1 John chapter 3. Susan told
me that there are several people who have not signed up to get
their pictures taken. If you don't want to get your
picture taken, give one just so we can get some pictures of
everybody for the directory. I know some of you don't want
to, but it's free. 1 John chapter 3. Let's read verse
3 again. I've entitled this message And every man, not most of them, every single
one of them without any exception. Every man that hath this hope
in Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ, this hope in him, on the inside. Every man, no exceptions to this
rule, that has this hope. Let me say a couple of things
about this hope, this hope he's speaking of. What is this hope
that every believer has? It's more than a feeling. Now,
hope is a feeling, and it's a good feeling, isn't it? It's a good
thing to have hope. It's a good thing to feel hope.
And we're thankful for that feeling. But you know, you can feel hope
and it might not be a good ground for that hope. So I'm talking
about somebody who actually possesses this hope. The same hope that
that one possessed who was in the house with the blood over
the door. What kind of hope did that person
have? Whether he felt it, I'm sure some felt real good about
it and some felt kind of iffy. No doubt. Some had complete assurance. Some were scared to death. But
everyone that was in the house with the blood over the door
had a 100% hope. Everybody that was in the house
with the blood over the door God passed them by in mercy. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And that's a glorious hope, isn't
it? It's a hope we possess, not just a hope we feel, but a hope
we possess, the hope of being in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this hope is a hope that's
in Him. Christ in you. the hope of glory. Paul said, 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, every man that hath this
hope in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ and in him, in his heart,
what does he do? The scripture says he purifies
himself. Notice, it doesn't say that the
Lord purifies him, though he does, but it says he purifies
himself. You see, if you have this hope,
it's going to affect your life every time. Every man that has
this hope, he's going to seek to clean himself up. Now, you
know, that doesn't have anything to do with justification, doesn't
really have anything to do with sanctification. But I know this.
If you love Christ, you want your life to honor and glorify
him. You want to be obedient to him. You want to purify yourself.
Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even
as he is pure. Listen to the scripture. Having
second Corinthians seven one, having these promises dearly
beloved, Having, therefore, these promises, let us cleanse ourselves
from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God. James said in James chapter 4,
verse 8, Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
ye double-minded. Peter says in 1 Peter 1, verse
22, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit. You see, it's only by God the
Holy Spirit that we do this. It's only as He enables us, but
we are called upon to purify ourselves. Every man that has
this hope in him purifieth himself." Notice, it doesn't say he's already
purified himself. This is a continual thing. Because
we're always dirty in and of ourselves. We always have reason
to purify ourselves. Is there ever a time when you
don't have reason to clean yourself up? No. It's a continual thing. And notice, he doesn't say every
man should purify himself. He says every man that has this
hope purifies. It's a continual thing that we're
going to be doing until we die. And we have this model. Every man that has this hope
in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Now, here is the goal. Here is
the objective perfect conformity to the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every man. at this hope in him purifies
himself even as he is pure." Now let's look at what led John
to make this statement. Look in verse 1. He says, Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us That we should be called the sons of
God. What manner of love! That we should be called the
sons of God. Now, who are these people who
are called sons of God? Now, there is no higher place
to be than to be a son of God. It doesn't get any better than
that, does it? It doesn't get any more exalted than that to
be a son of the living God. Who are these people who are
called the sons of God? They're sinners. Saved. By grace. There are those who
believe. Those for whom Christ died. Those that were given to him
by the father in eternal election. Those who have been called by
the Holy Spirit. Sinners saved by grace. Would that describe you? A sinner.
