Well, good morning. We serve a great God. Amen. And we want to continue in worship right now through the preaching of His Word. We don't want you to think of, like, worship just as the songs that we sing, but we want you to think of worship as when we talk about who God is and what he's done and what he said, we want to respond to that. So we will continue to worship through the preaching of His Word. If I haven't met you before, my name is Michael. Get to be one of the pastors here and it is great to be with you this morning. If you got a Bible, turn with me to First John. We're going to continue marching through this letter that we've been marching through for the first or for several weeks now. And if you are new with us, let me just tell you that what John's purposes are that he's been writing about up until this point. I would just encourage you, if you've got spot in the middle of your aisle, if you could kind of move to the center. That way people that are still looking for seats can get an easy seat on the end. So here's. Here's what we know about John's purposes in writing this letter thus far. First John, chapter one, verse four, says this. And we are writing these things so that. So here's the purpose that our joy may be complete. So he. He's writing so that our joy may be complete. And then in chapter two, verse one, he says, my little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. So the two purposes thus far that we know, this is John's point. I want your joy to be complete, and I don't want you to sin. This is what we're going after here. Now, the way he's gone about this thus far is by talking about what genuine faith looks like. Because we live in a world where a lot of people say, oh, I have faith, but they don't operate like it. So what John has done is he has given multiple tests thus far of what to test if you have genuine faith. There's the holiness test and the obedience test and the love test. So we are fighting this battle to joyfully pursue holiness and live obediently and love people because of our faith. Now, here's where the tension comes in. As John has been given these tests, giving these tests to his audience. I think some believers, those with genuine faith, can start to feel weak, maybe even start to question some things or lose your joy or grow insecure in your own assurance. And these tests over the first few weeks may have been unsettling to you. Now, the first thing I want to tell you is just because something is unsettling or uncomfortable doesn't mean that it's wrong. That's not what our world would say, right? But something unsettling doesn't mean that it's wrong. Because Jake has kind of summarized what John's trying to do over the first few weeks by saying he's trying to expose the liars and make Christians confident. And maybe over the first few weeks, God has exposed you. The unsettling nature of this letter has just undercut pillar after pillar of what you are building your faith on. That hasn't been a genuine faith. And that unsettling thing is a really good thing so that you don't leave with some false sense of security. And you praise God because it's his kindness that leads you to repentance, right? But for others of you, maybe the unsettling nature of this is like, man, I'm discouraged. Now you start to question, like, have I done enough? Do I really know God? Am I fighting sin hard enough? And as you've begun to take these tests, you're like, oh, this feels weighty. I don't know, am I. Am I really a Christian? And as some of you have felt that weight, some of you are like, man, maybe I just want to give up in this fight for joy, in this fight against sin. Maybe I want to just give in or roll over because it's difficult and I'm worn out and I'm overwhelmed and I'm just kind of ready to wave the white flag to say, let's negotiate terms of my surrender. Cause this is too hard. If that's you this morning, John has an amazing word. God has an amazing word through John for you. Because what John's I'm gonna describe this morning is John taking kind of a halftime speech that he said some really hard things. He's not gonna quit saying hard things. You'll get more of those next week. But in the middle of saying hard things, he's going to give an incredible halftime speech that gives you amazing truths, incredible realities. And what John is trying to say is, stay with me now. Don't quit. Don't give up. But why not? Why should you keep fighting this fight against sin and for joy? So first John, chapter two. We're going to read verses 12 through 14 again. Keep, keep in mind what's going to motivate you to keep fighting? John says, I'm writing to you little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I'm writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. So what. What is this method that John is trying to use here to motivate us in this fight? Really simply, he's using a lot of repetition, right? A lot of repetition. And what is he repeatedly telling them? Not a bunch of commands. He's given a lot of commands the first few weeks in this letter. And commands aren't a bad thing, guys. Sometimes we look at commands in the Bible, we're like, oh, that's just awful. Like, no, God's trying to command you to do something that. To live in a way that walks with him and honors him. So commands aren't a bad thing. But sometimes those commands can feel burdensome, right? And that's not what he's going after. We'll find that out later on in the letter. But right now, John's not going to give them any commands. He's just going to give them weighty truths that you need to remember. Incredible realities, beautiful realities to cling to when