Alright, let's start at 1st John
chapter 3 verse 2. This is where we're going to
pick up. We're going to try to make our way through the 10 verses here
before we transition into a change. We left off last time marveling
at John's pause of contemplation and awe at the father's objective
to make us sons of God and really the word can be children of God. It is the Greek term to be a
child of God. The term technon is one of those
technical words that means that we take on the likeness of the
family. That's the technon. And it is
not a gender-specific term. It is a term of association.
And it really is a term of advancement from the point of regeneration
into conformity to Christ at a level of which God can say,
With great definiteness, these are my sons and daughters because
they behave that way. That's the term technon in the
Greek. It was the term that Jesus used
in John chapter eight when he battled with the Pharisees who
sought to claim illegitimately sonship with God. But their conduct
towards Christ implied that they were not sons at all. And he
made a distinction in the original language between the Pharisees
and those who knew Jesus. He called the Pharisees the sperm
of Abraham. And he called those who knew
Jesus the technon of Abraham. That's our term here. The technon
of Abraham are those who act like Abraham. The children of
God are those who act like children of God. And what you're going
to see as we work through verses 2 through 10 is that John is
going to make a clear distinction and division between the children
of God and the children of the devil. He's going to establish
this distinction, this dichotomy, this real clear definitive distinction
between the children of God and the children of the devil so
that the children of God won't be confused as to what it means
to be a child of God. versus what it means to be a
child of the devil. It may be challenging for you
as we work through it, but this is the reason for which we are
given first John as a whole to challenge us on the authenticity
of our claim to be Christians. The last thing you want to do
is die not having made your calling in election sure. And one of
the ways we do that is by submitting to the light of biblical truth.
Sound biblical truth allows us to be tested on a daily basis
as to the authenticity of our profession of faith. So verse
two opens up this way. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. now are we the sons of God. And the emphasis for John, obviously,
is to let you and I know that after he has explained to us
that a child of God lives in a certain conflict in this world,
because while he may be, or she, or they may be clear in themselves
that they are sons and daughters of God, not evident to everyone
else remember we talked about the spirit of adoption versus
the manifestation of the sons of God and I should say prior
to subsequent to the prior to rather the manifestation of the
sons of God that those who are truly believers are believers
by faith in Christ and they operate in a sort of twitch of appearing
to be like everyone else in the world, and yet in actuality they
are radically different than everyone else in the world. And
the challenge for the believer is their claim to sonship not
being evidenced by a body that is still in a state of the fall,
still subject to corruption, still disintegrating because
of sin. This is what he was saying over
in verse 2 Part C beloved now are we the sons of God and it
doth not yet appear? See the same we are the sons
of God There is a reality to the people of God have always
been the case. God has always had sons and daughters
Matthew chapter 1 as the genealogy of Jesus is given Through the
kingly line of the Judah. It goes all the way back to Adam
and Adam was called a son of God and God has always had sons
and daughters of God every generation. And men began to call upon the
name of the Lord in the days of Enosh. God has always had
sons of God. We saw this in Genesis chapter
six and the sons of God married the daughters of men. God has
always had a body of believers in the world. You need to know
that now they have not always manifested their sonship. by obedience to Christ as they
ought to because of the mystery of iniquity, because of battles
and conflicts, but ultimately because it's not time for the
people of God to appear to be what they are. One of the realities
is that not only do we walk by faith, but the whole realm and
dimension of the kingdom of God is a dimension of faith, where
we operate on principles that are unseen, principles by which
you and I are functioning in what is called a mystery. The
kingdom of God is a mystery. So as God is a mystery, the kingdom
is a mystery. I talked about this when we opened
up our indicative class. Indicatives are conditions and
states of being that the people of God are declared to be in
by God, even though they don't always see it. You are children
of God, the Bible says, for those who believe and trust in Christ,
but you don't always appear that way. Well, God is the true and
the living God, and he's everywhere present, and he sits on the circuit
of the universe, and he inhabits eternity, and he feels heaven
and earth, and he controls all things, and that there's no place
where God is not present, yet people don't see him. Just as
God is mysterious to the world, so is the believer. So we are
to take this sort of tension of being something that we do
not appear to be and understanding how to negotiate life in the
reality of the fact that people cannot see our sonship as it
really truly is. But the encouragement that John
brings to the table in verse two is, beloved, now are we the
sons of God. It's designed to encourage the
believer to take those those non-empirical evidences, those
spiritual evidences, those biblical promises, those biblical realities,
and bring them to bear upon our sonship so that we find comfort
in who we are according to Christ and according to the scriptures
versus the lack of evidence that we may see in our own lives. And certainly the lack of evidence
that others may see in us. Again, what we are talking about
is understanding how to walk by faith according to the scriptures.
