Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. Let's ask the Lord's blessing. Our Father, we ask You this evening,
for Christ's sake. Bless the Word as it is preached. Bless our hearing. We pray for
these that have been mentioned. Have mercy. Lord, guide and direct
us and keep us for Christ's sake. Amen. I'm going to look at verses 3
to 6 this evening. And last time, having considered
the wonder and the marvel of God's grace to give God's people,
Jesus Christ the righteous, the Holy One, to be our advocate,
with the Father is a wonder that we cannot, this side of glory,
understand. We cannot enter into the depth
how that He who is the propitiation, the appeaser, the peacemaker
for all God's sheep ever liveth to make intercession for us. pleading his own merit on our
behalf. I paid the debt. I satisfied
justice. My blood was shed. A believer who knows that Christ
is the advocate, the mediator, he wants to enter in right now. to the assurance of knowing that
He is my Mediator. I want to be instructed from
God's Word that I'm His, that He's mine. Mere speculation, assumptions, just That's not
going to settle my heart. I need to have the Spirit of
God through God's Word. I mean, people say, well, I feel
the Lord. I want to see it. Don't you,
Neil? I want to see it in God's Word. This is what I want to know.
What saith the Scriptures? Because if the Scriptures don't
say it, don't put any stock in it, because that's the only thing
that's going to last, God's Word, I need to rest my soul on what
God has to say. And may the Spirit of God give
me the assurance of knowing that I can find myself in relationship
to what's being described as the one that has some assurance.
That's what I want to know. I want to know that I know Him.
Now listen to verse 3. I'm going to deal with verses
3 to 6. And hereby we do know that we know Him. if we keep
His commandments. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoso keepeth his word, 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." Now,
I know this. That scripture right there has
set forth that somebody has got some assurance. Somebody does. It's set forth as being those
that know Him. and keep His commandments. Now let me just tell you, I want
to try to make this as simple as I possibly can. When we read
this phrase right here, keep his commandments, I'm going to
tell you first of all that it deals with the entirety of God's
Word. I'm not talking about the Ten
Commandments, I'm talking about the Word of God. I'm talking
about God's Word, God's commandments. Now, John is saying that there
is some assurance that there is a settled knowledge for somebody
that is truly acquainted with the Lord, that knows Him. Now to understand what is being
said concerning these words, know Him. I want you to listen
to this verse of Scripture. John 17, 3. And this is life
eternal. This is salvation. This is salvation,
right here. That they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Now, I know
for a fact that knowing, in that word, the word know right there,
I can tell you what it doesn't mean. I know it doesn't mean
just a nominal speculation that says there is a God. Again, we've
said this so many times. Devils know that. Everybody knows
that there is a God. But what does it mean to know Again, it doesn't mean to just
merely acknowledge His existence, but what it expresses. is the
personal experience, if I can say it that way. And every believer
has experienced something. I know we often talk about experience,
you know, and that's talking about some work that I've done.
But a believer experiences something in regenerating grace. And to
know God, It is to actually possess in regenerating grace. Now this
is where a man, a woman is said to know the Lord. By the Spirit
of God's regenerating grace, a new heart is imparted. There is new life. There is a
new spirit, a new mind that loves Him, that trusts Him, that believes
Him. The knowledge of God spoken of,
this is life eternal that they might know Thee. This is what
the Lord is saying. They trust you for who you say
you are. They love you and believe you
for who you are and who I am. Life eternal is not reforming
my ways. It's not a decision to turn over
a new leaf or something like that. It's not an act of my will. But life eternal is that sovereign
imparting of the life of God. There is a new man created that
is said in spiritual terms to know God. Before a man or woman
is regenerated, they don't know Him. That is, they don't trust
Him, they don't love Him, they don't believe Him. Why? Because
they're dead. They're dead. But to know Him,
to know... That new creation perceives by
the Holy Spirit's instruction, taught by the Spirit of God,
something. This is what they know. They
know that He is the One who has purposed eternally to redeem His people through
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. They know God. They know
Him. I know that we see through a
glass darkly. We see through a riddle, is what
that means. But to know God in His threefold
characters of persons, this is how we know Him. We know and
we're convinced that the Father has truly chosen a people from
before the foundation of the world. We know Him as the electing
God. We know Him. We know the Lord
Jesus Christ as the redeeming God. We know He is. We're convinced
in our heart and we love Him as such. We trust Him as such. We cast our souls upon Him as
such. And we believe Him. We know Him.
