1 John chapter 3 verses 1 through
3. 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 because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. As I began considering this passage
of scripture this past week, I looked first at that word,
behold. Behold. And I thought about two
other verses which began with that word. The one we read just
a few minutes ago in Isaiah chapter 42. Behold, my servant, whom
I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. And also
the words of the father of John the Baptist, Behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sins of the world. But in those
two cases, this is what I found, in those two cases the word is
more like lo, behold. But not so here in 1 John chapter
3. This word which is translated
behold, John used it in this first epistle 17 times. And the majority of those times
that he used it, it is translated by the word to know. A form of the word to know. One time by the word see. It's the same word that is used
in John chapter 3 and verse 3 when the Lord Jesus Christ said, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. He cannot know. He cannot perceive
the kingdom of God. And so, as I looked at these
verses, I thought, this is the way I'll deal with them tonight. I want us to look at three truths. Three truths that we know. that we behold, that we see. First, we should know the manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us. The manner of the love. This love is not that sentimental
love that passes so often today in our world. But there are some
things about this love that I would like to bring out that we might
know. Three things especially. What
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. First, we know
that His love is undeserved love. There's nothing in the very best
of men to deserve God's love. You don't deserve God's love.
I don't deserve God's love. We could never deserve God's
love. The psalmist David confessed,
Behold, thou hast made my days as a hand breath. That was a
unit of measurement, a hand breath. just as wide as your hand. That's
our days. That's our life in this world.
It's compared to a hand breath. It's compared to a shadow of
vapor that appears for a little while, and then it vanishes away. David said, Behold, thou hast
made my days as a hand breath, and mine age as nothing before
thee. If you live to be 70, isn't that
what the scripture says, and some go beyond it by reason of
strength, 80, that's a long life, the way we think. But it's nothing. It's nothing. It's nothing with
God. Nothing before thee. My age is
nothing before thee. You live like that man I mentioned
a few weeks ago in the message, Luke Sharpe. Remember him? He lived 116 years. We say, boy,
that's a long life. No, not in comparison. That's all relative, isn't it?
That's all relative. David said, Behold, thou hast
made my days as a handbreadth, and mine age as nothing before
thee. Our age is nothing before Him
who is eternal. who is without beginning and
without end. But notice the next thing he
said, Verily, or truly, every man, every man at his best state
is altogether vanity. You know what the word vanity
means? It means emptiness, doesn't it? Lightness, nothingness. man at his best state, all men
at our best state, we are all together vanity, emptiness. By nature the word vanity means
emptiness and by nature we are all empty of goodness. There's
none good, no not one. The scripture says they are together
become unprofitable. God commendeth His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So that's the first thing. When
we behold the love of God, we recognize if God loves me, if
God loves you tonight, it is undeserved. You didn't do anything
to deserve. You couldn't do anything to deserve
God's love. That's true of all men. were
altogether become unprofitable. The second thing, we know that
his love is unchanging. It's unchanging. The Spirit of
God put these words into a false prophet's mouth. That false prophet,
of course, was named Balaam. And remember, God put these words
in his mouth. But this is what he said, God
is not a man that he should lie. He's not a man that he should
lie, that he should change, neither the son of man that he should
repent. The fact that God's love is undeserved
and that it is unchanging is a great comfort to God's children,
a great comfort to God's people. We did nothing to deserve God's
love. We did nothing to deserve God's
love, and there is nothing we can do to forfeit God's love. God's love is undeserved, and
it is unchanging. Now, when we make a statement
like that, some people always say, well, that's a dangerous,
that's a dangerous statement. To tell people that we did nothing
to deserve God's love and we can do nothing to forfeit God's
love, that's a dangerous statement. No, it's really not. It's really
not. Not to God's children. It'd be
like a man telling his wife, honey, I love you. I love you
with all of my heart. And I'm going to love you as
long as I'm in this world. There's nothing you could ever
do that would change my love for you. And she says, well,
good. That means I can be unfaithful.
