Turn with me, if you would, back
to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3. I prepared the Bible study this
week. and then the message. Sometimes
I prepare them in different orders, but it was the Bible study and
then the message. And as soon as I got into this,
these next verses in 1 John, I realized that this really picks
up where we just left off. We just ended Romans 7 with Paul
saying, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
There's an old man in here and there's a new man in here. There
is something born of sin in here. And there is something born of
holiness in here. Everything about this old wicked
man is fighting the new creation of God. This new creation that all of
God's people receive. They receive it by the choice
of the father. He gives it to whoever he will.
They receive it by the payment of the blood of the son. That's
what made him worthy to receive it. And they receive it by the
quickening power of the spirit. And once they receive it, that
old man starts fighting with it. But Paul said, this is what
I know. Christ has secured the victory
for that new man. He said, oh, wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me? And then he said, I thank God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. He has delivered me. He is delivering
me and he will deliver me. All right, now look at 1 John
3 verse 2. 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." What I'd
like for us to look at this morning is this hope. That's the title of this message.
This hope. John said in verse 3, every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."
John declared this hope in three parts. All right, this hope. We're going to see if we have
this hope. He declared it in three parts. We're going to look at a three-part
hope. And this truly is every believer's
hope. Here's the first part of it. Verse 2, he said, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. Is that not our hope? Right now. Right now. Alright, here's the second part
of it. Verse 2, He said, And it doth not yet appear what we
shall be, But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him. Is that not our hope? Here's the third part of it.
The end of verse two says, for we shall see Him as He is. Is that not our hope? Now let's just consider each
one of these three parts, and this is my prayer. This is honestly
my prayer. It's that come the end of this,
every person here who has ears to hear will say and can say,
yep, that's my hope. This is my hope. All right, let's
look at the first part. Verse two says, Beloved. What that means is John is talking
to a particular people. What he has to say right here,
he is not saying it to the world. He's saying it to the Beloved. He is talking specifically to,
this hope is specifically to the Beloved. Well, who is the
Beloved? Who is the Beloved? The true
answer to that question is Christ is the Beloved. God the Father said, this is
my Beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. He said, behold my servant,
whom I have chosen, my Beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased,
I will put my Spirit upon Him. and He shall show judgment to
the Gentiles. Christ is the only well-beloved
of the Father. But Ephesians 1 says, we are
accepted in the beloved. That's how we are accepted in
the Beloved. And the Apostle Paul explained
very clearly who the accepted ones were in Romans chapter one. Turn with me over there if you
would to Romans chapter one. Romans 1 verse 7, He said, To all that be in Rome,
beloved of God, called to be saints. It is the chosen, redeemed,
called saints of God. It's the one that He chose to
set His love and affection on. The ones who unknowingly, undeservingly,
were made to be recipients of His mercy and His grace. Look
at Romans 9. Romans 9 verse 23 says, And that He might make known
the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had
aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom He hath called not of
the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in
Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people, and
I will call her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall
come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
you are not my people, there shall they be called the children
of the living God. Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." That's who he's
talking to when he says beloved, that remnant that he chose to
save. So go with me back to 1 John 3. Verse 2 says, Now are we the
sons of God. Right now. Right now. Last Wednesday night, we looked
at verse 1 which says, 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.
What amazing love it is that God would call us to be, make
us to be sons of God. In that message last Wednesday
night, we looked at how we were made to be sons of God. We were
born into it and we were adopted into it. He created us and He made a covenant
to buy us with a price. And some of you kids may remember
the story. You all remember the story we told last Wednesday
night about that kite. You remember that? We told a
story of a kite, a little boy who wanted a kite and his father couldn't afford a
kite so he made a kite. You remember that? And that little
boy lost his kite And then he found it in a store and he had
to go back and buy it again. And he finally got it back and
that store owner heard that little boy hugging that kite saying,
you're mine. You're twice mine. I made you
and I bought you. That's what he's saying. That's
how we were born and bought. of the Father. That's how we
were made to be sons of God. He said, you're as mine as you
can possibly be. By creation and by purchase. Well, John is saying right here,
beloved, right now, we are the sons of God. We are His. We are twice His. He made us
and He bought us. And that's our hope. That's our
hope. He made us and He bought us. We belong to Him. We're the sons
of God. Hope means expected anticipation. When you hear that word, naturally
you think it means that, you know, we're hoping, we're really
hoping. It may or may not happen, but that's not what hope means.
It means expected anticipation. That transaction is finished. Tis done. The transaction's done. You are your Lord's and He is
yours. Rest. There's nothing else to
do. Or not do. While so many are standing up
in pulpits telling men and women, now if you want to be children
of the Father, then you're going to have to start doing this.
Or you better stop doing that. Now this is our hope. This is
our expected anticipation. It's done. It's done. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God? We are right now. All right,
here's the second part of this hope. Verse two says, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be, But we know that when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him. Just think about that. If our Lord did not declare that,
I would almost just think, I don't, we shall be like Him? We're gonna
be like Him. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be. The Apostle Paul was carried
up into the third heaven. And there was a time when I thought,
oh, I wish that could have happened to me, but oh, I'm so glad it
didn't because he had to come back down. He had to leave that. He was carried up to the third
heaven and he said, I wish I could just describe to you what I heard. Forget about what I saw. I just
wish I could tell you what I heard." He said, but I can't. It cannot
be told. It cannot be described. But he did say, I can tell you
this much. He told the Corinthians this.
