Let's begin our second service
by standing and singing 483. 483, oh Jesus, oh how I love
Jesus. 483. Let me start it over. Sorry. There we go. There is a name I love to hear,
I love to sing its word. It sounds like music in my ear,
the sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because
He first loved me. It tells me of a Savior's love
who died to set me free. It tells me of His precious blood,
the sinner's perfect plea. Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus! Oh, how I love Jesus, because
He first loved me. It tells me of my thoughts, or
for every day. And though I tread a dark some
path, you'll sunshine all the way. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because
He first loved me. It tells of one whose loving
heart can feel my deepest woe, who in each sorrow bears a part
that none can bear below. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because
He first loved me. Thank you. Thanks for your tolerance. Good morning. I'm going to read 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1. Hopefully this
is the last week. I'm gonna take these glasses
off supposed to get some bifocals So we'll try that out But for
today, we'll do it this way first Thessalonians chapter 1 Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus
under the church at Thessalonians Which is in God the Father and
in the Lord Jesus Christ grace be unto you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ We give thanks to God
always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering
without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience
of hope, and our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God, our Father,
knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the
Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the Lord in much affliction with
joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples of all that
believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the
word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also
in every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that
we need not speak anything. For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how we turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait
for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. Let's pray. Father, we come to you this morning
thankful for our time together. our time of fellowship and to
hear the gospel. And Lord, we're thankful for
this chapter of scripture, Lord. Father, just Thank you so much for the election
of a people, father, that you decided to save some. None of
us deserved it, father, but you decided to step forward, send
your son forward to save a group of people. And father, again,
we're forever thankful for that. Lord, we ask that you open up
our eyes and our ears and hearts this morning as you bring us
the message. Lord, we ask that you watch over the one that you've
sent to bring that message to us. Father, give him strength
as he brings that message to us. And Father, we just ask that
you watch over those that couldn't be with us and those that are
ill. And Father, people that have
concerns and worries that we don't even know about. We ask
that you watch over them and help them, but also make them
perfectly willing to bow to your will, regardless of what situation
that you've placed them in. And Father, again, we just ask
that you watch over and care for us all in Christ's name. That first hymn we sang, I didn't
have that picked out ahead of time. But I was picking it out
because of your message. It says, there is a name I love
to hear, I love to sing, it's worth, it sounds like music in
my ear, the sweetest name on earth. Anyway, so I didn't pre-play
that, but anyway, I apologize. The words are still nice though.
So let's sing one that we definitely know well. And I love to tell
the story. And that's 431. 431. I love to tell the story of unseen
things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story because
I know it is true. It satisfies my longings as nothing
else can do. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory. To tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, more
wonderful it seems, than all the golden fancies of all our
golden dreams. I love to tell the story, it
did so much for me. And that is just the reason I
tell it now to thee. I love to tell the story. It will be my theme in glory
to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love. Love to tell the story, tis pleasant
to repeat. What seems each time I tell it,
more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for
some have never heard. the message of salvation from
God's own Holy Word. I'd love to tell the story, it
will be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus
and His love. ? Love to tell the story for
those who know it best ? ? Seem hungering and thirsting to hear
it like the rest ? ? Then when in scenes of glory I sing the
new, new song ? ? It will be the old, old story ? ? That I
have loved so long ? ? I love to tell the story ? ? It will
be my theme and glory ? ? To tell the old, old story ? ? Of
Jesus and his love ? Morning. I'm thankful for the peace and the
spirit of grace and just love that we have for one another.