you're discouraged in this fight for your joy and against sin. So who is he talking to? He gives, like, three kind of parallel audiences, right? We get the children, the fathers and the young men. And again, why is he repeating these things? He's repeating them for simplicity's sake because repetition builds confidence. How many of you have learned an instrument at some point in your life? Okay, a few of you. Now, when you. Let's just say you're practicing piano and you have a piano performance coming up, what gives you more confidence in that performance? Practice, right? More reps, more repetition. And the more you rep, like, okay, I'm getting more confidence that when it comes time for the performance, I can do this. And what John is saying is, you're in a fight, and I want you to. I'm going to repeat these things over and over so that you get it, so that when you're in the midst of the fight, that you know what to cling to. So he says, writing to all these children and fathers and young men. Now, who do these three groups represent? There's some debate among commentators of who this is. Is he talking about stages of life? So like young people in church, older people and babies and kids in the church, or is he talking about stages of spiritual maturity? These are young people in their faith, kids in their faith. Is he talking to one group, just saying, you're all little children? He's talking to three distinct groups. Is he saying, okay, you're all little children? But I'm going to emphasize something to the young people and to the fathers. I would say a little bit of all of the above, right? Not just as a cop out, but all the truths that he's going to give here are relevant to every single genuine believer, no matter where you're at in stage of life, where you're at in spiritual maturity. Because four times in this letter he's going to say little children, little children, little children. So he's going to refer to genuine believers, no matter your age, as little children. But I do think he's going to emphasize something to those that have walked with Jesus for a little longer, especially something to those that are in the midst of the fight is the young people. So he's trying to direct certain truths to certain stages. But again, what is true for each of these stages is relevant to every single person in this room that has genuine faith. So John just repeatedly is motivating them with similar truths over and over to drive home a point so that you don't forget it when you get in the fight. So where does he start? He starts with the children. And he says this in verse 12 and 13, I am writing to you little children, because your sons or not sons, your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. And then verse 13, I write to you children, because you know the Father. Now, why does he make the change from I am writing to you to I write to you. One commentator said it this way, which I tend to agree with, is John is in his old age and he's like up there and he's realizing, hey, as I write this, I am writing this to you, but by the time you receive this, I might not be here anymore. So I've written it to you. So I'm writing it to you now because this is what I believe. And then when I'm gone, I still believe it. Okay, so who are these children? They're the born ones, the ones that have been born, right? We get this idea in John chapter three, when Nicodemus is interacting with Jesus and they're talking about, how do you enter into the kingdom of heaven? How do you, how do you gain Access to the kingdom. And Jesus says what? You must be born again. This is how you begin your walk with Christ. Now, some of your translations there. Instead of saying dear or little children, it may say dear children because this term is a term of affection that John's using between, like, a teacher and his disciples. Oh, you're my little kids. Dear children, I love you, and I want you to know some incredible realities. I know you're discouraged. I know you're having a hard time. Some of these tests are making you question some things. But I want to encourage you in this. Charles Spurgeon calls this group of people babes in grace. Babes in grace. Those who haven't been born into the family of faith very long have feeble grace. They're vulnerable. They're much like an infant learning to walk right. You know, they have big dreams, but they stumble often, and they often need somebody to come alongside them and steady them. Hey, you can do this. I know you just fell, but grab the coffee table again, pull up. You could do this. But they're not quite like the young men. They can't run like the young men. They're not as mature to shepherd like the fathers. And if that's you in this room, maybe some days you feel like you're a burden to our church because you keep stumbling and you keep confessing your sin and you keep doing this. And what I want to tell you as one of your pastors, we want you at our church, and we love you. And if, because you're a genuine believer, we don't just want you, we need you because you're part of the body of Christ and we need every part of the body of Christ. You're an integral piece in this body. Now, there's going to be days that you do things that make them mature in this congregation. Go, what? What did they just do? Why did they make that decision? But, guys, if you're young in your faith, in this room, you are a constant shot of zeal and encouragement to this congregation. And we are so thankful that you're here. And we are ready to say, hey, let's steady you. Let's point you to a firm foundation. Let's remind you of these realities that John is trying to remind them