Come back to 1 John 3. Let me read that verse of Scripture
again. 1 John 3, verse 24, 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. Now, if you and
I are people who keep his commandments, there is a reason why. It's because
we dwell in him and he dwells in us. Now that is mysterious,
but it's what this passage of scripture says. If we keep his
commandments, it's because we dwell, we live, we are in him,
and he is in us. Now that's the very heart and
soul of the gospel. And I pray the Lord will be our
teacher. I've entitled this message, You in Christ. and Christ in
you. You in Christ, and Christ in
you. Now notice John says in verse
24, and he that keepeth his commandments. Not he admires them, not he knows
what they are, not he tries to keep them. but those who keep his commandments. Somebody says, well, I try to
keep the law. Well, all that means is you broke
it. That's all it means. Well, I've tried to not put any
God before God, but you did. Well, I've tried to not commit
adultery, but you did. I've tried to not take his name
in vain, but you have. I've tried to keep the Sabbath.
You haven't. I've tried to honor my father
and mother. You haven't. I've tried to not kill anybody. Maybe I've done that one. Well,
no, you haven't. No, you haven't. You might not
have killed physically, but you've killed somebody in the heart.
You've hated somebody unjustly. You've been jealous of somebody.
In God's sight, that's murder. Well, I've tried to not commit
any kind of sexual sin, but you have. Well, I've tried to not
lie, but you're a liar. Well, I've tried to not steal,
but you have. I've tried to not covet, but
you've coveted. To say I've tried to keep the
law is merely an admission that you've broke it. You and I, listen
to me, This is true. You and I have not kept one commandment
one time. I wonder how many of us really
believe that. You've not kept one commandment one time. If you have, or if you think
you have, you demonstrate that you don't really have any understanding
of the law in the first place. You're bringing it down to human
terms. You don't see the exceeding broadness and extent of the law.
But let me say two things with regarding to keep in his commandments. If he's talking about the law,
nobody's kept them. And to make any kind of claim
to do so is deceitful. But secondly, if you're a believer,
you kept them. You kept the law. You've obeyed
every commandment perfectly because if he did, you did. He is our
righteousness before God. But what John is talking about
is not talking about personally obeying the law of God. He's talking about keeping the
commandments that are mentioned in verse 23. Look in verse 23,
and this is his commandment. If you want to know what his
commandment to a believer is, this is his commandment. This
is not good advice. This is not an offer. This is
not an invitation. This is a commandment. It's His
commandment. 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. Let me say before I go on with
regard to this thing of believing on the name of the Son, Jesus
Christ. This has absolutely, listen real carefully, this has
absolutely nothing to do with what you think about yourself. Believing this commandment has
nothing to do with what you think about yourself. Matt and Ross and I had lunch
together yesterday, and somebody brought up the fact that soul
winners like to use this kind of tool. Do you know for sure
that if you died tonight or right now, you'd go to heaven? Do you
know for sure? Do you know beyond a shadow of
a doubt that if you die right this moment, you would go to
heaven? And you know, if you ever hear
somebody ask you that question, you know how you ought to respond?
Are you sure? Do you ever doubt? Do you ever doubt? If anybody's
honest, they would say yes. But there's some that would say,
no, I never have a doubt. And I like what Spurgeon said
to someone who said, I've never doubted. He said, I never had
any doubts about you. I've always known you're a confounded hypocrite.
That's what he said to that person. And I think that that's the proper
response. Believing on his name has nothing
to do with believing you are saved. And let me show you that
from the scripture. You remember when the Lord said
to Peter, Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. He prayed that Peter's faith
would not fail. Peter's faith did not fail. Peter
failed. And I guarantee you, I can't
guarantee you, but I feel pretty sure, that after this Peter didn't
think he was a believer. Because remember when the Lord
said, or the angels were sent to the disciples to let them
know about the Lord's resurrection? He said, you go tell my disciples
and Peter. Make sure you tell Peter I'm
going before him. Because I have no doubt that
Peter felt he was no longer a disciple. He remembered the words of the
Lord, who so confesses me before men, him will I confess before
the Father, which is in heaven, and anybody that denies me before
men, him will I deny by my Father, which is in heaven. And Peter
thought, I denied him before men, it's over for me. I'm not
saved. But understand this, Peter did
not deny Christ. He denied, he knew him. He was
scared. You say, what's the difference?
