Sir Lord, may you graciously
help me, I turn your prayerful attention to the first epistle
of John. The first epistle of John, chapter
3, and reading the first three verses. 1 John 3 and the first
three verses. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, 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, for we shall see him, as he is, and every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. The first three verses of the
first epistle of John, chapter three. We spoke this morning of this
subject, the beautiful subject of adoption, how that the Lord
Jesus and God the Father calls his children sons of God adopted
into a new family from that family which were far off from God children
of wrath even as others but have been adopted into the family
of God and made sons and heirs of God and we noted how that
this was a change in relationship between us and God. That God now, instead of being
that one who is just a judge to judge us, becomes that father
and that one who cares for us and that one who has dealt with
our sin and that one that has removed our sin and that one
that has made us at peace with God. There is therefore now a
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. A change
of relationship with God the Father. He is now our Father.
And then this, we noted how amazing this was, that not only the Lord
had paid the debt of these people, but he then is willing to call
them his sons and daughters. He doesn't distance himself from
them as if they are because he is holy and they were so unholy
and yet he gathers them in this relationship pictured as the
father with his children and that love that goes between a
good father and you see he's a very good father. Yes, here
below there are those that are bad fathers to their children.
But this is a good father. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lay down his life for the sheep. This is a good father. And Satan is wrong when he misrepresents
God as being limiting us. He is good. God is good. Too wise to be mistaken. Too
good to be. unkind. So we noted a change
in our relationship with God, the Father, a change in relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is now our elder brother,
the one that has paid the price for us, and we are then members. He is the elder brother, he is
the forerunner, He is the firstfruits, as we read in Romans 8 in our
reading. The firstfruits. Jesus Christ,
the firstfruits. Well, as we go on this evening,
I want to then move on to this other, we noted briefly, the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. A new relationship
to the world. The world, you see, to the true
child of God. is not our rest. And it's very important that
we understand that. You see, Abraham, he was a rich
man, Abraham. And when he had fought with those
kings that had taken a lot captive, he fought and overcame them with
the great blessing of God upon him. And the king of Sodom, who
he rescued, then gave him, was offering him all the goods, all
the spoil. And Abraham refused it, because
he had said that he would not be made rich by the king of Sodom. But in Genesis 15, we have this
lovely word. The Lord comes to, he had just
refused the riches of the king of Sodom, but this is what Abraham
received which was far greater. After these things, this is Genesis
15, after these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham
in a vision saying, fear not Abraham, I am thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward. I am not the things but God himself. And you see In our providential
pathways, we've prayed about it with you children and young
people growing up. You need the Lord to appear for
you in providence. You need places to live. You
need work places. You need those godly relationships. You need these things. There's
many things that you stand in need of. And those that are coming
into parenthood, there's so many things that you need. There's
so many blessings that you need. And we're thankful for the Lord's
mercies. But you see, ultimately, all
these blessings come back to realizing that we need God himself. I know it's something like nearly
11 years ago, we were able to move to the current house we're
in now. And we had been trying to move for nearly five years
before we actually did that move. And it was quite trying. We looked
at many houses, and nothing seemed to go forward. It always seemed
to be something go wrong. But then eventually the Lord
provided a very suitable house for us as a family. And you see,
we have a God that is able to provide. But you see, that house
is going to pass away. The house will not last forever.
We will not always own that house. It will not always stand. You
see, the things here below are passing away. So if it's God's
gift to us to give us something, it's a great blessing, but it's
not going to last forever. But you see it's a wonderful
thing if these things here below are tokens of something far greater. You see the God that can give
us a place to live in, a job, a husband, a wife, a child, all
these different blessings that God is able to open his hand
and give. If we then see that actually
it's God himself, It's the giver that is really the precious thing.