of. But here's the concern for this group of people that because you might stumble often in your young faith, you might become really discouraged. You might become fearful, and you might start to think, ah, is my faith really genuine? Because you're stumbling so often and you feel insecure and you're impatient because you're not quite where those other mature people are yet. So when the fight gets hard and you're scared and it's discouraging, what is it that children in the faith need to know? Look back at verse 12 and 13. I'm writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I write to you children because you know the Father. What is it that they need to know to motivate them? Your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. And you know the Father. Your sins are forgiven. The idea there is, this is a completed action that has continuing results. Like you've been forgiven. That was done. It is finished on the cross, right? But now you get to experience, keep experiencing the benefits of that finished work. The author of Hebrews would say, like, you've been forgiven once for all. You don't have to keep making daily sacrifices and daily offerings to the Lord to find that forgiveness. You, you are forgiven once for all. A better translation might be, you have been forgiven because you're receiving the results of an action that someone else completed in the past. What does this word forgiven means? It's a really sweet word that means to send away. To send away that because of the work of Christ, our sins have been sent away as far as the east is from the west. What glorious news. In fact, when John is writing his gospel and he's telling the story about John the Baptist In John chapter 1, verse 29, it says this. The next day he, John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Oh, here he is. Like, we've been waiting on the Messiah, we've been waiting on the Lamb of God. And what's the Lamb of God going to do? He's. He's going to take away or send away sin of the world. Now, why does John add for his name's sake? Because that's a little odd phrase, right? Because you might think like, oh, he's forgiven you for your sake. Because Jesus doesn't need forgiving, right? So why does he write? Why doesn't he write for your sake? Why does he write for his own name's sake? No, the idea here isn't for as in purpose, because Jesus. Now this is true, but it's not what this passage is talking about. I don't think. I don't think he is saying, hey, Jesus didn't die for you, he died for the Father's glory. Again, that is absolutely true. That's Absolutely true in lots of places in Scripture. And that's a hard truth to wrestle with, that Jesus didn't simply die to forgive you for your sins. He. He died to glorify the Father. Okay, that's true. But what I think he's saying here, that word for actually means through or on the account of. So it would say this because your sins are forgiven on account of his name's sake. You have been forgiven of your sins on account of Jesus. That is the only way that you have been forgiven of your sins. You have been forgiven on account of Jesus, the one whom he sent as the atoning sacrifice for your sins. Now, what is that truth, though acquired for us? I write to you children, because you know the Father. Your sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus, and now you have an intimate relationship with the Father. You have been reconciled back to God. Glorious truth, right? When you're discouraged and you're walking through hard times, you know, man, I'm stumbling, I'm having a hard time. What do you need to remember? You're forgiven not because of you. You're forgiven on account of Jesus. And because of that, you have been reconciled back to the Father. That's good news. That's good news. And this is incredible motivation for those of you that might be stumbling and insecure and impatient little children in the faith. But guys, this is not often the motivation that we use in our walk with Christ. We often use bad motivation. It reminds me, I've told you before, but I'm coaching basketball again this year. This year it's first graders and helping out with the fourth graders. Okay? So two weeks into the season, we have our first eight o' clock game. That's the earliest game on Saturday morning. And so our family, we would prefer to sleep a little later on Saturday morning. And so we wake up and I don't know, maybe this just happens at our house. But it was frantic that morning. All right? We woke up a little later. It was chaos. Like, come on, do this. Eat breakfast, grab your shoes, like all those kind of things, right? Anybody been there before or want to admit it? Okay, okay, so you get it. So we're frantic getting out of the house, but we're frantic because, like, it felt like everybody's kind of walking around like zombies, right? Like, we're just tired. I'm like, but they got. We got a basketball game to play, right? I'm taking this first grade basketball serious, right? So we have a basketball game to play. So I get in the car and I'm like, We need jock jams right now, okay? Some of you under 30, you don't know what jock jams are, right? Just think of like hype music, okay? That's what my family needed at that moment. We needed hype music. So we get in the car, I start backing up. Erica grabs her phone, she turns on some music to some calming folk music. Now, I asked her if I could share this. She laughed and said, sure, right? Like, it was frantic. She wanted some calm down music, right? But I'm like, this is not going to help us. And guess what? We got beat by like 50 that day, okay? Bad motivational music, bad motivation. This is