All right, let's turn back to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved now are we the sons of God, and it does 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. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And we know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you, He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him. and he cannot see him because he is born of God. Now in verse one, we have a cause for wonder. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.

Of all the men I have read about in history, in the Bible and outside the Bible, I think it is very unlikely that any man ever beheld and experienced more wondrous things than the one who wrote this verse of scripture, the Apostle John. This man, you stop and think about it now. It took something to impress him. I mean, he was not your ordinary Joe. This fella walked on the earth side by side with the incarnate son of God, but three and a half years. Side by side he's with him.

John witnessed all the miracles of our Lord. You read his gospel and the narrative that he gives of our Lord's miracles. He writes just, he writes about them with such familiarity that it is almost as though when he writes about them, they were so commonplace that they did not seem extraordinary to him. when our Lord Jesus performed the marvelous, marvelous feats of mercy and grace that he performed by the word of his power. When John writes concerning the resurrection of Lazarus, he writes about the resurrection of Lazarus by the word of Christ like I'd write about the rising of the sun. I mean, to him it was no extraordinary thing at all.

This man was with the Son of God on the Mount of Transfiguration and Moses and Elijah. stood before him and talked with him about his death that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. John was there. When the Lord's face was transfigured, John was there. When the Father spoke from heaven and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, John was right there. This man, John, was with the Son of God in Gethsemane.

And he records details that neither Matthew, Mark, nor Luke seemed to grasp. Perhaps they did, but at least John's the only one who records them. Specific details about what went on in Gethsemane and our Savior's struggle and his triumph there. John was there when they nailed our Savior to the cursed tree outside Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

He saw and heard the risen Christ after he came forth from the grave and records his words. When the Lord Jesus ascended up into heaven, was taken up from the midst of his disciples and the angels of God met him in the clouds and spoke to the disciples again, John was there, he saw it all. It was John to whom the revelation of Jesus Christ was given on the Isle of Patmos and all that's recorded in the book of Revelation. John had that revelation given him.

Now, when I say all that, I do it because I want you to understand that to John, there was something unique, something special about that which would cause him to speak with excitement and say, here is something marvelous and wonderful. But when John contemplated the infinite, infinite love of God for us, he was astounded.

He said, behold, Let me show you something to marvel at. Let me show you the wonder of wonders. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, us, sinful, wretched, vile human beings that we are, us, that we should be called the sons of God. What an astounding thing. What an astounding thing. Now here is the wonder of wonders. Sinful, wretched worms such as we are, are loved of God. Loved of God. It doesn't surprise me that God loves. I expect that from Him, for God is love. It astounds me that He loves me. And it astounds me that He loves you. We didn't love him. We didn't. We couldn't. We wouldn't. But he loved us.

Our father loved us and bestowed his love upon us from everlasting. And his love having been bestowed upon us from everlasting is everlasting going in the other direction. That is, it is immutable and unchangeable, unchanging and unchangeable. God loves Period. There's nothing that ever causes it to vary. Nothing that will ever influence it. Nothing that will ever cause it to fluctuate for better or for worse. He loves us perfectly and his love can never be diminished. He loves us. Oh, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, freely bestowed. It is the very same love as that which the Father bestowed on His Son as our mediator and sheriff.

Hold your hand here. John writes about this in John chapter 17, as he records our Lord's high priestly prayer. In John the 17th chapter, the Lord Jesus is speaking, and perhaps John has his mind on this passage of scripture, as he writes the passage we're looking at this afternoon, when he said, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us. John, remember, is the one who recorded this high priestly prayer. The Lord Jesus is speaking of us, and he says in verse 22, the glory which thou gavest me, I've given them, that they may be one even as we are one.

I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. You take that home with you. Has loved them as thou has loved me. Read on. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me and them 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.

Now the love of God for us is the source and cause of every blessing of grace that we enjoy. Because he loved us, we are blessed of God with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ. Because he loved us, we have been predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. And God's love for us is the source, cause, and motive of our love for him. John says in chapter four, in verse 19, we love him because he first loved us, so that his love is the cause of our love for him. Now, the wonder of God's love is seen in that which he has done for us. because of His great love. Because He loved us, He chose us, devised a plan of salvation for us, sent His Son to redeem us, and in the fullness of time, He came to us and called us by His grace in the time of love. And we may see His love as well in the wonder of it, in the effect that it has produced upon us.

Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. You see, the love of God experienced radically and permanently alters a man's life, makes him a different person, a new preacher in Christ. And the world will never understand that man who's experienced God's love.

