In Christ There Is No Sin

I want you to look at 1 John
3, verse 5 again. Look at it carefully. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins. And in him there is no sin. I wonder if it's possible. for
any of us here today to be able to grasp and understand the full
meaning of that short statement. In Christ there is no sin. Now, I know that this is chiefly
declaring the holiness of his life. In him there is no sin. That's what it's chiefly declaring.
It's declaring the holiness of his character. the holiness of
his life. He knew no sin. Christ knew no
sin. Our Lord was tempted in all points
as we are, yet without sin. So the text is chiefly declaring
what Christ is, who Christ is. But my friends, every text that
declares what Christ is, declares what you are, because you are
in Christ. Every text that declares what Christ has, declares what
you have, because you are in Christ. So in Christ, I have
no sin. If in Christ there is no sin,
and I am in Christ, then I have no sin. I have no sin past, present,
nor future. He was manifested to take away
our sin. And in Christ there is no sin. Do you understand what that's
saying? Can you enter into what God is
making known there? God Almighty is saying here through
the lips of his servant Paul that Christ was manifested, revealed,
came to this earth to take away our sins. And now in Christ there
is no sin, no past sin, no present sin, no future sin. In Christ
there is no condemnation. That's what Romans 8.1 declares.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. Sin
brings condemnation. And in Christ, if there's no
sin, then there's no condemnation. If there's sin, there's condemnation,
to offend in one point of the law is to be guilty of the whole
law. If there's one spot of sin, just one mark of sin, or one
taint of sin, or one atom of sin, there's got to be condemnation. But in Christ, since there's
no sin, then there's no condemnation. And then in Christ, if there's
no sin, there's no death. Christ said, he that liveth and
believeth on me shall never die. Oh, we shall sleep, our bodies
shall be changed, but we're not going to die. We have eternal
life. The wages of sin is death. The
sting of death is sin. So if the sin is gone, there's
no death and there's no sting. In Christ, there's no curse.
He was manifested to deliver us from the curse of the law,
and being in Christ, then there is no curse. The law has no curse
for the believer. The judgment and curse of the
law is upon the unbeliever. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on me,
on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall never come into
judgment. So in Christ, if there is no
sin, there is no judgment. My, what a verse of scripture.
And you know this, believers know this, that Jesus Christ
was manifested to take away sin. The church can't take away sin.
The waters of baptism can't take away sin. Good works cannot take
away sin. The bread and wine cannot take
away sin. He was manifested to take away
sin. And since he came to take away
sin, and since he accomplished what he came to do, for he said,
it's finished, then he took sin away. And in him there is no
sin. And if I'm in Christ, I don't
have any sin, past, present, or future. And since I have no
sin, I do not fear condemnation, I do not fear judgment, I do
not fear the curse of the law, I do not fear death. I don't
see how anyone can not be interested in such a promise. I don't see
why people leave this well of living water and go to the broken
cisterns, the dried, parched, insect-infested cisterns of worldly
religion to find a little help and a little hope when it's all
right here. How can you not be interested in that? I'll tell
you, if I didn't know anything at all about God's Word or about
the Bible, about Christ, about eternal life, that would catch
my eye. He was manifested to take away our sin. And in him
there is no sin. Blessed is the man to whom God
will not charge sin. The Bible doesn't say blessed
is the strong man. That's what we say. We've got
all these fellows, you know, blessed is the thin man. No,
we all want to lose weight. Blessed is the thin man, blessed
is the rich man, we all want to get rich. Blessed is the retired
man, he doesn't have to get up and go to work, 3 to 11, 7 to
3, 11 to 7. Blessed is this. The Bible said
blessed, happy is the man to whom God will not charge sin.
If he's blind in both eyes, blessed is that man. If he's got patches
on his pants, if he's old and feeble, If he doesn't have a
dime to his name, blessed is the man to whom God will not
charge sin. Now, my sins are ever before
me, they ought to be. And my sins may be obvious to
you. But if I'm in Christ, in God's sight, I have no sin. I
am justified in his sight. And God will not charge me with
sin if I'm in Christ. In Christ there is no sin. My
sins, O the bliss of that glorious thought, think of it, my sins
not in part, this is what the religion is preaches, my sins
not in part, but the whole, are nailed to the cross, and I bear
them no more. It is well, praise the Lord,
it is well with my soul, I have no sins. Now, I have five divisions
to this message this morning. I think you'll be interested
in each one of them. We're going to go back to verse 1 and come
right down to this text. Five divisions. Here they are.
