Turn back to 1 John chapter 3. Beloved, this covers all of God's
elect. Those who are rejoicing in Christ. Those who are wondering if they
ever know, even knowing. This covers everybody. There
are times when you wonder whether you even know him. And there
are some times when you know he knows you and you know him. But whatever the case, however
you feel, this is the present state of every believer, sons
of God. What could be better than that? sons of God with every privilege
included in that right now, whether you feel it or not, it doesn't
alter the fact now. Are we the sons of God with all
the privileges included in being a son of God? I've entitled this
message now. Now. Right now. Present tense. While you're sitting there listening
to this right now. We live in time. Past, present,
and future. There's yesterday, there's right
now, and Lord willing, there's tomorrow. But before creation,
did you know there was no time? There were no seconds or minutes
or hours. There were no days or weeks.
There was not night and day. There was no past. There was
no present and there was no future before any of this was created. God dwelt in the eternal now. He knew nothing of yesterday,
He knew nothing of today, and He knew nothing of tomorrow.
He still is that way because He is eternal. He's not bound
by space and time the way you and I are. We're bound by space. I can't be two places at once.
And we're bound by time. God's not. He is the eternal
I am. He doesn't say I was, he doesn't
say I will be, he is always the great I am that I am. And if he had to say I was or
I will be, he wouldn't be God. He wouldn't be deity, but because
he's God, he is the eternal I am that I am. And one of these days
we're going to experience eternity. It's impossible to grasp. I realize
that. Can you, can you grasp seeing
everything at once? No, being no past, present, or
future. I can't grasp that. But Revelation
chapter 11, verse six speaks in this language, time shall
be no longer. You know, you'll never look at
your, watch in heaven. Somebody while I'm preaching,
I would say, somebody while I'm preaching, well, when is this
going to be over? Well, that's not going to be
that way in heaven at all. There will be no time. Now it
said of God in Psalm 90 verse four, but a thousand years in
thy sight are but as yesterday. And to watch in the night. And Peter says, be not ignorant
of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years and a thousand years as one day. What that means is there's
no time with him. He sees everything in the present. There's no past. There's no future. He sees everything in the present. I repeat, he cannot be bound
by space or time. He's God. What a glorious being. But you and I, we're creatures
of time. We have a past, perhaps a painful
past. We have a present right now,
and right now is so dependent upon what took place in the past,
all the things that brought us to this point. And Lord willing,
we have a future. We have a tomorrow, and we don't
know what tomorrow is going to bring forth. Now, I've said this
before, and I believe it bears repeating. Listen carefully to
this statement. The two greatest false refuges
that men hide in are the past and the future. Now, how is that? That's a strong statement. The
two greatest false refuges that men hide in are the past and
the future. Now contained in the past is
what we have done and experienced. Now if I've got to look to something
in the past, I'm not talking about what Christ did in the
past, I'm talking about something I've experienced, the day when
I learned something or when I felt this or when I If I've got to
look somewhere in the past for assurance for right now, it's
a false refuge. It's a work of some kind. It's
not looking to Christ. It's looking to what happened
to you, what you experienced, what you did, what you felt,
what you believed at that time. That is a false refuge. Faith is always in the present.