And it's a real joy. And I'm thankful for you brethren,
all of you. Take your Bibles and turn to
John chapter 14. John chapter 14. The focus of
our message here in the text is the union, the union that
we have as the church of our God and our Savior, the union
that we have with our Lord as seen in His office as the God-man
mediator. And through Him, we have access
to God. There's a union that we have
with the living God through our Savior. himself is God, but we
have this through his being the God-man mediator. Now let me just say up front
that This subject far exceeds my abilities to explain it in
all its intricacies and beauties. And so I confess my weakness
to you. The scriptures, when speaking
of our union with our Savior, it's described as a mystery. It's a mystery that's revealed
to us in the scriptures. And I was thinking this morning
as I was looking over my notes, I was remembering a time when
our children were very young and we were visiting friends
in Kentucky. We were visiting the church in
Danville and one of the couples there, one of the faithful families
still there to this day, invited us to stay at their house and
We were driving deep into the country. It was a Tuesday night
when they had their services and so we went there after services
and we were driving at night. I grew up in the Northeast, where
there's a lot of cities around, a lot of towns close by. And
so there's a lot of what's called light pollution. And so when
I would look up into the sky, growing up in the Northeast,
I saw the moon, usually, and a few stars, a few very bright
stars, and then a bunch of black expanse between the stars. But
when we arrived at the house in Kentucky, and I stepped out
of the car, And that day, I saw the millions and millions of
stars that I had never seen before and had no idea existed until
I stepped out of the car and looked up and saw just the beauty
that was there in the sky that I never, never saw. And that's how It is with our
understanding of the Lord, and this is one of those beautiful,
beautiful stars, even the night sky, if you will, filled with
the beauty of stars that I pray that the Lord opens our minds,
our eyes to see and behold the beauty of our God as the God-man
mediator, and our union with Him, and His union with us. our union with the true and living
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14 verse 20, our Lord
said to his disciples, At that day ye shall know that I am in
my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. And our Savior here
is describing a union. It's the union. The union of
all unions, if you will, that exist between the Father and
the Son. And the union of the Son, of
His Church to the Son, and of the Son to His Church. And through Him, we are united
with our God. Now, I don't doubt that the disciples
had some level of understanding. They had already confessed that
when they said, when they said, thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God, we believe and are sure that you are the
Savior, the Christ whom God hath sent to save his people. They believed Christ, but they
were given a greater understanding at that day when the Father and
the Son sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, to dwell in
them. You know, Peter writes in the
scriptures, At the end of his second epistle, 2 Peter 3.18,
he says, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, so that we have an understanding
of things, but our God in mercy and in grace, as it pleases Him,
He gives us greater knowledge and a greater understanding of
what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he even said to the
disciples a few times, I have many things to say to you. I
can't tell you everything all at once. It would be overwhelming
to us. But we are blessed to have such
beautiful pictures and such truths that are poured out upon us and
given to us in our Savior that we We so often fail to comprehend
or see the beauty of it. And so this union that's described
by our Savior here, it's an understanding which is given to us regarding
the knowledge of our Savior to us, our connection, our union
to him. Paul said, ye are not your own,
for ye are bought with a price. We're His, and we are united
with Him. And when we understand that,
there's no complaints. There's no complaints from us,
because we're thankful that we are united to Him. And all the
blessings that we have of our God in Christ, it's all of His
grace. for me and you who are undeserving
sinners and not worthy of this salvation in our God. Paul said,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. And so we have what we
have in Christ. We know what our God teaches
us. He encourages us to seek him and to call out upon him,
to trust him, to lean upon him, and to grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to grow in His grace.
And our Lord is pleased to do that. And so whatever knowledge
we gain today, even so, our understanding will still be through a dark,
a glass darkly. And that's what Paul said in
1 Corinthians 13. He said, for now we see through
a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part,
but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth
faith, hope, charity, these three, but the greatest of these is
charity or love." And so I stand here before you speaking in faith
of the hope which I have in the Lord Jesus Christ because I love
him. And you love Him. And we love
Him because He first loved us. And He united us to Himself in
a perfect, holy union. In a marriage that is so sweet
and precious to us. And we're certainly marrying
up when we marry our Savior, being married to Him. I've titled
this message, At That Day. At That Day. So let me just go
at a high level and just look at a few verses in this passage.
