First John, in the third chapter here, the
Apostle John tells us, and ye know that he was manifested to
take away our sins. And in him is no sin. In him is no sin. That's my subject this evening,
but let me tell you why I'm bringing you this message. First and foremost,
for the glory of God, for the glory of the triune God. I want you to know the glory
of God in the face of Christ, and I want us to worship our
God and Savior and give glory to him. I want to glorify him. That's the object of preaching.
I say this privately and I say this publicly. God, let me glorify
you now or stop my mouth forever. For the glory of God. Second,
I'm preaching this message for your benefit, for you, my brothers
and sisters in Christ. I want to so set forth the great
grace of God our Savior before you in this message and continually
to so set forth his matchless free grace that you are continually persuaded, enticed, drawn to
give yourselves to him. That your hearts may just erupt
in adoration and praise and commitment to the Savior. That you may,
like Jephthah of old, say, I've lifted my hand to the Lord, I
can't go back. I'm redeemed, and I'm not my
own. I'm bought with a price. Let
me glorify God in my body and my spirit, which are God's. And
for you who are here and are but a breath from hell, just a breath from hell, I pray
that God the Holy Spirit will take the gospel And cause the
gospel of his grace to be to you a word of life this very
hour. Oh, that God might give you faith
in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Now I want us to begin in first
John chapter one here at verse eight. With these things in mind,
I want us to do four things. I want us to see four things. First, let's take an honest look
at ourselves as we really are, as we're described here beginning
at verse 8 of 1st John 1. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Now, you know people who are
of such religious persuasion and such great piety and such
great, great high sanctification that they're convinced they have
no sin. We have folks who actually teach
what they call a doctrine of sinless perfection that men and
women saved by grace, if they give themselves to it enough
they can rise above sin and get victory over sin and over the
devil and never again sin and John says if we say we have no
sin man says I have no sin I have no sin we deceive ourselves the
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked
we deceive ourselves and Christ is not in us He's the truth,
isn't he? The truth is not in us. Don,
I know fine people who they don't agree with us on every point
of doctrine, but we wouldn't say that. No, we wouldn't, but
God did. Christ is not in them. Christ
is not in them. Verse 9, if we confess our sins,
if we confess our sins, Now that's not talking about going to a
man, a religious costume, the collar around his neck and getting
in a closet somewhere and telling him all the evil you did on Saturday
night. That's not what it's talking about. And it's not talking about
coming to a Baptist church and coming to an altar or coming
to a preacher or to a congregation and confessing your evil. People
want to talk about their sin. Preachers try to get folks to
come forward and confess their sin. And if you want to get straightened
up with the church, come and confess your sin. They talk about
having any unconfessed sin in your life. Let me tell you something. I don't need to hear about your
sin. I got enough problem handling
my own. I don't need to hear about it. This congregation doesn't
need to hear about it. And on top of that, it won't do you
any good to confess it to us. That's the easy thing to do.
That's easy. It's easy for me to talk to Darren
about my sin, because you're one too. We're cut out of the
same bolt of cloth. It's easy to talk to a man about
your sin, and there's something hideously evil about glorying
and doing so. That's not what it's talking
about. To confess your sin is to confess your sin to God. I call on you, sons and daughters
of God Almighty. I call on you, my brothers and
sisters in Christ, and I call on you who've never yet known
the grace of God. Make bare your heart before God
on purpose. Open your heart, just rip it
open, before the light of God. Confess your sin. Hide nothing. Make no attempt. You can't succeed.
All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom
we have to do. Make no attempt to hide anything. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just. Faithful to his word. Faithful to his son faithful
to his purpose faithful to his covenant and just Faithful and
just just because of the sacrifice of his son He won't forgive sin
any other way except just way he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins on a blessed word forgive forgive I would love to be able to forgive
like God does, wouldn't you? I hope I am a forgiving man.
I hope that it is easy for people to find forgiveness with me.