It's always in the present. If I look to the future, tomorrow
I'm gonna straighten things up, tomorrow I'm gonna believe the
gospel, I just gotta get through this period in my life, but tomorrow
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. All that is is a work,
nothing more. That's salvation by work. So
if I look to the past, I'm looking to some kind of thing I've experienced
rather than Christ. If I look to the future, I'm
thinking about something I'm going to do. And the scripture
says, boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day
may bring forth. All we have is right now. All we have. is right now. Forget about the past. Forget
about the future. Tomorrow may never come. Faith
is always in the present tense. I can't live off yesterday's
faith, and I don't even know about what's going to happen
tomorrow. Now, the Bible gives us a beautiful illustration of
this. You remember the way the Lord fed the children of Israel
when they were in the wilderness before they entered Canaan for
that 40-year period. Every morning, he promised, manna
was going to come down. And they were to gather up enough
manna for that day. It was a miraculous thing. It
would come down, and it would melt away by noon. And they had
to get up in the morning and gather the manna. They weren't
to gather two days' worth. They were to gather just enough
for that day. Now if somebody got the idea,
I'm gonna get enough for tomorrow too. You know what would happen
to that man of the next day? They'd put it in their mouth
and all of a sudden it would breed worms and stink. Yesterday's faith today will
do nothing but breed worms and stink. You can't live off yesterday's
faith. And they were forbidden to try
to gather for the next day. They were forbidden to try to
supply for tomorrow. In Manat, this heavenly Manat
that came down, we're given a beautiful illustration of faith. It's just
for today. And faith is just for today. Now, I love the way John says,
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And when is the time
for me to look to Christ? Right now. Forget the past. Forget tomorrow. Behold, now
is the accepted time. That's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
6. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day
of salvation. Yesterday is past and tomorrow
may never come. Today is the day of salvation. Now in first John chapter three,
verse two, I've already read this beloved right now. Are we the sons of God? You know
what that means right now? God is your father. I mean, right now he loves you. What more could you want? That
means right now, you're accepted in the beloved. That means right
now, he's causing everything to work together for your good
and his glory right this instance. Will it be that way tomorrow?
Sure it will, but you don't know whether you'll be here tomorrow.
Right now, it is though. Now what I want to do is give
you some scriptures that deal with right now. And I can't say
that one's more important than the other, so I want to give
them in the order which I found them. There are many scriptures
that could be used from the Old Testament, but we don't have
the time to look at all those scriptures in the Old Testament.
The manna will suffice to see that this is a concept taught
in the Old Testament. But there are so many scriptures
that deal with right now. Now, the first one that I saw
was where Simeon, Simeon, Luke chapter 2 verse 29 said, Lord
now, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. I am ready to
die right now. Now what would make a man ready
to die right now? Well he gives us the answer,
for mine eyes are have seen thy salvation." When he looked at
the Lord Jesus Christ, even as an eight-year-old infant coming
to be circumcised in the temple, God revealed to him, this person,
this one, is my salvation. And if he is salvation, I don't
have to look to myself for a thing. I am ready to die in peace right
now. Lord, now let us thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And when you see Christ himself
is all of God's salvation, you know what you see? You see that
he's all. And you see you're nothing, and you're just fine
with that. That is the gospel. I'm ready to die right now. because
my eyes have seen thy salvation. In Luke chapter six, verse 21,
the Lord said, blessed are you that hunger now, you shall be filled. Blessed are you that weep now,
present tense, for you shall be comforted. Now here he's given
us the first two Beatitudes. And remember the Beatitudes.
I love the Beatitudes. That tells what a Christian really
is. A Christian is someone who is
poor. He's someone who mourns over
his sin. He's someone who's meek before
God's providence. Whenever God sends my way, it's
right. He's somebody who hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
He's someone who is merciful, having experienced the mercy
of God. He's pure in heart. He's been
given a pure heart, a new nature. He's a peacemaker, not a troublemaker,
and he's persecuted for righteousness sake. He's in trouble, all right,
because of his stand for the righteousness of Christ. And
the Lord mentions the first two Beatitudes. Well, he talks about
hungering now. Right now, I'm hungering for Christ. I'm
hungering for His righteousness because I know, sure enough,
as I'm speaking to you, I don't have any of my own. And I hunger
for His. And right now, not yesterday,
right now, I'm mourning over my sin. It's ever before me. And this is the experience of
every believer. Blessed are you that hunger now. Blessed are you that mourn now. Right now. However, woe unto
you that are full now. Like the church at Laodicea,
I'm enriched, I'm increased with goods, I have need of nothing,
I'm fine, I'm okay, don't worry about me. Woe unto you, the Lord
says, that are full now. Woe unto you that laugh now. Everything's great. you shall
mourn. This being full and laughing
has to do with self-righteousness and we see its end. And then
in Acts chapter 15, verse 9, after they were having this debate
as to whether or not a believer had to be under the law. You
can read about this in Acts chapter 15, it begins in the first verse.