First of all, a cause for wonder. Secondly, a cause for rejoicing. Now are we sons of God. Number
three, a cause for hope. This hope, there is a hope. There
is a hope. assure hope, assures the throne
of God. And fourthly, a cause for concern,
sin, the transgression of God's law. And in the fifth place,
a cause for confidence, a cause for assurance. That's the point.
Let's go back to verse 1 of chapter 3. John says, Behold, look with
wonder what manner of love The Father hath bestowed upon
us, sons of Adam, partakers of Adam's nature, guilty of the
fall, that we should be called the sons of God. Now, John lived
with wonders. His whole life, from the time
of his conversion to the Isle of Patmos, was one wonder after
another. John beheld a wonder of incarnation. The word he wrote was made flesh
and dwelt among us. And we beheld, behold, we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
John's life was a life of wonders. He saw the Lord. He saw the Lord. He said, I held him, I heard
him, I saw him, and my hands have handled the word of truth.
What a wonder. And then John was present on
the Mount of Transfiguration. You remember when our Lord went
up to talk with the Father? And Moses and Elijah appeared
with him, and the light and glory of God shone about them. John
saw that. He saw the wonder of transfiguration. He saw the glory of Christ on
that mountain. And then John saw the cross.
He was standing right there when our Lord died. When our Lord
stretched forth his hands and received the nails and the spear,
John was a witness, because our Lord said to John, You take Mary
home with you. You be a son to her. She'll be
a mother to you. That's John he's talking to.
John beheld the wonder of the cross when our Lord cried, My
God, why hast thou forsaken me when the sun wouldn't shine and
darkness was upon the earth and the rocks broke open and the dead came
forth. John was a witness of the resurrection.
the wonder of the resurrection when he appeared to the disciples
while they were in the upper room, John was there, and he
said, Behold, it is I myself, touch me and see. But this right
here, our text, is another, to John, another wonder. Behold,
look with wonder what manner of love, what manner of love,
what a marvel of God's grace, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed on us that we should be called sons of God. Oh, what
a wonder that Jesus loved me. I can think of a thousand reasons
why he shouldn't. Out in the darkness, no light
could I see. Oh, what a wonder he put his
great arms under, and wonder of wonders, he saved even me."
That's what John said. Behold, look with wonder what
manner of love And God committed his love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He saw nothing lovely
about us or in us. God loved us because he would,
that we should be called the sons of God. Now, men take upon
themselves great titles. Everybody likes a title. But
it's quite another thing for that title to be true. And here
this title is true. John says, what manner of love,
what a wonder that God should love us and we should be called,
we should be called sons of God. A son of God. Who calls us sons of God? Now,
we say we're sons of God. Who calls us sons of God? Do
we just take that title on ourselves? Do we just say, I'm a son of
God? No, the Father calls us sons of God. He says, I'll be
a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says
the Lord God Almighty. He calls us sons of God. And
then the Lord Jesus calls us sons of God. He said, when you
pray, you say, our Father. Then on another occasion he said,
I go to my father and your father. The Holy Spirit calls us sons
of God. We have received the spirit of
adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father, and then turn to Galatians
4. I want you to read this, Galatians 4, verses 5 and 6. The Holy Spirit calls us sons
of God. Galatians 4, verses 5 and 6 says,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Father, Father." The holy angels call us sons of God. Scripture
says they are They are ministering spirits sent forth to minister
for them who shall be heirs of salvation, heirs of God, joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. An heir is a son. And then our
trials and chastenings call us sons of God. He said if you endure
chastening, God dealeth with you as sons. Look with wonder. This is cause for wonder. This
is not cause for Indifference, this is cause for wonder. Look
with wonder, behold what manner of love. It's infinite love,
it's eternal love, it's immutable love, it's undeserved love. What manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon fallen creatures, sons of Adam. And he took not
himself the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, that
we, that we of all people, of all creatures should be called
the sons of God. Sons of God. All right, the second
thing, look at verse 2. Here's a cause for rejoicing.
Beloved, now are we sons of God. This is not just a future promise,
now are we sons of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we're going
to be like him. But we shall see him as he is.
