1 John 2, we'll continue our
study through this wonderful little book. Last week we looked
at verses 18 to 20, let's read those again tonight. Little children,
it is the last time, and as you have heard, that Antichrist shall
come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know
that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.
But ye, have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all
things." Now, so far in this wonderful epistle, we've seen the Apostle John make a
distinction and a difference between the contrast of light
and darkness. John, of course, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, has taken this singular theme and applied
it to every aspect of the believer's life. Love, hate, obedience,
disobedience. We see that, and we see in verses
18 to 20, truth and lies. So there's a contrast going on
all through the epistle. Last week, we saw how in these
verses, John began to address the fact that false teachers
abounded in the church. And he gave a plain and simple
reason for them. Having left the fellowship of
the church, it was because they were not of us. They were not
of us. The last days we know begin with
the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ when he came to this earth
and will end with his return. Also take note of the tenderness
with which John writes to the saints. He calls them little
children. He calls them little children. In writing to the brethren,
he's like that of a spiritual father to them. Again, calling
them little children. Now we can see from our text
that some who had been with the church members, with the local
body, had begun to leave. And think upon this, that they
were only absent bodily. They were only absent bodily.
They once appeared to embrace the truth. They seemingly had
enjoyed the love and fellowship of the brethren, but they had
left on their own, proving that they were never really of the
local body. They were never really of the
local body. And we know that they were opposed to Christ.
We know that. They were opposed to the preaching
of the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ. They were teaching
false doctrine. They were even denying that the
Lord Jesus Christ had come in the flesh. They were denying
his deity. and necessity of his coming away
to put or his coming to put away the sins of his people. They
were even denying that the false teachers were. And in their denial
of Christ having come in the flesh, they denied original sin.
And their denial of Christ having come in the flesh, they denied
original sin, because what did Christ come here to do? To save
his people from their sins. And in their own utter depravity,
They said that Christ was not God, that he did not come in
the flesh. In John 5, verses 42 and 43,
he says this, our Lord, but I know you that you have not the love
of God in you. I come in my father's name and
you receive me not. The people he was talking to
there did not receive him. He came in his father's name
and they didn't receive him. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. And we're going to look at that
a little bit in our study in 2 Peter. I was telling Charlie
and Denise about that. About the fact that people are
under strong delusion and follow these false teachers. And the
reason they do is because they were never of us. They were never
of us. Look at verses 22 and 23 of our
text tonight. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. See, if you deny the Son, you
don't have the Father. Because the only way we have
fellowship with the Father is through Christ. It's through
Christ and Christ alone. is Antichrist that denieth the
Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son, look at this, hath the Father also. Hath the Father also. Now true believers grieve when
fellowship is broken. We grieve it, we grieve it. I
was talking to Brother Bruce and that church went through
a similar situation as we did before the Lord brought me here.
And he said they were crying the ones who were stayed and
the ones who left were angry. And that's usually the case.
That's usually the case. God's people grieve when fellowship
is broken and when friends disappear from the local church. And sometimes
the believer even points the finger at themselves saying,
well, maybe they said something or did something that something
they did may have been the cause of it. of the departure, but
now John brings forth in the simplest terms, all while assuring
the believer that those who leave do so because they were never
of us. They were never of us. Think of this in light of Amos
chapter three, verse three, where the scripture declares, can two
walk together except they be agreed? Can you walk with someone
unless you're agreed with them? Well, that's what the scripture
says, right? Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Then in verse 20, we consider
that we have an unction from the Holy One. Look at verse 20,
but ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The Holy One is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we who are God's people were born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. And this is what the unction
is, the Holy Spirit in us, the Holy Spirit in us. The word unction
in the original has to do with a slav or an oil used in anointing
the priests. The priesthood, as we looked
at last week and praise God, the believer has an anointing.
We have an anointing. It's the Holy Spirit of God.
It's the Holy Spirit. We have a comforter given to
us, the Holy Spirit of God given to us by Christ. Now remember
again that John has been bringing forth in this book what is light,
and we know that's Christ. We know that's Christ, and he's
revealed in the gospel. He's revealed in the gospel by
the Holy Spirit of God. We don't know Christ until the
Holy Spirit reveals him to us. And we know him, we know him.