But Peter makes this statement. He says, now, he begins with
a now, now, right now, present tense, now. Why tempt ye God to put a yoke
on the disciples, which neither we nor our fathers were able
to bear? We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved just like they. They're
not going to be saved like us. We're going to be saved like
the Gentiles by the grace of God and only by the grace of
God. Now, right now, why would you want to put somebody under
the law? Why would you want to do that?
That's a yoke that you certainly couldn't live up to. It's pure
hypocrisy for you to put somebody under law. How have you done? Why would you want to put your
brother under a yoke that neither you nor our fathers, neither
we, Peter said, nor our fathers was able to bear? Acts chapter 20, verse six, chapter
22, verse 16. Here's another now. Acts chapter
22, verse 16. I love this one. Ananias is speaking
to Paul after the Lord has revealed the gospel to him and he's knocked
him down and he's revealed himself to him. And Ananias looked at
Paul. Paul was trembling. Paul didn't
know what to do. And Ananias asked him this question. He says,
now, now, right now, why tarryst thou? What are you waiting on? Arise and be baptized and wash
away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. What are you
waiting on? Are you waiting to get better? Are you waiting to understand
more? Are you waiting till something happens to you and you have some
kind of feeling? What are you tearing on? Why tarryest thou? What are you waiting on? Right
now, what are you waiting on? Rise up and be baptized. If you're not, you're looking
to the future and that once again is a false refuge. And then in
Romans chapter three, verse 26, Paul said, and I love this, to
declare at this time. And that word this time is the
same word translated now, the exact same thing. To declare
at this time his righteousness. Now this isn't some doctrine
you learned Oh, I hope maybe the Lord will cause us to hear
it for the first time today, or hear it as if we heard it
for the first time today. Wouldn't that be a blessing if
you heard the gospel the way you heard it the very first time
today, right now? Romans 3, 26, to declare, I say
at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus, right now, to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly."
Right now, his faith is counted for righteousness. You don't
have to go through a probationary period. I don't care what your
background is. I don't care what your experience
is, bad or good. Right now, you don't have to
go through a probationary period. You can look to Christ right
now and know God is absolutely just in justifying you. He's gonna honor his righteousness.
He's gonna honor his law. And you're right now, because
of this glorious thing that he's done, you stand before God right
now without any sin, having never sinned. And God's just in declaring
you to be that way. And you think, but I'm not. Yeah,
you are. Yeah, you are right now. Yeah, you are. You are without
sin to the extent that you've never sinned. And God is just,
not merely merciful, not merely gracious. He's just in declaring
you to be that right now. God can be just and justify you. And here's a very similar verse,
Romans chapter five, verse nine, verse nine, being now, justified
by his blood. Being now, right now, present
tense, right now, being now justified by his blood. Right now, the book of God says
you've never sinned. And you know, I can't help but
think of the public and what he saw about himself He said,
God be merciful to me, the sinner. But what did God see? Christ,
speaking as God, said, I tell you, that man went down to his
house justified. Justified. Not merely forgiven,
not merely shown mercy, but justified by God Almighty right now. being now justified by his blood. Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, what does that
mean? If you walk after the flesh,
you look for salvation somewhere in your flesh. That's it. It's a belief in works in some
way. That's what it means to walk after the flesh. You believe
salvation is to be found. It's going to have to something
dependent upon what your flesh does. You walk in the flesh,
you'll die. To walk in the spirit is to look
to Christ only. That's all walking in the spirit
is. It's looking to Christ only as everything in your salvation.
Now, there is therefore now no condemnation, no judgment. I'm justified before God. I'm
not gonna be punished. I'm not gonna be punished. You
know, I do things and say things all
the time. that I sure hope won't have repercussions. I shouldn't have said that. I'm
afraid I've offended this person. I'm afraid I've given this person
fuel for the fire. I think of stuff like that all
the time. You know, the implications, the ramifications of things.
