clever.

And that thing is this. What came first, the chicken or the egg? What do you guys think? It's a very easy question for those of you who are in the Bible. If you can separate from a worldly thinking and put yourself into a scriptural thinking, but the scientists of the day or those who think they're scientists and call themselves science guys might try to trick you with this.

They might say, well, what comes first, the chicken or the egg? How many of you know that answer? Tell them what the answer is, Hannah. The chicken. Good job.

Good answer. Why? Because God created chickens. God created chickens in such a way that they might populate themselves through laying eggs and hatching eggs. But it's the chicken, right?

Now that's a silly thing to think about, but it's not silly. It shows us that there are answers in the Bible. But there's also one of those brain teasers, you might call it, or probably that would not be a good word for how deep this confusing idea is, is what comes first? Is it belief in Christ, or is it salvation? Now understand this word believe, and we've said this many times, is the Greek word pistio, and it means more than just the English word believe.

It actually means to put your trust into it. That it's not just, As we've said many times, it's not just that I believe in a parachute and jump out of the plane, but I actually have to put my trust into that parachute. It becomes a part of me, and I believe it so much that it changes my behavior. So the question is, and this wasn't a question for a lot of years in early Christianity, it wasn't a question for the apostles, it wasn't a question for those who were the disciples, it wasn't a question for those in the early church. But throughout time, deceptive doctrines crept in, and we began to confuse which of those two came first.

So much so that it actually seems very strange to the modern American person sitting in a Christian church. But we're clarified here in 1st John, verse 1. The first word of that says, everyone. Who is everyone? Right?

You're thinking too hard into it. That was a good answer though. Everyone means everyone. Are you excluded from everyone? Brody, are you excluded?

No, this means everyone. So everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been what? Born of God. And so if you come to Christ and repentance and faith, if today God works on your heart and you repent and turn to Christ, and where I'm getting with this, and in theology we would call this the Ordo Salutis, which would be the Latin phrase of it, the order of salvation. But where this has...

If you come to Christ today, if you come to Him in repentance and faith, it's because primarily He has done a work in your heart. Before you do any sort of prayer, before you do any sort of baptism or any kind of work that man would like to rest his faith upon, before that happens, if you are truly born again, you believe in Christ. You trust in Christ because you are already born again. You're already born of the Spirit. So this morning if God works at your heart and you are you are sliced to the core by His Word and you are You are exposed before him and you want to turn from from sin and turn to Christ It's because sitting in your seat.

God has done a work in your heart anything beyond that is simply a response Does that make sense and Why this is true one because that's what first John 5 verse 1 Says It says that if anyone who believes that Jesus is a Christ, he has been born of God. But in worldly thinking, this makes not a lot of sense. And so to most of those, at least in America, who would claim to be in Christ, they would say that this is different. They would say that the order, that we would have the order out of whack. Even though it's what the early church believed, it's what the disciples believed, it's what the apostles taught.

They would say the order is out of whack. You must do something. You must say a prayer. You must do this or that to become a Christian. But that is actually not what the Word of God says.

And we find that here in this first verse. Everyone who believes that Jesus is a Christ has been born of God, has been. It's already happened. Understand? It's already happened.

If you are in Christ, it's because it's a work that God has done in your heart. You have been born of God. What does it mean to be born of God? In John 3, Jesus answered him. Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

This must be a very serious thing in your mind. It must be very serious that you understand if you are or are not born of God. The seriousness comes because if you are not, you cannot see the kingdom of God. It doesn't matter how good you are, it doesn't matter how many nice things you do, none of your works matter. If you are not born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.

Being born again is, must be, and is, whether you believe it or not, is the most important thing, the most important question that you can examine yourself with today. It's the most important thing in your entire life. This morning it is very serious to know, are you born of God? Do you love God? Look again at 1st John 5-1, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

So this morning that's the question that I have for you. Are you born of God? Do you love God? That's the question that we're presented here in 1 John 5-1. And John, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God has written to us and given us examples of what does that mean?