There are three words in this verse that are very prominent,
three words. I want you to look at them. The
words are now, the word yet, and the word when. He says, Beloved,
right now, we're sons of God. Right now, right this moment,
it's not something that death shall bring us, it's not something
that we shall realize in the future. Right this minute, he
that believeth on Christ hath everlasting life. Right now,
with sons of God. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life. Now, no
condemnation to them who are in Christ. John says we have
already passed from death unto life. Faith is now. We believe
that thou art the Christ right now. These things are written
to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may
know that you have everlasting life. The new birth is now. We
are born of God. The duties and enjoyments of
salvation are now, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new
creature, right now we are sons of God. Now, watch that next
little word. We are right now sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. You know why? This is neither the time nor
the place for God to reveal what we shall be. This is neither
the time nor the place. This is not God's place and this
is not God's time for him to reveal what we shall be. Actually, the scripture says
it has not entered the heart of man, the thing God has prepared
for them that love him. The natural eye hath not seen,
the natural ear hath not heard, neither hath it entered the heart
of man the things God has prepared for them that love him." What
I'm going to be, no one here yet can realize. Even I can't
realize it except in picture, or type, or promise, or prophecy,
or as I look at the Word. But what I'm going to be, it
doth not yet appear. Turn to Galatians 4.1 again.
Let me show you something. In Galatians 4.1, He says here
that the heir, the son. Now, I say that the heir, as
long as he is a child, he differs nothing from a servant, though
he be Lord of all. Here is a little boy in the house.
He is the heir of everything his daddy has. His daddy is a
king, a prince, a man of great power, a man of great authority. a man of great holdings. This
boy is the heir. He's the Lord. He's the heir,
but he's a child. And he's kept under a tutor,
and he's kept under a governess. Actually, he's no better than
a servant. Actually, the servants fare better
than him, because servants never get a whipping. The daddy never
whips a servant, but he lays the rod on that boy. But that
boy is Lord of all. What is he going to be? He is
his daddy's son. It does not yet appear what he
is going to be, but when he is a man, he is going to be heir
of the whole thing. He is going to be Lord of all.
And though he is now Lord of all, it does not yet appear what
he shall be. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he
was here on the earth, when the Master was in human form, what
he was, was concealed and hidden from human view. And what we
expect to be, the world does not know. The world doesn't know
us. He said back here in verse 1, the world doesn't know you.
It didn't know him. The world does not recognize
in you lords. That's right, kings and priests
under God. It does not yet appear what you
shall be. Beloved, now I'm a son of God. Right now it doesn't appear to
you to the world especially, or even to me, what I shall be.
But, oh, look at the next word, when, when, when, when he shall
appear. And he shall appear, this same
Jesus which is taken up from you shall so come in like manner. I'm not going to start setting
dates. I don't know. Nobody else knows.
And the man who says he does know, knows less. when Christ
will come. Our Lord said nobody, not even
the angels of God know, only the Father. But Christ is coming.
This world had a beginning, it will have an end. God began his
purpose, his divine purpose in redemption, and he will draw
it to a close. And Christ will come. And when he does, we are
going to be just like him, just like him in body, just like him
in holiness, Now we know in part, then I shall know as I'm known,
now we see through a glass dimly, then face to face, like him in
happiness and a joint heir with him, for I shall be like him
in his inheritance." When? When? Oh, look with wonder that
I should be called a son of God, not because of any contribution
I've made, because of God's grace, God's mercy, God's love. what
a cause for wonder, but what a cause for rejoicing right now,
I'm a son of God, right now. It doesn't yet appear what I'll
be, but when, and when the wind comes, and when the wind takes
place, when he comes with the voice of God, with the shout
of the archangel, with the trumpet of God and the clouds roll back,
when he We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
and we shall all be caught up together with them to meet the
Lord in there. So shall we ever be. A cause for hope, verse 3. And every man that hath this
hope, what is the hope here? Well, I know a lot of people
say this hope is the return of the Lord, but he's talking about
something else here. This hope here is to be like
Christ. That's what this hope is. Sons
of God, heirs of righteousness, now the Son of God, the mercy
of God, a recipient of the mercy of God, a man that has that hope
in him, that when Christ comes, he's going to be like Christ,
in body, in holiness, in happiness, in inheritance. If he has that
hope in him, then that hope will sanctify
him. It will sanctify him. Turn to 2 Corinthians 7, verse
1. If he has that kind of hope in
him, it will sanctify him. 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1. Listen to this. Having, therefore,
these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from
all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness
in the fear of God. A man who has that kind of hope,
he's a son of God. He just carries himself with
a different bearing. He carries himself with a different
spirit and attitude. He rises above the common flesh. He's a son of God. He's a child
of the King. a child of the King. He's an
heir of all that God has, and it purifies him. It makes him
have a different attitude and spirit. He conducts himself like
a son of God. And then it gives boldness to
men. Look at 2 Corinthians 3. Go back
a few pages, 2 Corinthians 3, verse 12. Paul, writing here,
says, seeing that we have such hope We use plainness of speech. We don't have to disguise our
motives. We've got a true motive. We don't have to disguise our
intentions. We're not trying to deceive anybody.