But I'll tell you a little something about Don's forgiveness. It's
always still there. I have a great memory for things
I want to forget and ought to forget, but it's always still
there. It's always still there. I hope
not to act by what's still there. I hope not to show what's still
there. I hope never to bring up what's
still there, but it's still there. God's faithful and just. to completely,
absolutely remove so that he remembers our sins no more. Rod, that's forgiveness. That's
forgiveness like no man can do. That's real forgiveness. He's
faithful and just to forgive our sins. If you, right now,
Confess your sin to him. God Almighty is faithful and
just right now to forgive your sin. And to cleanse us. To cleanse us. cleanse as he
did originally when first he came to us in grace by the washing
of the word, by the washing of the spirit and regeneration to
cleanse us, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What can
that mean? Does that mean now that since
we confessed our sin and God forgives us our sin and that
we are now without sin? No, I'm going to deal with that
plainly as I can. But we have no more guilt of
sin. The conscience is cleansed, cleansed
by the sacrifice of Christ, cleansed by the blood of Christ, cleansed
by perfect righteousness. Righteousness and atonement such
as God himself accepts. If we say that we have not sinned, We have not sinned. That's not
just talking about a fellow being so brazenly foolish and ignorant
as to say, well, I never have sinned. I never have sinned.
As a matter of fact, I have never met such a person. Have you?
I've never even read about such a person. Have you? Well, what
does this mean? The man says, I have not sinned.
Back in Proverbs chapter 7, The wise man warns us of a wicked
woman. A wicked woman who entices men
to her bed. And her going into her is the
way to hell by which many have been destroyed. And this is what
she says. She wipes her face and says,
I haven't sinned. I've done good. I've done something
now that God will accept. It's not talking about a woman
literally. Solomon's talking about all forms
of religion that teach that somehow you really can and really do
do something that's righteous before God. I have a saying. I read my Bible. That was good,
wasn't it? I prayed. That was good, wasn't it? Man,
I got up this morning and things going good. I've been walking
with God, I've been delighting in his presence, I've been rejoicing
in his goodness, I've been meditating on Christ. I haven't sinned.
If we say, having done anything, having done anything, we have
not sinned. We make God Almighty a liar and
his word is not in us. I'm going to tell you some things
about myself that will shock some. They'll shock some because folks still refuse to honestly
face and acknowledge what they are. For some of you here, what
I say will be such things as you can identify with and you'll
think I've been reading your mail and finding out private
things about you because that which I acknowledge and confess,
you must also acknowledge and confess. What do we see when we look on
ourselves as we really are? Open our hearts and ask God to
shine in our hearts What loathsome, hideous, monstrous things do
you see? In my heart, this heart of sinful
flesh, what I am by nature, I see every evil thing that any man
and all men combined have ever thought or done in the history
of this world. Brother Don, you can't mean that.
I can't say it like I mean it. I can't say it like I mean it.
Every horribly evil thing there is in this world is in me. Hold your hands here and turn
to Matthew 15. Matthew chapter 15. I'm not just Preaching and
trying to get your attention. I'm telling you the truth Matthew
15 verse 19 Our Lord Jesus says out of the
heart out of the heart proceed evil thoughts Well, I thought
it was the environment No out of the heart the silly, had these silly notions
about wickedness and evil. We think that somehow if we can
isolate ourselves from other evil people, we won't be so evil.
If we can somehow isolate our children from other wicked children,
our children won't be evil. Out of the heart, out of the
heart, you take a child and lock him away in a closet from birth.
And don't ever let him watch television. Don't ever let him
see any dirty magazines. Don't ever let the child hear
any bad language. Don't ever let the child go to
the movies. Don't ever let the child be influenced by any corrupt
thing outside that closet. There he is. And if you could
keep him there until he's 20 years old and then open the door
and turn him loose, you've got an absolute monster on your hands. An absolute monster because everything
evil outside that closet is in him. You understand what I'm
saying? Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts. Which ones? Any there are. Murders. What kind of murder? Any kind. Any kind. Murder of thousands. Murder of your own children.
Murder of a husband or wife, murders. Adulteries. Adulteries. Every vast kind of
adultery. Fornications. And the word fornications
is far worse than you might imagine. It is every form of perversity. Fornications. Thefts. False witness. Blasphemies. These are the things
that defile a man. But to eat with unwashing hands,
that defiles not a man. What you put in your mouth, what
you eat or drink, that doesn't corrupt you. What you take in
with your eyes, that doesn't corrupt you. What corrupts you
is what's inside you. Here in this depraved heart of
mine, I see depravity itself, total depravity. Folks like to
argue about it. I'm afraid we like to argue too
much. We like to prove ourselves and defend our doctrine. Let
the potsherds of the earth strive with the potsherds of the earth. I'm tired of it. I'm sick of
it. I'm just not going to engage in it. Total depravity is not
a doctrine to be proved. It's a doctrine to be experienced. And you can talk about it and
argue for it and defend it, but until you've experienced it,
you don't know anything about it. Total depravity is the everyday
experience of my heart. The everyday experience of my
heart, evil thoughts, murderous imaginations, vile, adulterous,
fornications, deceit, thefts, lies, blasphemies. These are
the things that come out of me all the time. Oh, you don't see
them. You don't hear them. I'm good
at covering up the outside like you are. I'm good at making myself
look good on the outside. I've been practicing a long time,
but I can't change what I am inside. Not for the love of God,
not for the love of Shelby, not for the love of this congregation,
not even for the love of God. I can't change what I am. I know
that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Before God saved me, I never
dreamed things would be like they are. I, I, even then, as
I was just a young man, 16 years old, even then, though, I, I
had somehow enough had stuck between my ears. Whenever I hear
somebody preach or hear the Sunday school teachers teach enough
stuff between my ears, I, I never dreamed of sinless perfection,
but Alan, I did think I'd get better. I did think I'd get better. And for a little while, I really
thought I'd gotten better. I really did. I quit cussing
and drinking and smoking. I quit getting in fights. I quit
staying out at night and just running the streets, running
the bars. I quit all that stuff. I mean, just quit it like that.