Are you guys following what I'm saying? And so John says, beloved,
we are now the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be. And then he's talking about what
we shall be. We are now the sons of God, but
there is a shall be to come that we don't quite comprehend. I
am a child of God now, but there's a shall be notice what he says.
it doth not yet appear what we what shall be that's a future
tense that's a future state of being that is distinctly different
from the present state of being though it is ontologically connected
to it this is the mystery of what is called the resurrection
first Corinthians 15 remember what Paul said in first Corinthians
15 he says in the resurrection a seed is does not bear any real
resemblance to the fruit that comes out of that seed once it
goes into the ground and dies. It may be a bare seed and it
may look like many other bare seeds, but the DNA on the inside
of that seed constitutes a fruit or a vegetable or a likeness
of something of which it was designed to be, but it won't
be brought into the appearance of that until it goes into the
ground and dies and then bears forth the full maturity of its
DNA. So it is with the believer. You
and I can be said to be in seed form. Now seed form means that
empirically or by virtue of appearance, there's nothing about us on the
outward appearance for which we can say we are distinctly
different than any other seed. But the DNA on the inside of
the seed says that in that time that shall be, when it flourishes,
it will manifest itself in such a glorious manifestation, such
a glorious, glorious destiny and such a glorious, Purpose
with regards to us being made in the image of God in Christ
That you and I to are you and I are to do and I look forward
to that shall be time The children of God are now children of God
and the children of God shall be as a future tense In other
words, God is giving you and I a what promise and we live
on promises. Did you know that? We live on
promises the believer lives on promises future Tense promises
for the believer is what he or she lives on. We're getting ready
to work that through. I am something now, but I also
shall be something. I shall be something. And in
fact, if we work with the present tense, and we also work with
the future tense, between the present and the future tense
is what we're going to see in a moment is the process. I am
in between this process. I am something now, I shall be
something in the future, and in between is the thing that
I have to learn, I have to understand, I have to process, I have to
negotiate. And here's how John sets this
up. He says, beloved, now are we the sons of God? It doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but, now that's an advertisement
conjunction. He really is saying, however,
buts are not always contrasting clauses. I don't know why the
King James always does that, but they like to put the word
but in there. That's not always a contrasting clause. It's not
really turning the corner or standing in the antithesis of
what was being said. Sometimes it's simply about to
explain it. It's an advertisement. It's about
to augment it or clarify it. So I would use the word however.
So I would say, beloved, we are now the sons of God and it does
not yet appear what we shall be. However, this is what we
know. Do you see that? This is what
we know. So you can mark the word there,
no, and say, God, keep me from being an agnostic. Because, see, one of the things
we like to do when we have mental meltdowns is is rely on our ignorance
when God has given us the word of God so we can know some things.
And I'll tell you what, if you were to just look up the word
no in the New Testament, I ain't talking about the Old Testament,
I'm talking about the New Testament. If you were to look up the word
no in the New Testament, you know what you would come to discover?
That the believer in Christ knows a whole lot. The believer in
Christ knows a whole lot. And this is eternal life. that
they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom
he has sent. And we know all things work together for good
to them that love God. If we were to go on with the
knows, we'd be amazed at how much we know, or how much we
ought to know. And so he says, we know that,
here we go, when he shall appear, that's the second coming, saints,
That's the second coming. We know that when he shall appear. Now, I want you to pause for
a moment and take that particular proposition into consideration.
John is speaking to a church whom he has taught the gospel.
And when the gospel is proclaimed, we are proclaiming the person
and work of Jesus Christ. That is the gospel in a nutshell
statement. What is the gospel? The person
and the work of Jesus Christ. who he is, what he did, why he
did it, where he is now, and what he's gonna do when he comes
back. That is the gospel of the person
and work of Jesus Christ. It's about him, it's not about
us. And the gospel's claims are not done until he comes back.
And the whole New Testament church has been living on this one promise,
Christ is coming again. This was something that we have
always known emphatically and we have never negotiated the
possibility that Christ is not coming again. And what that means
for you and I is the return of Christ is crucial and necessary
to the bringing about of all the promises of God that are
yes and amen in him that are not yet realized in us. The return
of Christ is critical to all the promises of God which are
already yes and amen in him but have not come to pass in our
life yet. He must come back in order for
his body to enter into the reality of the fullness of the blessing
that he as the head has already entered into. As the head he
has already been raised. As the head, he has already been
seated. As the head, he's already been ruling and reigning. As
the head, he's already glorified. As the head, he's already coronated
king. As the head, he's already the
ruler over the universe. The body has to catch up with
him. what happens when we die every member of the body catches
up with the head but there's a day coming when the head who
is already post incarnate resurrected and glorified will bring the
body of Christ somebody asked me a question last week I think
it was after the Bible study, yeah, and then they gave me this
question on the Monday program. What was going on when Jesus
hung on Calvary, Matthew chapter 27 or 26, and when he cried out,
the veil of the temple was ripped from top to bottom, and the text
says, and many of the graves opened up, and many of the bodies
of the saints arose, and they went through the city, the holy
city, Jerusalem, testifying and witnessing to the resurrection
of Christ. And I said, you gotta read all
three gospels because they give us the accurate chronology Christ
wasn't on the cross when the bodies of the saints rose. That
would have implied that the bodies of the saints would rise before
Christ, who is the first fruits from the dead. They didn't rise
before he did. He rose first and they rose after
him. When you put it together after
his resurrection, that means they rose on Sunday with him
and they rose as part of the first fruits under God to let
the saints in glory know that Christ has already conquered
death for our bodies. So throughout the last 2000 years,
we have simply been entering into the conquest and victory
of Christ over sin and death and the decay of our bodies,
even though we still have to go into the ground. So I want
to say this as you are thinking this through with me. This is
what I want you to envision. This is critical for you to understand
this way. You won't try to claim promises
that you don't get on this side. I am just a seed. I am just a
seed. I have all kinds of potential.
