My subject tonight is a purifying
hope. A purifying hope. Our text will
be 1 John chapter 3, verses 1 through 24. A purifying hope. 1 John chapter 3. In these 24 verses of Holy Scripture,
the Apostle John tells us what that hope is that causes men
and women who experience it to be pure before God, causes them,
chosen, redeemed sinners, to walk before God in purity. What hope will cause men and
women to walk before God in purity, purity? Listen to what John says. We'll begin reading at verse
1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be. But we know that when he shall
appear, We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Now, the purity here spoken of
is a derived purity, not a performed purity. It is a purity bestowed
upon us Not a purity accomplished by us. No one can purify himself
before God. That's not a possibility. Let
alone purify himself as Christ the Lord is pure before God. But John speaks here of a hope.
A hope by which men and women are made to purify themselves
before God. What's he talking about? Those
who are born of God, regenerated, sanctified by God the Holy Spirit,
called by His grace, every sinner in the world who knows the Lord
Jesus Christ, who sees Christ as his Savior, who believes on
the Son of God, sees himself pure before God as Christ himself
is pure. pure as he is pure, accepted
in the beloved. You see, faith perceives what
God bestows, faith experiences what God gives, and faith believes
what God reveals. We are completely justified,
completely sanctified, completely pure, completely accepted, completely
holy in Jesus Christ if we are in Christ. And believers rest
in Him, trust in Him for that purity. Christ is made of God
unto us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And the reason for that is that
he that gloryeth must glory in the Lord. No flesh is allowed
to glory in his presence. When we speak of our Lord Jesus
Christ in this regard then, understand Christ is our hope. Our only
hope. All our hope. Is he yours? What is your hope before God?
Do you have a hope? that causes you to stand before
God in your own heart and conscience, pure before God. Pure before
God. May God the Holy Spirit be our
teacher as we look at these 24 verses. And I want to call your
attention to five things clearly revealed here. And then we will
in the weeks ahead, the Lord willing, come back and look at
them in more detail. First, in verse one, John gives
us a cause for wonder, great, great wonder. Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not because it knew him not. John was a man. To whom wonders
were ordinary occurrences. John was a man to whom those
things that are astonishing to you and I were just ordinary. This man, John, his life as a
believer was surrounded incessantly with wonders. John walked with
the incarnate God and knew it. He knew that the man who is God
his Savior is the Word made flesh dwelling among us. He knew he
was walking with God in the flesh. Now just imagine that. Just imagine
that. This man John witnessed all the Lord's miracles. And
he walked with him on this earth while he performed those miracles
one after the other. John was with the Lord Jesus.
on the mouth to transfiguration. He saw he saw the Son of God
transfigured. He heard Moses and Elijah speaking
to him about the death he would accomplish at Jerusalem. John
was present in Gethsemane. And the Lord prayed. And when
he broke out in a sweat of blood, crying, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. John was present when the soldiers
came to arrest him and the Lord Jesus spoke a word of authority
to them by which they fell away as dead men and then they were
raised up again and he walked off to Pilate's judgment hall
with them. John was there when the Son of God was nailed to
the cursed tree. He heard his cries from the cross. John Had the Savior's mother
committed to his care as our Savior hung upon the tree John
saw the risen Christ Walked with him Dined with him by the seaside
John was with the risen Lord until he was taken back up to
glory. He was an eyewitness of the Lord's ascension and And
the revelation that was given in the book of Revelation, those
visions, those wondrous pictures of Christ and his glory were
given to this man, John. He saw it all. He experienced
firsthand all those wonders that you and I look at and just say,
I wonder what that was like. I wonder what that was like. John saw it all. But he comes
here to describe for us God's love for sinful men. And Bob, that seems to John's
eye to be the most astonishing thing in the world. Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should
be called the sons of God. It is no great wonder that God
should love. God is love. And for God to love
is what we would expect him to do. God is love. But that he
should love us. Sinful, fallen, depraved, corrupt
worms of the earth. Men and women who drink iniquity
like water. Men and women who love evil and
hate good. Men and women who by nature are
enmity against God. Men and women who would not have
anything to do with God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called the sons
of God. Abundant, free, everlasting,
eternal love. Love that never changes. Love
that never varies. Love that never dies. Love that
can never be quenched. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. Love that He has for us. Love
that He reveals to us and in us. Love that He bestows upon
us as a mighty free gift. Love is known by its deeds. God's
love is known by its deeds the cause of his great love for us.