We know him intimately then. Now he's known us from before
the foundation of the world, but then we know him. We know
him, oh my. And we're never to trust in our
feelings, beloved. We're never to trust in our feelings.
We can have no confidence in ourselves or anything that we
do. So we're to never trust in our own feelings. We're to never
trust in the flesh. Our confidence, our confidence
comes from Christ. And our confidence comes by studying
the word of God and by abiding in the word, by abiding in the
word, with our hearts and minds stayed upon him, stayed upon
Christ. That's who our hearts and minds
are to be set upon, is set your mind on things above. And when
Paul's writing that, he's talking about Christ. Set your mind on
Christ. Listen to what Brother Tim James
brings about this. He says, faith is subjective. It lives. and is fruitful only
as it abides in what is written, and as what is written abides
in us. He continues, as we have seen
the unction, the Holy Spirit given us by Christ operates in
the singular realm of the word, the gospel. I like that operates
in the singular realm of the word, the gospel. He is the spirit
of truth, and he continually, continually, Brother Tim says,
guides us in the truth. The gospel. Is what we have in
the gospel is what we need. Wonderful quote, and it's so
true, isn't it? It's so true. The gospel is what we have, and
the gospel is what we need. What we need. Now, notice how
John in the verse preceding this brings forth that the believer
has an unction. Let's look at verse 21. I have not written
unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know
it, and that no lie is of the truth. Now notice John in the
verse preceding this brings forth that the believer has an unction.
They have the Holy Spirit. And they know the truth. They
know the truth. John's not teaching the brethren
anything new here. He's not teaching them anything
new. He's bringing before them what they already know. What
they already know. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it. And that no lie
is of the truth. How do they know the truth? How
do they know the truth? We'll look at verses five and
six in this chapter. And we know this is speaking
of the word of God, but whosoever keepeth his word, his word be
in the scripture, in him verily is the love of God perfected.
Hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth
in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. The
word of God, beloved, abides in the believer, abides in the
believer. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 31,
if you would. Jeremiah chapter 31. And let's
read verses 33 and 34. Jeremiah 31 verses 33 and 34.
The word of God abides in the believer. Look at this in Jeremiah 31 verses
33 and 34. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts. And write it on their hearts. And will be their God and they
shall be my people. We know who this is talking about.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all
know me. God's people know who Christ
is, they know who God is. He's revealed himself to us.
From the least of them unto the greatest, saith the Lord, for
I will, look at this, this is wonderful. For I will forgive
their iniquity. Well, who's forgiven us of all
our sin, and how? God's forgiven us of all our
sin in Christ. In Christ. For I will forgive
their iniquity. And in that last part of that
verse, and I'll remember their sin no more. Because it's been
all put away by Christ. That makes me want to shout.
It's all been put away by Christ. I'll remember their sin. No more. But notice in verse 33, I'll
put my law on their inward parts and write it on their hearts.
God's words written in our hearts belong. It's wonderful. So the
believer knows that no lies of the truth. The believer knows
that no lies of the truth. We've been taught that by God,
the Holy Spirit. We know that because we've been taught the
truth. We've had the truth revealed to us, and so we know we know
that no lies of the truth. Anything that's mixed with the
work of Christ is a false gospel. No matter what people say, it's
a false gospel. The scriptures proclaim beloved
a complete finished salvation in and through Christ and Christ
alone. And abiding in the gospel of
God's free grace in Christ, you will never be deceived. If we
abide in the In in in the gospel of God's free grace will never
be deceived because we know it's the truth. We've been taught
by the Holy Spirit of God that it's the truth. Again, listen to what Brother
Henry Mayhem brings forth about this verse here in verse 21,
he says, if those. If these believers had not known
the Father, who is the God of all truth, Christ, who is truth
itself, the Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, and the Gospel,
which is the word of truth, then there would be no reason to write
to them about Antichrist. If they didn't know the truth,
there'd be no reason to write to them about Antichrist. False
prophets and false professors who would infiltrate the visible
churches. But because they did know the
truth, It was proper to establish them, to encourage them, and
to warn them against deceivers, because they did know the truth. Let's read verses 22 and 23 together. 1 John 2, 22 and 23. Who is a liar, but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also. Again, we know from our earlier
studies that the meaning of the word Antichrist is an opponent