Remember we talked about the doctrine of the seed before?
And I love talking about it. The doctrine of the seed connotes
at least two things. Potential and power. The seed has in it the potential
and the power to become everything that it was predestined to be.
The seed has within it the potential. It has within it the power to
be everything it was predestined to be, but only according to
God's economy, it happens in the death process. Because God
is glorified in the death. Because the death, when done
according to God, anticipates the resurrection. This is why
everything in creation testifies to the glory of God in Christ,
because every day we have a resurrection. When you and I go home tonight
and we lay down on our beds, there is a form of death that
takes place when our bodies go into a state of incognito to
rise up tomorrow to newness of life. The vegetation goes through
the winter and the fall and the spring and the summer process
and it dies and it disappears. It goes into the earth and then
it rises up the next season again. Resurrections are taking place
every day, underscoring that God is the God of the living,
not the God of the dead. there is a resurrection to take
place but it's also telling you and I that in order for us to
be partakers of the resurrection we have to embrace death and
that's why I'm saying you have to envision yourself as a seed
that means you have to accept the fact that as a mystery the
only person that's going to know you are other seeds that are
just like you Are you hearing what I'm saying? You can't get
people to be excited about your fruit because you haven't died
and risen yet. Ain't nothing there to show.
You can give them a picture, but it's invalid. It's not a
credible testimony. But now, if you really want to
help people see what you really are, point them to Christ. Am
I making some sense? Because Christ is the prototype
of all God's elect. And this is what he is saying.
Watch it. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like
him see that that's the promise the promise for the believer
infallible promise we believe it what it is is likeness do
you guys see that you know what that is that's Genesis chapter
1 verse 26 and 27 let us make man in our image
and in our likeness let them have dominion over everything
birds of the efficiency creeping things on the ground. Let them
multiply, let them replenish the earth, let them subdue it,
let them have dominion. Isn't that what God said? And
then he blessed them, didn't he? And all that he had said,
this is the triune God in Genesis chapter 1, was pointing to Jesus.
All that God said was pointing to Jesus. Everything in those
two verses, inherent in those two verses, was the creation
of man, the fall of man, the redemption of man, the entrance
of Messiah in the incarnation, the suffering of Messiah on Calvary,
the resurrection of Messiah, the union of the body of Christ
in the person of Christ, and ultimately the final glory. Can
you see that now? Can you see the Genesis 1, 26
and 27 being fulfilled only in Jesus? So here when John says,
we shall be like him, Genesis 1 26 and 7 there's no way for
you and I to be like God apart from being in Christ does that
make some sense my brothers and sisters so for you and I this
proposition here requires us to do something that we're getting
ready to get into now let me frame it so you can understand
this next arduous task that is unique to the believer alone
this next arduous labor, this one practice, this one deed,
this one work that believers are called to, which is unique
to believers alone, must be done as a consequence of this promise.
Jesus is coming again, and when he comes, we will be made to
be just like him because, listen to the last line, here it is,
are you ready? We shall see. Do you see it? We shall see him. So in your outline I have verse
2, now we are. Though it's not evident, it's
not unveiled, it's still in apocalypse form, there's no revelation yet,
we have the spirit of adoption, God has legally bought us by
the death of Christ on Calvary Street, He has affirmed our purchase
by giving us the Holy Ghost. The spirit of adoption in us
cries out the Father. We have a sincere relationship
with God if we're true believers. Am I making some sense? When
I pray, I know my prayers are heard for Christ's sake and for
the Holy Ghost's sake. I know that I can talk to God
and talk to him as my pater, my papa, my father, because I've
been born again. We're getting ready to get into
that. Even though I haven't seen Jesus yet, even though I don't
look like him yet, and even though that there are multitudes of
promises that while there are yes and amen in Christ, they
haven't been fulfilled in me. Am I making some sense? I may
be still hanging out with all kinds of other orphans in the
world, but I've been bought. And I've got a father, and he's
gonna show up one day to claim me as his own. I know it because
I'm actually communing with him right now. Now, some people don't
believe that, and I really don't care, because he's already kind
of showed me the contract and the paperwork. It's called the
Word of God. I've got the testimony, and I
know what the down payment is. It was the sacrifice of his darling
son, and I know why God did it, so he can call me a son of God.
Isn't that crazy? Isn't that wild? So I have to
struggle through some things in this life while I don't get
to jump and shout and break out of this prison called an orphanage,
spiritually speaking. And here's what my father would
tell me and tell you and I to do while we are waiting for him
to kick the doors in and say, that's my child. Here's what
he wants us to do. He wants us to look to Christ. This is the one exclusive arduous
task that the believer is called to that no one else is called
to. This is the one laborious exercise that is the privilege
and prerogative of only the children of God. They only have the right
to do this for the rest of their lives. What is it? Look to Christ. Only those who are adopted in
the beloved, who have been given the down payment, who have been
given the seal of the spirit have the right to look. They
have a right to look at the door. They have a right to anticipate,
that's look, that's expect, that's see, that's desire, that's to
get on the tiptoe of faith, because they have been given a promise
that their father is going to show up and get them out of here. So they have a right to look.