He chose us as his own Made us his own in sovereign free election. The Savior said I've loved you
I've chosen you I've called you I've ordained you having loved
his own then he loved them to the end. He said Lord God chose
us And all the days of our lives preserved us and provided for
us and protected us under the time of our calling, called us
by his grace because he had redeemed us because of his great love
for us. He sent his son to die for us.
And that one who died for us preserved us and kept us and
called us in time called the time of love. And still he preserves
and keeps and blesses us. He he arranges all things for
our good. All those things he does because
of his love for us. So love is known by its deeds. But love is also known by its
consequences, known for what it causes in the one who experiences
it. That love that has an effect
upon you, that love that that changes you. That's love. That's love. You can be loved
by someone and not really have any effect in you by that love. But when you're so loved by someone
that their love for you overwhelms you and conquers you and causes
you to return love, now that's love. And we love him because
he first loved us. Here is the consequence of his
love revealed in his own. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Christ having loved us, forms
himself in us, and now as the world did not know him, it does
not know us. As it could not know him, it
cannot know us. So that the world, the world
looks upon God's people with a jaundiced eye. The world looks
upon God's elect as something to be suspected, something not
to be trusted, something not real. That's how the world looks
upon us, and you needn't to expect otherwise. That's how the world
looked upon the Savior. The world can never understand
why many women, saved by God's free grace, willingly devote
themselves to the Son of God. The world can never understand
it. It cannot be explained in such a way that the world will
understand it. The world doesn't understand anything about a life
committed to Christ. I read an article the other day,
just scanned it. I haven't had time to read it.
It's fairly detailed. A preacher reprimanding the religion
of our age, religion among folks who claim to believe grace. And
there was a time when people believing the gospel were expected
to devote their lives to Christ. That's not just expected. That's
what faith in Christ is. It is the devotion of your life
to him. It's losing your life to the
son of God. Now, yes, I'm I'm excited. I'm thankful.
I'm I'm delighted. I give thanks to God for many
women who God arrest them by His grace and man. What a translation of life is
performed. What a tremendous work is wrought
in them. And you stand back and you stand
in awe of it. And yet, that's what's expected. That's what's expected. When
God saves somebody, their lives are altered radically by grace. so that they devote themselves
to the Son of God. Doesn't mean they go to the missionary
field, but it might. It doesn't mean that they go
pastor church down in Podunk Collar somewhere, but they might.
They might. What it does mean is that Christ
is Lord, and they want it so. Christ's will is paramount, and
they want it so. The world can't understand that.
The world doesn't understand what motivates, what controls,
what inspires God's people to honor him, to seek his honor,
to seek to live for his glory. It's not a matter of rewards. It's not a matter of self-righteousness. It's not a matter of thinking
somehow that we make ourselves better than others or that we're
superior to others. No. It's just the opposite of
that. We recognize that it's a wonder He should love
me. And but a small thing, but a
small thing, if I could breathe every breath for Him. But a small
thing, if I could live entirely for Him. The world knoweth us
not because it knew Him not. The world doesn't know our hopes,
our aspirations, our desires, because the world can't grasp
what the love of God does in a sinner's heart. The world can't
understand the believer's unruffled peace amid the trials and troubles
of life. Truly, this is a cause for wonder. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Now look at verse 2. Here's a
cause for hope. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Before the
worlds were made, God chose us as his sons, accepted us in Christ
Jesus as his sons, and made us his sons. But now John speaks
of the experience of grace, and he says, Beloved, now are we
the sons of God. Christ bought us, God chose us,
but now we have the spirit of adoption. We've been born again.
