Christ In You, the Hope of Glory (2)

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ in me?

The Bible reveals that Christ in you is the hope of glory, as seen in Colossians 1:27, indicating that true hope and identity for believers come from having Christ dwell within. The phrase 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' found in Colossians 1:27 encapsulates both the essence of Christian faith and the mystery of salvation. This text tells us that the glory of God is revealed to believers, not only through outward experiences but through the inward presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. It signifies the intimate and transformative relationship between Christ and each believer, emphasizing that our eternal hope rests in Christ's work within us. This concept is foundational in understanding our identity as Christians and our ultimate assurance in God's redemptive plan.

Q: How do we know that Christ is formed in us?

We know Christ is formed in us through faith, as stated in Galatians 4:19, where believers experience transformation and growth in their spiritual lives. The evidence of Christ being formed in us is reflected in our spiritual growth and maturity, as outlined in Galatians 4:19 where Paul expresses his concern for the believers that 'Christ be formed in you.' This formation represents a deepening relationship where the character and attributes of Christ begin to be evident in our lives. The believer experiences an increase in virtues such as faith, love, humility, and a desire to live according to God's will. Paul’s worry for the Galatians illustrates that having Christ in us leads to a dynamic transformation that impacts every aspect of our lives, signifying that true faith goes beyond intellectual assent to actively manifesting Christlikeness.

Q: Why is spiritual maturity important for Christians?

Spiritual maturity is vital as it reflects a believer's growth in faith and deepens their relationship with Christ, leading to genuine love and service. Spiritual maturity stands as a fundamental aspect of the Christian life, showcasing one's growth in faith and conformity to the image of Christ. It is important because it leads to the believer becoming more grounded in love and able to comprehend the vastness of God's grace, as suggested in Ephesians 3:17. Maturity in Christ allows a believer to take the word of God personally, embracing teachings without offense, thereby nurturing a heart that reflects Christ's love toward others. The relationship with Christ matures through consistent faith and surrender, encouraging the believer to partake in the mission and service of the church, leading to a transformed life that serves as a testimony of God’s glory on earth.

Q: How does faith relate to salvation?

Faith is essential to salvation, as it is the means by which we receive Christ and His righteousness, according to Romans 3:22. Faith is intricately connected to salvation, serving as the means by which believers receive God's grace and the righteousness found in Christ. Romans 3:22 emphasizes that righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. It is not through our works or efforts that we achieve salvation, but through a faith that trusts and relies on Christ's finished work on the cross. This faith is often accompanied by repentance, which indicates a turning away from sin and a turning toward God. Thus, faith and salvation are two sides of the same coin; one cannot have true saving faith without experiencing the transformative power of grace that leads to salvation.