We thank the Lord for the gift, but we go back to the giver,
the one that opens his hand. You see, if God is just able
to give us one house, and as we get older and have different
needs, well, then he can't help us anymore. But no, we have a
God, you see, that the things that he gives us here below are
tokens of other things. And sometimes as we think of
this text, beloved, now are we the sons of God? This is high
language. You might say, this is too great
for me. I can't process this. Yes, I just feel I'm just a poor
sinner, and I can't attain to such a thought, to be a son of
God. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God? It seems perhaps too high language,
too great. There's a lovely account in Genesis
45 where Jacob, or Israel as he was renamed by God, was in that time of famine and Joseph
was governor of the land of Egypt, although Jacob at that time didn't
realize he was. He didn't know he was alive because
he'd been deceived for so many years by his sons. And then his
sons come back from Egypt and tell Jacob, their father, that
Joseph is yet alive. And it was just too great for
Israel. It was too great for Jacob. If you look in Genesis 45, And verse 25, it says, And they
went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father, and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive,
and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart
fainted, for he believed them not. It was too great. He couldn't
process it. Maybe you think, beloved, now are ye the sons
of God. It's too great. I can't process it. And he believed them not. But
in the mercy of God, God didn't leave him there. He didn't leave
him there. Listen what happened. And they
told them of all the words of Joseph which he had said unto
them. And when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry
him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. The physical
things that Joseph had sent, these wagons to carry him back
into the land of Egypt, Jacob saw those wagons. He knew that
his sons didn't have those wagons of themselves. There were evidence
that Joseph was yet alive. And we read in verse 28, and
Israel said, that's his other name, that God gave him as a
prince, hast thou power with God. It is enough. Joseph, my
servant, is yet alive. I will go and see him before
I die. Now, this is how I see the providential pathways of
the Lord's people. They're wagons. They're wagons. Their evidence is that there
is a God and that God can provide. Now, Jacob didn't say, well,
I've got all these wagons. I'm satisfied. I've got wagons
everywhere. I've got all the wagons I need.
The wagons were the strengthening of Israel's faith to go and believe
that Joseph was yet alive. He didn't stop at the wagons.
The wagons were used by God to give that encouragement to his
faith to go to Joseph. And may that be in our lives,
the providential pathways, very important in our lives, and we
need to watch the Lord's hand in them. But may they be evidences
that enable us to go to Joseph, that heavenly Joseph, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is able, you see, to provide not just earthly
things, temporal things in their place and they're very precious
in their place. I don't want to despise any of these things. For the world knoweth us not. You see the world think well
it's all about our goods, all about what amount of assets we
build up over our lives. And this is how you calculate
whether somebody's an effective person here below, whether they've
lived an effective, profitable life. It's all to do with their
end estate. The world knows us not. You see, the children of God
have got a different focus. yes that they need things here
below God God says that you see seek him first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness there's a wonderful promise here and
all these things shall be added unto you God can open his hand
and provide everything you need but seek him first you see because
You see, what God wants is us to put him first, that we don't
follow him for the loaves and fishes. We don't think, well,
if we serve God, God will give us all these things, and that's
what we really want. No, you see, we have that then
in the next thought, really. Beloved, now we're the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. And this is
our relationship with the future. How do we see the future? What
are we looking forward to? What is our aim in life? What
is our great goal in life? I ask you, what is it? You see,
there's a story of that farmer. And he had some visitors. And
he went up to one of the hills in his farm that was at the middle
of his land. And from that hill, you could
see around on all sides all the land that that farmer possessed
and was able to farm. And he was showing this visitor
all the things that he possessed. And the visitor then said, he
pointed upwards and said, have you got anything up there? And
you see, ultimately, however much we've got below, have we
got anything in heaven? You see, however big your farm
is, however big your property is, however big your real estate
might be, it's passing away. But you see, beloved, 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. And this is the great goal. We
read of that, you see, in Romans 8. We know that all things
work together for good to them that love God. Such a well-known
verse. and such a difficult verse sometimes
to say when things go so against us. To them who are called according
to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. This is the great
purpose. This is the great purpose that
God has in mind for his sons, his daughters. He wants to bring
them to glory. He wants to prepare them for
the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He doesn't want them to be
cluttered with everything here below, so that their affections
are set on things below. He gives them richly things here
to enjoy. But the heart, their heart must
be to Him. Their affection must be in there. You see, and that's why, you
see, the world can't understand it. sung that in one of the hymns
this evening. 531 verse 6, let wildlings know
we scorn the toys which those so highly love and prize. We
must possess all real good if we are sons and heirs of God.