But in the grand scheme of things, it all means nothing. I'm not gonna be condemned. There
is therefore now Right now, no condemnation, no judgment, no
punishment to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God the elect? I would love to see Paul's spirit
when he made that statement. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's almost like he's challenging
the world, angels, demons. Try to bring something against
one of them. God justify it. Who is he that can condemn? It's
Christ that died, yea rather than risen again. Who's even
at the right hand of God? Romans chapter 11 verse 5, I
like this. At this present time, At this
present time, right now, there is a remnant, according to the
election of grace. Do you know, at this present
time, while I'm talking to you, God's going to elect people.
It's called a remnant. Compared to the rest of the world,
it seems like a small number. But what if the last of the elect
had already been born and was walking the earth at this time?
Wouldn't that be exciting? It could be. It's true. The last
of God's elect could be alive right now. Maybe it's just born
today. But we have this assurance at
all times there is, at this time, at this present time, there is
a remnant according to the election of grace. And I hope we'll take
that thought into the people we come into contact with and
the people we speak to. This might be one of God's elect.
I hope it is. I want to preach the gospel to
them. And then in Romans 13 verse 11, we read, now, now, right
now, is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Now, the
Bible teaches salvation eternally. I was saved in eternity past
when Christ became my surety. I was saved eternally. You talking about eternal justification? Of course I am. I love eternal
justification. I can't understand somebody not
glorying in that, rejoicing in that. I was served eternally,
saved eternally in Christ, and I'm being saved right now. I'm being saved. To them that are being saved,
Christ, the power of God and wisdom of God, what that means,
I'm not yet plumb saved. I'm not yet completely saved
because as long as I sin, I'm not completely saved. But one
of these days, I'm going to be sinless. I'm going to be perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. And each second brings that moment
nearer. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believe. We're going to experience perfect
conformity to Christ We're going to be just like him. We won't
even remember what it is to sin. We won't remember what it is
to have an evil thought or a self-righteous thought. Can we get hold of that? No. Can you imagine having a
perfectly pure mind? John couldn't when he was speaking
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He said, it does
not yet appear what we shall be. I know what we shall be,
but I don't understand it. But we know when he shall appear,
we'll be like him for we shall see him as he is. We're going
to consider that next week. But every second brings that
time more near. And then in 2 Corinthians 6,
verse 2, behold, now is the accepted time. When should I believe? When I
understand more? When I learn more? When I become
better? Right now. Right now it's true. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The time
is now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When? Right now. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. The only fitness
he requires is to have a need of him. Do you have a need of
the Lord Jesus Christ? then you're commanded to believe
on him right now. Galatians chapter 2 verse 20,
I love this verse of scripture. I wish I could give the fullness
of what it means, but Paul said this in Galatians chapter 2 verse
20, the life that I now live in the flesh. Talk about right
now. The life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. I'm not trying
to manufacture faith. I'm not trying to believe. I'm
living off his faithfulness. I'm living off his faith. I live
by the faith, he said, of the Son of God. You know, it's interesting,
I looked up all the other versions, except the King James, every
one of them said, I live by faith in the Son of God. And they missed
the meaning altogether. I live by the faith of the Son
of God. I don't even need to try to manufacture
faith. I'm living off his faith. I don't frustrate, I don't render
void the grace of God. For if righteousness
came by the law, then Christ died in vain. I, right now, I
live by his faith. And I love this passage of scripture
in Galatians chapter three, verse three, Paul begins with, are
you so foolish? Are you so foolish? Now, why
would he make a statement like that? That's, if somebody came
up to you and said, are you really that foolish? You, what are you
talking about? What are you, what are you trying
to say to me? Maybe you get mad. Maybe you get offended. Are you
so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? Now what that is about is what
we call progressive sanctification. Are you so foolish, having begun
by the power of the Spirit of God, by the grace of God, by
the supernatural work of God, are you now made perfect and
complete and improved by the works of your flesh? Are you
that foolish? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Galatians chapter four, verse
29. I don't know if I can quote that, so let me turn there. Galatians
chapter four, verse 29. But, as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. You know, grace and works, never
could coexist, and they do not coexist now. He that's born after
the flesh, he that believes in salvation by works, is always
going to persecute that one who believes in salvation by grace.
