Abide in Him

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Please remain standing and turn in your Bibles to 1st John, chapter 2, and begin reading in verse 18.

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This is God's holy and infallible word. Little children, it is the last hour.

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And as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many

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Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

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They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

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But they went out, that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

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But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

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I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

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Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is

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Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the

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Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the

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Son has the Father also. Now our text for today.

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Therefore, let that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. And what you heard from the beginning abides in you.

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You also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he has promised us, eternal life.

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These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you.

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But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in him.

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Now little children abide in him that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

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If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him.

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May the Lord be pleased with our study of his most excellent word.

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Please pray with me. O Lord, we come in humility, recognizing your supreme authority over all things.

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You have spoken to us in your word, and O Lord, we come to hear and to learn and to submit to you.

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O Lord, I pray that your people will be encouraged of their standing in you and be spurred on to love and good works, to greater heights of faithfulness and thankfulness and joy.

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And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.

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Thank you. The title of the message today is

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Abide in Him. That phrase abiding comes up at least six times in our section and is very prominent as a theme here in 1

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John. I put the outline for you on the

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Slack General channel. I'm going to review that with you very quickly. The first is a question that we hope to answer.

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The title of the message is Abide in Him and the first question ought to be, how do you know you are abiding in Christ?

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So we're going to try to answer that question and that answer is given to us in the text.

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Today there are six points, which is a lot for me, but each of the points corresponds to one of the verses.

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Number one is the truth. Number two is the promise. Number three, the danger.

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Number four, the comfort. Number five, the confidence. And number six, the test.

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The truth, the promise, the danger, the comfort, the confidence, and the test.

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John is here exhorting his audience to remain steadfast in the faith by keeping what they have learned fixed in their hearts.

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This, of course, is at the very root of what abiding in Christ is.

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There's also here a warning to those who are allured by the false teachers who would attempt to sever them from this abiding in Christ.

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So there's two sides to this. There is the affirmation of what it means to abide in Christ, but also a warning that there are forces at work trying to sever that union if it were possible.

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So let us consider this. The first thing we have to do is refresh our memory.

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I gave a pretty extensive discussion of what abiding means in previous sermons, but we have to remember what abiding means.

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It means to stay, it means to remain, it means that I'm not going to depart, that you're not going to leave, you're going to continue to be present.

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And maybe the most significant definition part of this is the idea that we are going to maintain an unbroken fellowship.

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We are going to adhere to Christ's party, we're going to be staying close to him, we're going to be constantly present.

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Let's look at our text now, beginning at verse 24, and this will be our first point, the truth.

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It says in verse 24, Therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.

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If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the son and in the father.

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Let the truth about Christ, the simplicity and profundity of the gospel, the person and work of Christ, let this be the truth that you lay hold of and never let go.

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Without turning there, I can remind you in 1 John 1, it says that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands, have handled concerning the word of life.

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And this is reminiscent of the prologue to John's gospel, you'll remember, in the beginning was the word.

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The declaration that Jesus Christ is the divine Logos, that he is himself

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God and that he has come in the flesh to be the redeemer of his people, to be the only mediator between God and men, he has come, the creator has come to rescue his creatures and his creation.

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It says, continuing in that section, he was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made and in him was life and the life was the light of men.

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You'll remember, Paul said in Galatians 1, it's a very incredible statement.

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Verse 8, he says, but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

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Paul says, if I come into the assembly and I start preaching a different gospel or if the sky opens up and an angel descends and begins to preach another gospel, let all who preach a false gospel be accursed.

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Apparently, the gospel, as it's given its simplicity, the revelation of Jesus Christ is what the church most desperately needs.

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And the truth, there is a truth, a timeless, eternal truth, and that truth resides in the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the

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Trinity, incarnate. He himself is the effulgence and radiance of the glory of God and exquisitely in his own person, he is the truth in the flesh.

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John 14, another part of John's writings, he says, I am the way, the truth and the life.

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No one comes to the father except through me. If the truth about Christ, which is actually an intimate knowledge, in fact, it's so intimate it's described as a one flesh union with Christ.

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Being in Christ means you maintain an unbroken fellowship with the son and with the father.