Had no trouble quitting it. And I started reading my Bible
regular, praying regular. And that's a good thing. All
those things are good things. I commend them. I recommend them to you.
It's best for you. But I thought I was getting better. I thought I was getting better.
I thought things were just, you know, I was getting more holy. I was getting more sanctified.
I was getting more righteous. I was growing up more holy than
I had been. And I went back to high school.
The first year I had ever had the experience of having a black
teacher, and it wasn't because he was black. He just happens
to have been black. He was cocky, arrogant, and he
was proud of the fact that he was now teaching at white school.
These were times of racial tension in North Carolina. And when he
found out that I had been around there and now was religious,
he liked to push buttons. And he pushed them, and he pushed
them, and he pushed them. And I was sitting right on the
front row one day in class, teaching English. I had no idea what went
on before or after. But he said the wrong thing or
the right thing, and I jumped out of my seat and drew back
to knock the fool out of him. I mean, I was ready to death
when I said, damn you! And when I did, Bobby, I thought, this is all
over. I just withered. I just withered. How can that
be? That's the way things were just
a couple months ago. That's the way things were just
a while back. How can this be? I was shocked
to wake up on that occasion and realize that by nature I am just
exactly like I was before. You see, when God saves a sinner,
he doesn't change his nature. He gives him a new nature. He
doesn't clean up the old man. He creates in him a new man created
in righteousness and in true holiness. He doesn't send the
old man to the hospital to be healed. He puts him dead and
gives a new man a new man. Christ Jesus, the Lord made partakers
of the divine nature. Now let me see if I can verify
this with you. I'm trying to be honest because
I want you to be, with yourself and with God. Before God saved
you, did you ever imagine? Lindsey Campbell's been, I guess,
I presume, been a believer since you were a fairly young man,
am I right? Did you ever presume you could
get this age and still have the struggles that you have? Did you ever imagine you could
walk in the grace of God for 40 or 50 years and still have
trouble with this evil heart of unbelief? I never dreamed
it. I never dreamed it was possible.
for a man born of God to love Christ so little and love this
world so much. I never dreamed it was possible
for one who was taught by the Spirit of God to have a heart so cold and indifferent
toward the things of God and so lively and spirited toward
almost anything else. Just never dreamed it. Never
dreamed it. I can't tell you how I wish I could get as excited and as
passionate so quickly and so consistently about redemption
and grace and salvation. and want to talk about it so
eagerly as we do about such foolishness as sports and politics. How can it be that those things
have so great a precedence in our minds, so great a preference
before us in our thoughts, and we push these things aside? I
never dreamed. There are men who like Paul,
Saul of Tarsus, they said, behold, he prayeth. That is, he worships
God. Joe, I've been trying to worship
God for 43 years. Pray every day. Read this book
every day. You men and women make sacrifices,
make it possible for me to do what you can't do. I spend my
life studying this book every day, every day. Good many hours
every day. And I still find it so horribly difficult
to pray. I hate the term, say your prayers.
Son, did you say your prayers tonight? I hate it. Oh, I hate
it. I hate it, but I'll tell you what I do most of the time.
I say my prayers. Just repeat words and seek to
have my own lust gratified. Things I want. I pray for my
children every day. Who doesn't? Who doesn't? How about praying for mine every
day? I want this to my family. Who
doesn't? How about seeking it from mine?