Are you hearing what I'm saying? They have a right to, every day
while they're talking with people, kind of look. What are you doing? Well, I'm looking, you know,
I'm waiting. I got a promise. A promise of
what? You don't know? you better find
out in a hurry. And so the believer has the right
to function in a multitasking fashion, doing life on an everyday
level like everybody else does while simultaneously listening
for and looking until Jesus, who is the author and finisher
of their faith. That's what we do. We do that simultaneously.
So every now and then you drop everything and take a real good
look just to make sure, just to make sure you know how to
look. Because there are three looks in the scripture that constitutes
our salvation in total. And these are the aspects of
salvation that start with our actual conversion. When God saved us, he saved us
by a look. When the gospel was preached
in power and God opened our heart and mind to the glory of God
in Christ, the eye of faith in our soul opened up and we saw
Jesus. Am I making some sense? When
God called us by the gospel, he gave us ears to hear the voice
of the shepherd, but he opened the eye of faith in our soul
so that we saw Jesus conceptually through the preaching of the
gospel. Is that what happened to you? That's what happened
to me at 18 years old. It happened just like that. I
had a young lady had no business hanging out with me because I
was the worst thing in the B area besides Mario. And he was still
a baby at the time, so I was tearing it up worse than him,
but he'd come along a little while later. And there was this
naive young lady that for some reason she thought she could
influence me. And she started reading Bible
verses to me. And those Bible verses started
making impacts in a brother's soul. Are you hearing me? And I found one day my eyes opening
up And the first thing I saw was Jesus Christ. He became so
absolutely adoring to me that I found that I had to have him.
That's called salvation's look. that's called salvation's look
Isaiah chapter 45 I think verse 22 look unto me all ye ends of
the earth and be ye saved saith the Lord I am God and besides
me there's no Savior that's a look of salvation we call it the look
of justification it's the eye of faith in the soul that has
been qualified to look upon Jesus and see Jesus to be our substitute,
our surety, our representative, our savior, our all in all. That's a look that brought about
an actual salvation that happened at conversion. That's the thing
that had your soul saying yes to Christ. I ain't never seen
something so lovely as the second person of the blessed Godhead
in my life. guess what I still am looking
at him you know you have that picture that loved one it gets
old and tattered but you keep pulling it out you know what
I'm talking about well that's that's what believers do in 2nd
Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18 tells us that we are in process
doing it now go to 2nd Corinthians 3 18 I want you to see this is
critical to what I am going to confront us with in verse 3 but
Paul tells us that Something that john is telling us and we
see this in second corinthians chapter 3 and i'll start at verse
17 Now the lord is that spirit Now the lord is that spirit now
here we may rightly without any liberties or any license Say
that the lord here is the lord jesus christ. It is true. It's
the father. It's true. That is the spirit but the lord
jesus christ comes into the life of the believer powerfully personally
in a saving way only by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of Christ
by which Christ communicates himself to us in a saving way.
Can I help you with that just a little bit? There's an unsaved
person sitting and listening to the gospel and a saved person
sitting and listening to the gospel. The unsaved person will
sit and hear the gospel preached and in his intellect he may be
able to comprehend something said about it. The same person
is actually communing with the truth of that gospel preached
because Christ is inside of him, revealing himself to him on the
inside. That is the spirit of Christ
promised to God's people. And when the spirit of truth
is come, he will not only be with you, but he will be in you.
He is the Comforter, the Pericle, who will show you all things
whatsoever I've told you. He will take the things of mine
and show them to you. There is a revelation of Christ
to the believer that is distinctly different than the unbeliever.
The unbeliever gets to hear the voice of Christ in the words
of scripture, but the true believer gets to see the face of Christ
by the revelation of the Spirit in the preaching of God's word.
That is a tremendous difference. Am I making some sense to you?
It's the kind of revelation that makes a life-changing impact
on you. Here's what the scripture says,
verse 17. Now the spirit of the Lord, now
the Lord is that spirit and where the spirit of the Lord is, there
is what? gonna talk about that in a moment I'm gonna talk about
that I'm John has John has this subject at hand in other words
when the Spirit of God is resident there are incremental liberating
factors that take place because that's what he came to do he
came to set the captives free He came to liberate from ignorance.