We trust Him. We believe Him. That life eternal. So for John to say in 1 John
2.3, and hereby, we know that we know Him. We know that
we know Him. We know that we know Him that
way. Who is the God that we know?
We know He is God Almighty. He does as He willed in the army
of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. Believers know
Him as the Boss. He's God. He's the Lord. Hereby we know that we know Him
if we keep His commandments. Now I will just kind of ease
right into that part of it. Having established what it is
to know that we know Him. We know Him as the sovereign
God. I want to understand what do
you mean by keeping His commandments. Now if you're telling me That
to know that I know Him means that I must obey God's law according
to the demands of God's holiness under the penalty of God's wrath
if I fail to do so. If that's what you're talking
about, I'm sunk. I'm sunk. I have no hope whatsoever
because I can't do that. I know I can't do that. Listen,
now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. What's
the purpose of the law? To show us what we can't do.
It's to show us what's expected. for righteousness, but this is
what it's going to show you, you can't do it. No? James 2.10, for whosoever shall
keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, guilty of all of
it. So if keeping His commandments
means that I've got to obey the law perfectly, then I don't have
any hope. So I know that keeping His commandments
doesn't mean me establishing my standing before God Almighty
based on my ability to satisfy the laws of man. Christ alone
has done that. But though keeping His commandments
I know doesn't refer to me establishing my own salvation, it does refer
to my relationship and my love for the Lord." So what do you
mean when John says, hereby, know, we know that we know him
if we keep his commandments. What is it talking about? I can
tell you this. It's talking about, first, commitment. Commitment. It's talking about
love. It's talking about belief. Let
me show you these things. The motive of a believer's obedience. Now that's what he's talking
about. Commitment right here. Hereby we know that we know him
if we keep his commandments. You're committed. Committed. A believer's obedience is motivated
by his love for Christ. John 14, 15, If you love me,
keep my commandments. And let me tell you something.
Every one of us here that will readily admit, I will be the
first to raise my hand and tell you, I know that I cannot keep
God's law. I know I can't. But I will tell
you this. I would desire to. I want to. To will is present with me. But the One that has kept it
and His righteousness is imputed to me. I love Him. I love Him. Obedience to the One we know
as our Redeemer is the only true evidence of love for Christ. Obedience. Obedience. Obedience. A mere profession
is no proof of love. Anybody can say, I love the Lord. Okay? Faith without works James
says it's dead. It's dead. There is a commitment
to the Lord Jesus Christ. When Saul of Tarsus was on the
road to Damascus, the Lord stopped him, arrested him. He asked him,
he said, who art thou Lord? He told him, he said, I'm Jesus.
The one you're persecuting. It's hard for you to kick against
the pricks. Next words out of Saul of Tarsus' mouth was this,
Lord, what would you have me to do? What would you have me to do? If a believer were to desire,
hold your place and turn to, we're in 1 John, turn over a
couple pages, 1 John 3, 23. One page in my Bible. 1 John
3, 23. If you want to know what it is,
here's the summing up, here's the summing up of the evidence
of knowing Him. Here's what, John 3, 23, 24. This is His commandment, that
we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another, as He gave us commandment. And He that keepeth
His commandments, Now, what are they? Here's the keeping of the
commandments, right here. Here's the keeping of the commandments,
right here. That we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus
Christ, and love one another. He that keepeth His commandments
dwelleth in Him, and He in Him. And hereby we know that He abideth
in us by the Spirit which He hath given us. You want to know
what the Lord would have His people to do? Believe Him. Believe Him. Love His people. Those that know and love Him
want to keep His commandments. You know what? I want to believe
Him. Freddie, I want to believe Him.
I do. I grieve over seeing my unbelief. I grieve over that. But I want
to obey Him. I want to follow Him. I want
to love Him. I want to believe Him. And love
His people. I want to love you that I love. I want to love you. I'm so thankful
that we're here together tonight. That we're here together as brethren.
that we can sit here tonight and learn of Him, be taught of
Him, be in His presence. Listen to the words, Psalm 40
verse 8. These are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Read Psalm 40, I can tell you
this. Psalm 40 is the words of Christ
from the cross. But I'm telling you, every believer
can enter into this verse right here. Psalm 40 verse 8, I delight. to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. I delight to do." Is there one
that claims to be a believer here and says, I have no desire
whatsoever to follow after Christ. I have no desire to obey. Well, you're not a believer.