What does it mean to be born of God? What are the things that we should see in our life if we truly are born of God? I believe that God gives us these. We obviously know He's done it on purpose, and He's done it on purpose because we can be so deceived by the enemy. The enemy would love nothing more than to convince you this morning that everything is good in your life and let you live your life out with that understanding only to stand before the judgment of God one day because you didn't understand correctly.

That in fact is why there are so many false religions. When I was younger, it used to bother me. Like, why would there be so many false religions? And the reason is this, it's a great tactic for the enemy. It works effectively well.

There will always be, until Christ returns, there will always be false religions because it's very effective. So this morning the question is, are you involved in a false religion? Whether that be Whether that be your attending a false religion, whether that be your working with a false religion, or to go back to the second commandment, whether you have built an idol in your mind that is like you. That you may call God, you may call it Christ, but in fact is something that you have created to make yourself feel comfortable with the things you like and don't like. So this morning it gives us examples or gives us a way to compare or to examine ourselves.

Are we in Christ? The first thing that we have to see in 1 John 5.1, let me read it once more, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him. The first qualification or the first examining point that you must ask or that must be true of you to actually be born of God is, you must believe that Jesus is the Christ and love Him. That's what's laid out here in Scripture. Not just believe superficially, not just believe that this is true, but actually believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of God, the Christ, the Savior, the only Savior, that it's in Christ alone that you are saved, and love him.

Now many of you don't feel the weight of that word. Why? Because you believe in an Americanized idea of love. We tell everybody we love them. When I was young, and if you're young here this morning and too young to be married and you have a girlfriend, you are putting yourself into a sinful position.

But when I was your age, I didn't know any better. And I told to my shame lots of girls I loved them. Why? I had no concept of what that word means. It does not mean what I thought it meant, as the Nego Montoya says.

For us to just tell Christ we love him but have no effect on our lives is an American definition of love. For me to tell my wife that I love her, and yet I will not serve her, I will not go out of my way, I will not inconvenience myself to better her, is a false understanding of love. To tell my wife that I love her and and if I wake up one day and I say the feelings aren't there and I'm going to hit the road is a complete, complete confusion of what the word love means. What does love mean? It means more than a feeling.

It means that if I love my wife above all, I'm going to do everything I can for what's best for her. Even if it's not what's best for me. If you love Christ this morning, it's more than just a feeling, it's more than just appreciating Him for what He's done for you, but it's to say to Christ, Christ, you're more than a feeling. I will do what's in your best interest. I will do what we say so often.

I will actually do what we say so often and I will live for the glory of God. I will serve him whether I feel like it. I will seek him whether I feel like it. I will love Him. He will become more than me.

He will become greater than me. He will be the one who I march to. In fact, Paul described it many times very accurately. God will become, Christ will become my slave master. I am his slave.

That's what it means to love Christ. It's not just to have a feeling towards Him and live however I want, but He becomes my, and this is the real meaning of the word Lord, He will become my Lord, my slave master, all that I desire, all that I live this life for. Do you love Him? Is He your Lord? Is He your commander?

1 John 5-2 continues on. It says, By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commandments. The second thing that we can examine our heart with, the second thing that the Apostle John and God's Word lays out before us, if we are born of God, if we love Him, you must love the children of God. You must love your brother and sister who gathers together and worships with you today. You must love them.

Not just English love, but love them. Do you love the children of God? Do you love your brother and sister? Do you know them? Do you spend time with them?

Do you look out for them? Do you encourage them? Do you exhort them? Do you do those things at which bring them and draw them closer to Christ? This week I was talking with someone about the favorite thing that we all are getting so tired of talking about anymore, COVID and all those things.

And one of their family members is older and their family member has come to the conclusion that they would rather die than be without their family. And that is a noble ideology. They came to the conclusion that they would rather die in the nursing home than miss being with the family for Thanksgiving. And I completely understand. I completely agree.