We are truly an heir of God. You see, a good father wants
a good inheritance for their children, don't they? He doesn't
want them to waste their time on trash. And we have a good
father. And he wants us to have a good
inheritance. He wants us to have an eternal inheritance. He doesn't
want us to spend and waste our time and all the trivia here
below that will not really benefit us. You see, beloved, 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. And this is the great goal. in
the heart of a child of God, is it your God? Or is the real
estate, is the great, the perfect job, or the greatest estate,
or the perfect car, or whatever it is that tickles your fancy,
whatever it is. Or is it, but we know that when
he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him
as he is. And you see, this becomes the
great goal, to be conformed to the image of his son. We see
a beauty in Christ, in his humility and his love, and to be conformed
to that. You see, I mentioned this morning
in adoption, it's wonderful when you see somebody adopted in a
family and you can hardly perhaps tell. Sometimes you have a family
that have some children that are truly, as it were, their
own children biologically, and then perhaps they'll have other
children that they will adopt. And sometimes when it's done
very well, often you get this situation where the adopted one
seems so like the others, it seems such a good match, and
they seem to take on so much the family resemblance. You see,
this is where we need to be like our truly older brother, so that
we become part of that family. the one that is indeed the eternal
son, that we may be like him and that he may make us all that
we ought to be. So we do not hold the value set
of this world. We do not think that gain is
godliness. We do not think that just amassing
more and more of this world's goods is what equals happiness. the hymn writer said happiness
thou lovely name where's thy seat oh tell me that where learning
pleasure wealth and fame all cry out it is not here you see
different people have different definitions of happiness yes
to be very intelligent and very well read that becomes the great
goal or is it great riches learning pleasure wealth and fame all
cry out it is not here object of my first desire, Jesus crucified
for me, all to happiness aspire, only to be found in thee. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. These are the evidences of being
a child of God. These are the evidence of having
God as our father, a different relationship to the world, a
different relationship to our future. We're not looking for
just the things here below. It does not mean that godly people
have no assets. You think of people like Abraham
was a very rich man. But you see, he wasn't grabbing
the things of this world. He could turn away the riches
of the king of Sodom because he had, I am thy shield and thy
exceeding great reward. You see, it's God himself that
becomes the center of the affections of his people. But then we have in verse 3,
and every man that hath this hope in himself purifies himself,
even as he is pure. So there is a need here for sanctification. And notice it says every man.
This is not just an optional extra of some particularly high-level
saints that they do this. No, this is what it says, and
every man that hath this hope in him. This is the hope of the
Lord's people. And this is the concern they
have. Well, we read in Philippians,
Philippians chapter 2, these words, similar words in a way. Philippians 2 verse 12, it says,
wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You have lovely
there the two sides. It's God's work in us to get
us working. You see, it's God's work in us
to make us hunger and thirst after righteousness. But it's
then we are to hunger and thirst after righteousness. And what
is the evidence that we've passed from death unto life is that
we do hunger and thirst after righteousness. And if we don't,
then there's no evidence that these things are true of us.
If we do not hunger and thirst after righteousness, if we're
content with a portion of this life, Like Lot's wife, she kept
looking back at Sodom. That was her life. That was all
she knew and all she loved. You see, we're to be people who
are truly looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing
of the great God. And every man that hath this
hope in himself purifies himself. There's a need, you see, of purity. Be ye holy, for I am holy, a
desire, a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness in our lives.