We're not trying to sell anybody a bill of goods. We use plainness
of speech. If you have this hope in you,
you'll be like Christ. Use plainness of speech. And
then this hope brings happiness. Turn to Psalm 146. Psalm 146,
verse 5, tells us that this blessed hope brings happiness. Psalm
146, verse 5, listen, happy is the man, is he that hath the
God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. That man is happy, whose hope
is in the Lord. And then this hope gives assurance, Christ
in you, that's the hope of glory. And then this hope puts the world
and all its vanities in a proper place. Turn to Romans 8. I want
you to look at this one, Romans 8. Here's what I'm saying. I'm
not saying the man who has religion. I'm saying the man who has this
hope, that he's going to be like Christ, that he's a son of God,
that he's not just a professor of religion, he's not just a
Baptist or a Catholic or a Methodist. He's not just a pilgrim, he's
a son of God. He's going to be like Christ.
He's going to be an heir of God. He's now a recipient of a special,
a special grace and mercy. He's been redeemed, he's a son
of God. If he has that hope in him, it sanctifies him. purifies him and gives boldness
to him, gives him boldness. He speaks with authority. It
gives him happiness and assurance, but it puts the world in its
proper place. Look at Romans 8, 17. If we are
children of God, sons of God, children of God, then we are
heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, the discomforts
and inconveniences and infirmities, or whatever they are, are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. There is nothing here. And a man who knows what he has
in Christ knows there is nothing here. And these things are put
in their proper place. They have a place, and that's
where they're put. They deserve some kind of attention,
but not all attention. They deserve some kind of care,
but not anxious care. They deserve some kind of contribution, but not the contribution
of myself. I'm bound for a city. I'm a citizen
of a kingdom. I'm a son of God." And he puts
these things in their proper place, these attachments and
relationships and so forth, important in their place, but not in his
place. And then the fourth thing, look
back at our text, 1 John 3. We're not talking about becoming
hermits now, and Christ didn't intend for us to. He said, you're
the light of the world. I've got a little article there
that John Newton wrote in the back of the bulletin, the last
line says a hermit. who has departed from the world
and from people, isolated himself from people, and sitting up somewhere
in a cave to protect his piety and his holiness, is a candle
in an empty room. No good. You are the salt of
the earth, and God means for you to, Christ said, I don't
pray that you take my people out of the world, but you shall
deliver them from the world, from the evil one. But God means
for us to do our work. He said a man who won't work,
don't let him eat. He means for us to make a contribution to
our communities. And he says a man that won't
take care of his own family is worse than an infidel. That's
right. Man won't provide for his own
worse than an infidel. There's no religion to this thing
of going off somewhere and wearing a long black robe and a silly
looking hat, sock on top of your head and folding your arms and
looking pious. That's not of God. But the world is in its proper
place if we have the hope that we're sons of God, we're citizens
of his kingdom, we bow to his Lordship. And this relationship
with Christ purifies us even in a world of evil and envy and
covetousness and greed and idolatry. And it sanctifies us and gives
us boldness before men and God. We come boldly before the throne
of grace, having a high priest. And with men we use plainness
of speech, not hardness of heart, but plainness of speech. You
can speak plainly and speak kindly. It brings happiness. I'm not
resting in myself. If I were, I couldn't be happy.
There's nothing in myself. I'm trusting my own works. I
wouldn't be happy. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing, but in Christ I'm happy. I have a hope in Christ. Here's a cause for concern. Look
at verse 4. Whosoever committed sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is a transgression of the law. And somebody sitting
out there this morning, a realist, an honest man, there's an honest
man and an honest woman sitting out there somewhere this morning,
and they're listening to me. And they said, Preacher, you
started this message off saying that you have no sin past, present,
and future. You started this message off
this morning talking about what a wonder that God should love
me. a creature like me, and I should
be called a son of God. And Preacher, you talk about
right now being a son of God, and right now, right this minute,
a son of God! And having a hope in you that
causes you to engage in self-purification by God's grace and godliness
and righteousness. But Preacher, I'm a sinner! I'm a sinner, and I know it.
And day by day I sin. I don't like it, I don't want
to. But when I will do good, I find evils present with me.