Death is a problem of the world. It's not a problem of the kingdom of God. The Word of God says, death, where is thy victory? Where is thy sting? Death is, Charles Spurgeon said, death is not a penalty, it's not a punishment for the Christian, it's actually a good day.

So rightly so, they said, I would rather die than be without my family. But this morning, let me hit you with this again. That same ideology, that same process as you grow in Christ, it must become more and more evident. I would rather die than not meet with Brody. I'd rather die than not to get to hang out with Greg.

I would rather die than not to gather together and worship the God who gives us our life. He's the one who determines whether we live or die. Do we have that same thought process? Would we rather die than be without the family of God? Do we love them to that extent?

Continuing on, number three, you must keep His commandments, as His commandments are not burdensome. In 1 John 6, now maybe to back up, I went forward fast. Let me read 1 John 5.3 again, For this is the love of God that we keep as commandments, and as commandments are not burdensome. Are you keeping God's commandments? Are you keeping His law?

This says something interesting. Now understand rightly, none of us can keep his law perfectly, but before we were born again, before we were born of God, our flesh lived to break God's law simply because we were the opposite of God. We were completely different. We were totally depraved. We were unlike Him in every way.

In fact, the Bible says before God changed our hearts, we hated Him. We were His enemies, and yet God rescues His enemies. But the sign this morning, or one of the things that we can look at, one of the attributes to show us whether we are truly born of God or not, is that His commandments become no longer something we don't like. We actually begin to like His commandments. We begin to begin to love His commandments.

We love to serve Him. We love to obey Him. It says they are not burdensome. 1 John 1 6 a little earlier, it kind of doubles down on this. It says, if we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

This morning, Are you obedient to God's commandments? Are you still lying as the world lies? Are you still stealing as the world steals? Maybe not, maybe it's not, you're not stealing cars. Are you stealing your employers time?

Are you treating your job as if, you know, just take it easy? I'll get a paycheck anyway. Is your employer paying for a half of a day of nothing. That should concern you. Are we still dishonoring our mother and father?

Are we still treating our mother and father as if they're just one of our friends? When they anger us, we snap at them, we argue with them. That's not the sign of a born-again heart. That's not the sign that God has changed you. Men, are we able to control our eyes?

Does our mind still go down roads that cause us to commit adultery against our wife and against God? Is that regularly? Are we battling that? Are we are we fighting against it? Or because no one can see it we just say, huh, not that big of a deal.

When the Bible, when God's law says don't commit adultery, Is that a burden to you? Is it a big burden for you to stop? Is it a big burden for you to throw the computer out if that's what it takes? Is it a big burden for you to throw the TV out if that's what it takes. Do you really love God's law?

Do you love Him? Because God's law is Him. It's His character. It's who he is. If you love him but you don't love his character, it's that you don't love him.

Amen? Look at Ephesians 4, 17 through 19. It says, Now this I say in testifying the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. Now let me back up for just a second. Ephesians, this message was actually to the Gentiles, but this was to the Gentiles who claimed that God has, they've been reborn, they're born in Christ.

And this is a letter to them. And this letter could rightly be written to Americans. And so I'm going to interject Americans to make it more relevant. Obviously this isn't Scripture, but this could rightly be written to Americans. Listen, it says, Now this I say in testifying the Lord, that you must no longer walk, as the other Americans do, in the futility of their minds.

They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. Due to their hardness of heart, they have become callous and given themselves up to sensuality, greed, and practice every kind of impurity. I believe this is much of American Christianity today. It's not the church because the church is the true believers gathering together. It's the true people.

But all through buildings in America, there are those who are gathering, who claim to be in Christ, and yet their understanding is darkened. Why is it darkened? Because they're still trying to use the logic that they grew up trusting in. They're still trying to trust in their brain. A little bit later it calls it sensuality.