Picking up in verse 18, our Lord says to the disciples, he says,
I will not leave you comfortless. And what he's saying is I won't
leave you orphans. I'm not going to abandon you
and forsake you and leave you without a comforter. And what
he's talking about, and he says, I will come to you. And what
he's speaking of, the reason why he's been telling them I'm
going away, and he's going away to the cross. He's going to the
cross to die, to offer his life up a sacrifice unto God. And he's going as our shorty,
he's going to pay the debt that we owe. He's going to pay the
debt, not that he earned or drove up by his own sinful works, because
he's sinless. He's perfect. He's holy and just
and righteous. But we abused our bodies. We committed sin. We did works
of evil and unrighteousness. And we have come up short of
the glory of our God. And so Christ goes to the cross
to pay our debt, to pay our sins. But he says, I'm not going to
leave you comfortless. I'm not going to leave you to
wander about. and wander in darkness and try to figure out the way
and try to figure out how to come and to please God, I'm going
to provide you a comforter. I'm going to give you what you
need so that you do know the way. And he says in verse 19,
yet a little while and the world seeth me no more. But ye see
me, because I live, ye shall live also. And he's speaking
there about the sight of faith. The world seeth me no more, meaning
they've been seeing me here in the flesh. And they've heard
me speak. They've seen my works. And I'm
going away. They're not going to see me anymore. But ye see me. You do see me. And he's speaking
to all the people of God, to this day, because he's speaking
about faith. He's speaking about the sight
that we have of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because I live, ye shall
also live. in me, in the Lord Jesus Christ. We live because he lives and
being alive we have faith given to us whereby we see and know
he is the salvation that God sent. He is the one that God
sent to put away my sin. And so our sight of Christ is
now as new creatures, as new creatures born of the Spirit,
born of the Comforter. He says in verse 20, at that
day when the Spirit is given, when the Comforter is given whom
I will send, ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me
and I in you. So there is a union. being described
here. In these words, you shall know
that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you. So first we see that there is
a union in the Godhead between the Father and the Son. And the
Spirit is spoken of here so that we see that our Savior is speaking
of the union, the trinity of our God, God and three persons,
so that they are united together in the accomplishment of your
salvation. united together in the accomplishment
of your salvation. Oftentimes, people will quote
to show that there is a trinity, God, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost. They quote 1 John 5, 7, which
says, there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, which was manifested in the flesh, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one, but in this passage, the
Trinity is actually spoken of quite clearly here in John 14. Look up at verse 16, John 14,
16. He says, and I, the word of God,
the son of God manifested in the flesh, I, second person of
the Godhead will pray the Father, there's the Father, so we have
the Son and the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
the Holy Ghost, that ye may abide, that He may abide with you forever. And so we see here that our God
is fully united to accomplish your salvation. He's all in. The fullness of our God is determined
to save His people whom He chose from their sins. And to that
end, our Lord says in verse 20 then, John 14, 20, At that day
ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in
you. In other words, you're going
to experience the fullness of my salvation in the Trinity,
in the Godhead who has purposed to save you. You're going to
know in that day that my Father sent me, that I was sent of the
Father, chosen, elect of the Father, who first trusted in
Him and sent the Son to save you from your sins. You're going
to know your part in me, he's saying. You're going to know
what I did and what I accomplished by my death to redeem you, to
purchase you, to put away all your sins by my blood. so that you are forgiven by the
Father through me. I'm going before you and doing
everything for you. In you, in me. Everything necessary
for righteousness is accomplished in the Son. And he says, I dwell
in you by my Spirit. I dwell in you by my Spirit.
As Paul wrote to the Galatians, He said, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father,
so that we cry out to our God, trusting Him, confessing Him
at that day, at that day when He gives us His Spirit, to know
who he is, what he accomplished, our need of him, and his sufficiency
to save me. At that day, we're going to know
as new creatures, I've been adopted into the family of God. I'm his child, all by his grace. Ye shall know the mystery that
Christ speaks of in this verse, John 14, 20. At that day, you
shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. In other words, I like how Paul
sums it up in Galatians 4, verses 4 through 7, when he said, when
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son. made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, all of us who
were sinners and trespassers against holy God, rebels against
God, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because
ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. So there's a union. That's just
at the high level there. Now we're going to look at this
union a little more closely here. All of those who are taught of
God They know that there is a union between the Father and the Son.