He came to undo bondages and major bondage factors that he
liberates us from is ignorance and error, darkness and false
doctrines and false teachings. The more you and I sit under
biblical truth, the more we are liberated from ignorance and
error and false doctrine and false teaching and false notion
and false ideas about God. Christ is the internal liberator
of the soul. does that make some sense now
follow this here's what he said now we all we all this is all
believers with open face do you see that we all with open face
behold as in a glass here it is the glory of the Lord do you
see it literally translated would say now we all we all right now
at this present time we all are are beholding with an open face,
no veil, no hindrances, no barrier between us and the glass. The
glass here is a synonym for the Word of God. We are beholding
in this glass, this looking glass that James calls it, the glory
of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is Jesus
Christ. Christ is the glory of God, is He not? He is the revelation
of the invisible God, is he not? He is the expressed image of
his person, is he not? Christ is the revelation of the
invisible God. He is the glory of God. He is
the center and fullness of God's glory. He is the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. Those of us who are believers
through the scriptures and by the instrumentality of the spirit
of God, we see Jesus, do we not? we see him we see him coming
in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will
oh god we see jesus christ the Old Testament prophets. We see
Jesus Christ in the Old Testament types. We see him in the symbols. We see him in the lamb. We see
him in the sacrifice. We see him in the angels. We
see him in the seraphim. We see him in the prophets. We
see him in the kings. We see him in the servant, don't
we? We see Christ in the Old Testament
coming in the volume of the book. That's the privilege of the sons
of God as the Holy Ghost takes the things of God and make them
known unto us. We see Christ and we see him
as gloriously coming for us. Do we not? This is what John,
this is what Paul is saying. We behold as in a glass the glory
of the Lord. Now watch this. Here's the impact. And are changed. See it? The impact. Okay. Now, you may not believe that,
but that is really the objective of biblical teaching, Christ-exalting
teaching, Christ-centered teaching. How is my character going to
be influenced? How is my character going to
be influenced? How is my conduct going to be influenced? How is
my thinking going to be influenced? How am I going to make right
choices? How am I going to establish myself
on biblical priorities. I'll tell you exactly how I'm
going to do it as a child of God. I have to have a mentor.
I have to have a model. I have to have someone who is
a forerunner to show me how these things are done. You and I do. Just like we desire mentors in
life often to help us be able to occupy an office, they have
to go before us and show us how to do the job. In the economy
of the Godhead, for the believer who becomes born again, for us
to be transformed into the likeness of God, we have to see Jesus. He becomes for us also a reflection
of God's glory that has a dynamic impact on our life by and by
as we continue to remain under the teaching and preaching of
Christ and having the revelation of his glory made manifest to
us by and by. If we have a saving interest
If I have an eternally saving interest in the things of God,
God will grant me the grace to stay under the gospel so that
the gospel will have the kind of impact it's supposed to. The
gospel is supposed to change my mind. The gospel is supposed to change
my thoughts. It's supposed to take away stuff
and add stuff. The gospel is supposed to operate
in my life. It's supposed to actually transport,
it's really the potter taking the clay and forming it into
the image of his son. Am I making some sense? That's
what goes on in the long-term experience of being under sound
preaching. What that means is your life
over the long term is a life of transformation from the inside
out. It's no different. than what
goes on in our society as we are influenced by people that
are around us that we highly esteem. Whosoever you hang out
with, trust me, you're going to be just like them. Am I telling
the truth? The old colloquialism, association
leads to what? Assimilation. they knew that
is the rulers of the church knew that these men had been with
Jesus they knew that these men had been with Jesus so the association
factor is critical here the connection between Christ and the believer
in the preaching and teaching of Scripture is critical here
this is how he makes us his disciples I've said this before I'll say
this before I go to my next point to here our John's next point
is this I hear people often talk about discipleship, but I have
said this to you and I've said before, it's important for us
to be able to help people's faith. That is, we ought to model lives
that are such that it helps people's faith. We should not be stumbling
blocks to anyone. Remember, we learned about that.
If I'm walking in darkness and you are following me, I'm gonna
cause you to stumble. So I want to walk in the light
because if I walk in the light, I will cause no occasion for
stumbling for you. When you look at my life, you
won't find an excuse to sin. Am I making some sense? But notice
the implied connotation. And that's this. I have the kind
of influence on you that can possibly cause you to sin if
you are not careful. Did you get that? You better
accept it because it's just true. I know it's humbling, humbling,
humbling. But the word of God is so clear.
I am my brother's keeper. The word of God is so clear.
Don't put a stumbling block before your brother to cause him to
fall. The word of God is so clear that you and I can be manipulated.
We can be tempted. We can be coerced. We can be
subtly drawn into by the behavior of our brothers and sisters.
The word of God is clear with that. That's why Jesus said in
Matthew chapter 18, woe unto any of you that cause any one
of these little ones to stumble. It's better that you put a millstone
around your neck and jump into the midst of the sea than for
you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Am I making
some sense? Please hear me now. You may not think that I can
influence you, but I can. I can influence you because you
are still a sinner. I can influence you because you
are in need of the gifts that I have to help strengthen you
and buoy you up in time of trouble. I can influence you because I
have a gift from God that needs to be communicated to you by
which it assists you in knowing your God better and vice versa
and vice versa. Am I making some sense? Parents
influence children. Children influence peers. Supervisors
influence employees. Employees influence. Listen,
we all influence one another. In fact, if you want to just
cut the lights all the way on, just no darkness at all. The
vast majority of temptations and sin that goes on in the human
race are a consequence of inner communication between people.
The vast majority of sin. takes place between people talking
to each other and cajoling each other into this that are the
other thing. Am I making some sense? Read the Proverbs. Read
the Proverbs. And so for the believer, here's
what we are learning. The reason why I set that up
is because when Christ came into the world and he started ministry,
the first thing he did was gather 12 men with him and they ran
with him. Those were his partners. Those
were his boys. Those were his disciples. That's
how they learned. Christ didn't write one letter.