of the Messiah, an adversary of the Messiah. Literally, it
means an opposer of Christ or one who usurps the place of Christ. And beloved, it's a spirit. It's
a spirit that's prevalent. That's prevalent. It's found
in all works-based religion. It's an opposer of Christ. It's
an opposer of God's sovereignty. And it's a hater of the gospel
of God's free grace in Christ. And we know then that the liar,
the Antichrist walks in darkness and despises the truth and attacks
the person of Christ. And attacks the person of Christ,
every false teaching begins and ends with denying Christ, begins
and ends with denying Christ, and thus denies his deity and
his sonship. If you deny the sonship of Christ,
then you deny that God is his father. If you deny the sonship
of Christ, then you deny that God is his father, thereby denying
them both. Denying them both. Look at 23. Whosoever denieth
the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father also. So in turn, those who deny the
Son, deny the Father, they make them both to be liars, and they
destroy the foundation of the faith of which the believer rests
upon. We rest in Christ and Christ
alone, who is sent by the Father. Who is sent by the Father. And by their own words, these
false teachers prove that they deny the son and the father. Because they add to the finished
work of Christ or they deny that Christ came in the flesh. So
by their own words, they condemn themselves. The believer has been taught
of God and led into the truth of the Scriptures which proclaim
that salvation is only in Jesus Christ and Him alone. And the
Scriptures declare that Jesus is the Christ. That He is the
Christ. That He is the true, eternal
Son of God. He is very Christ. He is the
true Messiah spoken of by the prophets. It's Him. It is Christ
who was typified in the sacrifices and looked for by the Old Testament
saints. The Old Testament scriptures
spoke of Him. Testified of Him. And He is the
God-Man. The Lord Jesus Christ. The One
Mediator between God and man. The One. There's only One. And
that's Christ. It's not some man. It's the God-Man. It's the God-man. The only Savior
of sinners. Period. Nothing added and nothing
more. At all. And for the believer
in Christ, He is our Prophet, He is our Priest, He is our Sovereign
King, isn't He? He is our Sovereign King. He
alone is our sin offering. He alone is our propitiation.
He alone is our Redeemer. He alone is our justification
before God. We have nothing without Him.
He's everything to the believer. And the believer says, praise
His mighty name. Glory to Him. Glory in the highest
to our great God and Savior. And anyone who denies this, no
matter what position they have in a church, or no matter how
they praise and give Give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
they deny that, they're a liar. They're a liar. They do not know
the father or the son, and they're still in darkness. They're still
in darkness. Verse 23, again, whosoever denieth
the son, the same hath not the father, but he that acknowledges
the son hath the father also. Now as the latter part of verse
23 brings forth that the believer in Christ acknowledges the Son
and acknowledges the Father. They know the truth. They know
the truth. As opposed to those who say they
know the truth, but don't. God's people know the truth.
They know the truth. They've been taught it by the
Holy Spirit of God. And it's He who reveals to us what? More
and more about Christ. More and more. And how does he
do that? Through the preaching of the
gospel. Through the preaching of the gospel. That's why the
gospel must be preached every time. Every time. Turn, if you would, to 2 John,
just one book over. Look at verse nine. We looked
at this last week, but I'd like us to look at it again. In light
of this, whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father,
but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Look
at 2 John 1.9. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. That's not God. You deny Christ, you don't have
God, no matter what you say. You don't know God. He that abides
in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. Do you abide in Christ? Do you
trust in Him and Him alone? Now the believer will not be
deceived by false teachers. They'll search the Scriptures
to see if what that person says is so. They'll search the Scriptures
to see if what's being said is the truth. And the believer knows
the truth. And that light in him reveals
all the lies of the false teacher. Let's read verses 24 and 27 together. 24 and 27. Let that therefore
abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning, if that which
ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye shall
continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise
that he hath promised us, even in eternal life. These things
have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye
need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teaches
you of all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." Now we see there in
verse 24 the remedy against those who would seduce the brethren. It is that which is in you, and
that which you abide. Now in our day, I've heard it
said by many through the years, doctrine divides. Doctrine divides. They always say, well, we're
not gonna center around doctrine. We're gonna center around Christ.