But we seek to have our lust fulfilled, that we may consume
that which God gives on our own lust. Pray. People often come to me and ask
how we should preach on prayer. When I find out more about it,
I'll preach more about it, I promise you. But I don't know much about
it. I don't know much about it. Except try to be honest before
God. Read this word, this book. Read it, I do. But I can read
this book and read this book. I can read chapter after chapter
and forget one word by the time I get to the next one. I can
read this book and my mind run in a thousand directions. The
surest way, the surest way. You want to take a nap on Sunday
afternoon? Just curl up in your bed with your Bible and start
to read. You want to stay awake? Read almost anything else. Almost
anything else. Why? Because flesh is still flesh. It never gets better. In myself,
Honestly, dwelleth no good thing. What about you? What do you see
in yourself? Several years ago, I was preaching
in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Some friends had asked if I'd
come up. I'd been listening to our tapes
for a good while. They arranged a place to meet,
and I said, I'd be happy to come. And some of the reformed folks
had heard my name before I got there. And there were about 20
of these legalistic preachers who came to services that night
all up around Grand Rapids area. And I happened to be preaching
that night out of 1 John chapter 3. And this matter of the two
natures of the believer and the believer's sanctification. And
it just didn't fit with the things they were teaching. And so they
wanted to meet and have lunch the next day, and we met and
had lunch. And we're sitting in this restaurant, crowded restaurant,
and I will try my best to ignore things going on, they're asking
questions, I try to answer them briefly, and just wouldn't let
it rest. And finally, I said to this fellow who seemed to
be chief spokesman for the Pharisees, I said, you said that you're
you've been saved for 10 years now and you seem to be the chief
spokesman here. Let me ask you a question. Are you now more holy than you
were 10 years ago? I wish you could you could have
seen his face. He looked like he had seen a ghost. And that
restaurant got quiet. I don't believe there's a piece
of lettuce crunched while he's sitting there. And it couldn't
have been more than a couple of seconds, but he paused a little
bit. And everybody in there wanted to hear his answer. And this
was his response. He said, well, honestly, I'd
have to say I am. And I said to him, honestly,
I have to say either you don't know God or I don't know God. One of us doesn't know God. One
of us doesn't know God. Old John Newton put it this way,
I am nothing. I have nothing. I can do nothing. And if I come to nothing, nothing
will be lost. That's a pretty good description
of you. It's nothing. It's nothing. Nothing but sin. That's a pretty
good description of me. All right. Now, look at first
John chapter three, verse five. Let's take a careful look at
our Lord Jesus Christ as he's revealed in the scripture. You know that he was manifested
to take away our sin and in him is no sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the incarnate God, is that man who never knew sin, who could
not commit sin, who did not commit sin, who's holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners. He is a man, altogether a man,
else he could not suffer and die in the place of men to redeem
men. But this man knew no sin. He's a holy, innocent, righteous
man. It must be perfect to be accepted.
If he knew sin, if he ever did anything evil, if he ever had
a vile thought in his heart, he could not make atonement for
my sins. He'd have to make atonement for
his own. He knew no sin. This man must be a man, a man
without sin, but also a man who is himself God Almighty. God incarnate is Christ our Redeemer. If He's not God, His sacrifice
cannot redeem. For He cannot be a sacrifice
of infinite worth, of infinite merit. He cannot put away the
sins of another. He must be then the God-man,
the God-man without sin. But then, this man who knew no
sin, in whom is no sin, by a wondrous, mysterious, unexplainable, infinitely
gracious transfer of sin and guilt from his people to him
was made sin. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ? How that though he was rich,
rich in all the glory of his everlasting divinity, rich in
all the praises of heaven, rich even in all the perfection of
his humanity. Yet, for your sakes, he became
poor, so poor that he became poverty itself and he was made
sin. And that's the utter humiliation
of his sufferings. being made sin, then he was made
a curse for us, made the object of God's wrath and the object
of God's justice. And when he was made a curse
for us, made sin for us, justice dealt with him exactly as justice
must deal with him and gave him exactly what justice demanded
of him. Justice punished him. Jesus Christ
died upon the curse tree because by this marvelous transfer, Rex,
He was made to righteously deserve what you deserve. You made sin. And now He, with
His own blood, has put away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. The Lord Jesus is the sacrifice,
the Paschal Lamb. He is the priest who offers the
sacrifice. He is God who transfers sin from
the sinner to himself, and he's the scapegoat, and he's the fit
man. You remember the picture? On
the Day of Atonement, Aaron would sacrifice the Lord's goat and
then he would find a fit man in the company of Israel and
he'd lay his hands on the scapegoat and confess over the scapegoat
the sins of Israel as well. And that fit man goes out into
the wilderness with that scapegoat until he's gone out of sight.