He didn't publish one book. He didn't provide one library.
He didn't put down on one piece of paper any literature. They
listened to him and they watched him for three and a half years. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And as I've told you before, when we were working through
systematic theology under the doctrine of bibliology, the New
Testament church didn't have such a plethora of Bibles around
that everyone had a Bible in their hand for almost a thousand
years. How then were believers affected by the teaching in the
church? They had to listen. Faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the word of God, and they had to observe
people's lifestyle. That's why Paul would say frequently,
hear what I say and watch what I do. Isn't that what he would
say? And Timothy is like my son in the faith because everywhere
he goes, he tells them what I say and he tells them all my ways
that be in Christ Jesus. So the life of Paul stood as
a profound impact on the church and it still does today. You
remember, I'm gonna quote it on Sunday. Brother Tyler dropped
a really nice message on us and the study was on living epistles. You and I are living epistles.
living epistles written and known on the hearts of all men letters
of commendation That's crazy God takes human beings that he
has redeemed by his grace and he makes them letters of commendation
to other people about God You are a letter of commendation
by God to other people about God God comes to other people
through you saying, I am commended to you by her. You and I commend
God to other people. God commends himself to other
people through you. Did you guys get that? See, no
more tables of stone with the law written on stone. It's living
epistles. See, the radical reality of it
all is That's how God has meant for it to work. This is what
it is meant for us to be the image bearers of God. You are
a letter of recommendation by God to somebody. That's crazy,
isn't it? You better get a hold of that.
Yes, you are a living epistle. I'm trying to drive home a point.
And here's the point I want to drive home. Just as profound
as that statement is that you and I are called upon to be Letters
of commendation about God to other people so that people can
come to trust God through you. I know it's wild. I know I know
I know just that. Yeah, like that's a lot of responsibility
and that's a lot of responsibility. Just hold on now. That's exactly
what God did with his own son. He sent Christ down here as a
letter of commendation. Christ became for the father
a letter of commendation by which we could trust the father. Am
I making some sense? When you've seen me, you've seen
the father. Isn't that what he said? When
you see me, you've seen the father. All that the father has, I have.
So Christ became for us the letter of commendation. And he was the
word that was made flesh and dwelled among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the father, full
of grace and truth. When we look to Christ, we see
God. When we look to Christ, we get God's commendation. And
that's what Jesus did with us. I'm actually talking about discipleship.
Now watch this. The purpose for which the third
person was given to us, are you ready? Was to make you and I
letters of commendation for Christ. Somebody raise your hand if you
didn't get that. The purpose for the dispatch of the third
person was to come alongside of you, take residence in you,
and make you a letter of commendation Christ. Got it? Got it? That's the reason why
the third person is here. Make you a letter of commendation.
See what I'm talking about is the impact of the look. The impact
of the look. Look at it again. But we all
with unveiled, open, unbarriered, unhindered faces are beholding
presently at this time in a glass the glory of the Lord and our,
what's the word? You can put by that the word
sanctification. Sanctification. Father, sanctify
them in thy truth, thy word is true. So the spirit of God takes
the truth of Christ and penetrates our life with that and starts
writing on us his own commendation of his son so that other people
might take his son serious as they see us being conformed to
his image. Am I making some sense? I just
want to make sure that comes home now. Please understand,
that's what the Holy Ghost is doing. Why would the third person
of the universe, of the infinite universe, take residence in your
heart if he wasn't planning on using you as some UPS male? What
is it, just to have fellowship with you? Like, you know, the
big thing is just hanging out with you? No. Ye are my witnesses,
right? Ye are my witnesses. Ye are my
witnesses. You get a chance to look to Christ
by virtue of the spirit. Transform your mind so that you
learn how to talk for God according to his word and impact people
through what you say about Christ because he makes such a compelling
story in your own life. No story like the story of the
son of God, no message like the message of the gospel, no testimony
like the testimony of the God man who loved us and gave himself
for us. That's what we do. We become gospel learns. Practically. We all with open faces are changed
into the same image. See it from glory to glory, even
as by the spirit of the Lord. That's the second phase. We call
it the sanctification phase the first phase Isaiah 45 22 John
chapter 6 verse 39 and 40. You have to go there. This is
the will of him that sent me that all that seeth the sun and
believe on him have everlasting life and I'll raise him up at
the last day. This is the will of God. The
will of God is for God's people to see him is elect to see him
to see him. That's that look of salvation
look of justification. Second Corinthians 3 is the look
of sanctification. We are looking unto Jesus. That's
Hebrews 12, two, right? Go with me to Hebrews chapter
nine. I'll show you one more. Hebrews nine. So what I am getting
at is the arduous task, the difficult task, the unique task, giving
exclusively to the believer, which is a non-negotiable task,
essential to our preparation for Christ's return. And here's
what we are told in Hebrews nine, verse 26 through 28. listen to
it for then must he have often suffered since the foundation
of the world that he is Christ but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to do what put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself that's called the atonement and it is appointed
unto men once to die but after this the judgment verse 28 so
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them
watch that watch this now that look for him see it I want you
to mark it now and unto them that look for him shall he what
see now the writer of the Hebrews is saying the same thing that
John is saying isn't he except the emphasis here is the assumption
are the indicative that those who are looking for Jesus will
see Jesus appear The second time, without sin, without regard to
sin, without the issue of sin, because that's already been dealt
