Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 John 3. We'll read three verses, first
three verses of this wonderful chapter. The name of the message
is, Having This Hope. Our hope, our hope is not in
ourselves. Our hope is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And every believer who's trusting in Christ has this hope
of salvation, because it's in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look at this. This is absolutely amazing. 1
John 3, verses 1 to 3. Behold, what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God, sinners. by birth, nature, and choice,
called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Behold, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. Oh, for we
shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope, this hope in Christ, This hope that's in Christ in Him
alone purifies Himself, even as He is pure. We desire to live
for Christ now. We used to live for self. We
used to live for the world. Now we desire, as born-again
blood-washed believers, Christ redeemed us with His precious
blood. Now we desire to serve Him, to live a life serving Him. We're still sinners. But praise
God, we're now sinner saints. Now we're saved sinners, and
it's wonderful. So marvel, beloved God, in the
midst of this unhappy world, because this is a world of sorrow. This is a world of woe. This
is a world of wars. This is a world of sinfulness.
in the midst of this unhappy world, what a source of happiness
for the born-again, blood-washed believers found here in this
text. Look at verse 1. Now are we the
sons of God. That's by God's grace, isn't
it? That's by God's mercy, beloved. And look at that. Now are we.
Not when we get to heaven. Right now. Right now while we're
on this earth. Oh, it's wonderful. God's people
are the sons and daughters of God. It's absolutely amazing. And this knowledge of this relationship
brings joy to the believer's soul. Scripture says, happy art
thou, O Israel. Who is like unto thee, O people
saved by the Lord? Who's like unto us? We've received
the mercy and grace of God. It's unmerited. It's unsought
after. It's undeserving. But God has
bestowed his grace upon us, beloved, in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, because it pleased him to do so. Who is like unto us? No one. We're so blessed. We're so blessed. Oh, people
saved by the Lord. Those who are the sons of God
are blessed people. But the believer's joy is not
so much in what we have, but in what we shall have, and who
we shall be with forever, the Lord Jesus Christ. We now, we
are kept by him. We're saved by him. We're redeemed
by him. And one day we will be with him
forever and ever and ever, all because of the grace and mercy
of God, shown to us in Christ Jesus, who saved us from all
our sins by shedding his precious blood and obtaining eternal salvation. My, oh my, for us, he shed his
blood to redeem us out from under the law from all our sins, beloved. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, that was contrary to us.
He took it, nailing it to His cross. And you can't even read
those ordinances because they're covered in blood. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Look at verse
2. We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. Now to the unbeliever, all that's
coming is darkness. Darkness. But to the believer,
only the present is darkness. Ever think of that? All the darkness
we see now in this world is the only darkness we will ever see.
Because in heaven there's no sin, and there's no more night. Oh, my. My. All the future is light. Oh. There's glory which is yet to
be revealed, beloved, and we can't even imagine what that's
like. So beloved God, while we are
down here on this earth, may these wonderful truths comfort
our souls. Now are we the sons of God. Now
we're saved, beloved. And we're not what we're gonna
be. And we're not where we're gonna be. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. May these truths
refresh our souls with the thoughts of a future being with the Lord
Jesus Christ, the one who saved us from our sins forever. Oh
my, what comfort comes to the believer in Christ when we see
how God has dealt with us. He bought us, beloved, he bought
us out of the pit we were in. Oh, we were so deep in the pit,
we couldn't get ourselves out. And no one could help us, because
they were in a pit, too. But help come from above, didn't
it? Help come from the Lord Jesus Christ, the sent one, the Messiah,
sent to save his people from their sins. And he takes us out
of that miry clay, and he sets us upon the rock. And that rock
is Christ. That foundation is Christ. Oh, we've got our feet
set upon that rock, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, our great
hope. Our great hope, our comfort,
our hope is in Christ, who will one day take us home to glory,
and we will see him face to face. So marvel, beloved of God, that
most of our comfort comes from seeing what shall be revealed. Not from what's going on here,
but what shall be revealed. My, oh my, we're gonna be in
the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna forever be
in his presence. And that's for all who hope in
Christ. That's for all who are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God and given faith to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse three. And
every man that hath this hope in him, every man and woman that
hath this hope in him, purifies himself even as he is pure. Beloved,
this is hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hope in him alone. This is hope, the hope of one
in Christ. And this hope is that we're being
conformed to the image of Christ. One day we will be what we are
not. We'll be conformed to the image
of Christ. It'll be absolutely amazing. Now the thoughts of
many concerning heaven or glory are very strange. They speak
of sitting around having a party sometimes. And notice that Christ
is seldom ever mentioned. Christ is seldom ever mentioned.