I've heard it many times. I've heard it many times. But
the Christ they proclaim, The Christ they proclaim is a Christ
who cannot save alone. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? The reason they don't want to
focus on doctrine is because it'll reveal the truth. It'll reveal what they believe
is a lie. Oftentimes you hear them say,
well, Christ made it possible for you
to be saved. Now the rest is up to you. That's
a lie from the pit of hell. That's what that is. I stand before you, a man saved
by the grace of God. in Christ alone and through Christ
alone. And I know it's so for you who believe, too. You are
saved in and through Christ alone, plus absolutely nothing by the
grace and mercy of God. And we say, hallelujah, what
a Savior. What a Savior. What a Savior. He saved me. Talking
to a dear preacher today, and he said, God saved me. Brother,
he could save anyone. I said, I'm right there with
you, brother. Right there with you. Oh my. The wonderful truth of justification
in Christ alone is downplayed by those who don't want to talk
about doctrine and the righteousness of Christ is not even mentioned.
Because they're going about trying to establish their own righteousness. And then they talk about sanctification.
But what they really mean by sanctification is life enhancement. or self-help. It's nothing but
self-righteousness masked. That's what it is. They try to increase their supposed
personal merit before God by their works, with just a slight
mention of doctrine, just a little bit. I heard one false guy one
time say, justification's just milk. What? What justification? The fact that the believer is
justified by Christ and Christ alone. The fact that that we
can stand before God clothed in his righteousness and that
he was raised for our justification is just milk. That person knows
nothing about Christ and nothing about the gospel. My justification
is one of the greatest doctrines of the scriptures. Wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Listen to what Paul pens. Turn,
if you would, to Romans chapter 10. Listen to what Paul pens,
and keep in mind, beloved of God, that the truth is that Christ
is unknown without His doctrine. Because remember what we read
over there in 2 John 1, 9, I'll read it again. Whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. The truth is, again, that Christ
is unknown without His doctrine. The Gospel. The Gospel. And the Gospel is unknown to
one without Him. And He will not be known, Christ
will not be known, unless the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us.
Teaches us. Look at Romans chapter 10 verses
13 to 17 with this in mind. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? How can how can one
call on Christ if they don't know who he is? If they really don't, they they
don't hear the gospel, how can they call on And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. And the gospel of peace is all
concerning Christ. Salvation in and through him
alone. For they have not all obeyed
the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who has believed our report?
Well, remember the article I put in the bulletin this week, you. Well, Brother Drew, you who had
believed the report, you who are God's elect. By the mercy
and grace of God, you believed it. So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing what? By the Word of God. By the Word
of God. The Holy Spirit of God reveals
Christ to us when we're born again by Him. And we hear sound
doctrine when we hear the Gospel preached. When we hear the Gospel
of God's free grace and salvation in Christ and Christ alone. When
we hear it preached and proclaimed, the sheep of God rejoice over
the truth. We rejoice over the truth. We
rejoice over the gospel, which we have heard from the beginning.
If the gospel which you have heard abides in you, then you
will continue in the son and in the father. There was a day
when we heard, wasn't there? We heard. We heard the voice
of the shepherd. And now we keep hearing. Now
we keep hearing. So contrast the sheep of God
who hears the gospel through the preaching of the word with
those who leave the sound of the gospel. With those who deny the doctrine
of Christ. What does the doctrine of Christ
speak of? It speaks of his person as the word of God, the son of
God, who became a man, fully God and yet fully human. The doctrine of Christ also speaks
of his offices, his mediator, surety, prophet, priest, and
king. It also speaks of his redemptive
work, his obedience, beloved, his suffering, his death, his
resurrection, his ascension. And it also speaks of his coming
back to judge the living and dead. The doctrine of Christ
is the gospel. The Gospel. The doctrine of King Messiah.
The Lord Jesus Christ. And it speaks of redemption only
through Him. Only through Him. To the eternal glory of God. An eternal life is only found
in Christ. Again, all the promises of God
we know from studying the scriptures are yea and amen in Him. Yea
and amen in Him. And all who believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ have eternal life. The man or woman who abides in
the truth of Christ has both the Father and the Son. They
have an interest in them. Do you have an interest in them?