That the Lord would do these things for us, that the Lord
would make us all that we ought to
be. You read the Psalms. David was so much hungering after
righteousness. Psalm 119. There's so many verses
in there that are a breathing of a soul after righteousness. And of course, Jesus began his
sermon, didn't he, in Matthew chapter 5, the Sermon on the
Mount, and spoke of that need. Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger,
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And they're thirsting, you see,
after the righteousness of another. They haven't their own. They
see the need of the righteousness of another. And that's why unto
you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. This is something that is not
just some future state. This is something that is a present
reality of the people of God. We do not always feel it. But
these are the truth, you see. And I think it's really important,
if you put it in a natural sense, if you had some children and
they've been adopted into the family, and you went and spoke
to those children and said, do you know that you're your adopted
father really loves you, do you know that he's going to provide
for you? If they say, well, I don't know
really whether he does or whether we've got a roof over our head
tomorrow. I don't know really whether I'm going to be living
there in a week's time. I don't really know whether he
loves me. You'd say, oh, how sad. How sad. If this one had
provided for that adopted child and you went to see the adopted
child and they seemed to have no knowledge of the security
that there was, in the father's house, you'd say that was really
sad. But I do believe it's all too
easy for us to be like that spiritually. We have these evidences, these
wagons, that God is our God, that God has provided for us,
and that God is preparing a place for us. You see, Jesus spoke
that, didn't he, in John's gospel, chapter 14. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. You see, this is a certainty. And yet we can take these words
and Satan can work on our unbelief
and put all manner of doubt into them. These are the things that
God has said, whose word cannot fail, that the sons of God are
eternally the sons of God. That they are adopted into this
family in an unchanging relationship. The evidence will be that they
hunger and thirst after righteousness. The evidence will be that the world knows them not. You see,
Jesus said that to his disciples as he was leaving them. In that
high priestly prayer, he mentions this as well. I have given them,
this is John 17 verse 49, I have given them thy word, the world
hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as
I am not of the world. See, they tried to make Jesus
a king. And he said, my kingdom is not of this world, I'm not
trying to create a great kingdom here below, this is not what
I'm trying to do. Think of, we've thought of it,
in the Sunday school openings of Christian in Pilgrim's Progress,
going through Vanity Fair. And the thing they couldn't understand
was that the pilgrims were not interested in wasting their time
in Vanity Fair. They didn't want to just spend
their time on the vanities that were available to be bought there. You see, and they became hated
because of that. They became hated because they
were looking for a city. Abraham, it says, they declare
plainly that they seek a city whose builder and maker is God. It's not that the world thinks
this is what you are to live, to enjoy just the things of this
earth and to spend your time here below and leave the things
of eternity. Don't consider your mind with
them. But you see, for the Lord's people, he's leading them here
below, preparing them as a shock of corn ripe for the harvest,
so that they can be with him which is far better. You see,
if we have all our goods here below, and this is our home,
and this is our rest, and this is what we delight in, well,
when we come to die, we will be leaving home. We will be leaving
all those resources that we may have accrued. But you see, the
Lord's people, when they die, are going home. They're not leaving
home, they're going home. They're going to be where their
God is, where their heart is, where their affections is. You
see, here below, they're dogged with sin. I know when I was baptized,
it was quite sweet to me, the thought that the death that puts
an end to life will put an end to sin. For a believer, it's
an ongoing sadness that they constantly sin. You think of
the most precious day that you've ever had in the house of the
Lord, a day that is better than a thousand. And yet, if you analyze
it, you see the sin mixed in it. We come short. But you see,
there is a time coming for the Lord's people that they will
worship him with unsinning hearts. And we've never done that before.
We can't worship God with an unsinning heart because we have
a sinful heart. Sin is mixed with all that we
do. But you see, there's a time coming when the Lord's people
will worship him perfectly, without sin. And that, you see, is a
wonderful thought to a true Christian. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. But this is not just something that they look in the
future. You see, we have to know something of it here below. Well, and every man that hath
this hope in himself purifieth himself. need to be washed, they
need to be cleansed, they need to seek to follow the Lord and
seek to follow his way, seek to go in that way which is right
in God's sight and seek to honour him in all they do. This is the
great hallmark of those who are true
Christians. Then we noted this morning that
in verse 14 there was another change in relationship. So 1
John 3 verse 14, where it says here, we know that we have passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. So it's often said, isn't it,
that blood is thick. And the meaning is that those
who are our relations by by our brothers and sisters and cousins
and so forth, there's a bond that is very thick and very solid. And we have an affinity with
them in a very great way, which we perhaps don't with others.
But here you see, there's a bond with our brothers and sisters
in Christ. We know that we have passed from
death unto life. Because there's an evidence.
Because we love the brethren. We love those that manifest the
fruit of the Spirit. Those that manifest humility.
Those that manifest love to God. Those that manifest a walk and
conversation that's not walking in pride and seeking the great
things of this life. A conversation that's humble.
A conversation that's Christ-centered. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the breathing. So there's a change,
you see, to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Has there
been that in our lives? Is there evidences as we've gone
through these relationships, has there been this? Has God
changed from being somebody that we feared and somebody that we
wanted to keep away from to realizing that God is good and God is gracious
And God is our father, that pities us, that cares for us, that sent
his beloved son on our behalf, called the sons of God. The Lord
Jesus has changed in our affections to be precious. You see, the
Lord Jesus will be the most fearful judge at the end of time. It's very clear that the Lord
Jesus is going to be the judge. He has appointed that man to
judge the world that he has raised up. And you see, he raised up
his beloved son, and he is going to be the judge. The Lord Jesus
is going to be the judge of all. He's gonna be a fearful judge.