That's the way it is right now. It's always been that way. It
always will be that way. Philippians chapter two, Verse 12, wherefore my beloved,
as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. Don't have some kind of cocksure,
arrogant attitude. I love the way Paul came to the
Corinthians. He came with weakness and fear
and much trembling. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling for, and here's why we can do this, for it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. You know what I do with that
verse of scripture? I say, Lord, you promised in your word that
it's you that worketh in me both the will and to do your good
pleasure, do what you said. Work in me, cause me to do your
will and your good pleasure so that I might work out my salvation
with fear and trembling. I mean, something like this,
I take this to the Lord, Lord, you said this. I didn't say it,
you said it. Now, you work in me. both the will and to do your
good pleasure so that I will work out my salvation with fear
and with tripling. Hebrews chapter nine, Hebrews chapter nine, verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true. Talking about the Old Testament
tabernacle and the Old Testament temple built by Solomon. For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are the figures, the types of the true, but into heaven
itself. What's that next word? Now. to appear in the presence of
God for us. Now right now, right now the
Lord Jesus Christ is appearing in the presence of God for me. Right now. What comfort, what
glory there is in that right now He's appearing for us. 1st John chapter 2 verse 18 says,
even now, and I can say this too, John said 2,000 years ago,
and I'm saying it right now. Even now, right now, there are
many antichrists. They're all over the place. They're
lined up and down the road. There are many Antichrist. Now, Antichrist is not referring
to some grotesque monster of a man who's going to end up in
the last day. John says even now there are many Antichrists.
And he says, whosoever confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is Antichrist. So we don't have to scratch our
heads as to who they are. An antichrist is anybody that
doesn't confess. That's a public statement that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. That means he was before
he came. I'm confessing the eternal deity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came in the flesh. God became flesh and he did exactly
what he came to do. Anybody that doesn't confess
that anti-Christ, substitute Christ, an enemy of Christ, a
false prophet. And right now there are a whole
lot of them. And then in 1 John 2, verse 28,
and now little children abide in him, abide in him. Now you abide in him when consciously
desire for God to only see Christ. You stay in Him. You don't even
want Him seeing you. You want Him to see you in Christ. You know, a lost man can't do
that. A lost man can't look to Christ alone. He can't abide
in Christ alone. He's always going to look somewhere
else. He's always going to project somewhere else. He's going to
get a finger outside that door. He wants something but not a
believer. A believer only wants to abide in Christ just like
I love what Paul said. 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 which is of God by faith. Now here's how I want
to be found. When God comes looking for me, all I want Him to see
is the righteousness of God, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says, now abide in Him, that
when he shall appear, he's coming again, we may have confidence. When he shall come with trumpet
sound, oh, may I then in him be found. In abiding in him,
we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his
coming. And the last scripture I want
to give is found in Jude 24 and 25. Now, right now, present tense.
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless before His presence with exceeding
joy to the only wise God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion,
and power both now Right now, can't you say from the depth
of your heart unto him, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power. That's who he is, right now and
forever. Amen. Now remember this about
faith. It's right now. Anything in the past, you're
looking to some experience you had, it's a false refuge. If
you're looking to something you're going to do tomorrow, it's a
false refuge. Right now. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God? Let's pray. Lord, we are so amazed at the
infinite greatness of your person, how that you are not bound by
space and time, and that you're the eternal I am, and that you
would be pleased to reveal yourself to us. Lord, we give thanks.
And Lord, I ask in Christ's name that everybody in this room might
right now rest in who your son is and what he did as all that's
needed both now and forever to make us perfect in your sight. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Matt, could you lose