All right, go with me if you
would back to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17 and let's read verse
28. For in Him we live and move and
have our being certain also of your own poets have said for
we are also his offspring. Monday morning I had the most
beautiful illustration roll through my mind. An illustration is a parable. That's what an illustration is.
It's a parable, just like our Lord preached in parables. Sometimes his entire message
was a parable. The scripture says without a
parable, he didn't preach to the people. And that's what an
illustration is. It's a earthly story that points
us to a spiritual meaning. And Monday morning, I had the
most beautiful illustration roll through my mind. And that illustration
led to more illustrations, more thoughts. I just enjoyed the
thought and the thoughts that kept coming throughout the morning
and the day. I have a message that's an illustration
tonight and I pray the Lord will make it a blessing to us. I want
to tell you what all the thoughts were and then I want to come
back and tell you what the original illustration was. I woke up Monday
morning, I woke up and Hannah showed me a picture of a brand
new baby girl and As I looked at her, I was
taken with how amazing it is that God creates life. Just so amazing. The life that
God creates. We're here right now because
of life. We're gathered around life. We're looking into the
things of life. And it is so, it's just amazing. We just recently had two little
boys born into this congregation. And it's amazing. It's just amazing. Life that God creates. I looked
at that picture and everything that came to my mind, I immediately
started relating it to spiritual, our spiritual relationship. She
showed me that and I thought, there she is. There she is. The one we knew
by faith, we knew her by faith. We believed she was in there. We believed that little boy was
in there. And we knew her by faith and
we thought on her and talked about her and waited for her
by faith. Now, we know them by sight. We know them by sight. You wonder,
I remember wondering what my girl's faces would look like. And I remember wondering what
their voice, when they can finally talk, I wonder what their voice
was gonna sound like. And now we know by sight. Paul told the
Corinthians, he said, right now we walk by faith, not by sight. Right now we see through a glass
darkly, but in just a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, We
are going to say, there he is. It is going to become a reality
to us in the same way that these little boys walk through one
day. And that little girl is going to walk through soon. We're going to say, there he
is. The reality, it's almost here. This is not a story. This is not fairy tale. The reality
is almost here. We're going to see him face to
face. We're going to look at him. There
he is. The one that I knew by faith,
now I know by sight. There he is. This thought went through my
mind. She was with us all along. I
looked at that little girl, and Monday morning, this thought
went through my mind. She was here on Sunday. She was here. She was born on
Monday. But I'm telling you, that very
little girl, the complete little girl was here on Sunday. She was with us all along. And that's what we're going to
say. He was with us all along. Every time two or three were
gathered together in His name, He was right there. I mean He
was right there. Right there with us. But now
it's face to face. Now we see face to face. Hannah zoomed in on her face. And she said what every person
says when they see a brand new baby. She zoomed in on her face
and she said, I wonder who she looks like. That's what we do with every
new baby that comes. We look at the baby and we say,
I wonder who she looks like. Look at that nose. You see those lips? You recognize
that chin? What we're wanting to see is
what characteristics of theirs does she possess? What characteristics
of theirs does he possess? What makes her look like the
ones she came from? That's what you do. As soon as
you look at a little baby, you look her up. What makes her look
like the ones that she came from? When you see her, do you see
them? Do you see them in her? Has she been conformed to their
image? Is she made in the likeness of
them? Did you see what color her hair
is? It's red. I wonder where she
got that. John said, Beloved, it doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know we're going to look
just like him. We're going to be just like him. We're going to look just like
him. You are going to be able to see Him in us. Is that not? We're going to look just like
the one we came from. We're going to bear the characteristics
of the one we came from. This thought went through my
mind. She really is one with them. She really is one with them.
She bears their name. You know what his name is? Weishi. You know what her name is? Weishi. You know what Jeremiah 23 says?
It says, His name shall be called the Lord our righteousness. You know what Jeremiah 33 says?
Her name shall be called the children of the Father, the bride
of the Son. Her name shall be called the
Lord our righteousness. She bears His name. She bears
it. Call her the same thing you call
me. It's amazing. She bears His name. As I continued all of these thoughts,
I thought she's one with them in the sense that she bears their
name. She's one with them in the sense that she is united. She is included in their special,
particular love. There is a special, particular
love that they have within themselves And she's included in it. She is completely included already. She's already fully united. There's no one on this earth
that she loves more than them. And there is no one on this earth
that they love more than her. No one. As wonderful as that is, that's
a wonderful, special love. But as wonderful as that is,
that does not come close to comparing to or describing the love that
the father has for his children or the love that the son has
for his bride. It cannot be compared. It cannot be described. Look
with me at John 17. John 17 verse 1 says, These words
spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father,
the hour is come. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him." He said those particular ones that are
included in our particular love. Verse 3, he said, this is life
eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent I have glorified thee on the earth.