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Jesus and his father are one. And if you be united to Christ and you are united to the father, the

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Christian then is to fully apprehend this truth and this reality and not to waver to the right or to the left.

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There's a big difference to knowing about God and knowing him.

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I think we favor in our circles knowing about God, it almost is like an academic subject.

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We go to theology class and we can recite the right answers and the bell rings and we leave class unmoved, unchanged, unaffected.

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We said right things and thought right things about God and this we're content. The depth of relationship that John speaks of is as much more penetrating than is maybe most commonly assumed.

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I know a lot about historical figures, but I don't know them. I can tell you about facts about their lives, but I don't know them intimately.

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The Christian, the people of God, have an intimate knowledge of Christ.

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This knowledge is so intimate that we've never seen him and yet we profoundly know him.

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When I was thinking of this, it reminded me of that incredible section in Job, which in the insight, the clarity that Job has, and he speculatively is from the time around Abraham or earlier or a little bit later.

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Listen to what he says about this knowledge of God and he really speaks of Christ, of the

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Redeemer. For I know my Redeemer lives. And he shall stand at last on earth.

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Jesus is not coming in the flesh for a long time. And Job says this, this

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I know that in my flesh I shall see God, whom

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I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another.

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Oh, how my heart yearns within me. Job's life is a calamity.

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He's the scorn of his wife and his friends. He says, when the skin rots off my bones,

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I believe in the resurrection, I believe in the resurrecting one, the Lord Jesus Christ, I will see him in the flesh.

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There's a depth of knowledge you and I should know Christ in a very deep and intimate way, and it should not only affect our heads, should touch our hearts, it should come out of our mouths and praise and adoration and worship and thanksgiving.

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It should be active in our hands. It should move my feet to go run, to help, to serve.

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You and I, to abide in Christ, must fully apprehend the truth of Christ and who he is, and we must act upon it.

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Not be content with it as an idea, it's very personal, very relational.

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Abiding in Christ means maintaining an unbroken fellowship with the truth.

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The truth is in the realm of ideas, but as already stated in 1 John, the truth is found in a body, in a person, it resides in the person of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Abide in the truth, people of God, abide in the truth.

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That takes us to our second point and second verse. There's a promise.

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This union with Christ, the truth about who Jesus is and what he does and what he's done for us yields innumerable benefits.

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It's something really profound to think that the narrow, exclusive way of Christ is the path to everything of eternal value and glory.

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The false teachers have come in and said Jesus didn't really come in the flesh. The Jews couldn't say we have

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Abraham as our father, we have a relationship with God, the father, we don't need Jesus.

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John says in the inspiration and unction of the spirit, this union with Christ, this narrow, exclusive way yields things of eternal value.

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So what is the promise? Children, look at the text again. It says, and this is the promise that he has promised us eternal life.

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When a number of my children were younger, I could hear we had conversations about what heaven could be like.

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There would be speculation about all of the activities that we would do in heaven, and some were probably true and some may not have been.

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Heaven, I want you to think about this. This really challenges how you spend your time, your attentiveness on worship and personal devotion, your love for the things of God.

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Heaven is communion with God. That's what heaven is.

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Inexhaustible, perpetual, perfect communion with God, there's nothing in this world more precious than being united to Christ.

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And that leads us to this promise, and this is the promise that he has promised us eternal life.

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Eternal means everlasting, never ceasing, it will not end.

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The Christian has, since the new birth, been abiding with God in an eternal sense.

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The clock of eternity has started for us. We have now begun to abide with Christ and to abide with the

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Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and eternity will be spent in abiding with him.

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And in fact, eternal life and salvation, heaven is abiding with the

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Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So this idea of communion and eternal life and salvation, it's tied to person, it's tied to Christ, it's tied to the

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Father and to the Holy Spirit. In John 17, in the high priestly prayer of Jesus, he says, and this is eternal life, that you may, that they may know you, the only true

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God, that intimate knowledge, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

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The verse before that says, as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given.

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John 3, verse 36 says, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

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The end of this book in 1 John 5, 11 and following it says, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his

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Son. He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the

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Son of God does not have life. I have a question for you.