not going to help. And some of us in this fight for our joy and fight against sin, the motivation that we go is like, man, I just got to work to earn my forgiveness. Bad motivation. You will never be good enough. Your work will never be hard enough to earn your salvation, to earn your righteousness. It's terrible motivation. But we kind of live this life of, well, I've stumbled before. I guess I got to earn some penance. Jesus died for you once for all. There is not enough penance you could ever do to earn Christ's righteousness. None. But you try to atone for your sin through good works and good morals and a lot of labor. But what John is saying, let me tell you the right motivation to keep fighting sin, to keep fighting for your joy. What you need to know is that your sins are forgiven and you know the Father. And I just picture, like Grandpa John, like, coming to his grandkids and getting down on their level and grabbing them on the side of the face and saying, look me in the eye, child. Hey, grandson, granddaughter, I want you to look me in the eye. I know it's hard right now, but you're forgiven. I know you're discouraged right now, but you have a relationship with the Father because of Christ on his account, not your account. This is what John's trying to tell us right now. Don't forget this truth. Keep fighting because you're forgiven. Keep fighting because you're known by the Father. So what about the fathers, verse 13 and 14? I'm writing to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. Now, who are the fathers that he's talking about? This is a term of really high regard in the ancient world that I think has gotten dumbed down in our society today. Like, being a father is a great thing. A great thing. It's a Title of respect and honor. And it should evoke some sense of responsibility and maturity. But here's my concern for this group of people, that maybe you've been walking with Jesus for a while, but you're a group of people that recognizes that you don't have the same energy that you once had. Or maybe you've been in this battle a long time and you've experienced lots of victories, you've experienced lots of defeats. You've also seen peers of yours, brothers and sisters, in this fight, and they quit fighting and they gave up. And you might even feel alone right now. How do I keep doing this? Like I'm watching my friends just get picked off by the like temptation and the lure of worldly retirement. It seems like they're just. They're in it for themselves. And I feel all by myself. What's the weighty truth and incredible reality that you. Someone who's been walking with Jesus longer, what do you need to cling to that you know him who is from the beginning? You know him who is from the beginning. Now, why did John repeat himself? He says it literally twice. You know him who is from the beginning. I was reading somebody and they said, well, they're older and they didn't have their hearing aids turned up the first time. Okay, it's a joke, guys. All right, It's a joke. What does he mean? What does John mean when he says that? Who is from the beginning? At the beginning of this letter, verse one of chapter one, he says this. That which was what from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands concerning the word of life. Who was it that John had heard about, had seen with his eyes and looked upon and touched? Who was it? Jesus. Jesus. He's saying, you know Jesus. And then in his gospel, in chapter one, verse one, he says this. In the beginning was the Word. This is Jesus. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. In eternity past, Jesus was with the Father. Jesus is God. He's saying, hey, more mature Christian, somebody that's been walking with Jesus for a while. What I want you to know is you know the Father. You have an intimate relationship. You have fellowship, not just intellectual knowledge, but experiential knowledge of being with the Father. You don't simply know about God. You know God. You know God. And guys, this is a mark of maturity in the church, people that deeply know God. Because maturity isn't just about knowing more stuff about more things. Maturity for the believer is about knowing God more deeply. As you get older, you're going to learn a lot more about a lot of things. But what he's saying is, what I want you to remember is that you know God deeply. To the mature in our church, don't ever grow accustomed to learning more about God's character. Don't ever grow accustomed to learning more about his Word. Like, keep pressing in, keep pressing in. I want you to be with Jesus. And when you do, it reminds me of Acts, chapter 4. 13. Peter and John are on trial because they've been bold in their faith. And it says this now. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, not great intellects, right? They were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Pastor Legon Duncan says this. You know, there's no better way to characterize maturity in the Christian faith than to say that a person has an experiential knowledge of Jesus. That woman, that man knows Jesus when I'm with him, when I'm with her, I feel as if I'm with someone who has been in the presence of the Savior. That's maturity. When I think about our church, I think about the people I interact with that go, man, it feels like they've been with the Savior, they've been with Jesus. The Brett Messengers and the Jakes and the Dannys and the Carol Tranthams and the Mike Huntings and the Garrett Huffords and the Carol DeYoungs and the Gordon Lewis's, just to name a few. And I'm around those people and I talk to those people, man, these people have been with Jesus. What