But has there been a change of relationship so that we are,
he is not just our judge, but he is satisfied requirements
of the law that were stood against us. He has blotted out the handwriting
that was against us, nailing it to his cross, and so that
there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
A change unto you therefore which believe he is precious as we
picked up in the baptizing service of Paul and Karen in Isaiah 53
it starts off with somebody seeing no form nor comeliness in Christ
nothing precious nothing to be desired and yet that one who
is despised and rejected suddenly is seen by the child of God the
Son of God the daughter of God to be precious to be bearing
their sin and therefore they have a relationship. They realize
that he stood in their place. He is their God and he is precious
to them. A change in relationship to God,
a change in relationship to his son, a change in relationship
to the world around us. We're not running in the excesses
that they would run to. We're not trying to beat them
on their terms. We have a different aim, a different
affection. I know it's a little account
that happened to me when I was tutoring or taking one group
of students some time back now. They had to give a presentation
of their own choice on something and we were marking how they
presented something. And they gave it to the rest
of the group. And there was a particular group that were uncouth. They
were quite rowdy group and the presentations were quite difficult,
some of them. But one of the end presentations
was given by a boy and he did it on what it feels like to be
a stranger in a foreign country. And he said you don't understand
the language, the customs, and you feel a stranger. And he described
it very accurately and very Acutely, what it feels like to be a stranger
in a strange country. It turned out that he had been
actually a missionary in China. But then he turned it around
and said, that's what it feels like to be a Christian in this
world. We have different goals. We have
different ways of doing things. We have different ambitions.
And there was silence in the group. This one who was able
to speak of his faith in this presentation. and you could have
heard a pin drop at the end of his presentation. It was an excellent
presentation, but it just struck me that in the most unlikely
places, this boy who had kept quite quiet, the others had carried
on with their rowdiness, he was able to show that there was a
difference. A Christian is different. They're
not trying to gain the world as the world is. They're not
trying to the greatness of this world, the lust, the pomp, the
pride of life. That's not what they're about.
That's not what their aims are. That's not where their objectives
are. But you see, and this is what we have here, the world
knoweth us not. They couldn't understand. They
don't understand them. And you see, the world is not
going to understand us in that sense. Though we are not to make
ourselves in any way obnoxious to the world, unnecessarily,
a way to pity them, a way to seek to draw them and to show
them that there is a way of salvation, that there is an inheritance
incorruptible undefiled and that fadeth not away for those that
are in Christ Jesus, that there is a saviour of sinners that
is able to deliver us from all of our sins and all of our shortcomings. Beloved now, are we the sons
of God. It's a wonderful privilege to
be a son. You think of it, and all the
privileges that go, and certainly if you think of some particularly
famous families, royal families, tremendous privileges that go
with being a son or daughter of such a person. And nobody
can, you can't get there with any, you can't work up to it
yourself, can you? you don't work to be adopted.
You become adopted. It's really on the part of the
parents that seek to adopt that child. And the child doesn't
pay to be adopted. It isn't the child. It's the
parents, as it were, that come along. And they have this desire,
yes, we'll adopt that one. We'll be such a blessing to that
child. And you see, the Lord Jesus does
this for his people. course with the Lord's people
in one sense they're adopted, in one sense they're born. With
the new birth they're born again into the kingdom of God in that
sense as well. So in that sense they're adopted
and born. But you see they've left their old life, they've
left their old ways and they've sought to come and be amongst
the people of God, to appreciate the people of God, to appreciate
the worship of God. They might say, well, surely
there's so many other things to do on the Lord's Day. There's
so many other things to spend your time in. There's so many
other things to tickle my fancy on the Lord's Day. Why would
we come and worship just in a building like this? It isn't very ornate. It isn't very special in an earthly
sense. Why is it so glorious? Well,
you see, if Christ is revealed unto us. It's precious. Just quote one more little story
that our late pastor, LSB Hyde, used to tell sometimes. It's
an event that happened in his life when he was, I think, seven
years of age. I think I'm right in saying that.
Quite young. There was a time when his mother
and he lost his father at a young age. And so his father was dead,
I think. And his mother and an aunt had
gone to some special services. I think it was on a bank holiday.