with, unto salvation. The next time we, who are the
sons and daughters of God, see Jesus, he will be coming with
the package of our full salvation. the next time we see him now
we see him by faith in the gospel now we see him by faith in providence
now we see him by faith in our daily lives as he is our shepherd
now we see him by faith as we contemplate his glories as we
work through the doctrines of the gospel as we look at the
various offices of christ in our minds we comprehend him but
there's a day coming in which as we are looking for him he
will appear Got it? That's profound. There's a day
coming when while we are looking for him, he will appear unto
them that are looking for him. Got it? You see then what our
primary job is? Not exclusive, but primary is
to anticipate, to look for, to desire, to long for anxiously
waiting for you guys got that his appearing now go back with
me to our text so i can work with you on just one more part
before we open the floor for questions and close down go back
the first time so here's what john is getting ready to do he's
getting ready to make a clear distinction between the children
of god and the children of the devil and he's saying to the
children of god based upon all that I've told you about what
God has done in order to legitimately call you sons of God and based
upon the reality that you are already sons of God even though
it doesn't appear that way. Here's one more promise before
we get into the impact of these statements. One more promise
and that is as you and I continue to look for him he's going to
appear and when he appears we shall be just like him because
we shall see him as he is now see that really does need treating
but I'll leave that alone for a moment but here's the thing
that you might want to take away from this is that right now as
much as we want to we don't see Jesus as clearly as we are right
now as much as we want to we don't see our Savior as clearly
as we are That becomes part of the troublesome nature of this
life as we are navigating through the clouds headed towards glory
and we get into turbulence and we get all shaken up because
we don't see him. We look now presently through
a glass dimly and darkly and we get a silhouette and we get
certain little implications of his person comprehensively, but
we don't see him all clearly. And so we can't boast about details
that are not yet given to us. Here's what is being implied
by the statement. At the moment that we see him
clearly, we will be just like him. This will be a mutual revelation
that will be brought into the fullness of the impact of an
understanding of Jesus Christ. My understanding of Christ will
be perfect when he comes because I will be made compatible in
my person with what I see. That's supposed to happen simultaneously.
That's going to be a powerful day. My understanding of Christ
will be perfect when he comes because I'm going to be made
simultaneously at the same time perfectly compatible with his
glory so that when I see him, I can benefit fully from him
because I'll be just like him at the moment. There's a lot
of things that hinder me from seeing him. I really want to
see him but verse 3 is what we're gonna open up just for a moment
this is what I want us to open up with now notice what John
says and every man do you see that every man that's a generic
man it's not a gender form is denoting human beings every human
being every believer this is what it's talking about and every
believer are you ready who has this hope this hope what hope
pastor everything I've been talking about everything that I've been
talking about it's in your outline seeing him to the point where
we get that final look it's called hope you guys got that now watch
it this is what I want you to get you can tell people who have
gotten a proper understanding of the gospel and it has made
a legitimate impact in their life You can tell because they
walk in this world in hope. I want you to hear me now. The
believer is a person filled with hope. In fact, God has raised
us from the dead. This is the way Peter puts it
in first Peter chapter one. It has given us a living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What do
you mean, Pastor? Because we have been informed that Christ
is risen from the dead, I've got hope. Because I know that
his resurrection from the dead affirms and secures my resurrection
from the dead. But my resurrection from the
dead is in the future, which establishes my hope. Because
hope is that which is not seen. Hope is always that which is
in front of us, because if we have it, it wouldn't be hope.
Am I making some sense? So all that we've been talking
about in terms of a look that saves and a look that sanctifies
and a look that will ultimately glorify us is the hope of the
believer. The hope of the believer is centered
in this reality. It's not centered in God solving
your bill problems. God giving you a good job. God,
it ain't centered in none of that because we got brothers
and sisters all around the world. For them, situations are so horrific
that no recovery on an earthly scale will ever take place. but
that's not their hope and neither is it ours. Our hope is the same
hope of all the saints from the beginning of time till now and
that is the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the hope
of the resurrection by Jesus Christ. It is the hope that one
day you and I will be partakers of the resurrection. See, the
resurrection is the full manifestation of all the promises that are
yes and amen in him. Am I making some sense? Now watch
this now until you get it now. Now, if you understand the implications
of the resurrection, I said this earlier, then you're going to
be ready to embrace death. because you can't get resurrection
unless you're willing to die. Am I making some sense? You cannot
sincerely and earnestly say I am looking for the resurrection
when you are struggling through the death process, because the
death process is essential to the resurrection. Oh, Philippians
3 10, that I might know him. Oh, that I might know him and
the power of his resurrection be made conformable unto his
death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. Oh that I might continue to know
him in such a way that it grants me the grace to embrace this
death process understanding that this death process is nothing
but a graduation from this life into the reality of the resurrection
of which I must go through in order to inherit all things that
are mines in Christ. You see how first century saints
revolutionized the world when they were able to see that death
was a door handle into the glory of God? It was just a door handle.
into the glory of God, and how that today, because we don't
teach this concept, people are distracted by materialism and
worldliness and carnality and fleshliness and temporal things,
missing the fact that God's still bringing about the death process.