A sinner. And all that the Bible means
by that word. Saved by the free grace of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. What did it take for us to become
the sons of God? What manner of love? Listen to
this. He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. That's the manner of love. He spared not his own son. Now,
I want you to think about this, ever believer. God gave His Son
for you. It wasn't generic. Everybody
He gave His Son for, He had them on His heart. Your name. He loved you so much that it
can't even be described. He gave His only begotten and
well-beloved Son. He gave His Son to die. He took
your sin and placed it upon His Son. And He poured His wrath
upon His Son, and He took the righteousness of His Son and
placed it upon you. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us. Who calls us sons of God? A lot of folks will call themselves
sons of God, but who calls us sons of God here? What a name! What a glorious name to be called
a son of God. Who calls us sons of God? Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God." The Lord Jesus Christ calls
us sons of God. He said to His disciples, I go
to my God and your God. I go to my Father and your Father. The Holy Spirit calls us sons
of God. He sends forth the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts, crying, Father, the Spirit bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. This is who calls us
sons of God, the one who knows God, the Father, God, the Son,
God, the Holy Spirit. This is not just some self-proclaimed
title. This is what God calls his people,
sons of God. Turn with me to John, chapter
one for a moment. John, chapter one. But as many as received him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born, which were birthed, not of blood,
I'm not a son of God because my mom or dad were. Not of the
will of the flesh. Not because a bunch of guys got
together and started praying for revival and God responded
to that and gave me new birth because of that. Not because
of the will of man. Not because of an act of man's
will where he decided to become a son of God and he decided to
let God save him. No, no. They're born of God. Sons of God. Now, how? How can I actually
be a son of God? First, because Christ is the
Son of God. He's not a son of God, he's the
Son of God. He's God the Son. He said in
Hebrews chapter 2, we read this in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 11,
it's a quotation from the Psalms, Psalms, both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one for the which cause
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Because I'm one with
Christ. Because he's a son, not a son. Because he's the son, I'm a son. Because I'm united to him. That's
how I'm made a true son of God. Is he the son of God? Then I'm
a son of God. Because whatever he is, I am. We are sons by adoption. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of sons. We're sons by birth. You know,
I used to think about being unadopted. Well, I remember when I was a
kid, because I didn't have any better sins, it's a blessing
to be adopted. But I thought, how horrible it would be to be
adopted. That means your first mommy and daddy didn't love you.
And I just think about that, and it would bother me, it would
trouble me. I remember I had some neighbors that were adopted,
and I just always felt so sorry for them. No, this was a blessing
to be adopted. I'm an adopted son. Thank God
for adoption. If there wasn't an adoption,
I wouldn't be a son. But not only am I an adopted son, I'm
a son by birth. As many as received Him, to them
gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them which
believe on His name, which were born, which were birthed, birthed
by the Spirit of God, which were born not of blood, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man, But of God, what
a privilege. What I do with my glasses, what
a privilege to be. A son of God with the almighty,
eternal God as your father. Look what John says next in our
text. First, John, Chapter three. 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. Now that word no means more than
just knowing the right stuff about us. The world, this world
that has no love for God, This world that has no love for the
gospel. This world that has no love for the Lord Jesus Christ.
It doesn't know us. It doesn't recognize us. It didn't
recognize Him. You know, the Lord's brothers
and sisters didn't know He was the Son of God. That's so amazing
to me. He grew up in that home and His
brothers and sisters didn't get it. They didn't understand who
He was. You know, we think, and I understand
this desire, I want people to see Christ in me. And I understand
that. I want people to see Christ in
me. But let me tell you this, if the world sees Christ in you,
they're going to hate you for it. They hated him. He was a despised man, a man
of sorrows acquainted with grief. And if the world sees Christ
in me, the world's going to have no love for me. Now, The world
knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Verse 2. Beloved. Beloved of God. Beloved of John. Beloved. I like that term. Beloved. To be beloved of God. And I'm
looking at some people who are beloved to me. As God is my witness. What a beautiful term for God's
people, beloved. Beloved now are we the sons of
God. A present religion. Now are we the sons of God. Now, while faith is a confident
expectation with regard to the future, faith is always in the
present. And the presence has an intimate
connection with the future. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And because we are now, we will
be then. We will always be. Hold your finger there and turn
to Revelation 22. Verse 11, He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. If I die unjust, I will spend
eternity unjust. And he which is filthy, let him
be filthy still. If I die filthy, I will stay
filthy throughout all eternity. And he that is righteous, this
describes every believer, righteous, the very righteousness of God.