The heaven the believer looks for is a heaven where Christ
dwells, where we shall see him face to face, where we will be
conformed to the image of Christ, where we will be free from sin, where we will see him face to
face as the believer in Christ looks forward to and desires,
what? Perfect holiness. While we're
on this earth, we do not have perfect holiness. We're just
sinners saved by grace. But one day, beloved, we will
have perfect holiness. That's why we seek to serve Christ
now. That's why we're not running around doing the things we used
to do. The love of Christ now constrains us. Now we're still
sinners to our shame, but we know we're forgiven and we repent
of our sin, don't we? Oh, yes, we do. Oh. And this is hope is to be like
Christ. The world doesn't know him, does it? Doesn't know him.
If he came now, it's still not known. It's still not known. He's hidden from the world, beloved.
Just like he was hidden from us. until He revealed Himself
to us. And when Christ returns, He will
be manifested to angels and men. And when He's manifest, we will
be manifest too, as we're united to Christ. He's the head and
we're the body, beloved. Oh, my. And then we're going
to see Him as He is. We're going to see Him face to
face. Remember, Job said, I know my Redeemer liveth. And he said,
I'm going to see Him. I'm going to see them. That's
what we say, too, as born-again, blood-washed believers. My, in
this hope that we have, it lies completely in the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him alone. If hope lies in a decision, then
it's a lie. If hope lies in a church, then
it's a lie. If hope lies in baptism or something
we do, then it's a lie. It's a false hope. What Henry
Mahan used to say, he used to say, I'm going to tear down your
refuge of lies. And that's what gospel preaching
does, doesn't it? It tears down the refuge of lies that we once
believed, thinking we were good people. Thinking we could do
these things and merit God's favor, these religious things
and merit God's favor. Thinking that if we didn't do
a certain thing, then God is mad at us and he's punishing
us. Refuge lies. Praise God though,
what a hope we have. What a refuge, what a refuge
the believer has in Christ, beloved. Oh my, it's a hope. What a hope
we have in Christ. Oh my. So if our hope stands
with one foot on the work of Christ and the other foot on
our own merits or our works, it's a false hope. It's a refuge
of lies. Because our hope is in Christ
and Christ alone. Our hope is in the complete,
finished, perfect, sinatonic work of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the room and place of his people. And God's people say,
hallelujah, praise God. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus, for
having mercy on me. My, God's people are only accepted
in the Lord Jesus Christ because it is he who has purchased us. It's he who's purchased his bride
with his precious, precious blood. And the only hope of heaven will
be in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And then as scripture
says, our hope becomes sight. when we're in heaven. And remember,
if you hope for something and you see it, it's not hope. Right? That's written in Hebrews. If
you hope for something, though, and you don't see it, that's
a hope. We've never seen Christ physically, but all by the eyes
of faith we've seen him. And then one day our hope will
be sight. Oh, what a glorious day. Could you imagine that,
beloved God? Could you imagine what that's going to be like
to leave this sin-cursed world and look to the Savior face to
face? To see the one who's redeemed
us with his precious blood. It's going to be overwhelming.
Oh, we'll be overwhelmed, beloved. In Christ alone our hope begins,
and in Christ alone our hope ends, beloved. When we reach
glory by the grace of God, it'll be all in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is our hope. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the only hope of those in heaven. Those in hell were hoping
in something that they do, or some work they did, or something
they thought merited favor with God. But in heaven, all the believers
say, I have no hope but Christ. He's the only one who saved my
soul. Oh my, it's all by his grace and by his mercy. I love
what blind bar miss. Have mercy on me. Is that not
our cry, beloved? God have mercy on me, please,
in Christ. My, oh my. And you know, we're
gonna see him face to face. Our hope will become sight when
we behold the Lord Jesus Christ. Now one thing this hope doesn't
do, it doesn't puff us up. You know what it does? It purifies
us, just like what this verse says. It don't puff us up. It
puts us in the dust. Right? It puts us in the dust.
The believer who has this hope, don't pat ourselves on the back,
do we? No, not at all. No, our hope is wholly in Christ,
100%. All boasting is gone in ourselves. Who do we boast about now? The
Lord Jesus Christ. in Christ alone. Oh, when he
shows his child what we are and what he's done for us, he becomes
our hope, beloved. And it humbles us. It humbles
us. And this hope spoken of in our
text, this is an expectation of heaven, an absolute perfection. Absolute perfection, beloved.
Absolute perfection, never to sin again. And this hope never
exalts a believer. It always causes us to love Christ
more and more. If your religion gives you something
to brag about, if your religion gives you something to brag about
yourselves, it's not a God. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Amen and
amen.