Now, this message that I'm going
to bring tonight is a continuation of the message that I began Sunday
morning, the title of which was, Christ in You, Christ in Me,
the Hope of Glory. And this will be number two,
the continuation of that message. Brother Trabant can get it on
the back of the tape that he made Sunday morning. But let's
read that text again in Colossians 1 verse 27. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery. among the Gentiles. Which is? Now you see the greatness of
this text. To whom God would make known
by revelation. What is the riches? These are
the riches that Moses chose in preference to the treasures of
Egypt. Of the glory of this mystery. Everybody doesn't understand
it. Just a few. And it's to the Gentiles as well
as the Jews. And it's Christ in you. Christ in you. That's the hope
of glory. And that's the only hope of glory,
is Christ in me. And this is what Paul is saying
in Galatians chapter 4, in Galatians 4, verse 19, when he wrote to that church
to whom he preached the gospel of grace. And he wrote them because some
fellows had crept in and tried to add some things to the And these folks were trying to
perfect by works what God had built by grace. And Paul was
worried about them. And he says in verse 19 of Galatians
4, my little children, of whom I travail in birth again. I went down there among you and
I preached the gospel to you. And he said, I marvel you're
so soon removed from him who preached the gospel to you, from
me, from my message, from my gospel to another gospel. Which
is not another, it's a perversion of the gospel of Christ. It's
adding something to his perfection. And he said, here I am going
through this all over again. I prayed for you, I wrestled
over you, I cried to God for you, preached to you. And now
I've got to go through it all over again. I'll travail again. Again. Until Christ be formed
in you. Christ be formed in you. That's the way he described his
own conversion in Galatians 1, 15 and 16. Christ being formed
in him. He said in Galatians 1.15, but
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by His grace to reveal His Son, not to me, although
He did, but in me, Christ in you, the hope of glory. I prevail
to Christ Jesus be formed in you. God revealed His Son in
me. Robert Murray McShane preached
a message on this subject which he entitled, Christ in You, the
Hope of Glory. And he said, and you listen carefully,
there are two distinct senses in which these words may be taken,
Christ in you. Christ in you, two distinct senses,
and both are essential. Christ, and I'm not talking to
you, only I'm talking to me, Christ in me, Christ in you. I don't want to be appointed
the keeper of the vineyard and allow my own garden to grow up.
I don't want to preach to others and find out I'm a castaway.
So I'm talking to me too. Christ in me. Christ in you.
The two senses in which this is taken. And both are essential. Now, listen to me tonight. Let's don't ever listen to a
message in order to find out if the preacher is doctrinally
sound. I've run into that in a lot of places. Not particularly
here. But after a message is over,
the discussion is the soundness of the preacher. And I'm sure
that's important. But it's not of the utmost importance. And let's don't just take this
text and see if we can have a good time with it. This is a saying
that about all the grace preachers have. They talk about what they
preached last Sunday and they say, I had a good time with that.
Well, I can have a good time with something and nobody here
can have a good time with it. That's what I'm saying. I can
have a lot of fun with a text and get all the clever things
out of it, but accomplish absolutely nothing. And let's don't just
listen and say, now that's a good tape, I want to get that tape
and play it for somebody else. Let's listen to this message
tonight, and let's determine if Christ is in me. I found a new definition of spiritual
maturity. I'm 66 years old. I've been preaching
42 years. This is the best definition of
spiritual maturity I've ever seen in all my life, of all those
years put together. Spiritual maturity. The briefest
and best. It's worth writing down. Spiritual
maturity is taking everything that is
preached personal and not be offended. Now you think about that. Take
everything that's preached personal. You ought to hear people say,
well, I take that personal. Well, good. That's what this
fellow said to me right now, were you talking to me tonight?
I said, were you there? He said, yeah. I said, I was
talking to you. Surprise. Taking everything that's preached
personal. And not be offended. Not be offended. Now, if that
fellow is grown up, when you say that's good, John, it's God's
Word. Take it personal. And don't be
offended. Alright, here's what Paul means
according to Mr. McShane. Christ in you, Christ
in you, Christ in me, means that Christ Jesus in his character,
in his work, is believed, embraced, and received by faith. Christ
is received. He is embraced. He is believed
with all my heart as my righteousness and redemption. Now let's look
at some Scripture. First, we go to Ephesians chapter
3. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 17. Ephesians 3, 17. This is exactly what our text
says over in Colossians, that Christ may dwell in you. that
Christ may dwell in your hearts, that is, in you. How? By faith. That's the way Christ dwells
in you. First of all, by faith. By faith. By faith. That you, being rooted and grounded
in love, rooted in Christ, grounded in Christ, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth
and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God by faith."
All right, turn to John 14. Listen to our Lord here. Christ
in you is Christ believed, embraced, received by faith. Christ may dwell in you by faith. John 14, verse 19. Listen to our Lord Jesus. Yet
a little while And the world seeth me no more, but you see
me. Because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall
know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and I will
manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Judas
Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto
us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said, If a
man love me, that is, if a man believe me, receive me, embrace
me in love and faith, he'll keep my words, and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode. with Him, in Him. Now, one other scripture, John
7, and I've used this so often. And my friends, don't ever try
to separate faith and regeneration. Regeneration, repentance, and
faith. Spurgeon said one time, repentance
and faith Like a piece of paper, you've got to have two sides.
You've got to have repentance. If you have repentance, you have
faith. If you have faith, you have repentance. And regeneration
and faith. I hear people talk about the
begetting and a long time and then a birth. Listen to what
our Lord said in John 7, verse 37. In that last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus cried, stood and cried, If any man thirst,
let him come to Me. Let him come to me how? Believing,
receiving, embracing me. Let him come to me and drink.
And he that believeth on me, as the Scripture says, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This he spake of
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet
given because Jesus was not yet glorified. In other words, believe
Christ, receive Christ, and have Christ's Spirit in you. You know, he that believeth on
the Son hath life, and he that hath life believeth on the Son. He that believeth is born of
God, and he that is born of God believeth. That's just so. Let me turn to John 1. Listen
to this. John chapter 1. I'm saying he
that believes on Christ hath life, and everybody that hath
life, has life, believes on Christ. You can't have life without believing
on Christ, without receiving Christ. Christ is life. Isn't
that correct? And the Scripture says he that
believeth is born of God, but I guarantee you this, everybody
that's born of God, believe it. You can't separate those two
things. Because John 1 says this, verse 10, He was in this world,
and the world was made by Him, and the world didn't know Him.
And He came unto His own, His own nation, His own temple, His
own priesthood, and His own received Him not, but as many as received
Him, believed on Him, received Him. To them gave He the privilege,
the right, the power to become the sons of God. even to them
that believe on His name, which were born. They believe on His
name because they were born. Not of blood, that is, not of
family inheritance or natural genealogy, and they weren't born
of the will of the flesh. I heard a preacher just a little
while ago driving. I left home to come to church.
I was driving to the post office to mail some letters and come
here to church, and I turned on the radio The Christian station
and this preacher were saying, God's done everything in His
power to save you, everything in His power to save you, short
of violating your will. And He can't do that. Well, He'd
sure make you willing. And I'll tell you, if He doesn't
make me willing, I'll never be willing. We're not born of the will of
man. You will not come to me, Christ said, that you might have
life. Everybody here is going to hell if he can. We've got
to be stopped. We've got to be arrested. We've
got to be rescued. We've got to be delivered. We've
got to be regenerated. We've got to be raised from the
dead. That's only in God's power, not mine. We're not born of the
will of the flesh nor the will of man. We're born of God. As
many as received Him, as many as believed Him, to them gave
He the right to become sons of God. And they were born of God. He that is born of God believes.
He that believes is born of God. There is no better definition
of this than Romans, the book of Romans. Somebody said one
time, study the book of Romans. Study the book of Romans if you
want to be proficient in the Gospel. Turn to Romans. Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 1 deals with one
thing. The pagan darkness, heathenism,
idolatry, corruption of the Gentiles. That's what Romans 1 deals with.
Read it sometime. It will make you blush. The pagan darkness of the Gentiles. Romans 2. I'll tell you what
Romans 2 deals with. It deals with the pagan darkness
and idolatry of the religious Jews. That's what it deals with. People out of the church didn't
know God and people in the church didn't know God. They were hiding
behind their religion. Look at chapter 2, verse 12. As many as have sinned without
the law shall perish without the law. That's the Gentile.
And as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the
law. That's the Jew. Law can't help us. Religion can't
help us. Now here's the conclusion he
came to in chapter 3, verse 9. What then? Are we better than
they? Is a Jew better than a Gentile?
No. Is a religious man better than a pagan? No. No, in no wise
we have before proved both Jew and Gentile. They're all under
sin. They're all sinners by nature,
by birth, by choice, by practice, guilty before God. As it is written,
there's none righteous, Jew or Gentile, religious or pagan.
No, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They're all together become unprofitable. None that
doeth good, no, not one. And then he goes down through
there describing us. Now look at verse 19. And here's
the way God works in a sinner's heart, bringing him to believe
Christ. Now we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, Jew or Gentile, male
or female, bond or free, old or young, rich or poor, whomever,
They're all under sin, that every mouth may be stopped. I tell
you, before God opens your heart, He'll shut your mouth. That's
right. He'll shut your mind, and all
the world will become guilty before God. This all takes place
at the same time. Now watch this. This is what we realize. Our
mouths are shut, we're guilty. And therefore, verse 20, we realize
this. By the works of the law, by the
deeds of the law, by religious professions, decisions, or serving,
or morality, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. These three words are so important