And then he comes back again. The goat's not with him. The
goat's not with him. He's gone. And that's what God,
my Savior, did with our sins. They're gone. 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.
When Christ was made sin for us, He became totally responsible
for our sins. And he satisfied for our sins. In the Old Testament, when the
sacrifice was made, they brought the sacrifice out and laid it
on the altar. And the altar, that continually
burning fire on the altar, consumed the sacrifice. The fire representing
God's holy, pure, righteous justice. Here's the sacrifice upon the
altar of God. When he was consumed by the fire
of God's wrath, he consumed the fire and now justice is satisfied. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them, which are in Christ Jesus. Look back at our text. First John three, five, he was
manifested to take away our sins. Either he did it or he didn't. When Christ died under the terrible
wrath of God, he took away our sins. And now we're forgiven. Now, once in the end of the world,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And thank God he did what he
came to do. And now, are you listening? That glorious mediator, seated
yonder in heaven, making intercession for us, has no sin. He's freed from sin. The sin
that was made his, Merle, is gone. It's gone. He took it away. All right, look
at this again. First John chapter 3, verse 5. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in him is no sin. Let's look at ourselves then
in the Savior. When John says, in him is no sin, he's not talking
just about Christ as the individual man he was. He's talking about
Christ as the representative man, as our mediator, our covenant
surety, our advocate, that one who is our hope before God. And
he's telling us he was manifested to take away our sins. And now
in Him, in Him is no sin. We have no sin in Him. He put it away so that justice
cannot find sin in the believer. God in justice cannot charge
sin to the believer. As far as the law and justice
of God's concerned, that sin which we honestly confess before
Him, that sin with which we continually struggle, that sin that constantly
forces us to look away from self and look to Him alone, as far
as God's concerned, that sin doesn't exist. It's gone. Does
that mean God doesn't see our sins? He's not aware of our sins?
Well, I thought foolishness. That would be a denial of his
omniscience. No, God's aware of our sin. He's not aware of
it as an offense to be punished, though. He's aware of it as a
sickness, a disease to be healed. He's aware of it as a weakness
to be helped. Does that mean the evil that
we do, God's not aware of those things?
God's not displeased with them? Oh, no. Oh, no. When David committed
adultery and murder, God didn't speak to David, Bob,
for a year. It wouldn't let David speak to
him. It wouldn't do it. Wouldn't do
it. Because the thing David did displeased the Lord. And when
the Lord came and spoke to David, he came in that parable he gave
to Nathan, and David said, the man did this, gonna die. And
Nathan said, you're the man. And David said, I've sinned.
God's next word to him. Do you remember what it was?
His next word. The Lord hath. Not he's going to, not he will
if the Lord hath put away thy sin. The sword's not going to
depart from your house because I'm going to show I'm displeased
with what you've done. But God put away his sin even
before it was committed by the sacrifice of the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And when Solomon was born David
and Bathsheba named that boy Solomon and the Lord said, name
him Jedediah. Beloved of the Lord. The Lord
said, I want him to be a constant reminder to you, nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. You're still
mine, I'm still yours. Nothing's changed. In him is no sin. That deceitful, horrible, self-serving
prophet, Balaam, said, the Lord hath not beheld iniquity in Israel,
neither hath he seen perverseness in Judah. Oh, what a blessed word from
him. Now turn to 1 Peter chapter 4. Let me see if I can make good
on what I'm telling you. For inasmuch then, as Christ
hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind. What mind is that? Christ hath
suffered for us in the flesh. For he that hath suffered in
the flesh hath ceased from sin. Sin's got no more claim on him.
Sin can't touch him. He can't be punished for sin
again. He put it away. He suffered to the full satisfaction
of justice. But read on. Notice the sentence
doesn't stop there. It continues. That he no longer
should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men. When did he ever? When did he
ever? He knew no sin. He did no sin.
Well, this must be talking about somebody else. It is. But verse
one talk about Christ who suffered in the flesh. It is. He says
we suffered in the flesh when he suffered in the flesh. Arm
yourselves now with this. Having suffered in the flesh
once, Rod, never again. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Never again. Having suffered
in the flesh once, ceased from sin. No longer to live the rest
of our days in the lust of our flesh, but to the will of God. He was manifested to take away
our sins, and in him is no sin. All right, look at verse six.