And he had gone and played cricket or watched cricket being played
in the local village green. And he really liked cricket and
he had a really good day. He'd really enjoyed himself on
that day watching cricket. And when he came home, His mother and his aunt were
talking about the day they'd had in the house of God and how
they'd fed under the preaching of the word. And it suddenly
dawned on him that they had had a better day than he had. And he'd had a really good day
in his own experience, in his own thinking, in a worldly way.
But he realized that they had had a better. And you see, it's
a wonderful thing if you come to realize if God shows you,
it was so Paul and Karen both mentioned that in their testimonies,
how the Lord had shown them at a young age that the people of
God were blessed people. They didn't feel they were part
of them. They didn't feel as yet that they were amongst them,
but they could see that they had something that the world
didn't have. You see, because when we think
of blessings here below, you see, the blessings of God have
an eternal dimension. If we're the sons of God, we
are, you think of it, if you're the son of, in the royal family,
all your needs will be provided for in an earthly sense. If you
get in trouble, they will sort you out in whatever sense that
means. They will provide for you. But
surely we have a God that is much better than that. He will
provide for his people and he will bring them not just to the gate of death, and then
they can't do any more for them. You think the royal family can't
help them after that, can they? They can give them the most glorious
funeral. It can have many millions of people attending. It can have
all the pomp and ceremony you like. But they can't then take
that dead person and present him faultless before the throne
of God. They cannot do that. There's
no eternal dimension to it. But you see, the people of God
have a God that is able to take them to present them before their
father faultless which then has an eternal effect
and you go around the graveyards today of where people have lain
for hundreds of years perhaps, godly people perhaps, their bodies
are in the grave, but those graves are going to open, those people
are going to rise up, and their bodies are going to join their
glorified spirit, and they will continue to worship God forever
and forever and forever. This is eternal realities. Nothing
here below compares to that. No joy that you can have here
below has such an eternal perspective. And that's why the joys that
the Lord's people know are so much more precious than the greatest
joys that this world can ever know. And they all center in
the work of Christ. They center in what he has accomplished. His love the love of the Father
in sending the Son, the love of the Son in coming to this
earth, to suffer, to bleed, to die, to purchase them, to bring
them into that blessed family, to give them an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away. This is life eternal, that
they may know Thee, and and his only begotten son. You
see, this is life eternal. This is what is precious. This,
this my soul desires to know. All the things here below, the
farms, the greatness here below, the pleasures, the properties,
the fame, the friends that may say so great things about you,
all those things are passing away. One thing is needful. is to be right with God, to have
an inheritance, to have our sins forgiven, to be washed in the
precious blood of the lamb, to have union with Christ. This
is life eternal. This is precious. And this is
what God does for his children. He loves them too much to leave
them. Like William Gadsby saw that
those other children, they were all misbehaving in the streets
and they were allowed to carry on. the one who the one who was
a son of a father and the father saw what he was doing he stopped
him and god stops us you see and he brings us back a wonderful
let me just close with this word in john's gospel John chapter
15, it's speaking of the fruit bearing branch. I am the true
vine. My father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. There's a necessity to bring
forth fruit. If we have no fruit, if there's no evidence that we
are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, if there's no
evidence that Christ is more precious to us than everything
here below, we have no evidence that we have.
and inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. But then it says,
every branch in me that beareth fruit, beareth, sorry, every
branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
forth more fruit. In other words, when we bear
fruit, the sin mixed in it, God purges that sin, God chastens
us for that sin, not in anger, but in love. And what's the end? So that we may bring forth more
fruit. It's sonship. You see, it's like a father with
the children. They chasten them for their misbehaviors,
not because they hate them, because they know it will be for their
good. And they know it will be for their eternal blessing. Well,
may we then realize we have a father in heaven that cares for his
people, who sent his beloved son to lay down his life to purchase
that people, to bring them into the family of God. There is a
family on earth whose father fills the throne, yet though
a seed of heavenly birth, to men they're little known. Whene'er
they see the public eye, they feel the public scorn, but men
their fairest claims deny, and count them basely born. They
despise the things that are eternal, because they want the here and
now. But may we be amongst those who are seeking Eternal blessings. This world is passing away. Your
bank balance will pass away. Your assets will pass away. Everything
you accrue here below will pass away. But if you have union with
Christ in this family of God, you will have an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, and that will not fade away. And
you will be a blessed person. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.