to have. In his sight. We justify ourselves,
we justify ourselves in the sight of men, but no way can religion,
morality, works justify us in his sight. But the law is not the salvation
from sin or deliverance from sin, but the knowledge of sin.
So we come to this conclusion, now listen. But now, there is
a righteousness. There is a holiness, there is
an acceptance without the law, without religious profession
or duties or deeds or works, because those things won't help
us. They won't help us. It's without the law and it's
manifested, it's revealed, it's even taught and witnessed by
the Old Testament prophets and preachers and teachers, the law
and the prophets. by Moses and Elijah. This is
Moses' message and Elijah's message. This is what the law says and
this is what the prophets say. Verse 22, it is even to the holiness
of God, not his own essential holiness, but that holiness which
is purchased and provided for us in Christ and purposed for
us by God. And it is by the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ. It is by the doing and dying
of Jesus Christ. It's by the obedience of Jesus
Christ. It's by the work of Jesus Christ. And it's unto all and it's upon
everybody that will believe it. Do you believe it? Do you believe
the Gospel? Do you believe Him? Do you believe Him? Now verse
23 says, we've all sinned, come shall the glory of God. But verse
24 says, we're justified just as if we'd never sinned, a holiness,
a righteousness, free! Free! It's free when we receive
it, it's free while we embrace it, and it's free when it's totally
delivered to us and we're made like Christ. It's free! It's
by His grace! I hear these preachers talk about
grace, but they don't mean grace. Grace is all grace. Grace is God giving us what we
don't deserve, isn't it? That's great. Mercy is God not
giving us what we do deserve. And it's through the redemption
that's in Christ. And verse 25 and 26 tells us
that this way of salvation, justifies not only the sinner,
but it justifies God. This is why I love pure grace,
sovereign grace, free grace, all of grace, because it not
only justifies me, but it justifies God. It enables God to be God,
God to be holy, God to be righteous, and God to deal with me in mercy.
It enables. How big is your God? The gospel
I hear preached today, people, it's born of the character of
their God. When they say God's done all
He can do and that's up to you, they mean just that. That's the
character of their God. He's impotent. But this gospel
of God's grace not only justifies the sinner, but it enables God
to be just and justifier. Look at verse 25. Jesus Christ. That's the whom that refers to
there. Jesus Christ, God has set him
forth, foreordained him, revealed him, manifested him to be a propitiation,
a covering, a mercy seat through faith in his blood to declare,
to manifest God's own righteousness, for the remission of sins that
have passed, that is, the Old Testament saints' sins, the people
who lived before Christ came into this world, through the
forbearance or longsuffering of God. God, all those sins back
there that Old Testament saints committed, it wasn't put away,
those sins weren't put away by the blood on the Jewish altars.
Those sins were put away by the blood of Christ. And God's forbearance
and longsuffering waited till the coming of Christ, till that
deed was accomplished, the putting away of sin. And when Christ
died, he not only put away the sins of the people before him,
but the people behind his coming. And all of this is to declare,
I say, at this time, God's holiness, God's righteousness, God's justice. That's what Calvary, not only
reveals God's love and mercy, it reveals God's justice. He
spared not his own son. Christ died at the hands of God.
I know wicked men crucified the Lord of glory, but it pleased
God to bruise him. He punished him for our sins.
He was wounded for our transgressions. Wounded by whom? That's right, by God. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid on Him. And God took the sword of justice
and plunged it into the very bowels of His Son because He
found sin on Him. Our sins. God had to do that
if He's going to be God. That's just so now. You say,
I don't understand that. You're not called, it doesn't
say, do you understand that? It says, do you believe it? I
don't ever see God ever prostituting himself to a sinner by asking
him, do you believe it? I mean, do you understand it? He says, believe it. It's not,
do you understand it? I tell you, one reason we don't
understand strict justice is because we're not strictly just.
It all will come down to this. We believe in justice for the
other fellow. I had a fellow, he got all upset
because somebody's son got in trouble here in church one time,
then his son got in trouble, and that was a white horse of
another color. We believe in strict justice
for everybody else, but Almighty God believes in strict justice
for everybody, even his son. That's right. He's going to have
it too. Alright, then chapter 4 of Romans,
gives that example of faith, Abraham. Now, in verse chapter
4, it says, Now what are we going to say that Abraham, our father,
as pertained to the flesh, hath found? What has he found? Righteousness.
How did he find it? By works? Well, if he were justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. Here
it is. What said the Scripture? Abraham
believed God, believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness.
How is Christ in you? By faith. How is Christ in Abraham? By faith. Abraham is a friend
of God. Why? He believed God. Now the
last part of chapter 4, verse 20 says, And he staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded what God
had promised, God was able to perform. And therefore it was
imputed to him charged him, reckoned him for what? Perfect righteousness. Perfect holiness. Now then, that
wasn't written for his sake alone. It was imputed to him, but for
our sake also. But for us also, to whom righteousness
shall be imputed if we believe. So that's the way that Christ