Peter never quit believing that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. He might not have believed he
was saved, but he believed Christ was the Savior. He believed Christ
was the Creator. He believed Christ was the Son
of God, the second person of the Trinity. He never quit believing
who Christ is. He had a lot of misgivings about
himself. but not Christ. So understand this. His faith
didn't fail. Faith is what you believe concerning
Him. Not what you believe about yourself.
Somebody says, I know I'm a Christian. Well, let's just forget anything
about whether or not you're a Christian. Here's what I want to know. Do
you believe on the name of the Son of God? Do you believe that
it is only His name that will bring you to heaven? There is
no other reason but for His name's sake. You'll be brought into
heaven. You'll be forgiven. You'll be saved, not because
you were sorry, not because you asked God, not because you did
anything. You will be saved wholly for
Christ's sake and Christ's sake alone. And you believe in His
name. You believe it's only because of His name that you will gain
entrance. I believe in his name when I
believe his name is the only reason heaven will be opened
to me. Now, why should God let you in
heaven? If you say, because I fill in
the blank, you've missed it. You've missed it. Now be honest, if that was your
thought, well, I hadn't made a decision. I believed, I had
an experience. Forget it. You've missed the
gospel. The only reason anybody will
be in heaven is because Christ died for them. No other reason. Ephesians 4, 32, be kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God What's next? For Christ's sake. Not because
you asked, not because you were sorry, not because you promised
you'd do better, not because you decided you quit doing this
and turn over a new leaf. He did it for Christ's sake. Now you only look to Christ when
you look to Him only. You only look to Christ when
you look to Him only. You never did pass that, and
if you do, you never were there in the first place. You've never
kept this commandment at all. You only look to Christ when
you look to him only. And you love one another as he
gave us commandment. Now we ought to love all men,
shouldn't we? Of course we should. We ought
to love our neighbors ourselves. Of course we should. But what
he's talking about in the context of this passage of scripture
is love to the brethren. Look in verse 14 of this same
chapter, we know that we pass from death to life because we
love the brethren. Now the brethren, we don't love
the brethren because they're lovable. A lot of them are. Some of them aren't. A lot of
them are. Some of them aren't very lovable.
But I'm not commanded to love them because they're lovable,
but because they're the brethren. Christ loves them. They love
Christ. They're His brethren. Both He
that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one
for the which cause. He's not ashamed to call them
brethren. Now this is His commandment.
This is the commandment that I must keep. I must believe on
the name of his son and love one another as he gave us commandment. Now, the person who keeps this
commandment, not everybody does. The unbeliever certainly does
not. But everybody that does, does so for this singular reason. Verse 24, again, he that keepeth
his commandments dwelleth. He lives, he finds his being. This is where he always is, in
Christ. He dwells in Christ. And the
reason he dwells in Christ is because Christ dwells, lives
in him. Didn't we just sing that song,
Christ liveth in me, is it? Maybe we didn't. Okay, Christ liveth,
but that's it. Christ liveth in me. The reason I dwell in Christ,
the reason I won't leave Christ, is because Christ lives in me. Now first, let's consider this
concept, and this is so important. It's throughout the scriptures. A thousand times probably in
the New Testament. This concept of in Christ. In Christ. That person who keeps
the commandments of God. That person who loves the brethren
is that person who lives, dwells, remains in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what is this thing of being
in Christ? In Christ is a place. This place is a person. In Christ
is a place when you're talking about in, you're talking about
a place where you're at. And this place is a person. It's an infinitely large place.
Lord Jesus Christ is real big. It's an infinitely large place,
but it is a place. It's the place of union. Now, I don't I wish I could explain
union the way it ought to be explained, but God's people,
every believer, has always been eternally united to the Lord
Jesus Christ. So the two are one. And we're
going to look at the examples the scripture gives of that in
just a moment. But whatever's in God's mind has always been
in God's mind. There's never been a time when
it's not been in God's mind. And if I've been in the Lord
Jesus Christ, there's never been a time when I was not in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Understand that? No. Believe
it with all my heart. According as He hath chosen us. There's divine election. God's
choice of His people before time began. According as He hath chosen
us in Him. before the foundation of the
world. Redemption and the forgiveness
of sins is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, redeemed, redeemed. Christ redeemed me. He paid for
my sins, and because my sins are paid for, I have forgiveness.