I can tell you that right now. You don't know it. A believer
has been given a new heart. that knows Him, and loves Him,
and follows after Him. They are obedient. They believe
on the name of the One they love, and they love the brethren. I
heard Brother Henry say, I told you this before, somebody told
Henry one time, he said, you know, believers ought to love
each other. Henry said, they do. They do. Believers do. They love one another. They love. John 3, John 3, 34. Listen to this. Here's the commandment.
And you know, I think about keeping His commandments. Whenever you
read, you read the Word of God. Pick a place. Pick a place and
start reading it. Start reading the Psalms. And
listen to this. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners.
You know that's Christ. You know that's Christ. And you
know what? You keep that. You keep that. I believe that.
I believe that. Keeping His commandments is believing
Him, loving Him, trusting Him. John. 1334, listen to the words of our Lord
to His disciples. A new commandment I give unto
you, that you love one another as I've loved you, that you also
love one another. That commandment's new every
day. That's a new commandment every day. New to me, new to
you. God's people, they desire and
they're careful concerning their walk for Christ's sake, for the
testimony of the gospel. Why? Because they know that they
know Him. They know Him, the One who has
eternally loved them and shown mercy to them. Do they struggle
with the presence of sin? Absolutely. Are they grieving
over their inability to be able to do that which they would?
Absolutely. But by the grace of God they
continue, they continue believing Him. How? They're kept by the power of
God through faith to know that they know Him. And the evidence
of God's mercy toward them is manifested and it remains. The
Lord told His disciples, by this Shall all men know you're my
disciples? You have one. You have love,
one for another. This is how they're going to
know you're my disciples. You love each other. That which
is alive responds. There's a response. There's no saving, efficacious,
living knowledge of God without a spiritual response. They that
know Him keep, love, believe, trust, obey His commandments. A believer sees something in
the Word of God. Somebody said, well, tell me
what you want to do. Tell me what I'm supposed to do. They
that are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God.
What am I supposed to be obeying? It'll come to you. It'll come
to you. You know. Whenever you're providentially
in a place where, you know, it's going to have to cross your path,
God will lead you. He'll direct you. And I'll tell
you what you'll do. You'll do that which is right.
You'll do that which is right. Every time. Every time. Every time. What about Jonah? Well, just read the whole book. What about David? Did David find repentance with
God. Did he cast himself upon the
mercy of God? Do believers stumble? Do they
fall? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But you know what?
By the grace of God, God raises them up, keeps them. Do God's people stumble? Yes,
absolutely. But they believe God. They fear
and reverence and love Him. and His Word they must hear. You want to, you want to, you
know, faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. You
know what a believer's going to do? I want to hear what he
has to say. There was many that walked no
more with the Lord because He told them that no man can come
unto Me except it were given unto Him of My Father. That's
a hard saying. who can hear it, and walked no
more with him. The Lord turned to his disciples
and said, Will you also go away? And Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ.
We know you. We know you. the Son of the Living
God. So keeping His commandments,
believing on the name of God's Son, trusting the eternal security
of our soul, and loving His people is the very heart's response
to know Him. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments,
he doesn't believe God. He says, I know him, I'm a Christian.
But he doesn't believe the God of this Bible. He doesn't believe
God's Word. He's a liar. I mean, that's pretty straight
forward. He's a liar. And the truth, the
truth of the Gospel, and he who is the truth, is not in him. Any man that says, I know Him,
I'm trusting, I'm trusting the One whom all God's sheep were
chosen, laid down His life for the sheep. You say you believe
Him and there's no love for His Word? No. He's a liar. But whoso keepeth. Now look at this. Whoso keepeth
His Word. He that loves his word, trusts
Christ, believes Christ, loves God's people. He's going to take
God's side against himself every time. Whoso keepeth his word,
in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in
him. Now let me tell you something.