We see that this Jesus of Nazareth who came is the Son of God in
flesh. He is God. He's fully man and
fully God. And that's one of the great mysteries
that's revealed to the Lord's people in the scriptures. That's
why Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3.16 when he said, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. And so we understand and believe
that this man, this Jesus of Nazareth, who is declared to
be my surety, my savior, my salvation, that he is eternal God. He is God manifest in the flesh. And so I may not fully understand
that, I may not be able to articulate that perfectly and what that
means, but I believe it, and I rest in it, and you believe
His word, and you believe Him, and you rest in His sufficiency. It's a great comfort to know
that Christ is eternal. It's a great comfort to know
that Christ is eternal because that speaks volumes of what He
accomplished in His death and sacrifice, doesn't it? It speaks
volumes because it assures us that everything He did is eternal. that everything He did is perfect,
it's complete, nothing's left undone, nothing was forgotten,
nothing is insufficient, it's all perfect. You are holy, spotless,
unblameable, righteous before holy God. Our Savior being God
means that He is eternal and His work is sufficient. If He
were but a man, born of the seed of Adam, if he were but a man
born after Adam's seed, we could have no comfort. He'd be no different
than the other celebrated persons that have come throughout history
that people look to for their hope of righteousness, like Muhammad
with the Muslims, or with Gandhi among the Hindus, or like Buddha
among the the Asians, or anywhere where any of those religions
are practiced. And that's just a few of the
people. All those were born of Adam's corrupt, sinful seed,
so that anything they did, any teachings they gave about the
way to the Father, are all ways of darkness, because they don't
have the Spirit of God. They weren't speaking according
to the Spirit of God because they have not the Son. And only
those who have the Son have the Father. And those who love the
Father love the Son, because they were sent of Him. And so
all the prophets, all the apostles, all the writings of the scriptures
speak of Christ. They speak of Him because He
is our salvation. He's our glory. Now, I want to
focus on our union to Christ. When you look into salvation,
into the salvation work that Christ did for his people, we
see that there is indeed a union between Christ in me and us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so throughout the gospel,
there's this repeated view of our connection to Him, so that
everything He did when He came, He was doing it for us. And we were doing it in Him. We were fulfilling all righteousness
in Him, through Him. He went through the veil, that
is to say, His flesh. He went through and accomplished
our righteousness so that He is the way, He is our way through
to the Father so that we have access to our God and stand complete
in Him. So everything that our Savior
did was for us. When He was circumcised, it's
a picture that we in Him are circumcised. In fact, He tells
us in Colossians 2.11 that We also are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands in the putting off of the
body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. That means that male and female,
men and women, all of us are circumcised in the Lord Jesus
Christ so that the works of this flesh are put off. They're cut
off. And what the Lord's saying to
us is, it's not a reformation. Our salvation is not a reformation.
It's a regeneration. It's a new life. We are born
of the Spirit of God. The flesh is put away. The flesh is cut out and thrown
away as a useless thing. And pretty much, if you know
anything about circumcision, it's just a useless part. It
doesn't add any value. That's how it is with our flesh.
We add nothing to the work of our God. It's cut off and removed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Was Christ crucified? Paul says,
I am crucified with Christ. We were crucified with Christ.
Christ died, and we died in Him. We died with him. Christ was
buried, so are we, buried with Christ in believers' baptism. Did Christ rise from the dead?