That's why. In whom? There's that phrase,
in Christ. In whom? We have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Acceptance is in Christ. Ephesians 1.6 says, He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. God accepts me. God's plumb pleased
with me in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. However pleased
He is with Christ is how pleased He is with me because I'm in
Christ. Now, righteousness, surely shall
one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. So we see the importance
of this concept of being in Christ, dwelling in him. Now, the Bible
gives us some scriptures that help us to understand this, but
this thing of dwelling in Christ, that same word is translated
abiding, remaining, standing, tearing, you only tear in a place
you like being, continuing, enduring. And we have these really simple
Old Testament illustrations. And the first illustration I
think of is the ark. If you are in the ark. You are
safe. You were saved. If you were outside
of the ark, you were drowned and sent to hell. Where's the
one place of safety? in the ark, and that ark is Christ. That's all it's given to represent.
That ark is Christ. They have that ark, big wooden
structure, 40 or 50 miles north of here, and they have no idea
what it represents. It represents the gospel. What
about the Passover? There's one place of safety.
God was going to come through the land and destroy all the
firstborn. There's one place of safety in
the house with the blood over the door. God said, when I see
the blood, that's the one thing he was looking for. He didn't
say when I see your faith or your experience or your diligence
or your efforts. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. The only place of safety was
in The house with the blood over the door. And then there's the
cities of refuge. If you killed somebody accidentally
and got into one of those six cities of refuge, the avenger
of blood couldn't touch you. By law, you were protected. Now,
if you went outside of the city, he could kill you. That's why
you stayed in the city. You didn't go outside the city
because there was no safety there. David said in Psalm 27, four,
one thing have I desired of the Lord. that will I seek after
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life." To behold his beauty and to inquire in his temple. Now
he's not talking about dwelling in a physical house. Moses said, You've been our dwelling place
in all generations in Psalm 91. David said in Psalm 23, I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Christ is the house
of the Lord. This is what this is talking
about in Christ. Now, and there is a specific
reason you abide in him. You're like Paul, Philippians
chapter three, verses eight and nine. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ. The righteousness of God, which is by faith. You
simply want to be found in Him, and there's a specific reason
you do dwell in Him, and you don't want to be outside. Now
remember, if you're in Christ, that means that's what you want.
You want it to where all God sees is Christ. Nothing else. You know, a lot of folks, they
think, well, if Christ came back, I'd love to be preaching. I would
do, to be honest with you. That's foolish, but I would do.
I'd like to be preaching a sermon when Christ came back. A good
one. A good one. I'd like to be reading the Bible
when he comes back. I'd like to be witnessing to
somebody, or praying, or at least not in the actual commission
of some sin. Paul says that's foolishness. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one place I want to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in Christ. Now, if that's you, And I know
that describes some people here. There's some people here who
want to be found only in Christ. Nowhere else. They don't want
to be viewed independently of Him in any way. If that's true
of you, it's because He dwells in you. That's why. He actually lives in you. Now here's another mysterious
thing. Christ in you. the hope of glory. When I'm pleased, God has separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave Himself for me. Now, I understand, not well enough, but I understand
that if I believe it's Christ in me, He's causing me to. I wouldn't do it if He wasn't
in me. I understand that. I understand that if I'm in a
state of repentance, it's Christ in me. He's not the one doing
repentance. He doesn't have anything to repent
of, but He causes me to. Christ dwells in your hearts
by faith. Christ in you. And here's why
someone keeps the commandments. They are in Christ and Christ
is in them. Now let's see what we can see
about this in the Bible. Turn with me to John chapter
six. John chapter six. Now, what is absolutely necessary
to sustain life? Everybody in here can answer
that question. Food and water. Well, you need a house. Well,
it'd be nice, but there's some climates where you wouldn't have
to have a house or you wouldn't have to even have clothing. But one thing you always have
to have is food and water. If you don't have something to
eat and something to drink, you will not live. Food and water
is absolutely necessary to life. Now look in verse 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me and I in him. Now what's he talking about?