Let me tell you what that just said. That says, that last part
says, hereby know we that we are in Him. Until the love of God is perfected
in a man or a woman's heart, you don't know that you're in
Him. Whoso keepeth His word, believes
Him, trusts Him. In Him barely is the love of
God perfected. Until God Almighty's Word is
perfected in your heart, you don't know that you know Him.
And so you're sitting here thinking, okay, tell me what it means to
have the Word of God perfected in my heart. Before the foundation of the
world, God Almighty loved His people with an everlasting love. Is that not so? Yes. Yes. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. In the fullness of time, whenever
it pleased God, God so loved the world, the arrangement. He
loved his people. He loved his sheep. You know,
we've gone over that so many times about that not meaning
everybody. But Almighty God so loved the
world. Jew, Gentile, bond-free, male,
female. He loved His people that He gave. He so loved that He gave His
only begotten Son. Is that not true? Yes, it is.
He loved Him eternally. He loved Him in the fullness
of time. He sent the Savior into the world. His people in time are born into
this world. Christ died hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of years ago when the love of God was manifested
that He loved His people. But here we are, we're born into
this world spiritually dead. And born spiritually dead in
this world, we don't have any idea if we are one of God's elect,
we have no idea that Almighty God everlastingly loved us. When
I was born, born dead, born in Adam, come forth from my mother's
womb speaking lies, I had no love for God. I was a child of
wrath against Him, even as others. With this attitude, I will not
have that man rule over me. First time I ever heard the gospel
of God's grace, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing
I ever heard in my life. That don't even sound fair to
me. There's no way I could love a
God like that. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, saved me and called me by His grace. He gave me a new
heart. The love of God was accomplished. That's what perfected means.
It was accomplished in my heart. What He had eternally purposed,
loving His people. what He did in the fullness of
time, sending His Son into this world to die for His people.
When it pleased Him, under the sound of the Gospel, He perfected
that love in our hearts. He accomplished it, completed
it in our hearts. and taught us what He had everlastingly
purposed to do, to save us from our sins. Now, knowing that the
perfecting of the Word of God in our heart is what that means,
it means the completing of it, the accomplishing of it, to where
we know it now. He's taught us by His Spirit.
Knowing that is what it means. Now listen to this scripture.
But whoso keepeth his word, Whoso keepeth his word, whoever loves
his word, trusts his word, loves Christ, loves his people, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we
are in him. That's how we know we're in him.
God has taught us that. He's taught us something. of
His love, perfected His love, completed it now, and having
revealed it to us by His grace. Last verse, He that saith, He
abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. You know, again this goes without
saying, but I'm going to say it. When the Lord Jesus Christ
walked on this earth, Only of Him, as it said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I'm well pleased. You hear Him. Every one of us
have come forth and we are sinners. Sinners saved by the grace of
God, but we're sinners plagued with the presence of sin. So
obviously no man can walk in perfect obedience as Christ. His imputed righteousness to
us, that is our righteousness without a doubt. But I can tell
you this, as He walked on this earth, how did He walk? In absolute
perfection. That's how we ought to, in type,
walk. Did He walk loving God? Absolutely. Does His people walk loving God,
trusting Him? Did He love His brethren? Absolutely. Do we love the brethren? Absolutely. Not as we ought, not as we shall,
But we do. We love Him who loved us. Did He walk by faith? Absolutely. given the Spirit without measure.
He walked by faith. I can tell you that His faithfulness
is the faithfulness by which we're righteous. I can tell you
that for a fact. His faithfulness. His faith.
His faithfulness. As He walked, did He obey His
Father? Yes, perfectly. Do we obey? We want to. Desire to. Did He walk in a spirit of forgiveness
of His people? Absolutely. How do we walk? How ought we to walk in a spirit
of forgiveness? Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, forgave,
hath forgiven you. A believer that won't forgive
another believer? Something wrong. Something wrong. How about a spirit of humility?
John 15, 5. I in the vine, You're the branches. He that
abideth within me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit. For without me, you can do nothing."
A spirit of humility. Humility. Here's what a spirit
of humility is. Lord, without you, I can do nothing. I'm strengthless without you. Hereby, we do know that we know
Him. We love, we keep, we trust, we
obey His commandments. He that saith, I know him, keepeth
not his commandments, is a liar, truth not in him. But whoso keepeth
his word 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. I pray the
Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake. Amen.