They're trusting in their senses. That the world, essentially it's this. My neighbors, all those that live around me, they do this, this, this, and this. This is what everybody does. This is how we must do it.

This is how everybody in America spends their weekends. This is how everybody spends their free time. Nobody I know except for the crazy people actually sit down every night and read the Bible with their children? That's extreme! Nobody goes to...nobody gathers together every Sunday.

That's extreme. You're those extremist people. You're those extremist people. And as time goes on, we become more and more calloused. Christ, in His Word, becomes something secondary in our lives.

Something we do once in a while while we get back to what real living is about. Ephesians 4, 17 through 19 explains it quite rightly. You must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. You must no longer live as the Gentiles do. You must no longer walk as your neighbors do, as Americans do.

You must no longer live as Americans do in the futility of their minds. Our minds are depraved. Our flesh is depraved. Who would trust it? The Bible even says about our heart, It is wicked and deceitful above all things.

And yet so often people say, well just do what's in your heart. And my response is, you do what's in your heart. It's very evident that you're not born of God. You may say, I believe in Jesus. You may have prayed a prayer.

You may have grown up in the church. You may have went to church every Sunday your entire life. But if you are living as the Gentiles do, as everyone else does, If Christ isn't everything, He is nothing. This morning we see that in many things. As the bug has come, we find so often we make decisions based off of what everybody else does.

We throw the commands of God under a rug because We say, well, we have to stay safe, ignoring the fact that Christ is the one who keeps us safe. I was reminded so often, or in my thought process this week, it's very noble for us to want to care for others and to protect others, but as believers Christ has called us to a life devoted to His service. In fact, when Christ was on the earth, there was, I think Scripture called him a disciple, not one of the 12 disciples, but he told this man, he said, come follow me. And the man had somewhat of a noble response in an earthly way. He said, I want to do that.

I want to follow you, Jesus. But first, before I can do that, I have to bury my father. That didn't mean that his father was dying or has died and he's waiting for the funeral. It means, I love my father, I love my dad, and I can't just leave my dad. How is he going to take care of the farm or whatever they did then?

I just can't do that. My dad has to die before Christ I can follow you." What was Christ's response? I'm telling you, young men, that is, in a way, a noble response if it's not Christ who is telling you to follow Him. Right? But what did Christ say?

He said, let the dead bury the dead. This is way more important. This is way more important. And this morning, if Christ is calling you, If He's calling you, it's more important than Thanksgiving. It's more important than family.

If I have to isolate myself for the next 20 years to serve Christ, the answer is yes and amen. Amen? The Bible says if we love God, we love the children of God. We love each other. We must gather together.

We must. Now to go on, 1 John 1, 8, it says, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us John is reminding us that while we are called to be slaves to Christ. We're called to follow him We're called to be changed by him None of us do it perfectly because our flesh is still here with us. It's still trying to drag us back But the differences is this in first John 5 3 again It says for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. It's a question of this.

Before I came to Christ, I looked at His commandments, and just like 99% of the world would say, I'm not coming to Christianity because there's all these rules, and I just can't be tied down by rules. I'm a free guy, they falsely think. I do what I want, they falsely think. If God has made my heart new, if he has given me a new heart, it changes. It changes from I have to follow all these rules to I get to follow these rules.

I get to be like Christ. I get to. I get to love Him. And I mess up. And I get upset when I mess up.

And I'm sorry that I messed up. But I get to be like Christ. I get to. That's the difference between a saved heart and an unsaved heart. Even those who are trying to earn God's favor by their works are, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to be to church every Sunday, I have to read this much, I have to do this, I have to do this.

The saved heart says, I get to go to church every Sunday, I get to be with the believers today, I get to see Jake, I get to see Brody, I get to see Caleb. This is a great day. It's not just putting my time in. It's Sunday. This spring, when we for a time didn't gather together, I remember, this will be a memory for my entire life.