That which I would do, I do not, and that which I would not do,
I do. Sinning comes easy for me, a whole lot easier than holiness.
That's that honest man sitting out there talking, that honest
woman. They're hard to find, you know that. Everybody I know
is good. Woman says, My husband's a good
man. He just hates God, but he's good.
Preacher, pray for my little boy. He's a good boy, except
when he's drunk. But that honest man out there
says, I'm a sinner. And Preacher, I've got some kind
of understanding of what sin is. Sin is a transgression against
God. That's what sin is. Sin is walking
on God's property, God's posted property. Sin violating God's
commandments. That's what the honest man knows.
David said that. David said, "...against thee
have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." An honest
man's view of sin is that it's a transgression of God's law.
That's what he's saying here. Whosoever committed sin transgressed
God's law. The average person today. Now,
here's his conception of sin. His conception of sin is that
it's a wrong act against somebody on this earth. His conception
of sin is that the intensity of it, the great evil of it,
is the result of it, the consequences. But did you know that the consequences
or results of sin have nothing to do with the evil of sin? In other words, here's a railroad
brakeman, and he's half asleep. He's not paying attention to
what he's doing. He goes out here and throws a switch, you know,
and walks on. Here comes a passenger train loaded with 300 people.
And they hit that crossing and go down an incline and kill all
300 of them. My goodness alive. He'll just
lose his mind. He'll walk the floor at night.
What did I do? What did I do? What did I do?
Well, suppose that didn't happen, but the same brakeman came along
and carelessly and differently threw a switch and the train
came and for some reason it stopped and didn't go off the bank. It
stopped. And he looked and saw the switch and went over and
pushed it back. Nothing happened. Is he guiltless? Think about
that a minute. It's the same, he did the same
thing. The consequences of it, in this
case, were greater than this. But he's still guilty of throwing
the wrong switch. And what I'm saying is this, we judge, sin
is never to be judged. By the result of it, sin is always
judged being against God. This is what the Pharisee said.
He said, Thou shalt not kill. But Christ said, I say unto you,
to hate in your heart is to be guilty already of murder already of murder. Thou shalt
not commit adultery, the Pharisee said. Christ said to think this
in your hearts, to be guilty already of adultery. You know
when the scripture says, Abraham sacrificed Isaac? No, he didn't. He was commanded to, but he didn't. Yes, he did. He did. In his heart he did. In his heart
he did. He went to that mountain three
days' journey. In his heart, Cecil, he had already
sacrificed Isaac. And when he took him off of that
altar, he received him from the dead. He had already committed
it in his heart. That's how God said, I know you
love me now. God didn't have to weigh Labraham,
front and back, and his son to prove his love for him. He lifted
his son off the altar and God said, I know you love me. How
do you know, Lord? He didn't do what you said. Yes, he did. He did
it in his heart. And this thing of hate and bigotry
and prejudice and greed and lust and malice and envy and all of
these things, this is evil of the heart. What we would be if
all of the restraints were taken off, what would we be? Somebody said, that's a good
line. Yeah, he is, as long as he's in that cage, as long as
those bars surround him, he's a good line. He won't hurt anybody. But you move the bars. You move
the restraints, you move those things that hold him in, remove
reputation and character and community opinion and influence
and all of these things, and God's restraining grace, see
what a devil you've got on your hands. Give him supreme authority
and supreme power, give him control over people, you'll find out
how evil he is. So this thing of sin, This is
the honest man who faces this. I'm not what I could be. I'm
not what I would be. I'm not what potentially I might
be, by God's grace. But I'm a sinner. So what am
I going to do about it? Well, here's a cause for rejoicing,
a cause for confidence, a cause for assurance. that he was manifested,
he was revealed, to take away our sins. To take away our sins. And in him is no sin. Let me
give you an outline and I'll close. Turn to Hebrews 9. Christ was manifested to take
away our sins. Our Lord came down here in human
flesh. Look at Hebrews 9.26. It says
the last line, once in the end of the world, in the last days,
Hebrews 9, verse 26, the last line, "...hath he appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." He came down here in human flesh,
bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and kept this holy law
that I haven't kept, that I wish I could, but I can't, this holy,
immaculate, immutable law of God, this perfect law of God.
He went to the cross, and under God's judgment and wrath, he
became sin. He was made sin for me. He who
knew no sin was made sin. And God's judgment and wrath
and condemnation was poured upon Christ for every one of my evil
thoughts and evil deeds and evil imaginations and evil words and
evil acts. Christ, by the sacrifice of himself,
put away my sin. He appeared for that purpose.