a mark of maturity. Like, what's going to motivate these mature Christians to keep fighting? It's not going to be your age, it's not going to be your friendships, it's not going to be your intellect. It's going to be, hey, you know, the Father. Spend time with the Father when everybody else is chasing after the world. I want our classes in this church filled up with all ages, including people that have walked with Jesus for a long time because they want to press into their relationship with the Father. Guys, we need parents and grandparents in the faith at Veritas Church. Yes, we are a church that unashamedly says that we prioritize the next generation. But sometimes the next generation is those stumbling Christians around. Right? And we are so thankful for the passion and the zeal. But if we're a church of just a bunch of stumblers and we don't have a bunch of people who are spending time with the Savior. We're going to be a mess. And we need both of those groups in our church. We need a lot of people in this church that says, I've been with Jesus. And then it just overflows into those younger Christians. That's what kind of church we want to be. So John's addressed the children, he's addressed the fathers. Now he gives the most truths to the young men. He says, I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. And then down in verse 14, I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Now, who are these young men in the church? Right, it's the strong and the vibrant and the mighty. Those on the move, bold in faith, making a mark. The vigorous fighters. This should be the predominant group in our church. Somebody said, if the Fathers are the backbone of the church, the young men are the muscle. But here's my concern for that group of people in our church. This is the group of people who are often the busiest. And you're easily tempted by the cares of this world. You're easily distracted by how busy your life is. And you are deeply entrenched in the fight for holiness and obedience and love and joy. But these strong, vigorous people in our church, they often just try to power through. I don't need rest. I'm just going to keep going after it. I'm going to keep going after it. And what does John tell them? He says, you've overcome the evil one. He says it twice. You've overcome the evil one. Now who's the evil one? You've overcome? Satan, our adversary, who's not to be taken lightly, who is dangerous for Christians. But this is what I need you to know that John's going to tell us a few chapters later. His powers are negligible. In John 1st John 4:4, he says, Little children again, you are from God and have what overcome them? For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Now, who's the them? In the context of chapter four, we'll get to in several weeks from now, it's the spirits and the false prophets and the spirit of the Antichrist from the world. What John is trying to say is, hey, those of you who are kind of not ready to be teachers and shepherds yet, but you've grown up past the baby stage, you need to be aware of the evil one. You need to be aware of his schemes, you need to be aware of his strategy. But you need to remember that you have overcome. You have victory again. This is that perfect tense, completed action in the past with continuing results today. John would say it this way about Jesus in John 16:33. I have said these things to you that in me, Jesus, you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world. The head of the church, Christ has overcome the world, and believers share in his victory. This is settled, guys. You've already won. You've already won. This is great news. What a promise. You don't have to live in perpetual defeat for the rest of your life. You've won. But why says I write to you young men? Because you're strong and the word of God abides in you. Now, this, because you were strong, isn't a completed action in the past. This is what you're presently, currently doing. You are strong. Now. There's two different ways that you can talk about strength in the New Testament. It's a strength that you possess, or it's a strength that you worked for or gained from experience. A strength that you possess, or a strength that you worked for. What John is saying here is, this is a strength that you possess. You have some power, strength in you. And what is that power? From Acts chapter one, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He's saying you have because you have fellowship with the Father, because your sins are forgiven on the account of Jesus. You are strong because you have the Spirit dwelling in you. Great news. Paul would say it this way in Ephesians 6. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Young men, your strength is not in yourself. The strength to keep fighting for joy and against sin is in the strength of the Lord. You have overcome because you are strong in the Lord, not in your natural strength. But you're not just overcoming because you're strong in the Lord. You're overcoming because the word of God abides in you. It presently currently abides in you. You have a weapon in the fight that you're in, and this weapon is called the sword of the spirit. In Psalm 119. 