I can be unfaithful. He's never going to change. No,
no. When he expresses his love for his wife, that makes her
love him more, right? Appreciate him more. And when
we hear and know That God loves us with an undeserved love and
an unchanging love. It makes us, it causes us to
love Him more. To desire to live for Him in
such a way that we would never do anything that would dishonor
Him. It's a comfort to God's children. I was thinking about Peter this
past week. I know we use Peter quite often
as an example, but truly what an example of God's love. A disciple of the Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ, and yet with curses he denied that he even knew the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, did
that forfeit God's love? Not at least, not at all. In fact, when the Lord Jesus
Christ told him, Peter, before the cock crows twice, you will
have denied me three times. And when that rooster crowed
after that third denial, the scripture says that the Lord
Jesus looked on Peter And Peter went out and wept bitterly. He repented. And when the Lord
arose, remember he sent word by the women, go tell my disciples
and Peter. Don't leave Peter out. He may
think, he may think by his actions that he has somehow forfeited
my love for him. But you tell Peter, I'm going
to meet you in Galilee. God's love is undeserved. It's unchanging. And number three,
God's love is all-prevailing. Seeing that his love is eternal,
and it is, for we read, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, this means that when we sinned and fell in our father
Adam, rather than him stop loving us, his all-prevailing love overcame
every obstacle, overcomes every obstacle that would keep us from
him. Let me say that again, saying
His love is eternal and unchanging. When we fail in our federal head,
Adam, and we all fail, that did not stop Him from loving us and
overcoming every obstacle that would keep us from Him. That
one obstacle was our sin. was our sin. But by His all-prevailing
love, God gave His Son to redeem us from the curse of sin, from
the penalty of sin, which is death. For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So first
of all from this passage of Scripture, We know, we know the love of
God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us. Second, we should know our relationship
with God. Notice verse 2. Now are we the
sons of God. Now are we, not next week, Not
a year from now. Now are we the sons of God. You know there are some people
who believe that a person cannot know his relationship to God. Some people say that until we
stand in the judgment, we cannot know our relationship with God. But that's not what John said.
That's not what the Word of God says. He says now are we the
sons of God. Some will go so far as to say,
well, I hope that I'm a son of God. I trust that I'm a son of
God. I venture to pray that I'm a
son of God. That's not what John said. John
said, now are we the sons of God. We should know that. Now. Now. Therefore, now there's no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now we are the sons of
God. God's sons, you and I, those
of us who know Him tonight, we are His sons both by adoption
and by regeneration. Among men, adoption is a legal
matter. It's a legal matter. And this
gives the person who is adopted the name of the one who adopts
him. Well, we too are his children
by adoption. There is a legal aspect to this.
Let me show you in Ephesians chapter 1. Very familiar passage
of scripture to all of us here tonight, but in Ephesians chapter
1, beginning with verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Now notice, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself. according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Adoption is a legal
matter, and God has adopted us. He has made us His sons by adoption. And that's all. That's all that
men can do. In this matter of making someone
their son or someone their daughter, this is all men can do, legally
can adopt. Giving them their name, giving
them their fortune, if they have a fortune or whatever. But one
thing they can't do in legal adoption, they cannot
give that one being adopted their nature. They can't do that. God does. See, we are His sons,
not only by adoption, but also by regeneration. By regeneration. That's what the Apostle Peter
tells us. Now here's some things for us
to consider as we look at this question. Am I a son of God?
I said, the Apostle said, rather, that now are we the sons of God? We should know that we are the
sons of God. Am I a son of God? Well, here's
some things to consider. First of all, do I truly believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ? Look with me in 1 John 5 and
verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Have I been born of God? Have
I been regenerated? Do you believe that Jesus is
the Son of God? I mean, there's no way when God
reveals this truth to you. Just like Peter said, We believe
and are sure thou art the Christ, the Son of God, and thou hast
the words of eternal life. In John chapter 1, the Scripture
says, 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. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God? If you don't, well you have no
reason to believe or hope or think that you are a child of
God. All of God's children believe that Jesus is the Christ. He's
the Messiah. He's the one. He's the only one
that God sent into this world to save His people. He's the
one that God has sealed, anointed, chosen, set forth to save His
people. No question, no doubt about that. Number two, do I have some measure
of the nature of God? This is what I meant a few minutes
ago when I said Peter mentions this in 2 Peter chapter 1 and
verse 4. He says, whereby are given unto
us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might
be partakers of the divine nature. Now that doesn't mean the divine
essence of God is divided up and placed in all the various
children of God. No, not at all. But it does mean
that His image is stamped upon us, those who believe in Christ. Do I have some measure of the
nature of God? God is spirit. Am I spiritual? Have I become spiritual? Do I
have a love for the things of the Spirit of God, the things
of God? Do I love holiness? God's holy. Do I seek to be kind and tender-hearted? Anyone, now listen, anyone, and
when we look at these things, I know all of us, at least for
myself, always say, well, I come up short. I come up short. But listen, a person who has
none of these traits, He has no reason to believe he's a son
of God. Families have family traits.
Someone told me the other day about a man in this congregation.