Here's the fourth thing. Let's look at ourselves as we
really are. As we really are. Somebody hears
this sermon and they'll be saying, well, that's the way God sees
things. I'll repeat what I've said to
you a hundred times in the last six months. The way God sees
things is the way they really are. However God sees you, that's
the way it really is. That's the way it really is.
Well, I don't see it that way. That doesn't matter. How God
sees it, that's the way it really is. How are we in Christ? Christ was really made sin for
us. He really suffered the wrath
of God for us until wrath was gone forever. He really did put
away our sins. And all who are in Him, in the
sweet experience of his grace really are without sin. For that new man created in us
is created in righteousness and in true holiness. That new man
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Look at this. You know
he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him This
is talking about the believer. This is talking about you who
are in him. In him in the sweet experience of grace. Whosoever
bideth in him, what's that? Sinneth not. But Brother Don,
you've been talking about our sin. And the struggle, this constant
struggle with sin. Yes, but I want to tell you something
that's so hard for folks to get hold of. That's not me. That's not me. That's not me. That's flesh. That's flesh. That's, that's the, that's the
man who was born to Mary Claude Fortner in Bladen County, North
Carolina, 1950. That's not me. How can you say that? Paul said,
uh, if I delight in the law after the inward man, and then I do
that, which I would not, it's no more I that do it. Is that
what he said? but sin that dwelleth in me.
He said, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in
the flesh. I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. You see, we're in Christ and
Christ is in us. Well, you can't have it both
ways. Yes, I can. I sure can. Is this head in this
body? Well, yeah. Is this body in this
head? Well, yeah. If you cut the head
off, you're going to kill both. Yeah. Christ is the head of his
body, of which we are members. And Christ in you, the hope of
glory. That new man created in the new
birth put in you by God's almighty grace is the same man who makes
intercession for you in heaven's glory. We've had a being with
him since the beginning when he stood forth as our surety
and he was accepted as our God man representative. And we've
had a living being in him. from the day he came into us,
giving us life and faith in him. And now we're without sin. And that new man, what did he
say? 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. Now you read
these verses, sinneth not, doeth righteousness. And about every commentary you
read, about every one of them, will say what that means is a
man who's saved doesn't really habitually practice sin. You
know, that sounds good, Mark. That sounds really good. Let
me ask you. Is there a man or woman in this
building who does not continually, habitually practice seeing? Anybody? Anybody? I'm anxious for the day when
it shall be over and God Almighty shall at last deliver me from
the very slime of Satan upon my soul, and the stain of sin
in my being. But sin is the habitual practice
of every breath of my life. That's my nature. But that which
is born of God does not sin. That's not me, Burl. That's the
old fella. That's not Christ. Read on, let's
see if I can make good on it. He that committed sins 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, what does it say? Doth not commit
sin. That which is born of God can't
sin. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot see it. It's impossible. He born of God. That's that holy thing created
in you by God, the Holy Spirit. That's that new man created in
righteousness and in true holiness by which we are sanctified. That's
that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. It is
that which cannot be defiled. Oh, here's the wonder of God's
grace. He not only has put away our
sins by the sacrifice of himself, but our Lord Jesus by his spirit
has created in us a new man. But still something else has
got to take place. Folks who think they're theologians
like to divide up God's work, you know, we got to I haven't
been down. I don't remember Susan's greenhouse,
but I suspect hers is like most people's. These plants over here
and these plants over here and these plants there, none of them
mixed up. That's the way we like to plant things. And we would
like to get God that way, but he doesn't do it that way. So
folks divide up justification and sanctification and regeneration
and all those things, put them in different categories and try
to study them separately and never mix those things up. God's
salvation is what? And one aspect is as important
and necessary as the other. Redemption is no more necessary
than regeneration and regeneration, no more necessary than resurrection.
Because you see, though God dealt with our iniquity and transgression
and sin at Calvary and put it away by the sacrifice of his
son. Still, we must have a new nature.
We must have a new nature. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. God have a new nature. So he
comes and puts a new nature in us in regeneration. But still
I've got this flesh and blood. And flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. This flesh going to the grave,
going to rot and decay in the dirt of the earth where it belongs. But in this body, Shall I see
God? How can that be? This corruptible
must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. This fleshy must put on spirit. This terrestrial must be made
celestial. A new body made spiritual. Well, you can't have a spiritual
body. Read 1 Corinthians 15. Read 1
Corinthians 15, must be made spiritual and in the resurrection
the Lord Jesus will present us in these bodies with no spot
of sin and no wrinkle of infirmity and no hint of the fall, a glorious
body like him. Amen.