I remember the first Sunday we gathered together again in the rain and a tent in Jake's yard. I was almost in tears. God, thank you. Thank you. I get to be with the believers.

I get to be with my brothers and my sisters. God, thank you. We get to. We get to. This is the changed heart.

That's why it's not burdensome anymore. It's because I love my Savior. I want to be like Him. Charles Spurgeon said, He who looks sinward has his back to God. He who looks Godward has his back to sin.

It's a question of which way are you facing? Are we trying to walk to God backwards while we still hold on to the world? Are we chasing after God, leaving the world behind us. The Apostle Paul related in 1 Corinthians 9 27, he said, But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. Even the Apostle Paul examined his heart.

He said, the flesh keeps trying to draw me back to the world. I will do whatever it takes to get that to stop. I don't want to sin. I don't want to do it, even though there are times where I do and I fall into it First John or I'm sorry The question this morning is are you born of God? Do you believe Jesus is the Christ and love him?

Do you love the children of God? Do you keep his commandments? Are you getting better every day at keeping his commandments? Do you desire to? Do you love his law?

1 John 3 says, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. It's a change of heart. Do you desire Christ today? If you don't, the scripture is very clear.

You don't know Him. And if you don't know Him, you're not born of Him. And if you're not born of Him, it doesn't matter how many times you've been to church. You are in danger of judgment. R.C.

Sproul says, We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some time to our business or school, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. This is what the Christian life is all about. Hear this again. This is the Christian life.

It's not the pastor's life. It's not the elder's life. It's not the spiritual guy in church's life. It is the Christian life. It's the basic Christian life.

And if your life is not this, you have much to fear this morning. It says, we do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all of our lives in the presence of God, under the authority of God, and for the honor and glory of God. That is what the Christian life is all about. I want you to think a minute this morning, Because our final question is, what must we do if this isn't true of us?

When we go back to Ephesians, we think about the futility of our minds. Why do I pick on Americans so much? I am an American. I have the right to pick on them, right? Why do I pick on them so much?

Because this is the American mentality. I will send my children to primarily a secular instruction for roughly 23 years of their life, if they get a master's degree or maybe not if they start in preschool. I will devote 20 plus years of their life to pagan instruction. Most of American Christianity sends their kids to pagan schools for 23 years to learn how to accomplish the American dream, which is to spend 20, 25 more years in a life of luxury and nice cars and nice things to which then they also will have a family of which they will raise children in the same system, hoping that somehow they will do well enough in school that they'll be able to have the same luxurious life with a big bass boat and all those good things. Essentially, train them for 24 years so they have 25 years of comfort and almost entirely neglect Training them for eternity.

This is what's normal in America. Why? Because that's how everybody does it. This is how we're supposed to do it. Our feudal minds would tell us.

Now this morning, if God's called you to be a doctor or whatever he's called you to do There are some things you do need to have training for in and you can glorify God in that But if you have more pagan training than godly training, it's very likely you may save people of cancer, you may do great things and die and spend eternity in hell. This is American priorities. Bodhi Bakam, in one of his speeches, he said, if I told you this morning that I decided to send my my my four children to to a Muslim school For the next 12 years You guys would fire me and rightly so you'd be like there's something wrong with you Or if I sent them to a Buddhist school for 20 years or whatever, whatever I would say, you would be like, there's something wrong with you. But in America, most of Christianity has no problem with sending them to the pagan school. Think about that.

Why do our children, why do the church do these surveys and say our children grow up and leave the church and never come back, they're trained as pagans. That's what pagans do. We should not be surprised at that. And fathers, if you are not training your children in Scripture, they have almost no chance. You're setting them up to spend eternity in hell.

The question this morning is what must you do if you are not born again? If you are not, if God, if you don't love Him, if He has not made you new. First Peter 1 23 it says, since you have been born again not a perishable seed but of imperishable through the living or through the living and abiding word of God. Let me read that once more and we're drawing to a close so stay with me. 1 Peter 1, 23, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God.