Yes, he did, and so did you. We were raised with Christ. He says, you are risen with him
through the faith of the operation of God. And Christ now sits in
glory. you sit with him Ephesians 2
6 that we are made God has made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus and our Savior says because I live ye shall
also live we live in him and Paul says it perfectly in Galatians
2 20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live Yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me." And so everything that I've just
described to you, and so much more, everything that our Lord
did, He did it as the God-Man mediator. who came and redeemed
his people, purchased his people with his own blood to reconcile
us to God. To reconcile us to God. So his
works for us and that which he works in us, it describes the
union that exists between our Savior and his church. It exists
between our Savior and his church. Now, this is an eternal union. The union that we have to Christ
is an eternal union. It's formed by the pure, free
grace of our God. He chose a people. He committed
those people to the Savior. The Savior agreed to come and
to obtain our salvation. The Father entrusted our salvation
to the Son to work everything perfectly for us. And all this
was done before the heavens and the earth were ever made. And
that's why we say, according to the Scriptures, it's an eternal
union. So turn over to Ephesians chapter
1. Ephesians chapter 1 and the first
few verses, verses 3 through 6, declare our eternal union
with Christ. Notice the words that are used
here to describe the timing in which all these things took place.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And so this was all done before
the foundations of the earth were laid, before the heavens
were created, God had already determined. He chose a people
and committed them, entrusted them to his son, Jesus Christ,
who would come as the Christ, as the God-man mediator to purchase
his people by his blood and to reconcile us to God. Now, this
eternal union is also a vital union. Meaning that there's no
life apart from Christ. We don't have any life apart
from Christ. We can't live without Him. This last week in Missouri, we've
had many storms. We've had some strong winds sometimes. We've had a lot of rain. And
it's knocked down a lot of branches out of the trees. And those branches,
when I go out there and I pick them up and throw them into the
pile to be burned, They're dead branches. There's no leaves coming,
growing still out of those branches. If I stick an end of it in the
ground, it's not going to produce roots and to spring forth and
create a new tree. It's dead. It's dead because
it's separated from the tree. That's how it is with us in Christ. If we're separated from Christ,
there's no vitality. There's no life. There's no living
anymore. Our Lord said in John 15, 4,
he said, abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. Now, that's a side of the vital
union that we easily see. We get that. We understand that
very well. But there's also a side to this
vital union in the sense that Christ is the God-man mediator. As God, he's entirely independent
from us. He's content and sufficient without
us. As the God-man mediator, though,
we're part of him, we're part of his fullness. It's why he
is glorified as the God-man mediator, because he has redeemed us, he
has saved us. So that in Ephesians chapter
1, if you're still there, Ephesians 1 verses 22 and 23, We read there that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that he hath put all
things under his feet, under Christ's feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. The fullness, his
body being the fullness of Christ, that filleth all in all, is referring
to Christ's church. That's the fullness of Christ
as the God, man, mediator. If he showed up to the Father
and says, here I am, Father, that would be insufficient. But
he said, behold, I am the children whom thou hast given me as the
mediator. he accomplished that work which
the Father sent him to do as the Christ, as the Mediator. And so he delivered his church
from death. He redeemed her with his own
blood and has reconciled her to God so that we see the fullness
of our Savior as the God-man Mediator. And so this union between
ye and me and I and you, the church in Christ and Christ in
the church, is a vital union, and it's an eternal union. It's
an eternal union. Now, this union results in this
church having life in and from Christ. It springs forth from
him. And the picture that we're given
of this in scripture is of Adam and his wife Eve. Turn over to
Galatians chapter 2. Go to Galatians 2. In verse 18, the Lord God said,
it's not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and
help me for him. And then the Lord brought the
cattle that he had created, and Adam named them, but there was
no proper sufficient help meat for Adam. And verse 21 says,
and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept. And that, of course, pictures
the death of our Savior, of our husband, when he went to the
cross, laid down his life, and was laid in the tomb. That pictures
Adam sleeping, pictures what Christ did for us. And God took
one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And
the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman,
and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone
of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman,
because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and
they shall be one flesh. And so there's a union that we
understand in marriage between a man and his wife, a male and
a female. And Paul writes of this in Ephesians
chapter 5 verses 30 through 32. And Paul calls that a great mystery,
a great gospel mystery, because it speaks to Christ and his church,
that union that he has established for us in himself. Paul says
we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones, and
then he quotes from Genesis 2, for this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. And so the life that
we have as the Church of our Savior, it springs forth from
Christ, from His life. We have life because He has life,
because He is living. He has life in Himself, and He
gives life to whomsoever He wills, and that brings us into the family
of God by adoption and made his bride the church that is married
to him and it's a great mystery which is revealed to us in the