The world doesn't know us. They don't know us. The religious world and the secular world, they just don't know us who have experienced God's love. They don't understand anything about our worship, our devotion to Christ, our determination to honor Him. They don't understand anything about commitment to Christ. They don't understand the principles by which we operate. They don't know what motivates us. They don't know why it is that we do the things we do. They don't understand us and never will. because they didn't know him.

Now that's a cause for joy. Here in verse two is a cause for confidence. Beloved, look at this now, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. We were called the sons of God from eternity. When God the Father chose us, he adopted us into his family. Our adoption was paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Now, don't let that bother you. And somebody said, well, adoption doesn't involve any payment. Talk to somebody who's done some. I have some friends who adopted some children from overseas, or adopted a child from overseas, cost thousands of dollars. Thousands of dollars. They didn't buy the baby, but they had to pay for all that was involved in bringing that baby from the family they had and from the situation he was in to be their son, their household.

And the Lord Jesus Christ has taken us and brought us out from under the hands of divine justice with the price of his blood to make us God's sons. And in the thoughtless of time, adoption is experienced in divine regeneration when God the Holy Spirit comes and speaks to our hearts' peace and pardon by the blood of Christ and causes us to look to God in heaven and cry, Abba Father, it's because you are sons that he's been sent into your hearts in saving grace. And our adoption is now a reality, here and now, right now, we're the sons of God. Not shall be, not will be one day. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Right now, you and I, who are saved by free grace, are God's dear sons. Now hear what he says concerning us who are God's sons.

We have an inheritance in heaven that is simply beyond the scope of human imagination. I asked David to sing that particular song because I want you to understand that our hope of glory in Christ Jesus is something that, while we are constantly inspired by it, is something that is just infinitely beyond the comprehension of our minds, infinitely beyond it. I have been corresponding recently with a friend concerning some of the things about the believer's future state in glory. And he and I both, in various letters, have said to one another, this is just beyond me. This is just, it's just beyond me.

The scripture says, I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. I don't know. You may ask, what's heaven gonna be like? My soul, I don't know. It'll be everything good and infinitely better than we imagined. Everything good, everything righteous, everything righteously pleasant and infinitely beyond any imagination we have of it. We rejoice to know that there are some things that will not appear in that heavenly state. There'll be no sickness. No sorrow. No trial. No toil. No trouble. No tears. No bereavement. No death. Because there'll be no sin.

That's good enough. That's good enough. And we are assured to realize and rejoice in the knowledge of the fact that our Lord will be there. His name and the name of that city is Jehovah Shammah. The Lord is there. The Lord is there. And that's sufficient. That's sufficient. That's our hope of glory. Now one day, we shall behold our Redeemer face to face when he shall appear.

I know specifically John's talking about the resurrection and he's talking about our Lord's second coming. But for those who precede us and go before, we call it dying. For them, their time of leaving this world is as good as the second coming. The Lord has come for them. He comes and calls them home. He says, if I go away and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself. And in death he comes. And he says, when my appointed time comes, he'll say, Father, the hour has come for Don to behold my glory. Bring him home.

And when he does, I'll see him. just exactly as he is. I can't imagine that. As he is, in the fullness of his divine glory, I see him as God in the perfection of all his being. in the face of Jesus Christ. And I'll see Him as He is, in the perfection and glory of His manhood, in the perfection and glory of His accomplishments as a man, as our Redeemer, as He is. And when we see Him, we'll be like Him. Oh, when he comes a second time and raises these bodies from the grave, we'll be like him physically, glorified.

And that's, I don't, don't understand me to speak of that as being anything minimal at all. Oh, how glorious that is. But here's something infinitely more glorious, infinitely more glorious. We will be like him as he is in his character. in his character, so that we will see things as he sees them, as he sees.

Marcia Sharp called me from Wichita Falls one night this week. She and Alan were flipping through the channels and they came across the pastor of First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, Texas. And what he was talking about, I don't have any idea. They related the story to me.

He said, with regard to whatever it was he was talking about, well, God, you sure screwed up this time. And that's horrible. Oh, horrible, horrible, horrible blasphemy. But we often think that way. We often think that way. We often think we know better than God, and we would do better than God. We would do different.

Oh, but when we see Him as He is, we'll be like Him. And we'll see things as He sees them. And regret nothing that He has done or shall do. On the glory in it, for it's His glory. We will think as he thinks. We will love what he loves. We will hate what he hates. We will rejoice in what he rejoices in. We will be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And when we see him being like him, that will be glory.