Look at verse 24. And it says right now, Christ
is not entered into the holy place, Moses' tabernacle made
with hands, which are pictures, types of the truth. Christ is
entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God for us. He intercedes for me right now.
My prayers, my worship, I'd like to worship God, wouldn't you?
I mean really, honestly, totally, with all my heart, worship God. Never been able to do that. And
don't expect on this earth I ever will be able to. But what attempt
I make at worship, my Lord makes it holy. He makes it perfect,
as he intercedes for me. My high priest, he takes my offering,
my sacrifice of praise, or whatever it is, faith, and when he hands
it to the Father, it's pure as he is. It's his own work. I'd like to love God with all
my heart. I sure wish I could. And I do,
in Christ. I'd like to love you as I love
myself. Wouldn't that be great? But I
don't. I wish I did. I wish I could
say, I hope you don't get sick, I hope I get sick instead. I
hope you don't lose everything, I hope I lose everything, and
you gain everything. But that's hard to say. And if
I loved you as I loved myself, I could say that. But you see,
God demands perfection. He doesn't demand that I love
you as best I can. He says, Love your neighbors
as yourself. And as I come before God with
my imperfect attempt at love, now somebody's got to get it
right before it gets to God, the Father. And Christ does.
He makes it holy. When I'm in him, when the Father
looks on the Son, he sees me with perfect love. Now, I look
at verse 28. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sin of many, and to them that looked upon him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." He appeared
on this earth to take away sin. He appears right now in the presence
of God, the Father. And one day he shall appear.
And when he does, that's when I'm going through a transformation
that you won't believe. It does not yet appear what I
shall be. But oh, when he shall appear, I'm going to be like
him. What a change, what a change. And he that hath this hope in
him, it gives him happiness and joy and contentment. Behold what
wondrous grace the Father hath bestowed on sinners of a mortal
race to call them sons of God. Brethren, that's my hope. I don't
know why anybody wants to preach anything else. Why we want to
preach, come to church and God will love you, give you tithe
and God will bless you, have faith and God will heal you,
do this, that and the other and God will do something else. I
just stand and say what wonderful love. The Father hath bestowed
on us freely by his grace that we should be called sons of God.
Right now! And it does not yet appear what
I'm going to be, but when he comes and you'll see what I'm
going to be, and he that hath this kind of hope in him, It
motivates him, it constrains him. If he has that hope, it
will constrain him, it will motivate him, it will restrain him. But
wait a minute now. Sin is a transgression of God's
holy law. Sin is against God. It's not
against man, it's against God. And determined not by the result
or the consequence of the fact that I got caught, but determined
by the fact that I even had the thought. Well, thank God he was
manifested. He came down here to do for me
what I can't do for myself, to take away my sin. And he didn't
take them away by magic or by drinking something or plunging
beneath some water or eating a wafer or going through the
mumbo-jumbo of some religion or paying off a preacher and
giving tithes and offerings or attending church and crossing
myself, he appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And in him there is no sin. If
you can get in Christ, you'll have no sin. If you can Ask God the Father by his mercy
through his Spirit to give you the knowledge of Christ. And
it's open to anybody who wants it, whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life. It's there. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You want it? Call on
God. It's not down here, though. It's
not down here. It's in his hand. And he's willing
to give it. Do you want it? The grace and
mercy of God is in his hand. I do, desperately. Paul said,
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. This
answers my need. This makes this thing of religion
between me and God, not between me and a community or a people
or always trying to please somebody or influence somebody or care
what folks think. This is between me and God. Christ in me, the hope of glory.
I in him and him in me, dwelling in the vine. Our Father in Heaven,
we are Sodom. We follow tradition and custom
and ceremony and all these things that we know God is not pleased
with, the Lord rejected on the part of the Jews. He said, I'll
not hear you when you raise your hands, when you go through all
of your ceremonies and your burnt offerings and your incense abomination
to me. Learn something about judgment
and mercy and truth. Lord, we want to learn. Be our
teacher. We want to properly instruct
people in the way of God, in the life of Christ. Give us thy
spirit. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. All these things I count but
dumb, but rubbish. that I may weigh in Christ and
be found in him, not having my own righteousness which is of
the flesh, but the righteousness of God in Christ. God do something
for us here. We pray it for Christ's sake,
in his name, amen.

In Christ There Is No Sin

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In Christ There Is No Sin

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