church and we're brought to our husband by the grace of God. As it says, when God created
Eve and he brought her to the man, so our God in grace brings
us to the man, Christ Jesus, the God-man mediator who reconciles
us to the Father. And so this is an eternal union. It's a vital union. And it's
also a manifest union, because it's a mystery. It's kept secret
until it's revealed and made known to the child of God. Just as when Eve was created,
she didn't know what was going on. But God brought her to the
man. And then she began to understand
and to know him and to have fellowship with him. and they were united
as husband and wife in the same way that we are in darkness and
have no idea what's going on until our God brings us to our
husband, the God-man mediator, who teaches us, who receives
us, who blesses us and grows us in his grace and covers us
with his righteous garment. And so it says in 2 Timothy 1.9,
regarding this being a manifest union, Paul said in 2 Timothy
1.9, who had saved us and called us within holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is
now made manifest. It's now been brought into the
light. And when you come to a knowledge
of it, it's because you've been brought into the light. Otherwise,
we remain in darkness like so many. But it's now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished
death and hath brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. And so by the raising up of our
Savior, and the going forth and sending forth his gospel we do
hear all that he's done and we are given faith to believe what
he has accomplished for us that it's for us and so every child
of god The appointed hour at that day, which is the appointed
hour for you, or the appointed hour for you, or the appointed
hour for you, that is the day when the Spirit is given to you
by the grace of your God to make you to know This union that you
have with the Savior, what He's accomplished for you, that He's
not just some other man, He's not just a story that you've
heard about. This is the living God, who is
one with the Father, who came and because of His union to you,
which was established in eternity past. He came faithfully and
fulfilled the work as the God-man mediator so that we live. There's
a vital union between us and our God. And then in the appointed
hour at that day, he says, you shall know it. It will be manifested
to you what he has done for you, his people. Our Savior did not
leave us comfortless. We're not orphans. We're not
left without a comforter. He has sent the Holy Spirit who
regenerates us and makes us to know Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. and so this old flesh that you
see that you look at that you're disappointed with and frustrated
with often this old man is that way because it's born of the
corrupt seed of Adam and it's still corrupt you know sometimes
we I remember thinking a few times well why why do I still
Why doesn't this flesh change? Why is this flesh the way it
is? And why do I gotta die? If I'm Christ's, if I have a
spirit in me, why do we still die? And what the Lord teaches
us, what he shows us, is that this is the walk of faith. so that this flesh is not as
we would want it to be. We're alive in the new man, born
of the second Adam, married to Christ our Savior. We have a
union with him and we shall live forever. But this flesh will
die. It will be buried out of our
sight. It'll continue on in its corruption and return to the
dust from which it came so that we walk by faith. believing what our Savior has
said, believing the promise of our Savior. And that flesh will
lay there in the dust until the Son returns. to pick up, to redeem
his purchased possession for us to be forever with him. Then
in that day, when the body is raised, we will have a new body
incorruptible that does not die or fade away. And so now brethren,
we walk in faith. We walk in faith because we who
believe him have come to that day. to behold, to know that
He is the Son of God, Scent of God, He is the Savior whom God
has sent, and He laid down His life for me, doing all these
things for me so that I'm in Him, and He sent the Son to dwell
in me, that I might know Him and know all these things. And
so in that sense, brethren, we see the eternal union we have
with Christ. We see the vital union we have
with Christ as the God-man mediator. And we have the manifest union
in which we discover and learn what our God has done for us
freely in his grace. I pray the Lord bless that word
to your hearts and comfort you in Christ. Amen. All right, brethren,
let's close in prayer and have a hymn. Our gracious Lord, we
thank you, Father, for your grace and mercy in sending your Son,
Jesus Christ. Lord, that you determined to
do this glorious work in eternity, even without our knowledge. And
Lord, how you laid all the work upon the shoulders of your Son. who accomplished that work perfectly,
so that indeed we glory in Him as the God-Man-Mediator, as the
One who accomplished salvation perfectly, fully, freely for
all His people. And Lord, we thank you for making
this salvation known in our hearts that we may know our God and
what he has done for us and how he has done all things well and
to give us a thankful heart that rejoices in him. Lord, we pray
that you would continue to instruct us and teach us and grow us in
the knowledge and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
It's in his name we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. 224, I know whom I have believed.
224. I know now why God's wondrous
grace to me hath made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love
redeemed me for his own. But 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 this saving faith
to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought
peace within my heart. But 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 men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating
faith in Him. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep them which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not what of good or ill
may be reserved for me. Of weary ways or golden days
before his face I see. But 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 when my Lord may come
at night or noonday fair, Nor if I walk the vale with Him or
meet Him in the air. 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.