Now we are made partakers of the divine nature and we have
Christ in us. Now are we, in the sweet experience
of grace, the sons of God. Let me call your attention to
four things here that should be matters of confident and constant
joy to us. We are right now God's son. This is not a prospect. This
is not a promise. This is not something that's
going to happen in the sweet by and by. We are right now the
sons and daughters of God Almighty. The God of heaven is my heavenly
father. We're the sons of God. What an
honor. What a privilege. What peace.
What provision. What a household. We're the sons
of God. Number two. Our heavenly inheritance
as the sons of God is altogether beyond the scope of our imagination. Don't you like to think about
it? Oh, I like to think about heaven. I like to think about
what will transpire immediately when I close these eyes for the
last time. When I breathe my last breath,
I think about it through the day a lot. I think about it when
I lay down at night. I think about it when I get up
in the morning. I love to think about the prospect, but it is
indescribably beyond our imagination. This is what the book says. I
have not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into
the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that
love him. Now, I think sometimes I've had
some pretty high ideas about what heaven is. I've had some
I've had some pretty noble thoughts about that, that that awaits
us. But what awaits us? No human
eyes ever see. No ear has ever heard. And no
heart has ever entertained. Imagine that. infinitely, indescribably
greater than we have ever imagined is the inheritance that awaits
us. And oh, we rejoice to know that one day soon we shall behold
our Savior face to face. When we enter into His glory,
And when we behold Him face to face, I don't know what awaits
us, but part of the glory of heaven is what I know is not
there. There'll be no sin, and no sorrow,
and no sickness, and no death, and no pain, and no weeping. For the former things will pass
away, and we will behold the Lord Jesus as He is. as he is, as God, as man, in
the fullness of his glory, in the fullness of his redemptive
majesty, in the fullness of his lordship, in the fullness of
his power, we'll behold him as he is. There again, the Spirit
of God seems to stretch for words to make us understand you haven't
begun to think how he is. Whatever your thoughts of Christ
are, He's infinitely beyond them. Whatever your thoughts of His
glory and His majesty, His wisdom, His power, His providence are,
He's infinitely beyond your imagination. And when we see Him as He is,
we shall be like Him. Maybe that's the best part. Would
be like him. Think like he thinks. Approve of what he approves of.
Delight in all that he delights in. Hate what he hates. Be like him. Entirely consecrated
to God. Entirely in communion with God. entirely conformed to the will
of God, like him, like him, like him, for we shall see him as
he is. And then we will have what he
has. Now, faith in Christ gives us
calls for hope, hope that maketh not ashamed. We have a good hope
through grace, and this is our hope. It has a purifying effect
upon us, causing us to set our hearts upon our Redeemer. To
set our hearts, not on things on the earth, but things in heaven,
where Christ sits on the right hand of God, to set our affection,
not on things on the earth, but on things above, upon heavenly
glory. Now third, look at verse five,
and you will see a cause for joy. Great, great joy in Christ. Again, reading verse four. Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the
transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested,
the Lord Jesus 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 commiteth 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 sin, because he is born of God. In this the children
of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother. For this is the message that
you've heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
not as Cain, Isn't that a strange statement? Not as Cain. Who would ever have dreamed that
Cain loved Abel? But here he's talking about love.
Would you love one another? Not as Cain. Not as Cain. Cain? But he hated his brother. Yeah, but he loved Cody. He loved his brother just like
you love Casey. He sure did. He loved his brother. He loved his brother. And then
this one who's of the wicked one slew his brother. He killed
him. He rose up in a rage and murdered
him. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil and his brothers were righteous. What
works? What works? Cain came to worship
God just like Abel did. Came at the same time Abel did.
Came to the same place Abel did. Came because their father told
him to worship God. He came to the house of God to
worship God at the appointed time. And he brought of the best
of his field, the best crops he raised, the best he had. He brought the very best he had
to God. Brother Scott Richardson was preaching Genesis 4 one time. He and I were together at a meeting
in a house sitting where Brother Renner is sitting right now.