He was quoting Isaiah 64. He said, I hath not seen nor ear heard Neither hath entered into the
heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that
love Him." We hear that He's created a new heaven and a new
earth, and we compare it to the things that we've seen, and the
things that we've heard, and the things that we've imagined. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. But this is what Paul told the
Philippians. He is going to change our vile bodies that it may be
fashioned like unto His glorious body." Go with me over to Philippians
3. Philippians 3 verse 20, it says,
For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me read that verse again.
He said, our conversation is in heaven from whence also we
look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're looking and
waiting and talking about it and hoping. Verse 21 says, Who
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto
His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able even to subdue all things unto Himself. He's going to, at that moment,
He's going to change our vile body. David said, I shall be
satisfied the moment I awake. with your likeness. This is our hope, isn't it? Like the Apostle Paul said in
Romans 7, he said, I'm just so tired of the body of this death. I'm so tired of this thing, the
frailties, the error, the sin that has ruined it. I've had
all I can stand of the body of this death. But He said, I know
I'm not going to have to wear it much longer. Just a little
bit longer. It doth not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, the moment we
see Him, we're going to be changed. All of a sudden, we are going
to look and we are going to be just like Him. Turn with me over
to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 49, As we have borne the image of
the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. But I show you a mystery. We
shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. I can imagine a sonic boom. It's gonna happen on a cloudy
day. This is good to know information.
It's gonna happen on a cloudy day. The scripture says, our
Lord himself said that he was coming back with clouds. From here on out, every time
you see a cloudy day, you can let this hope well up inside
you. One day, a day that is coming
quickly, At His appointed time, the skies are going to part.
I was thinking about all this. I'm sure we're going to be talking
to each other. We're going to be doing something.
We're going to have our head down just, you know, in the world. And all of a sudden, the parting
of the skies are going to get our attention. And the trumpet call announcing
the King will blow. And that's going to draw our
eyes up. And we are going to physically
watch the Lord Jesus Christ descend from His throne all the way to
the atmosphere of this earth. Stephen, right before the Lord
took him, he was being stoned and he looked up and he said,
I see the throne of God itself. And I see Him standing. And we're going to watch him
come all the way down to the atmosphere of this earth. And
the very moment that we see him, we're going to be changed. We're going to be like him. We're going to float up just
like him. Verse 53 right here says, For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that moment
right there is the third part of this hope. Go with me back
to 1 John chapter 3. Verse John 3, verse 2, it says,
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. Is that your hope? Do you want to see Him as He
is? This is our hope right here.
Because He revealed Himself to us as He was. He revealed Himself to us as
He was when He came to this earth. To the natural eye of the flesh,
there was no beauty in him that men or women should desire him. They didn't see him as he was.
Joseph and Mary, they got into Bethlehem at the last moments
of her pregnancy. Joseph went to every innkeeper
in town. Do you have a room? Nope. Sorry. Can't you see Joseph saying,
can't you see him saying this? But my wife is about to deliver
Emmanuel. He knew who was coming. The angel
Gabriel told him who was coming. Told Mary too. They knew who
was coming. Can't you see him pleading on
behalf of this holy child? Nope! Put him in the feeding
trough in the barn. They didn't see him as he was. That was the mighty God laying
there. Do we see Him as He was? That was God Almighty, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Mankind did not see Him to be
that. As He grew and He walked this earth, the things that He
knew and the things that He said and the things that He did, And
they all said, isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't that just Joseph Carpenter's
son? They didn't see him as he was.
This is God's righteousness walking around on the earth, earning
perfection for his people. But they didn't see him in that.
As He hung on that cross, they spit on Him. They mocked Him. They hated Him. They did not see Him as He was,
the dying Lamb whose precious blood was paying all the debt
of the sin of His people. But because He has revealed Himself
to us, His beloved, His chosen people, because He has caused
us to see Him as He was, we're going to get to see Him as He
is. How is He now? Is He lowly now? Is He humbled
now? What are we going to see when
we see Him as He is? I don't know what this means,
but based on the Word of God, I can tell you we are going to
see Him high and lifted up. I know what high and lifted up
means, but that's my imagination. It's much higher than that. We are going to see Him seated
on His throne. I can imagine all of glory just
watching Him sit on His throne in silence. King of kings, Lord of lords,
God in the person of a man. Is that your hope? Do you want
to see Jesus Christ as He is? God seated on His throne. If you do, then you have this
hope. If you do, then you possess,
you have received this hope. And every man and woman that
has this hope in him or her, verse 3 says, purifieth. This hope that is given purifies
the child of God even as the one who gave the hope is pure."
That means if we have this hope, then as He is, so are we. Verse 2 says, 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. How glorious. All right, let's all stand together.