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. He laid
down his life for her. He laid down his life for her. Greater love had no man than
this. Greater love. He laid down his
life for her. The particular love of God for
his people. He said in verse 9, I pray for
them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. My love is not a general love. It's a particular love. It's
not a love extended to the entire world. It's a particular love
for my own. I love for my own. He said in
verse 19, And for their sakes I sanctify myself, I set myself
apart, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word. The message is going to continue
and those that hear this Word and believe on Christ. He said
I pray for him verse 21 that they all may be one as thou father
art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me and the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one even as
we are one they are so included in us They are so united with
us. Verse 23, He said, I in them,
and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me. You've loved them with the exact
same love you've loved me with. He said in verse 24, Father,
I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where
I am. I want them to be with me. That
they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father,
the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. God's people are
one with him, one in name, one in love, but not just in name
and love, they're one with him in essence. The Lord Jesus Christ said His
people were bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. And that's exactly what that
little girl is. And that's what those little boys are. And that's
what all of us are. The essence of who we came from. Now the sad truth is we are all flesh of Adam's flesh. We are all sin of Adam's sin. We are born into the essence
of what we are. But this is what God our Father
has said. He said, in Christ, in His name,
neither is there any other name. In His name, in His love, there's
no greater love. In His finished work of redemption
for His people, what He came to do and what He did, God our
Father says, in Him, we are born again. We are born again. Through God-given faith in Him,
through life-giving faith in Him, God's particular people
are born again, born of God. Born of God. Look with me at
1st John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5 verse 1 says,
Whosoever believeth Jesus is the Christ and everything that
it means to say He is the Christ. Not just to say that Jesus is
the Christ. Whoever says that He is God manifest
in the flesh. The only mediator between God
and men. The anointed Redeemer. The only
Savior. Our only hope. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Born of God. Peter said born of incorruptible
seed. Born of perfection. Whoever God
gives faith to. Faith that casts its all on Christ
for mercy. True, true faith. Whoever God
gives that faith to. That soul is a new creation created
in Christ Jesus. Created in Christ Jesus. Now
that brings me to the original illustration, the original thought
that came into my mind. When I looked at that picture,
I thought, that is a complete person. That is a complete person. That's a complete human being. And she was this complete just
a few hours ago. I'm thinking this on Monday morning.
She was this complete just a few hours ago in the womb. See if
the Lord will let us read between the lines. She was this complete. That's a full person. That's
a complete human being. And she was this complete just
a few hours ago in the womb. Just like this. She's a human being who needs
the exact same thing that every other human being needs. must
have the same thing every other human being needs. She needs
air. At this current time, she needs
milk. All human beings need a certain
degree of sunlight and different things to sustain life. And as
of a few hours ago, she had none of those things. She had none of those things.
This complete with none of those things. None
of them. How is that possible? That's
what I thought as I looked at that picture. I thought, how
is that even possible? Now, just like every other human
being, she couldn't go minutes without air. But up until a couple of hours
ago, she went nine months. Nine months without air. How is that possible? With man,
that's impossible. With man, this is impossible. In order to sustain life, you
must have air. You must have air. And she didn't
have it. in and of herself, by herself. She did not possess it. How did she survive? How did
she survive? How did she live and move and
have her being? Here's the answer. She was kept She was sustained. She was complete and completely
provided for in the one she was created in. Spiritually speaking, do you
know that to inherit eternal life We have to be sinless. Do you know that we have to possess
sinlessness? You have to have sinlessness
to live eternally, spiritually. To stand in the presence of God
and be united with Him in name, in love, in essence of being,
we have to be as good as God is. THERE IS NO STANDING THERE. THERE IS NO LIVING AND NO LIFE
UNLESS WE POSSESS A PERFECT HOLINESS. WE HAVE TO HAVE A PERFECT SINLESSNESS. A PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. AND RIGHT NOW IN THE FLESH WE
DON'T HAVE IT. WE DON'T HAVE IT. We are right now eternally alive. Right now. We are right now the
sons of God. Right now. How is that spiritually
possible? In this current state, we possess
nothing that is necessary for eternal life. In this flesh,
as we are right now, we possess nothing that is necessary to
sustain eternal life, yet we're alive. How is that spiritually
possible? We're being kept. We're being
preserved. We're being sustained. We are
complete. And we are completely provided
for in the one that we have been created in, Christ Jesus, our
Lord. In Him, we are in need of nothing. In Him, we lack nothing. In Him, every need we have is
satisfied. Every need we have. In Him, we
live and move and have our being right now. Right now. He is our life. He's not just a big part of our
life. That's what most people believe. Oh, He's a big part
of my life. He is our life. The source of our life. There's
no life without Him. None. Our life is completely
dependent on Him. As long as He lives, we live. Totally dependent on Him. When
He died, we died. That's all we could do. When
He arose, we arose. If He lives forever, and He will. He said He will, and He will.
And if He lives forever, so will we. And the reason is because our
life is hid with Him. It's hid in Him. Let me close
this with Colossians 2. Go with me over to Colossians
2. Colossians chapter 2 verse 9
says, For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him which is
the head of all principality and power. Colossians chapter
3 verse 1 says, If you then be risen with Christ, seek those
things which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God, set your affection on things above and not on things
on the earth, for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory,
joint heirs with him. children of the living God. That's
amazing. That is amazing. And we'll spend
eternity looking at each other going, God did that. God did that. And that's just
wonderful. Amen. All right, let's all stand
together.