Let me assure you he's not talking about cannibalism. And he's not
talking about some kind of mysterious wafer turning into bread and
the wine turning into blood and somehow it actually becomes the
body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's ridiculous. That's
not what it means. He's not talking about literally
munching on the flesh of Christ and drinking his literal blood.
What is he talking about? Well, we need to go back into
this chapter to see. Turn to verse 26. Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were
filled. You aren't seeking me because of a conviction of my
person, you're seeking me because you've got your bellies filled.
Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for the meat which
endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give
unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they
unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God,
that you believe on him. whom he has sent. Now, you want
to know what the work of God is? There it is. Well, they didn't hear what he
said. They said, therefore, in him, what signs showest thou
then that we may see and believe? What does thou work? Our fathers
did eat manna in the desert. As it's written, he gave them
bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven, but my father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth
life unto the world. They said unto him, Lord evermore,
give us this bread. We want this bread. They didn't
know what he was talking about. And Jesus said unto them, I'm
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And
we see he's talking about him being that bread. Now look in,
you do well to look at this whole chapter, but we don't have time
to now. Look beginning in verse 48. Once again, he said, I'm
the bread of life. Your fathers did eat man in the
wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which comes
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. Now he's
talking about him being crucified, his body being broken on the
tree. This is the broken body. This
is the flesh. than I live by. The Jews, verse
52, therefore strove among themselves and said, How can this man give
us his flesh to eat? And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man,
and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I'll raise
him up at that last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him." Now here's what this
means. Here's the only meal that gives me sustenance. Christ and His cross. That's it. That's the only thing
I find any satisfaction in. Christ crucified, that when he
said, it is finished, my salvation was completed. Now that's my
appetizer. That's my main course. And that's
my dessert. And I'm not interested in anything
else. That's what he says. If you eat my flesh and drink
my blood, you find all your hope in his broken body, in his shed
blood, in the payment for your sins and giving you a righteousness.
You have eternal life, and here's the reason you do that. Look
in verse 56. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth
in me, and I in him. Turn to John 15. Verse one. I am the true vine, and my father
is the husband. Now, the Lord obviously is not
a literal grapevine. Like when he said, I'm the door,
he's not a literal door. And people make a mistake when
they start looking at the scriptures in that light. He's saying, I'm
what the vine represents. Every branch in me that bears
not fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit,
he purges it, that it might bring forth more fruit. Now are you
clean through the word which I've spoken unto you? Abide in
me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except
it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me. Now, the vine and the branches,
what this represents is the union of the believer with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, where is the connecting point with a branch
and the vine? The answer is there's not one.
The stems that go through the vine go through the branches. There's not a point of connection. I'm not connected with Christ. I'm united to Christ as those
stems, the same stem goes through the vine and the branches. I'm
one with Him. Now, once again, do I understand
that? No. Do I believe it? Altogether. That's my hope, is
being eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in this
union, what comes out of it? Fruit. Don't ever Take away from
the importance of fruit, the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit,
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, the fruit of God, the Holy Spirit.
When we have a parable of the sower, what is the difference
between the bad ground here and the good ground here? Fruit. fruit. He bore fruit. Now the
Lord says in verse three, now you are clean through the word
which I've spoken unto you. And this is a reference to justification.
I'm clean. I'm clean. I don't have any filth.
I don't have any sin. I'm perfectly clean. That's what
justification means. If I'm justified, that means
Christ bore my sins. He paid for them, put them away. They are no more. They're separated
as far from me as the east is from the west. He takes his perfect
righteousness and gives it to me, and I'm clean and pure as
the driven snow, pure as the end. Now are you clean? through the word which I've spoken
unto you. Verse four, abide in me. This is the same word. Dwell
in me, remain in me, continue in me, abide in me, and I in
you. Now to abide in him is a conscious
desire to only be found in him. I've already touched on this,
but if you want to be found in something that has something
to do with you, you're in trouble. The only way anyone is saved or gives
any evidence of salvation is they only want to be found in
Christ. That's all they want God to see. Now, would that describe you?