in you is in you by faith. All right, secondly, there's
a second sense in which these words should be taken. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. And that is that Christ literally
is formed in the soul. And the believer has the mind
of Christ and the heart of Christ and the life of Christ. And there's
a progress and a growth in those things. Now, J.C. Ryle said this one time, talking about growth in grace.
He said, when I speak of growth in grace, I mean an increase in the degree,
in the size, in the strength, in the power, in the vigor of
that grace which the Holy Spirit plants in a believer's heart,
Christ in him. I hold that every one of these
graces, repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, courage, zeal,
love, and the like, They may be great or strong. They may
be strong or weak. They may be vigorous or feeble.
They may vary in the same man, vary greatly in the same man
at different periods of his life. But I'm speaking of the man growing
in grace. And I mean this, that his sense
of sin becomes deeper. His faith becomes stronger. His
hope becomes brighter. His love becomes more extensive. His spiritual mindness becomes
more marked. And he feels as he grows in grace
the power of God in his heart, and he manifests more of that
power and more of that grace in his life. And he goes from
one degree of faith to another, and from strength to strength,
and grace to grace. And I leave it to others to describe
that man's condition in any words they please, but for myself,
the truest, best account of it is he's growing in grace. Christ
is in him, and he's growing in Christ. Growing in the grace
and what? Knowledge of Christ. Now, let me give you these three
things. Give us these three things. The
believer. McShane says he has the mind
of Christ, the heart of Christ, and the life of Christ. Turn
to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Do I have the mind of Christ?
It says here we do. The mind of Christ. It says right
here in 1 Corinthians 2.16, listen, Who hath known the mind of the
Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
We have the mind of Christ. Didn't Paul say in Philippians
2, let this mind also be in you which is in Christ? What's McShane saying, preacher?
Well, he gives us some things right here. He says the believer
has the mind of Christ. He sees sin as Christ sees it. He hates it. He knows it to be evil. He knows
it to be against God. He longs to avoid it. He knows
that sin and sorrow and suffering go together, and He's like His
Lord in the garden. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Here's the mind of Christ. Christ
bore our sins, but He didn't love them. He hated them. We have the mind of Christ. Secondly,
He says the believer has the mind of Christ, and he not only
sees sin as Christ sees it, he sees the gospel as Christ sees
it. He sees the Gospel as essential. Christ said, no man comes to
the Father but by me. The believer knows that. Christ
said, I give unto you rest. The Gospel is free and he knows
it. Christ said, I lay down my life for my sheep and they'll
never perish. The Gospel is complete and the
believer knows it. He knows the Gospel is complete
in Christ. And the gospel glorifies God. And like Christ, the believer
prays, Lord, glorify me that I may glorify you. Then he said the mind of Christ
is in the believer because he sees the world as Christ sees
it. When the Lord said, what shall it profit a man if he gain
the whole world and lose his soul? Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hate you. It hated me before it hated you.
Turn to John 15. Listen to what our Lord says
about the world. Listen to what He says about
the world. John 15, verse 17. John 15, 17. These things I command
you that you love one another. You're a family. You love one
another. You're drawn to one another.
You find fellowship with one another. You don't love the world. What fellowship does darkness
and light have? What fellowship does Baal and
God have? I command you, you love one another.
Verse 18, if the world hate you, and you listen, he uses the word
world here six times. If the world hate you, you know
it hated me before it hated you. If you were of this world, the
world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world
hateth you." Listen, I tell you, our Lord Jesus Christ,
He says this world is going to pass away. This world is under
judgment. This world is under judgment. And He said they are not of the
world and I am not of the world. And then the believer sees time
as Christ sees it. Turn to John 9. I hear people talk about, well,
I'd like to study my Bible more, but I just don't have time. I
hear folks say, and I understand, I understand, I'd attend the services, but
I just don't have the time. I'd go to Bible conferences,
but I just don't have the time. I'd do this, that, and I just
don't have the time. How did our Lord Jesus, what
was His mind toward time? Listen to John chapter 9, verse
4. I must work the works of Him
that sent me while it's day. The night's coming when you're
not going to work. That's his attitude toward time.
Let's see another one, John 17. What his attitude was toward
time. John 17.4, listen. I have glorified
thee on this earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. That's what Paul said before
he left here. He said, the time of my departure is at hand. I
have finished my course. Turn, if you will, to 2 Timothy
4. That's what I was quoting just
then, what Paul said. 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6 and 7. You know, I wonder,
and like I said a while ago, spiritual maturity is us taking
what's preached personally without being offended. I wonder if it wouldn't be wise
for all of us, to get our priorities straight. One time our Lord appeared to
the disciples and Thomas wasn't there. And the disciples ran
and told him, said, that they'd seen the Lord. He said, I don't
believe that. I don't believe that. Why did he not believe that?
He wasn't there. He was somewhere else. I don't know where he was.
It might have been important. But nevertheless, he wasn't there. And I wonder if someday we wish