We could dig deep into this verse, but this is an incredible verse. Because when you dig into it, you begin to realize that God or Scripture is comparing the Word of God. It's playing off of this born-again thought process, but it's comparing the Word of God to one of two seeds that are required to be born. In essence, it will be comparing it to a male-female relationship. If you want your child to be born of God, the Word of God is half of the equation.

If we never read it, if we never study it, if we never memorize it, if we don't hide it in our hearts, if this isn't being read at our house, if we're only trusting in a couple of hours on Sunday, We're fighting a losing battle. Husbands, wives, children, if you're not reading this, you're setting yourself up for failure. You're depending on the depraved mind. You're depending on that which scripture warns us against. You must be in the Word of God.

If you care about your children's souls, you will be in the Word of God. Because you cannot talk them into a relationship with God. It's not going to happen. They may attend church for the rest of your life to make mom and dad happy, but if they're not born again, they're still going to hell. We must be in the work of God.

This morning, you, if you examine your heart and you don't love Christ, and you're not in this, you're setting yourself up for failure. In John 6 63 we're given the other seed or the other side. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

If we're to be born again, it's because of the Word of God and because of the Spirit. Essentially, the only thing you can do is what Jeremiah 29, 13 says. This is my last verse. It says, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. See if God, if the Holy Spirit is going to change your heart, you will seek Him.

You will. You will do it. You will be in the Word of God. See, there are some who read that and they say, well, I'll try for a little bit. And they start to read the Word of God, and eventually they say, well, you know, I just don't have time for this.

If that's your conclusion, I can safely say the Spirit's not working in your life. But this morning if you hear the Word of God and something within you cries out, I am undone before God. I need Him. I need to be saved. I need to be saved and you will dig into your word and you will you will drive at it and drive at it and Drive at it and you won't give up Even to the point where you'll say if I can't be if God doesn't change me.

I will die trying to find him It's that person of which we see the Spirit moving. Is that you today? Do we treat the Word of God as if it's a little medicine and give ourselves a shot here and there and think everything's fine? Or do we desire God above all? This morning, if your heart is not changed, if you don't desire Christ, if you're not desiring to keep His law.

The Bible is very clear. It doesn't matter what your experiences are. You are destined for hell unless you repent. This warning, the command is that change your ways, turn to Christ, seek Him until you find Him. Do you love Him?

Do you love His children? Do you love His law? Has it changed from being a burden to something you desire? If not, turn to Christ today. Seek Him until you find Him.

Amen? Let's pray. Father, we come to you this morning, every one of which was born with a depraved heart, one that was contrary to you, one that was an enemy to you. And Father, the enemy is so quick to set up substitutes, so quick to give us false assurance. Father, we are thankful this morning that your word has given us what we need to tell the difference.

And so father this morning as we come to Your Word, I pray that it would do its work, that it would cut to the joint, cut to the marrow, that it would destroy us, that it would knock us to the ground, that Father, we would leave our worldly way of thanking Father and throw ourselves at the mercy of Christ. God, we ask that you would change these hearts of stone. Give us hearts of flesh that love you, that love your word, that love your law, That delight in you, Father, that desires above all to glorify you in this world. Father, if there are those here who don't know you, I pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit would change them, that he would Pound at their hearts pound at their souls that they wouldn't even be able to sleep tonight father Until they come to you for forgiveness and mercy and a new heart. Father, for those who do know you, we live in a world that's so much different than it was even 100 years ago.

Father, give us the ability to shut off the enemy schemes in our lives. Give us the ability to shut off our TVs, our computers, and our devices, God put our affections back onto Your Word, that we wouldn't make decisions and walk in the futility of the world, Father, but that we would walk in spirit and in truth and that God above all in that we would glorify you. Father help us and draw us today, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.