Yeah, we do, don't we? We who are the people of God.
We have an interest that we didn't have before. Oh, it's wondrous. We have an interest in them.
We have a knowledge of them that we didn't have before. And we're
not beseduced, beloved, into believing a false gospel. or
not be seduced into believing the false gospel by false teachers. Which ties right into verse 27.
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you.
And ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing
teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and
even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. We see in
this verse that John, again, is bringing forth the fact the
believer knows all things because he knows Christ through the gospel. The believer in Christ, again,
is taught by the Holy Spirit of God, the things of Christ. The things of Christ. And the
preacher of the gospel repeats what's on record. That's what
the preacher of the gospel does. We repeat what's on record. We
repeat what's on record. What's on record in the Scriptures?
And the Holy Spirit teaches us the things of Christ, leading
us into all truth, beloved. As the Holy Spirit, again, is
the author of the Scriptures and the revealer of Christ. And think of this, how the Holy
Spirit is called what? The Spirit of Truth. The Spirit
of Truth. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
The truth and the Lord Jesus Christ called the Holy Spirit
in John 1613. He said, How about when he the
spirit of truth has come? He will guide you into all truth.
We know that truth is Christ, for he shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak and he will
show you things to come. The father in the Old Testament
is called a god of truth. Deuteronomy 32.4 says this, He
is the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right as He. And then
in Psalm 31, it says, Into Thine hand I commit my spirit, Thou
hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. So the Spirit's called
the Spirit of truth, the Father's called the God of truth. And
then the Lord Jesus Christ in John 14.6 says, I'm the way,
the truth, and the life. So we know the truth, don't we?
And we know when someone's lying to us, we know the truth. Christ
said, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and life.
No man cometh under the father, but by me. My spirit is the spirit
of truth because he's the spirit of Christ, beloved. The father
is the God of truth. And His Word is truth, and Christ
is the truth. He's truth manifested in the
flesh. So then we see there's no separation
between knowing Christ and knowing doctrine. As He who is the Spirit
of truth will guide God's people, His born-again people, His blood-washed
saints, to the doctrine of Christ, which is the Gospel. It says, you have need not that
any man teach you. Brother Henry Mahan brings forth,
this is not denied pastors and teachers, for John himself taught
them, and this very epistle was teaching them. But man is not
our authority. Always remember, beloved of God,
that it's not the man, it's the message. It's not the man, it's
the message. And God's people rejoice in the
preaching of the gospel. We rejoice in the preaching of
the gospel. The teaching of works-based religion and traditions of man,
which is contrary to the word of God, is to be rejected. Is to be rejected. And the Holy
Spirit of God teaches us to reject any teaching that is contrary
to the complete, finished, atoning work of Christ. To reject it. To have nothing at all with it. Look at verse 28, we see a simple
admonition to abide in Christ. And note the tenderness again
of the Apostle John. He again calls them little children,
again. And now little children abide
in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not
be ashamed before him at his coming. So contrary to the Antichrist
who tell you to look to yourself, plus Christ for salvation, or
find some knowledge that only they can reveal to you, which
is what the Gnostics believed too, that they were the only
ones who can impart the knowledge that you needed to be supposedly
saved, and they mixed that knowledge with Christ. But then they denied
that Christ came in the flesh too. See, this is why John's
writing. This is why John's saying, you
know the truth. He's saying, I saw the Lord,
I heard Him, and I touched Him. So we see John here exhort the
readers of this epistle to abide in Christ. Turn, if you would,
to John 15, John 15, verse 4. I'll read verse 28 here again,
it says, And now, little children, abide in him. When he shall appear,
being Christ again, we may have confidence and not be ashamed
before him that is coming. Now look at over in John 15,
talking about abiding here, look what the Lord says in John 15,
verses 4 to 7. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, We can't bear fruit on our own, beloved.
Except to abide in the vine. No more can ye except ye abide
in me. So the only way we're fruitful
is abiding in Christ. And always remember it's the
fruit of the Spirit, beloved. It's the fruit of the Spirit.