He that is righteous, let him be righteous still, righteous
throughout eternity. And he that is holy, every believer
is holy. holy brethren, partakers of the
holy calling. He that is holy, let him be holy
still throughout all eternity. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. In what we are now, we shall
be forever. There is therefore now no condemnation. Right now, right this second,
there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, and
there never will be. Romans 5, 9 says, being now justified,
justified. Oh, I love that word. Justified,
not guilty, without sin before God, being now justified by His
blood. We shall be saved from wrath
through Him. Hebrews 9, 24, Christ is said
to be in heaven itself now. Now, while I'm speaking, there's
one in heaven representing my interest before the Father, right
this moment. Justification is now. Not one of these days, but now. Sanctification, being holy before
God, is now. This is a holiness that knows
no progress. Knows no degrees. I'm as holy
right now as I can be. However holy the Lord Jesus Christ
is, that's how holy I am. And what this proves to me, it
proves to me how strong the flesh is and how the flesh brings us
down. Because when we say something
like that, we believe it, but we just can't get into it. I'm
as holy as I'll ever be. Yes. Yes, you can't get any more
holy than you are right now in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
your holiness. Do you really believe that? He's
made unto us sanctification. He's our holiness right now.
Right now, I'm glorified because if Christ is glorified, I am
too. And the scripture says that we
are seated together in the heavenlies in Him. Paul said in Romans 13, 11, now
is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Well, we're
still there. 1 John chapter 3, verse 2. Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be. Now, this is John. This is the
beloved disciple. This is the one who laid his
head upon the breast of our Lord Jesus Christ. He seems to have
some kind of special relationship with Christ over and above any
of the rest of them did. John, I mean, this is somebody. This is John riding under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He said, I was in the spirit
on the Lord's day. He was totally riding under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he made this statement.
And yet he says. It does not yet appear. What
we shall be. We don't have any idea what it's
like to be without sin in our experience. It does not yet appear
what we shall be when we're finally perfectly conformed to the image
of Jesus Christ. That's the goal. That's what
we desire. But as far as the experience
of it, John, even writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
says it does not yet appear what we shall be. Can you imagine
what it would be to be without sin? I can't. I can't even fantasize about
it. To be without sin, without a sinful thought, without a sinful
motive. Everything I do is sin. Everything. Oh, to be free from that. But
I can't imagine what it would be like. Can you imagine? Having
a perfectly pure, holy thought with no sin in it. And that would
be the way you'd be all the time. It does not yet appear what we
shall be. We can't understand that. But we know that. We know. I love the language
of this. We know this is not something
we're just guessing about. We know. that when he shall appear, don't you look forward to his
appearance? Him coming in the clouds. Everybody's going to
know who he is. All of his enemies will be made
to bow and confess that he's Lord. All of his children will
bow willingly and confess that he's Lord. Can you imagine his
appearance? Now John says, we know that when
He shall appear, we, us sons of God, us sinners saved by grace,
those of us who have this hope, this blessed hope, a hope of
being accepted by God, we know that when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him. We shall be perfectly conformed
to His image. We're not going to be imitations. We're going to be like Him. We're not going to be copies.
We're going to be like Him. And here's why. We shall see Him as He is. We won't seem as he was. We won't
seem as he was a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. We won't seem as he was a perfect
youth growing up in subjection to his parents. We won't seem
as he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We won't
see Him as He was, nailed to a cross, in pain, indescribable,
forsaken by His Father, all alone. We won't see Him as He was. We'll
see Him as He is, as the Lamb that was slain, but
He lives. He liveth. That Lamb who is slain
will see to be the Lion of the tribe of Judah. We'll see Him
as the Almighty God, God over all, blessed forever, the only
begotten of the Father, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We shall see Him as He is. And everybody who sees Him as
He is, that sight will cause them to be Just like him. Verse three. Now, every man. That have. This hope. This hope. This hope of. I've got a hope that when I stand
before God, I'm going to be without sin. I'm going to be accepted.
I have a hope that I'm going to hear Him say to me, well done,
thou good and faithful servant. Because if Christ did well, I
did well. I really believe that. I'm united
to Him. Whatever Christ did, I did. I have a hope that when
my name is called, justified, not guilty, enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord. This hope. This hope in Him. It's not a hope in me. It's not
a hope in you. It's a hope in Him. I really
believe that in Him is all righteousness. Surely in the Lord have I righteousness. Tom read that in the back in
Isaiah 45, 22. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness
and strength. That's what every believer will
confess. Everyone that hath this hope, this particular hope, In
him, everybody that has this hope in him, Christ in you, the
hope of glory. I think it means both. It's the
hope in him and it's the hope in him. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Paul said, I live yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me. Everybody that has this hope
in him. Purifies himself. This hope doesn't puff up. It
doesn't fill one with pride. But everyone that has this hope
in him purifies himself. This hope does not in any way
give license to sin. Faith, having this hope in him,
causes one to purify himself. And if you're a believer, this
is what you want. You would be without sin, wouldn't
you? You would be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
And if you have this hope in Him, it doesn't just mean you
know you ought to purify. You seek to honor Him. Continually seeks to purify himself. Continually seeks to purify himself
in all areas. He doesn't leave anything alone.