And he looked at me and said, you know what kind of farmer Cain
was, Brother Don? I said, no, I don't have a clue,
Scott. And he looked at me with a little
scorn like Scott could. You don't know what kind of farmer
he was? I said, no, Brother Scott, I don't have any idea what kind
of farmer he was. He said he was a turnip farmer. You can't
get blood out of a turnip. And he was exactly right. Cain
brought what he produced from his hands. Abel brought a sacrifice
of God's appointing. And for that reason, Cain killed
his brother because God accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected
Cain's. That's all. That's all. Abel
performed a good work. He brought that one who is righteousness,
Christ the Lord, symbolized in a lamb. Cain brought what he
thought were his good works. Abel came trusting the merits
of a substitute. Cain came trusting his own goodness. And you know what I suspect?
Tell you what I suspect. You can take it for what it's
worth, and that won't be much, it's just my thoughts. I suspect
Brother P.J. Cain was a mighty fine fella. I suspect he was a mighty fine
fella. I suspect he was the kind of fella that every man would
want his daughter to marry. Cain was a mighty, he wasn't
a drunk, he wasn't a rogue, he wasn't a thief. King was a fine
man. He earned his bread by the sweat
of his brow, honest laboring man, and brought God the very
best he could bring him. And the best he could bring him
wasn't worth spit to God. And if there's anything on this
earth that would make a man mad, it's finding out that his righteousnesses
are just filthy rags before God. And when Abel brought his sacrifice,
and God accepted Abel's sacrifice, Cain said, I'll kill him. Just
like that. Just like that. His love for
his brother was the love of a man for a man and meant nothing. It meant nothing. So he said,
don't love one another like Cain loved his brother Abel. Christ
was manifested to take away our sins. And he did it. In him is no Our Lord Jesus, by the sacrifice
of himself, did everything that able sacrifice testified he would
do. He came and took away our sins. He took away our sins by the
sacrifice of himself. With his sin-atoning blood, he
washed away all our transgressions. Now, God says in this world,
are no longer ruled and governed and controlled by sin and law. No longer. Sin no longer has
dominion over us. We read in verse 6, Whoso abideth
in him sinneth not. Whoso 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. God's
people are men and women who in the tenor of their lives walk
uprightly, blamelessly in a crooked and perverse generation. I could
spend a long time talking about this. And it needs more talking
than I'm going to do. God's people, I didn't say they
should. I didn't say you ought to. God's people in the tenor
of their lives are upright men and women. They walk uprightly,
blamelessly before God. They seek his honor. Before men
seeking the honor of God. So that believers are people
you can trust. Believers are people you can
leave your children with them. You can commit your family to
them. You can trust them with stuff. Believers you can. I didn't
say religious people. Believers. Believers. Brother Don, don't you know we're
all sinners? I'll get that again in a minute.
And I think you know that. Everything you do is sin. Everything. But believers are men and women
of integrity and uprightness and walk on the earth in uprightness. You go back and read the Psalms
of David, read Job, those men who are vilely accused of that
which is false. And they spoke by inspiration
and spoke of their rightness, their righteousness, and their
uprightness. Not bragging. Not bragging. They
simply were saying, I'm not guilty of what you've accused me of.
I haven't done what you said I did. They walked uprightly. And the believer does. Read Titus
chapter 2 and learn, children of God, the importance of adorning
the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. You young people
and old alike, make it your business to seek in all things to adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior. Make it appear lovely and acceptable
by your behavior. And that's what Titus chapter
2 is all about. In our lives, in our conduct,
in our speech, we recommend the gospel we profess to believe.