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It's a practical question, not a theological one, because I think you'll get the theological question right, but practically,

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I wonder if we get this right. Do you view your relationship with God in Christ as being something that will make your life better?

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Or is this the summit? I think theologically we know that this is the summit, but practically, don't we want

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God to bless our earthly endeavors? So kind of a different way of thinking.

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Salvation, eternal life, the promise is union with God, union with the person of Jesus Christ.

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By virtue of that union with Christ, I have assurance that I cannot be snatched out of the

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Father's hand because he's given me to the Son as a bride. I have assurance that I will abide because the

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Holy Spirit indwells his people and the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ's redemption to the

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Christian, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are actively engaged in bringing in the people of God and laying hold of them and never letting them go.

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This is the promise. The promise of eternal life found in Jesus Christ.

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Children, young at heart, make

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Christ be your life. Christ is my life. Everything else gets ordered in its place.

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I don't look to Christ just to make my life better. The things I really like to do. Christ is my life.

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Communion with God is the satisfaction of my soul. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the power that energizes my life.

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Oh, what a transformation will happen to the people of God in a very practical way if they lay hold of the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

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Well, it takes us to our third point and it's the next verse. In chapter 26, people who abide in him are cognizant of the danger.

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These things, he says, I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. And this is really hearkening back to our message last week.

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Many antichrists have come. These are those who try to deceive.

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They try to lead you astray. They try to lead you away from the truth on the one hand and lead you into error on the other.

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The false teachers deny Christ. They deny the moral obligations of the faith and they attempt to sever the believer from this abiding.

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We learned last week of a man who is prominent in the church and now denounces it, denies the faith.

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We say we as wise, discerning Christians, we recognize the dangers.

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It's not Pollyanna for us, it's optimistic, it's hopeful, but it's also wise, discerning.

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You're abiding in Christ right now in this moment is under attack.

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There are false teachers who would like to lead you astray. There's the cares of this world.

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There is the rottenness of our own flesh. And there is. Demonic forces who wage a futile war against our

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Lord. And our Christ, are you aware, are you discerning the dangers and snares of false teaching?

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But to make it a little bit more personal, are you also aware of your own snares?

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Your own tendency and proclivities for sin, things that lead you astray, the wise abiding in Christ person understands the dangers.

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Without and within. Well, there's some good news for us in this battle, this great struggle.

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And it takes us to our fourth point, the comfort. It says in verse 27, but the anointing which you have received from him abides in you.

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You remember Chrisma from last week, the anointed and anointing, and this comes from the idea of the activity and the marking of the

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Holy Spirit. The Christian is united to Christ, he's united to the father, but he's also united to the

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Holy Spirit and the Christian who, by his steadfastness in faith, proves his anointing with God's presence and power.

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The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the

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Holy Spirit assures us that we abide in him, that we're not going to depart, that we're not going to leave, that we're going to continue to be present, we're going to maintain an unbroken fellowship with him, we are going to be constantly present.

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Again, we're on this Trinitarian scope of abiding. All that the father gives me will come to me, the one who comes to me,

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I will by no means cast out, Jesus would say, and all of this is possible by the powerful operation of the

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Holy Spirit. He applies the work of redemption and it appears he also applies the righteousness of Christ to the believer.

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You and I should have great confidence and great comfort knowing that we have this unction, this anointing that he gives to us to cause us to abide.

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It says you do not need anyone to teach you, the gurus from within and from without to the church that John addresses are saying, come and listen to our novel teaching.

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The Holy Spirit rises up in us to discern truth from error and says you do not need to listen to these false teachers.

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He teaches us all things concerning what is true. It's not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in him.

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This is a powerful notion that the father, the son and the

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Holy Spirit are all very active, not only in election and calling and justification and adoption, but this idea of perseverance and sanctification, a future glorification.

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God himself is abiding with us. We come to the table, he beckons us to abide with him, to sup with him.

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He beckons us to be baptized into his name and to never depart. This marking, this consecration all the days of our lives,

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John says, are those who would like to pull us away from the truth, from the promise to lead us into danger.

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But we have the comfort and just like the truth, we find it's not just an idea.