9, listen to what the psalmist says. How can a young man keep his way pure by guarding it according to your word. How do you keep your way pure as a young person, as somebody kind of in that middle ground of the faith. You go to his word. So why have you overcome the evil one? Is it because you've worked hard? No. Have you overcome the evil one because you've beaten your body? You've gotten stronger to rely on your own strength than you've avoided rest and just pushed through? No. No. You have overcome the evil one because God's strength is in you and God's Word is in you. You are overcoming because of Jesus, his death, his strength through his spirit, and His Word in you. And guys, this is the key to this whole text. Your motivation to stay in this fight can't be, well, I just gotta earn some grace. It can't be, well, I just gotta work harder. I gotta rely on my strength. But it also can't simply be, oh, I'm gonna motivate myself in the fight because of forgiveness, because of fellowship, and because of overcoming. It can't be these things. And it shouldn't be just this. It should be the motivation for the fight is because. Fellowship on account of his name. Forgiveness on account of his name. God's strength in you, we're talking about. Your motivation has to be forgiveness, fellowship and overcoming in Christ. This is the glorious truth about Jesus. In our weak and desperate and lonely and overwhelmed state, we have forgiveness because of Christ. We have fellowship with God because of Christ, because we have. We overcome the evil one because of Christ. You will not stay motivated in this fight if you depend on yourself. If you depend on the wrong things or lesser things than Christ, imagine it this way. Imagine that you're a soldier in a battle. You're in the fight and you're in the foxhole. And you're in the foxhole by yourself one day. And you're there by yourself because over the past two weeks, you have repeatedly failed at every mission that you've had. And because you failed so often, your commanding officer has abandoned you. Now, don't take this too far, all right? But because I know a commanding officer wouldn't do that, right? But just imagine this. Like, oh, I failed over and over. How am I going to keep fighting? My commanding officer has abandoned me. And I know if I stick my head out of this foxhole and I look over the hill, you know it's going to be over there. Dozens of enemy troops. And if you feel like you have zero hope of winning, do you have any hope to get out of that foxhole? Probably not. Now imagine it this way. Imagine you've repeatedly failed, but your commanding officer says you're forgiven. I'm not abandoning you. I'M going to be right beside you in this foxhole. And what I want you to know, I don't care how many enemy troops are over there. I already have this knowledge that we've won the war. How much more motivating is that? You've already won. You have already won. Guys. Motivation for the battle comes from confidence in the victory of Jesus. Motivation for the battle for the fight against sin, for the fight for your joy. It's going to come through confidence in the victory of the person and the work and the strength and the Word Jesus. A victory that purchased your forgiveness, that reconciled you back into fellowship with God, that eternally overcame sin, Satan and death, and a victory that strengthens you and abides in you today. So when you sin, have confidence in the forgiveness of Jesus. Keep fighting. When you feel all alone in the fight, have confidence that you are known by Jesus, that you know the Father, and keep fighting. When you feel overwhelmed on all sides by evil, have confidence that you have overcome the evil one through Jesus and keep fighting. When you have fought really hard one day and you don't know how you're going to fight so hard the next day, remember that God's strength is in you and His Word abides in you. And keep fighting. When you are worn out in your fight for holiness and and purity, pick up your sword, the word of God, and keep fighting. Guys, we want to be a church that reminds each other often of the victory that we have in Jesus. That when you see a brother that's struggling, when you see a sister that's struggling, you go, no, no, no. We are not going to operate as defeated people because we have victory in Jesus, and we are going to pursue holy holiness and we're going to pursue obedience and we're going to pursue love, not to earn God's forgiveness and fellowship, but because we already have it. So let me remind you right now of the ultimate victory that's to come. In Revelation, chapter 12, it says, now war arose in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil, and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down. For who accuses them day and night before our God. Listen to this. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony. For they love not their own lives, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens. And you who dwell in them. How do you know that you have conquered by the blood of the lamb? It's finished. Jesus died so that you could have forgiveness. Jesus died so that you could have fellowship with God. Jesus died so that so that you could overcome the evil one. That's what you have access. When you are discouraged and you are in desperation and you are fearful and you are wondering, like what is? Am I a believer? Like, if there is genuine faith and you can pass those tests, you need to know. Jesus has conquered. We have conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Don't forget it. And live in that victory. And let that victory motivate you in your fight for joy, in your fight against sin. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful. We are so thankful for the victory that we have in Jesus. Victory in Jesus, our Savior forever. He sought me and bought me with with his redeeming blood. Thank you that we've been redeemed and reconciled and forgiven and strengthened because of Christ's work. His work alone. May we never try to do it on our own. Pray this in Jesus name. Amen.