I won't embarrass him by mentioning him, but they said, you know,
he acts just like his brother. He said, I can see his brother
in him. I said, yes, and I can see both him and his brother
and his dad. They're family traits. That's
just so. That's just so. And God's family,
they're family traits. Number three, do I have love
for God as my father? Any child who has a good and
a kind father and doesn't love him is unworthy of the name son. Any son, any son who has a kind
and a good father and that son doesn't love him is unworthy
of the name son. God is good and kind in all things
and his children love him. Our one lament is that we do
not love Him more. And I've noticed this over the
years when God's children suffer, and they do, we do, at times
there's trials and afflictions, that God's children never asked,
why me? They never asked, why me? Why
has this happened to me? They just don't say that. But
what they do They look for everything that they've experienced to give
thanks for. Even in the trial, they see the
hand of God and good things that God has done. Why? Because God
is good and He's kind to His children. And God's children
love God as their Father. Not just love Him as God, they
love Him as their Father. Number four, do I trust God as
my Father to supply my needs? You know, one of the beautiful
things about children to me is their absolute trust in their
father or in their mother. Their absolute trust in their
father and mother. They don't worry about what they
will eat, what they will wear, where they shall live. They have
a father who takes care of all of those things. You might remember
a story I've told before, but in the orphanage there in London,
that Charles Spurgeon and his congregation had. At one time,
a question, a meeting of the men, a question came up, what
does an orphan need? And someone said, well, they
need food. Well, they need clothes. Well, they need education. And
one person said, they need a mother. If they have a mother, they'll
have the food and the clothes and education. And the same thing
about the father. I know a man who told me that
he grew up in a place, he said, I know what it is to come home
from school and see all of our furniture stacked out there on
the street. Father had abandoned them, and the mother, single
mother, was put out of the apartment. That's not the kind of father
God is, is it? He's a father who cares for his
children, who supplies our needs. In fact, when I said that about
children always trusting their parents, some people might say,
well, that's ignorance. That's ignorance on their part.
To which I say, God, help me to be ignorant. Help me to be
ignorant. Help me to trust my Father, my
Heavenly Father. He's going to meet every need.
The Lord Jesus said, Therefore take no thought, saying, What
shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? Your Heavenly Father, now listen
to this, Your Heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of
all these things. And isn't it amazing in that
passage of Scripture, in that context there where the Lord
tells us that our Father knows what we have need of, but at
the same time He tells us to ask. Ask. If you have need of something,
your Father knows, but He wants you to ask for it. And when he
supplies that need, then your heart is filled with thanksgiving
and praise unto God. Now here's the last thing. We
should know what manner of love, we should know our relationship
with God. We should know that Christ shall
appear and we will be like Him. Here are two reasons I want to
give us as to why tonight, as we sit here, 2016, that we know,
we should know, that Christ is going to appear again. The first
reason I say this is because He appeared the first time. Hebrews,
look over here in Hebrews chapter 9. He appeared the first time, verse 26, The writer says, for then, Hebrews
9 and verse 26, for then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. Through all those years from
Adam and Adam on, the message always was, he shall appear. He shall appear. When God told
Satan in Adam's hearing, the seed of the woman will bruise
the head of the serpent, what was he saying? He shall appear.
When he told Abraham, in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed, what was he saying? He shall appear. Yes,
over all of those years, they had the promise, He shall appear,
and He appeared. He appeared. And He appeared
in relationship to sin, to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. Now, if He's put sin away, it's
put away. It's put away. It's put in a
place, my friends, where it can never be found again. It'll never
be mentioned against God's children. And we should know that He shall
appear first because He appeared the first time, and second because
He promised us He would appear. Very familiar passage. Let me
read it to us tonight. I probably could quote it, but
I'd probably misquote it. John chapter 14, let not your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, many dwelling places, many, I like that, don't you?
Many, many dwelling places. This is my blood of the New Testament,
which I give or shed for many. In 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. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. Have you ever promised you'd
do something for someone and you didn't keep your promise?
I'm sure most of us are guilty of that at some time or the other.
Sometimes we promise someone something and forget it. Sometimes
we promise someone something and circumstances just make it
impossible that we fulfill that promise. That's never going to
happen with Christ. That's never going to happen.
He said, I will come again and receive you unto myself. And
we should know this also. In our text tonight, we should
know that we will be like Him. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him. You see, this is God's purpose. This is God's purpose. This is
what God has ordained. Ordained all things to bring
this to pass. This image is said to be in Romans
chapter 8 and verse 29. We shall be like him. for whom he did foreknow," that
means those upon whom he set his love, for whom he did foreknow,
them he also, he also did predestinate, notice, to be conformed to the
image of his son. That he, that Christ, might be
the firstborn among many brethren. This image This image is said
to be perfect holiness. We shall be like Him. We are
predestinated to be conformed to His image. Perfect holiness. Freed from the being, the power,
the guilt of sin. Perfect knowledge in everything
that will tend to our happiness. and glory like to Christ, both
in body and soul. We know. We know what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. We know that we are
the sons of God. And we know that he shall come
again. And when he does, we shall be
like him. Now, everyone that has this hope,
is this your hope tonight? purifies himself even as he is
pure. May the Lord bless this message
to all of us here tonight. We're going to sing a hymn, David,
if you will.