John K. Jenkins Sr - 5 Critical Things You Need to Know

Father, we thank You for the privilege that You give us to be in the house of worship. We are so grateful for Your loving kindness and the multitude of Your mercies. Thank You for the privilege You give us to worship Your name. Thank You for protecting us all week. Thank You, Almighty God, for the privilege of being Your servants. We pray today that You bless these next few moments that we could be Your instruments, Your conduits for Your truth; that hearts would be open to receive not only in this building but all over the country and around the world. May people receive Your truth and apply it to their lives. Save someone; reclaim a lost soul, a backslider, an unsure person, or a disconnected individual. Draw them, O Mighty God, and let the name of the Lord Jesus receive all of the glory and honor. In His name, we pray, Amen.

You may be seated. Now, you all know I have been dealing with discipleship. I have been trying to teach you things since January and equip you with information, scriptures, and theological concepts to help you be aware and capable of communicating the truth and principles of the Word of God to your family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. We 've talked about so many issues. I went through the six basic scriptures and theological truths that Hebrews 6 discusses. We’ve explored Romans regarding salvation, and we talked about how to deal with a backslider. I’ve been doing my best, and I know some of you fell asleep while I was speaking, but it’s okay; at least it’s all there, and you can go back and look at it when you wake up.

Now, I want you to open your Bibles. Let me first tell you to go to 1 John; I am going to deal with 1 John today. Now, I’m going to give you some preliminary points very quickly, and then I will present five critical things you need to know. Okay? Five critical things you need to know. But let ' s start off by discussing 1 John. Here 's the writer of this epistle, and he gives us insights into why he writes these things. Let me start off, even before I give you my theme verse for today, by mentioning chapter 1. In 1 John 1:4, in fact, all of my verses today are coming from 1 John. Now, let me clarify that that is near the back of the Bible. Some of you are in the Gospel of John; that is not the book we are in. There 's 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John near the back of the Bible. So we are in 1 John. Someone look at your neighbor and say He said 1 John, not 2 John, not 3 John, not John chapter 3, but the epistle of 1 John.

In 1 John chapter 1, verse 4, he says, «And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.» He begins by saying, «Look, I’m giving you this information because I want you to have full joy.» Who here wants to have full joy? Okay, I want your joy to be full. But hold up, he doesn’t stop there. Look at chapter 2, verse 1. In chapter 2, verse 1, he says, «My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin.» Look at your neighbor and say, «He ' s trying to keep you from sinning, 'cause you are a sinner!» He says, " I’m writing this to you; I’m giving you this information so that you may not sin.» Then he says in verse 26 of chapter 2, «Just stay right there in chapter 2 and slide down to verse 26.» He says, «These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.» Do you see the pattern? He’s giving you all of the information about what you need to know and why you need to know it. Here 's why I ' m writing these things to you. He says, «I want you to be aware that some people are trying to trick and deceive you,» and He says, «I’m writing to you about these matters 'cause I don’t want you to be deceived.»

Then he says in chapter 5, are you all still with me? In verse 13, he says these words again: «These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,» listen to this, «that you may know that you have eternal life.» That you may know. Now, that’s important. In fact, that’s the very first thing I want to discuss for just a moment. I was preaching during a whirlwind trip. I have been traveling for two weeks. I went to California, and then from California, I had to preach in Hawaii. Yeah, somebody has to take these tough assignments, and I bit the bullet and made the sacrifice to endure the pain of 80-degree weather and blue waters to go to Hawaii and preach. I was preaching at a conference, and the person who preached before me was a Catholic priest, and what he said troubled me. It was a reflection of what I believe is Catholic theology. He said, «If you do this and do that, you might be saved.»