we'd have been there. We've got 2 Timothy 4, listen
to Paul here. 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, I'm ready
to die, I'm ready to be offered, time of my departure is at hand.
So I've fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I've
kept the faith. Henceforth there's laid up for
me a crown of righteousness. All right, let's go on. Let's
don't get bogged down here. The believer sees time as Christ
does, and then in the next place, he sees eternity as Christ does.
Everything our Lord viewed, everything was viewed as it will appear
in eternity. And everything ought to be valuable
to us as it bears on eternity. He said to his disciples, let
not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me and my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not
so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive
you to myself. Christ in you means I have the mind of Christ.
And as Bishop Ryle said, these things are growing. And I have
the right priorities. I see these things. Let me give
you this quickly. Number two, the heart of Christ.
The believer has the heart of Christ. What do you mean by the
heart of Christ? Well, Max Shane says, I mean
the affections, the love, the hope. Let your affection, your
affection, singular, be set on things above. How is the heart
of Christ in the believer manifested? Well, he loves God. Oh, what
delight the Redeemer had in the Father. I know we can't match
the quantity of His love, but we can match the quality. That
you love God with all your heart, that your heart be not divided,
but God be your first love. Christ said, they said in Revelations,
you left the first love. That's the problem. First love.
The believer has the heart of Christ. And secondly, the believer
not only loves God, but he loves other believers. He loves the
people of God. He loves the people of God. Turn
to 1 John 4. Let's don't rush through this
part right here. The believer loves other believers. 1 John
4, 7. Listen. Beloved, let us love
one another. For love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not
knoweth not God, for God is love. And Christ said, By this shall
all men know you are mine, if you love one another. Love one
another like I loved you. The believer has love for other
believers, like Christ did. And the believer has compassion
on the fallen, like Christ did. Notice our Lord's compassion
for sinners and compassion and mercy toward the weak and the
fallen. And we're commanded by Paul in
Ephesians to forgive one another as God forgave us, for Christ's
sake. Be kind, tender-hearted. When you find yourself getting
crusty and edgy, do something about it. Do something about
it. Let's get a kind demeanor and
a tender, be tender, tender with the way we treat people, the
way we look at people, the way we embrace them, the way we talk
to them, the way we regard them. That's Christ's tenderness. Even when Peter denied him, he
looked at him tenderly, didn't he? Broke his heart. That's the heart of Christ. The
believer has the mind of Christ. I'm not talking about orthodoxy.
I'm talking about the attitude and spirit of our Lord and the
heart of the affection of Christ. And the believer has the life
of Christ. The life of Christ. He has a desire to minister to
others, to give of himself. Christ said, I didn't come to
be ministered until I came to minister. And then turn to 1
John 4. You're there now. Look at verse
17. You're still there at 1 John. Our Lord said in verse John 4,
17, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in
the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. How was He in this world? How
was He? As He is, so are we in this world.
Number one, He's the Son of God. I'm a son of God. He by nature,
I am one by adoption. He's loved of God, so are we. We're loved with an everlasting
love. He's chosen and precious, so are we. He said, you didn't
choose me, I've chosen you. And you're precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints. How is He in this world? Holy and without sin, so are
we. We are a holy nation. How is He in this world? He's
here for a time. So are we. How is he in this
world? He's no longer under judgment.
Sin has been laid on him and paid for and he arose without
sin. And there's no judgment to them
in Christ Jesus. How is he in this world? A man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief. A man of affliction, a man of
trial, a man of trouble, a man persecuted and hated, a man tempted
by Satan, a man forsaken by friends. How is he in this world? He is
exalted. God has given him a name above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow.
And as he's exalted, he said, I will that those which thou
hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory. For the glory which thou gavest
me, I've given them. I've jotted down something here
to close with. I suppose my greatest concern
is not so much accuracy in doctrine, though this is so very important,
but a man can be accurate in doctrine and not be in Christ. And a man can have the soundest,
soundest principles of doctrine in him and not have Christ in
him. But I believe if a man has Christ
in him, that he'll have the doctrine. For Christ in you, that's the
hope of glory. There's no hope in doctrine.
There's hope in Christ. You don't come to Christ through
doctrine. I'll say it again. You come to
doctrine in Christ. Christ in you. All right, Mike,
let's sing a closing hymn.

Christ In You, the Hope of Glory (2)

What does the Bible say about Christ in me?

How do we know that Christ is formed in us?

Why is spiritual maturity important for Christians?

How does faith relate to salvation?

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Christ In You, the Hope of Glory (2)

What does the Bible say about Christ in me?

How do we know that Christ is formed in us?

Why is spiritual maturity important for Christians?

How does faith relate to salvation?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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