Oh, that will be glory for me. The apostle Paul had a good handle on this. And he said, I'm ready to depart. I'm ready to depart. He understood what John was talking about. When we see him, we'll be like him. We'll be like him. Now thirdly, here's a cause for hope. And every man that hath this hope in him, purify himself even as he is pure. Faith in Christ gives us hope, a hope that maketh not ashamed, a good hope through grace.

Now, the hope here is not the idea, well, the garden is getting a little dry and I hope it'll rain this afternoon. It is not the idea, well, the weatherman is promising that we're gonna get rain this evening and I hope it'll rain. That's not the idea of hope at all.

The hope here, the hope of a believer is the expectation, the confident expectation of faith. So that when the scripture speaks of us having hope before God, it's saying that we have expectation, we have anticipation of these things based upon what God has revealed in his word. Our hope is the confident expectation of everlasting good from God alone.

This is my hope. This is my hope. No matter what comes down the pike, no matter what comes to pass, no matter what obstacle I meet, our children, no matter what enemy I face, no matter what trial comes, no matter what snares are laid before me, no matter what traps Satan has set, no matter what temptations I meet, no matter what falls I experience, God's gonna preserve me blameless. until the day of Jesus Christ. That's my hope. I have hope that when this life is over, this body will be raised up in glory. And I have hope that I will inherit everything that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has inherited as my forefather. Now that's my hope. You say, well, Don, that's a pretty good hope.

What's the basis of it? The basis of it is the work of Christ. The basis of our hope is the immutability of his person, the efficacy of his blood, the power of his grace, the virtue of his intercession, and the truthfulness of his promise, because all these things he's promised us, who is faithful to perform them. Now, this blessed hope has a purifying effect on those who possess it. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Now, what does that mean? Does that mean that somehow the believer contributes to the purging of his soul from sin? No, not at all. What that means is that the believer, having this hope in him, the hope of grace and glory, the hope of everlasting inheritance in Christ Jesus, this hope causes the believer to set his heart upon Christ and pursue him. This hope causes the believer to turn loose the things of this world and seek after the Lord. This hope causes the believer to say no to the lust of the flesh and to put on the new man. This hope causes the believer, with aspirations for God's glory, with aspirations for doing God's will, with aspirations for honoring his Savior, causes the believer simply to say no to the lust of the flesh and to walk before God with confident, obedient faith. And fourthly, here's a cause for concern. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.

We are sinners still. I hear people talk about the victorious life and getting victory over sin. But I don't know anything about what they're talking about. I don't know anything about what they're talking about. People call me sometimes, say, I need to get victory over sin. Yeah, you sure do. I do too. But not here. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen.

Now, you might get victory over the habit of doing certain things. You might get over that. You might get over the habit of behaving in a certain way, but you're not gonna get over, you're not gonna get victory over lust and pride and envy and covetousness, jealousies. You're gonna struggle with those as long as you're in this flesh. That's just part of living in this flesh.

And our sin, the sin that a believer has in him That which he knows he is, is a matter of unceasing painful reality to him. Sin is not something to be taken lightly or spoken lightly of. Sin, the most grievous thing in the world to a child of God. What could be more grievous than sin? And our sin deserves eternal damnation. Unless a suitable substitute is found to put away our sin, we must suffer the wrath of God forever. But blessed be God, such a substitute has been found. And here's a cause for joy. We know that he was manifested to take away our sin. And in him is no sin. The Lord Jesus was manifested to take away sin, and he did.

The scapegoats, you remember in the Old Testament, the sins of Israel were imputed to the scapegoat and he carried them out by the hands of a fit man into no man's land. And that scapegoat was carried out way outside the camp, out of sight, way out of sight. Late in the evening, that fit man come back and the scapegoat's not with him. That's the picture of our sin, carried away.

He was manifested to put away our sin, and he's done it. And in him is no sin. Did you hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you are free. They're all taken away. We are no longer under the curse of sin, so that the law of God, as I showed you this morning, has nothing to say against us. And the believer is no longer under the dominion of sin.

Now give me just a minute. And let's look at these last three verses of this text. And let me see if I can help you. Whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth Righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. Now, notice on those words, sinneth, and sinneth again, and doeth, there is that little ETH ending. Do you see it on all three words in those two verses? ETH, you remember what it means? That means whosoever sins continues in sin. Whosoever doeth, that is continues doing righteousness, he's born of God. Those that continue doing sin are not children of God. They have not seen God and they've not known God. Now what on earth does that mean?