I am the vine, ye are the branches. Where do the branches get all
their nutrients from? The vine. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, ye
can do nothing. That just slays religious people
right there. Without me, ye can do nothing. The believer says, Amen. I've
been bought to the end of myself, right? We've been bought to the
end of ourselves. If a man abide not in Me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. And men gather them,
and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide
in Me, and My words abide in you... Remember, we saw in Jeremiah
that God's Word is written to our hearts. My words abide in
you. Ye shall ask what you will, and
it shall be done unto you. So abide in Christ means to look
to Christ, beloved. It means to look to Him, to walk
in Him. To exercise your faith in Him.
To trust Him. For all things and at all times
to await His return. To await His return. And we're
not be put to shame. As those who refuse His Lordship
and Redemption will be at His second coming. No. We look to Christ. Abide in the
truth which you've received from the beginning. When the Lord
first saved you. When the Holy Spirit regenerated
you. Abide in that truth. When you were converted, it wrought
salvation in you by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. And
the foundation of your faith is not a changeable doctrine.
You rest on a sure word of testimony, beloved. A sure word of testimony. And this word testifies of Christ. Remember, we have a more sure
word of prophecy. And it testifies of Christ. It's the truth. And Christ is fixed and unalterable. Salvation is only in Him. Nowhere
else. Over in chapter four, John writes
in verse 17, herein is our love made perfect, that we may have
boldness in the day of judgment, because he is, so are we, so
are we in this world. Boldness in the day of judgment.
Only because of Christ. Only because of Christ. So we
see these verses in no way speak of self-confidence. which focuses on the work of
man, the believers, to abide in Christ, to look to Christ,
abide in Him. Abide in Him alone, making Him
the constant object of our lives. So therefore, all the believer's
confidence is in Christ. It's all in Christ, in Christ
alone. It's all in what He accomplished for us at Calvary. That's where
our confidence is. We boast in Christ. We don't
boast in ourselves. Religious folks do that all the
time. They love to tell you what they're doing. We boast in Christ. Look what he's done for me. What
did the Lord tell the gathering demonia? Go and tell the great
things the Lord has done for you. Boast in Him. Boast in Him
and Him alone. So all our confidence is in Christ
and Him alone. We look away from ourselves,
we look to Christ and we abide in Him for all things in life
and in death and in eternity. And in eternity. So what a confidence
the blood-washed believer has in Christ. We are clothed in
His perfect spotless righteousness and will one day stand before
Him without spot and without blemish. All because of what
He's done. All because of what he's done
for us. All because he paid all that was demanded to redeem our
eternal souls. Our sin debt is paid in full. Paid in full. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ,
my Lord. What a Redeemer he is. What a
Savior. Look at verse 29. If you know
that He is righteous. You know that everyone that doeth
righteousness is born of Him. Now Christ Jesus is the believer's
righteousness. He's our righteousness. Christ
is as righteous as God in His nature, as man, in His obedience,
in His life, in His work, in His mediator, in faithfully discharging
the work He undertook. Therefore, He is the author of
eternal righteousness. He's the author of eternal righteousness. We're clothed in what the commentators
and the old timers like to call an alien righteousness. Because
it's not ours. It's not ours. It's Christ's. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
1. Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. Verses 16 and 17. Oh beloved, the righteousness
of God is revealed in the gospel and imputed by God to his people
and received by faith. And received by faith. Look at
this, Romans 1, 16 and 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. God's people aren't ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. For it's the power of God unto
salvation. It's he who saved me. To everyone
that believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That's
all the elect of all the ages. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. It's revealed in the Gospel.
From faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live
by faith. And who's our faith in? It's
in Christ and Christ alone. Nowhere else. So the righteousness
of God is revealed in the gospel. It's imputed to God, to his people,
and received again by faith. And we see that John has made
a distinction between Antichrist and the believer. The believer
doing supposed righteousness, doing supposed righteousness
to gain merit and favor with God. As brother Tim James brings forth.
But rather is the same a doing the will of God. We see that
bought forth in verse 17 of this chapter and the world passes
away in the last thereof. But he that do it the will of
God abideth forever. We look to Christ. Christ is our righteousness.