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The comfort is the comforter, the Holy Spirit himself at work in us.

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Well, this leads us to our next and last two points. Abiding in Christ should give you confidence.

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It says, And now little children abide in him, that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

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Now, I want you to imagine being a Jewish Christian in Jerusalem in late 1869 into 70 and Rome is attacking.

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Calamity is coming. I want you to imagine your future day on your deathbed.

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Every one of us will most likely have the privilege, the opportunity to pray about our impending death.

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What will your confidence be then? I'm with Christ.

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Christ has taken me as his own. Those who abide in him, those who steadfastly persevere in the faith, have confidence in Christ, my righteousness.

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I'm going to hell. Certain hell for me, my righteousness, there is none.

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But now in Christ, I have been united to the righteous one. My righteousness is perfect because of him.

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Oh, my sin. What about my sin? I have a savior who is Christ the Lord. He bled on the cross to wash me from all of my guilt and my shame.

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He's done it for you. Imagine, I imagine the the judgment seat of Christ being the military style tribunal.

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And I imagine the father, the son and the Holy Spirit making judgment upon Christians and un -Christian alike.

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Can you imagine having your life unrolled like a scroll in all of the infractions, all the peccadilloes and all the calamitous sins that we've committed?

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And that day, I want you to have bold confidence. I want you to say when the judgment comes.

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I'm with Christ. Christ going to speak up from in this imaginary seat in my mind for illustration.

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He's going to stand up from the tribunal and say they are with me. The Spirit's going to stand up and say they're united to Christ.

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I united them to Christ. I apply the work of redemption to them. The father would say, these are they whom

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I love and have given to my son to be his pride. No one can snatch them out of my hand.

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How will you stand in the judgment? You're going to fare very well. You belong to Christ and the father and the spirit have.

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Put you there. Have confidence in Christ today to deal.

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With the justice that will come, but but also the mercy and grace that we are assured of by virtue of our union with him.

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Will the one who gives you all his benefits flowing out of this union, will he at last cast you off?

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May it never be. It could never happen that he would cast you off. The children of God have great confidence.

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They will not be ashamed before him at his coming.

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I don't want you to turn there. I forgot this when I saw it in terms of I didn't remember this section.

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Because I invoked Job's great declaration of his redeemer,

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I think it's important to remind us of Zophar's sermon that immediately follows.

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Don't turn there, but just listen. The great contrast that exists between I know my redeemer lives,

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I know that in my flesh I will see God and I will have a standing with him because of his mercy and grace and the wicked, the false teachers, those who don't believe in Christ and those who are actively as wolves attacking the church.

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I think the sermon of Zophar is fitting. Do you not know this of old?

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Since man was placed on earth. That the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment.

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Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens and his head reaches to the clouds, yet he will perish forever like his own refuse.

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Those who have seen him will say, where is he? He will fly away like a dream and not be found.

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Yes, he will be chased away like a vision in the night. The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place behold him anymore.

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His children will seek the favor of the poor. And his hands will restore his wealth.

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His bones are full of his youthful vigor. But it will lie down with him in the dust, though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, though he spares it and does not forsake it, but still keeps it in his mouth.

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Yet his food in his stomach turns sour, becomes cobra venom within him.

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He swallows down riches and vomits them up again, God cast them out of his belly.

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He will suck the poison of cobras, the viper's tongue will slay him. He will not see the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

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He will restore that for which he labored and not swallow it down from the proceeds of business, he will get no enjoyment for he has oppressed and forsaken the poor.

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He has violently seized a house which he did not build. Because he knows no quietness in his heart, he will not save anything he desires, nothing is left for him to eat, therefore his well -being will not last.

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In his self -sufficiency, he will be in distress, every hand of misery will come against him.

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When he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of his wrath and will rain it on him while he is eating.

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He will flee from the iron weapon, a bronze bow will pierce him through. He is drawn and comes out of the body, yes, the glittering point comes out of his skull, terrors come upon him.

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Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. That's something we're called to abide in his light.

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We're going to walk in his light. The wicked are going to be covered in darkness.

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You remember when I talked about this, imagine not only the absence of the sun and the moon, the absence of God's light, but imagine the darkness of God imposing darkness.