John is telling us that the believer is no longer under the dominion of sin. The believer doesn't continue in the habit of sin. The believer's life is no longer ruled and dominated by sin. Now, understand that. That's true of every child of God. Every child of God has been freed from the dominion of sin, so that sin no longer rules him, no longer controls him, no longer governs him. And those whose lives are ruled by sin are children of the devil. Read verse 8. He that commiteth, there's that ETH ending again. He that commiteth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. That is, he continues right on in the habit of sin.

Let no one imagine that a believer has license to commit sin because we're free from sin. Let no one imagine that the doctrine of our absolute free justification in Christ is a license to sin or iniquity or antinomianism or anything of the kind. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm here to tell you that the child of God, the saint of God, is a king in Christ Jesus. He made us kings, kings who rule over their passions. Not kings to rule over the empires of the world, kings to rule from within by the Spirit of God, so that sin no longer dominates the life of a believer. If you had a tennis ball and a huge funnel aimed downward, and you drew back and threw that tennis ball into the funnel, just throw the tennis ball right into the funnel. You know what's gonna happen to the tennis ball?

It'll bounce here and there, up and down, sideways, every which way it goes. But all the while, it's bouncing toward that little hole going out there into that funnel. All the while. You understand what I'm saying? And the believer in his life, because of the corruption of our nature, because of the weakness of our flesh, like that tennis ball in the funnel of God's free grace, we bounce and flop and fall look crazy sometimes, behave crazy sometimes. But all the while, he's headed toward that opening, into that city, which is called the city of God, the new Jerusalem, the church of the living God, and heavenly glory. So that his life moves in the direction of righteousness, though there is much sin involved with us. Though we often fall and sin is mixed with everything we do. But now notice verse nine. This is the part that most people fail to grasp.

Whosoever is born of God, get it now, doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he's born of God. Now that doesn't have an ETH ending on those words, does it? That text says that which is born of God does not sin and cannot sin. Well, Donald, what on earth is John talking about? He's telling us exactly what Paul tells us in Romans 7 in verse 20.

So then when I sin, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. You see, the believer is a man or a woman with two distinct natures. The one is called flesh, the other spirit. The one is called sin, the other righteousness. And those two natures are at war with one another, diametrically opposed to one another, so that you cannot do the things you would. Either way, either way. Sometimes the believer in his old Adamic fallen nature gets in the flesh And he plots with malice, coldness, and hardness for vengeance. The last thing I'll do is get you. But God won't let you do that. God won't let you do that.

And if he does, he'll stop you from ruining yourself. because the spirit reigns and the spirit checks your flesh. And yet at the same time, the believer had a rough day, tough time struggling with his sin and corruption and he goes to bed at night and he reads the scripture and he prays and gets up in the morning and reads the scripture and prays and says, today now, today I'm going to do right. I'm going to keep my temperament right on my tongue and I'm going to do what I know ought to be done. And first thing happens, he goes out and gets his paper, and it's wet, and he comes in angry. And you can't do the things you would, because you're still in the flesh.

And when Paul says that which is born of God does not sin, he is telling us that sin is our old nature. Or when John tells us that, he's telling us sin's the old nature. And that which is born of God, that which really is you, if you're God's child. That which really is me, if I'm his, cannot sin. It's born of God. It's born of God. It's holy. It's righteous. And one of these days, we're going to drop this flesh and rise to him in the perfection of that righteousness which he has planted within us. Now, bless God.

Christ has paid the debt of our sins. so that we're no longer guilty in the sight of the law. He has delivered us from the dominion of sin so that we are no longer ruled by sin. And he's given us a holy nature that cannot sin. But the reality is in this world, we're gonna struggle with sin as long as we live here.

Now the old man, the old nature, sin, has been defeated. He's defeated. Christ defeated him. But he'll never surrender. And the new nature, righteousness, is triumphant. But sin will never bow. It'll never happen. And so there's constant warfare. And in that warfare, sometimes we will be like David and think I've washed my hands in innocence. It's a vain thing to serve God. And then we'll be like David again and say, God, I was as a beast before you. What have I done? What have I done?

But the blessed reality is this, in him is no sin. God will never charge us with sin. He will never impute sin to us. And he will never, oh, wonder of wonders, he will never treat us any the less graciously because of sin. Never. He punished our sin in his son. And we've come here now to the Lord's table to celebrate the blessed reality of that. As you eat this bread and drink this wine, Do so in remembrance of him who by the sacrifice of himself has purged away our sin. Amen.