Those whose lives are ruled by sin, by the lust of their flesh,
those who live in ungodliness are children of the devil. Look
at verse 8. 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. But understand this too, when
the believer sins, it's not him, not really him, but sin dwelling
in him. That's what Paul said in Romans
chapter 7 verse 20, isn't it? Look at our text here in 1 John
3. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. He's talking
about that new man created in Christ Jesus. He's talking about
that new man in you doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth
in him and he cannot sin. He cannot sin. That new man Christ
in you cannot sin because he's born of God. In this the children
of God are manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. You see, the believer is a man,
a woman with two diametrically, constantly opposing natures so
that you cannot do the things that you would. You love God's
law, delight in God's law after the inward man. You delight in
righteousness and true holiness after the inward man. If you
could. If you could. If you're God's,
Bobby, you'd live without sin. That's right, isn't it? But you
can't. Because there's another man living
in you called Adam. So there's this constant warfare
between the flesh and the spirit. But in the eyes of God's law,
we're not guilty. Christ put away our sins. He
freed us from sin. Our debts been paid. Our obligation
has been met. Justice has been satisfied. And
God will never charge us with sin. Oh, what a great cause for
joy. He was manifested to take away
our sins. And in Him is no sin. All right, fourth, look at verse
16. Here's a cause for love. The
only real cause for love there is, is the revelation of the
love of God in Christ, in the sacrifice of his son. The revelation
and knowledge of the love of God for sinners in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Beginning verse 13, marvel not
my brethren if the world hate you. We know that we pass from
death into life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life
abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of
God. This is how we know that God
is love, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good,
and see if his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed and in truth. As I said earlier, believers
love one another because we know and have experienced the love
of God in Christ. And now the love of Christ constrains
us, compels us to love one another as we know one another in Christ
Jesus. And as the Lord Jesus laid down
his life for us, so God's people laid down their lives one for
another. That means we live for each other. We live for each other. Our lives
are devoted to one another. Our lives devoted to the cause
of Christ and devoted to the people of our Redeemer. Now,
let me wrap this up. Here's the cause for confidence.
Look at verse 19. Hereby we know that we are of
the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our
heart condemn us, You ever been there? Brother Don, I'm there right
now. Me too, most of the time. Me too, most of the time. If
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth
all things. Well, that ought to, that ought
to set you on edge, scare you to death. It would if I didn't
understand this book. And if I didn't read the rest
of this chapter. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we
ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and
do those things that are pleasing in His sight. How? When? Where? this is his commandment
that we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ
and love one another as he gave us commandment and he that keepeth
his commandments dwelleth in him and he in him and hereby
we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given
us the spirit that compels us to look out of ourselves to our
Savior. The Spirit of God that compels
us to look out of ourselves to our Redeemer for all things.
If my heart condemns me, what blessed relief it is to my soul
when my very heart reproaches me to look out of self to Christ. You see, there is more in Christ
to uphold, more to bless, more to justify, more to sanctify,
than in all my sin to condemn. There's every reason, every reason,
every reason for God and His justice to send me to hell because
of my sin. But there's more reason for God
in His justice to take me to glory because of His Son. God's greater than our heart.
Therefore have we confidence toward God. We look out of ourselves
to Him. You see, it is not our strength
of faith that gives us confidence toward God. but the full finished
salvation of Christ that gives strength to our faith to walk
before him with confidence uprightly. Now, has God done this for you? Has he given you such hope before
God? Then love him with all your heart.
Be filled with unceasing gratitude. Hate the sin that's in you. Seek
his honors. Tell sinners far and wide what
the Savior's done for you. Give yourself unreservedly to
him who gave himself unreservedly for you. May God be pleased to
give you faith in the Lord Jesus now so that you can go home with
this same confidence toward God. A hope that is a purifying hope. This confidence that you have what you ask from God. What? Have what you ask from
God. Let me tell you what I ask from
God. I ask God for righteousness that
he will accept. For atonement that satisfies
his law. For forgiveness of sin that is
such that my conscience will never torment me. For peace with
God. for everlasting salvation, for
His glory, a purifying hope of His free
grace. And I'm going home tonight with
everything I want from God. I'm going home tonight with everything
I want from God. I have His soul. May God give you faith in His
Son. Amen.