Now, how does one go about purifying themselves? That's a big question,
isn't it? How? When I see in my own experience
I drink iniquity like water, what is this thing about me purifying
myself? How does one go about purifying
oneself? Let me give you two or three
scriptures. First turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. But we all, talking about every
believer, all of God's elect, 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18. But
we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord. And that's how we see the glory
of the Lord, isn't it? As a glass. We see through a
glass, darkly, Paul said. We all, as with open faith, beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Now, beholding as a glass the
glory of the Lord is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what that's talking about. Beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You look to Christ. If I look
to Christ, Do you know, I can't look at
myself in a self-righteous way when I look to Him. Can't do
it. Can't do it. When I saw Him,
my cuddliness turned to corruption. When I look to Christ, I can't
look down my nose at you. I can't be unmerciful toward
you. If I look to Christ, now if I'm
not looking to Christ, I will. But if I look to Christ, I'm
changed into His image. Looking to Him. You become like
it. Now, that's how one purifies
himself by looking to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Turn with
me to. First, Peter, Chapter one. First, Peter, Chapter one. First, twenty two. Seeing you have purified your
souls, there's that word, in obeying the truth through the
Spirit. Now, here's how I purify myself
in obeying the truth. What is it to obey the truth?
It's to believe the truth. It's to believe the truth concerning
God and His character as it's revealed in this book. It's to
believe what this book says about you. It's to believe the Gospel. You've purified your souls in
obedience to the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love
of the brethren. See that you love one another
with a pure heart, fervently, white heart. Turn to James, chapter four. James, chapter four. Verse six. But he giveth more grace. Isn't that great? He giveth more grace. Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves,
therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he'll flee
from you. Draw nigh to God and he'll draw nigh to you. Cleanse
your hands Ye sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned
to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord. Now, that's how I purify my soul,
by humbling myself in the sight of the Lord, that He shall lift
you up in due time. And you know in this thing of
purifying ourselves, that's a big order in it. You can only do
it through the Spirit of God. But in this thing of purifying
ourselves, we only have one model. One example to follow. Do you
know anytime you follow a man, it's going to be bad. You'll
just follow the bad things about him. You'll just try to imitate
him. And it's no good. You're following a copy. You're
following the Lord Jesus Christ. imitating him by his grace. Oh, that the Lord would enable
me, enable you to purify ourselves. One last scripture. Turn to Second
Corinthians, chapter seven. Verse one. Having, therefore, these promises,
dearly beloved. What promises? Well, hold your
finger there and turn back to 2 Corinthians 1. I love this
passage of scripture. Verse 17. When I, therefore, was thus minded,
did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose
to do, do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there
should be yea, yea, and nay, nay, yes and no to the same thing. But as God is true, our word
toward you is not yea and nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and
Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea, for all the
promises of God in Him are yes, not yes and no, not yes if, they're
yea. If He promised it, it's already
come to pass. It's altogether true. You know,
most preaching is what I call yea-nay preaching. Salvation
by grace? Yes, salvation by grace. But
no, if you don't do your part, it won't work. That's yea-nay
preaching. All the promises of God in Him
are yes and amen. So be it unto the glory of God. Now, having these promises, dearly
beloved, Chapter 7, verse 1. Let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
the fear of God. Having this hope in us. Every man has this hope in him.
Yes, it's a hope of being in Christ, but it's also a hope
on the inside. Having this hope in us. Now, there are certain people that
if you're around them, you conduct yourself very carefully, don't
you? You don't want to offend them. You have much respect for
them. And you don't want to be offensive in any way to them.
And you conduct yourself carefully. Having this hope in us. The Lord Jesus in me. I don't
want to grieve him. I don't want to offend him. Oh,
may the Lord cause us to be very careful of offending this glorious
one in our hearts. Every man that has this hope
in him purifies himself even as he is pure.