Listen, you and I are dying, and the scriptures say I die
daily. You and I are sinking into the grave as we speak. But
the believer who has been able to reconcile this disintegration
process with the concept of the resurrection sees himself, herself,
themselves drawing nearer to the reality of that which they
hope for. So that the early church used
to glory in death. The early church used to glory
in death. When the Spirit of God was so
pleased to fill the heart with the reality of eternal things,
Death did not grip the people of God in a paralysis type way
to where they shrunk back from the hope of the gospel. When
they contemplated what was on the other side of the veil, they
said, bring death on. What can man do unto me? Whom
shall I fear? The Lord is on my side. Death
is my friend. It's not my enemy anymore. It's
only going to usher me into the presence of the one who loved
me and gave himself for me. Is that powerful or not? See
what I'm getting? See how that puts stuff in perspective?
See, and I'll tell you what John is doing is setting us up like
he set his own church up with this principle of hope. Now it
says in every man that has this hope in him, see that little
word hope? The preposition in should be
the preposition upon. Every man that has this hope
upon him, This is what I want to say right here. We're going
to come back and work this through next week. The Lord willing when God
saves you and brings you into the promises of the gospel, he
places a hope upon you. It's a yoke on your shoulders.
It's a burden of promise. That's not a grievous burden.
It's not a grievous yoke. It's a good yoke. It's a yoke
that's upon you and it's a yoke designed to help you to continue
to remember why God saved you. It's the yoke of hope. Every man that has this hope
upon him, her, them, watch this, this hope in the return of Christ
and the glory that comes with Christ, it ushers you into a
process of what John calls purification. this hope ushers you into a process
that john calls purification i'm not going to talk about it
now but i'm just i'm going to help you understand just this point
godly hope that is placed upon the believer as part of the bestowment
of part of the benefit part of the the benefit package like
god bestowed upon us the right and privilege to be called sons
and daughters of god remember it's two sides of that hope We
are legally his, we have the spirit. One day we will be able
to say to the world, we are his. That's the hope. That's still
the hope. He placed that on us like the child that has been
legally bought by the rich man, but he's still in the orphanage.
Can't wait for that day. That's what we're talking about.
It's a hope that becomes for that child, in a sense, a burden. Am I making some sense? It's
a burden. It's a burden. that forces him
or her or them to behave a certain way until the reality of those
promises come about. It's a burden now because he
knows some things, she knows some things, they know some things
about what they have in Christ now that is going to regulate
how they live even in the orphanage. They're not going to act the
same way they used to in the orphanage because they know that
they have a father now. They also know that their father
is very rich. They also know that their father
is very powerful. They also know that their father
runs everything. This is a huge burden because
they are in the orphanage with everybody else. And humanly speaking,
they look like everybody else. In a lot of ways, they're just
as impotent as everybody else. And yet their father owns the
orphanage. Now this is a burden because
they know there's a designated day where their father is going
to come in and declare them to be his son. And so this burdens
them with the temperance and patience of life until that day
comes so that they don't dishonor their father in the process while
they are between faith and glory. which is hope. Faith has been
planted in them because they've been born of God and they've
got to live a life of hope for the glory of God because they
have not yet received that glory. You see what I'm getting at?
That hope that's laid upon them is a purifying hope. So next
week when we get into this, what we're going to be looking at
is what is it that motivates the believer to live for the
glory God what is it that motivates a man or woman who has received
the spirit of adoption who doth not yet appear to be what they
shall be although they have a daily comforter paraclete teacher by
which they have vivid pictures of what they are in Christ and
that's growing what that does to temper us move us in a direction
of obedience for his glory until he bust this thing wide open
because that's what he's gonna do one of these days he's gonna
bust this thing wide open am I making some sense so the verses
that we are going to deal with here subsequently in verses 3
and following are going to be the basis the premise hope and
based upon the promises of God are going to be the premise and
foundation upon which why we will see a distinction between
the children of God and the children of the devil. All right, does
anybody have any questions? Anybody, are you guys, y'all
tired? Y'all ready to stand up and go home? Okay, let's, are
we good, we good? All right, let's stand and pray. Let's stand
and pray. Father, we do thank you for your
promises, we do. And sometimes, like David says,
they're too high for us, cannot attain unto them, but they're
designed to cause us to stop in our tracks and stop acting
like beggarly peasants in a poverty-stricken way, as if somehow we have never
heard your overtures of love towards us in Jesus Christ. Come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you all kinds of rest in every area of your life, and I'll cause
you to take up my yoke and you'll find that it is both light and
easy and you will learn of me and you will come to find out
that the Lord Jesus Christ is meek and lowly and lovely and
wonderful and following him is the most wonderful thing any
of us can do even unto death. since he loved us and gave himself
for us. Grant us the grace, Father, to be able to experience that
hope that purifies our soul, that brings us into the path
of purification by which we might appear, even in this world of
orphans, to be the sons and daughters of God by faith. As we go our
way, give us traveling mercies. Prepare us to worship you on
Sunday.