Now, if it would, there's a reason. You dwell in him and he dwells
in you. The believer simply wants to
be found in Christ, and the reason you want to only be found in
Him is He is in you. You'd be just like everybody
else if it wasn't for the fact that He was in you, Christ in
you, the hope of glory. Fruit comes from this abiding
in Him and remaining in Him. Now look at verse five. I am the vine. You are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Now, how do you bring
forth fruit? I love the simplicity of this.
Well, by reading the Bible more. By seeking to suppress sin more. By seeking to pray more and fast
and start doing this. No, he doesn't say anything like
that. He said if you abide in him,
you'll bring forth much fruit. That's Christ saying that. That's
the only way fruit bearing occurs is by abiding in Him. And notice
this last statement in verse five, for without me, you can
do what? Nothing. I think it's interesting how
people read that, but they don't read it. I believe most people
read this as, without me, you can do hardly anything. Doesn't
say that, does it? You can do nothing. Without me, there are great things
you cannot do. No, no, forget the great things. Separate from me, you can do
nothing. You can't believe. You can't
repent. You can't love. You can't take
one step toward Christ without Him. You can do nothing. You can't feel. You can do nothing.
He didn't say without me you can finish nothing or perfect
nothing. He said without me you can do
nothing. Only as I am in Him. Only as He is in me. Let's go on reading these verses
and then we'll Wrap it up. If a man abide not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide
in me and my words abide in you, that's how you know if Christ
abides in you, his words abide in you. You shall ask what you
will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified
that you bear much fruit. So shall you be my disciples.
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye
in my love. If you keep my commandments you
shall abide in my love even as I've kept my father's commandments
and abide in his love. These things have I spoken to
you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might
be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as
I've loved you. Greater love hath no man than
this that a man lay down his life for his friends and you're
my friends if you do whatsoever I command. Henceforth I call
you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth
but I've called you friends for all things that I've heard of
my father I've made known unto you. You've not chosen me, but
I've chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit, that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. Now let's, let's go back to our
text. I'm going to wrap this up. First
John chapter 30. And he, verse 24, he that keepeth
his commandments dwelleth. in him and he the Lord Jesus
in him and hereby we know that he abideth in us that's a strong
statement hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit
which he hath given us now this is that spiritual nature he's
speaking of and you know if you have it, this is that spiritual
nature, this is being born of the spirit, that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. Now, how can I know if I have
this spiritual nature? I mean, I look within my heart,
I see so much sin, I see so much helplessness, I see so much unbelief.
How can I know if I have this spiritual nature? Well, let's
begin right here, the first beatitude. Blessed are the poor in spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit,
you are poor in spirit. You know what that means? That
means you don't have anything to recommend you to God. You
don't have anything that comes from yourself. You're poverty
stricken. You don't have anything that you would bring to God.
You don't have any work you would perform that you could bring
to God. You have no experience that you would want to bring
to God. You have nothing but Christ alone. That's all you have. Now if you're
poor in spirit, you know what you're going to do? You're going
to mourn over your sin. You're going to be meek before
God. You're going to hunger and thirst
after righteousness. You're going to be merciful.
Seeing yourself being poor in spirit, you can't help but be
merciful. Seeing God's mercy to you, you
can't help but be merciful. And you're going to be pure in
heart. That's the new heart. That's the new nature. That's
what believes. The pure heart. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. You're going to be a
peacemaker, not somebody always trying to stir up trouble and
wrath and strife and contention. You'll be a peacemaker. And you're
going to be persecuted for righteousness sake. And when he's speaking
of being persecuted for righteousness sake, he's talking about you'll
be persecuted because you're going to stand for this. The
righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness there is and
the only righteousness I have. Now, that is how we know that
he has given us of his spirit. If you're not poor in spirit,
you don't have a spirit. If you're poor, and this I know,
I don't have anything to bring to God. I look to Christ only. Now, the reason I do that, is because
I dwell in Christ. The only place I want God to
see me is in Christ, and the reason I dwell in Christ is because
He dwells in me. Christ in you by His Spirit,
the hope of glory. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, We ask
that you would take these words and bless them to our hearts,
to our understanding. Lord, enable us to be those who
keep your commandments and who love one another as you've given
us commandment. Oh Lord, that we might be found
in Christ and that Christ might be in us. Bless this word for
your glory. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Match got closing in.