We are to see his kingdom. And the believer in Christ hungers
and thirsts after righteousness, don't we? We're told to hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Who's our righteousness? Christ. We're to hunger and thirst after
Him, beloved. We're to hunger and thirst after Him. And doing
righteousness is walking in the light. It's not something we
personally do. It's walking in the light. It's
walking in Christ. And it is set in direct opposition
to those who walk in darkness. Those who walk in darkness and
do not abide in the truth. And what's the truth? The gospel.
It tells us of the very one who is the truth. It tells us of
the only redeemer of sinners, Christ Jesus, our Lord. And so
the believer in Christ, those who are born again, we live upon
and by the righteousness of Christ. We love God's words. We love
the scriptures. We love to hear them preached. And we trust he who is the end
of the law for righteousness. Turn, if you would, to Romans
10, and we're close with this. Look at this in Romans chapter
10. We trust he who is the end of the law for righteousness.
I'll read verse 29 again. If you know that, if you know
that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doth doeth
righteousness is born of him. Now look at this in Romans 10,
verses one to four. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and look at this, and going about to establish
their own righteousness. There is so many people in this
world right now who are ignorant of God's righteousness. I was
there before the Lord saved me. So we can't look down on them
because we were all there before the Lord saved us. I was totally
ignorant of God's righteousness. I used to think that my good
would outweigh my bad when I stood before God. Praise God He saved
me by His grace and didn't let me perish in my sins. Oh my. for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness.
That's what natural man does. They are going about trying to
establish their own righteousness. Brother Tim James even brought
up, when religious folks say, well, I read my Bible, I read
10 chapters a day, I do this, I do my devotionals all the time.
Now, those things are good to do, but when you keep having
those things as checklists to measure your spirituality, you're
in a heap of trouble. You're in a heap of trouble.
God's people get to read the Bible, don't we? It's a privilege. God's people get to pray to Christ
and pray to God. It's a privilege. We get to do
those things. We get to do those things. It's not a it's not something
we feel heavy to do it. We do it because we love our
king. We love our Lord. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Well, Christ is our righteousness. They've not submitted themselves
to Christ. And then look at this beautiful
verse, verse four, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. Believe it. Hallelujah. Oh, what
a verse. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believe. Praise his mighty
name. Oh, what a savior. And beloved
of God, abide in He who is the end of the lawful righteousness.
Abide in Him. Abide in Him. Look to Him. Rest
in Him. Repose in Him. In Him alone. May God give you
grace to do so. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for Again, allowing us to gather together through the midweek
and look and I were at all. Oh, Lord, what a blessing it
is to read your word and study your word and see the things
of you, Lord Jesus, things that at one time we could not see.
But now the Holy Spirit has revealed you and the truth and the scriptures
to us. And we just we just marvel. We
just marvel. We marvel at the grace and mercy
which has been given to us in and through you, Lord Jesus.
May we think upon these things through the week. May we meditate
upon them and think upon them. And may we rejoice, we who are
your blood-bought people. Take your hymnals and turn with
me to number 224. 224 I changed up our last song here
toward the end give Carol a second to find it but Do you know Do
you know that's the word that stood out tonight? Do you know
well if you know well, then you can sing this song with me I
know whom I have believed number 224 once you stand and sing with
me and And the songwriter put it in the first four or five
lines. He says, I know not why, I know not how, I know not what,
I know not when. We may not know certain things,
but I'll tell you, the chorus sums it up beautifully. But I
know whom I have believed. All right, let's stand and sing
number one here. No, not by God's wondrous grace
to me it hath been known, nor by unworthy Christ in love redeem'd
before in his own. But I know whom I have beheaded
and am persuaded that he is able to kick back, which I forbid
him unto failure against that day. I know that my heart is
aching. To me, he did it in part, Nor
how he lived it in his word, Brought peace within my heart. God, I know whom I have believed,
And am persuaded that he is able To keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing man of sin. He dealing to each of us through
the Word, Creating faith in Him But I know whom I have beheaded
And am persuaded that He is able To keep that which I committed
Unto Him against that day I know that God of good or ill
may be preserved for me. A weary wish or golden age before
His face I see. But I know I have believed and
am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I committed
unto Him against that day. ? To die or to be there ? ? Nor
did I want to appeal with him ? ? For he did indeed care ?
? But I know whom I have belated ? ? And am persuaded that he
is able ? Take that which I've committed
unto Him against that day.