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And painting darkness on top of the wicked. An unfanned fire will consume him, shall go ill with him who is left in his tent.

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The heavens will reveal his iniquity and the earth will rise up against him. The increase of his house will depart and his goods will flow away in the day of his wrath.

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This is the portion from God for a wicked man. The heritage appointed to him by God.

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Why do the righteous look to the wicked? Why are we jealous of the wicked?

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Their doom is sure. Their calamity is great. Their judgment is eternal.

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It seems fitting that we would abide with the Lord. Well, that brings us to the last of the points and the tests.

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Look at the last verse in our section, verse 29. It says, if you know that he is righteous, and this is obvious if we are a

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Christian and have an intimate knowledge of God, we know that he is righteous. This should give us great pause when we enter into any unsavory behaviors.

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It contradicts our God. It contradicts our Savior. It contradicts our new nature in him.

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If you know Christ, if you know the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, you know that he is righteous.

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Here's the test. You know that everyone who practices righteousness.

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Is born of him. Do you practice righteousness?

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Jesus said in John 14, just after the I am in the way, the truth and the life section, if you love me, keep my commandments.

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He immediately proceeds that verse with the verses that comfort us about the presence of the

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Holy Spirit. He says, I'm going to give you the comforter. I'm going to help you.

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I'm going to provide for you. But couched in all this is obedience. We love righteousness.

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We love Christ. We know Christ. We know righteousness. We know him. We love righteousness.

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Knowing about Christ would enable us to tell facts about him. But an intimate knowledge and love for Christ would be transformative.

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Christ is your life. I hope that's true for you, not just in the theological positional sense.

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Is your life characterized by Christ? They always say you can tell what someone loves, they used to say by their checkbook, the things they spend money on.

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If we were to take all of your time and all of your talents and all of your treasure, would it speak to us?

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Would it shout to us and say, Christ is supreme in my life with every waking moment, all of my talents, all of my abilities, my resources,

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Christ. Christ is first. Christ is first. Christ is preeminent.

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Or would it say something else? Everyone who practices righteousness has this in birthing in him.

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Well, take heart today. You are so united to Christ that you will increasingly love righteousness and walk in his ways.

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How do you know you're abiding in Christ? Because first you are abiding in the truth.

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It's a body of doctrine. It's the scripture. We must not forget it's the person, the

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Lord Jesus Christ. You will not depart from him, will you?

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You will not forsake him. You will remain in the truth. After all,

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Christ himself is the truth. If you're abiding in him, you're going to lay hold of and never let go of the promise of eternal life.

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This is eternal life that you may know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

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Abiding in Christ also tells us we have to be keenly aware of the dangers. You discern those who attempt to lead you astray.

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Who want to turn you away from the truth and lead you into error. And you also are now wiser and more discerning about the corruption of your own hearts.

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Fathers, you have to be wise and discerning about the corruption of your wife's heart. You have to be wise and discerning about the corruption of your children that you might shepherd and instruct them and correct them.

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And all the ways in which they could err. You're also abiding in him if you're abiding in the comforter, the

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Holy Spirit. You know him, Jesus says, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

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Your steadfastness in faith proves his anointing. You have both

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God's presence and power if you have the indwelling of the

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Holy Spirit. Oh, what strength and confidence, comfort this should give us.

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And finally, you should have no fear of death. No fear of man, no fear of consequences of unrighteous men.

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When you walk in righteousness. Because on the day of judgment, you say,

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I'm with him. And when you say, I'm with him, the father himself will testify that he gave you to him and the

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Holy Spirit will testify that he himself applied the work of Christ in his redemption and his righteousness to you.

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You can stand in confidence because not what you have done, but because of what he has done.

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In fact, abiding in him results from him abiding in us. That's how this all ultimately happens.

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You can pass the test today and let's say that your pursuit of righteousness is lagging and not what it ought to be today.

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Pass the test of knowing him by now returning to the battlefield to strive against sin and to pursue righteousness, to practice righteousness.

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I could tell you as someone who lived in the world, not to the degree that others have until I was 20, 21 years old, right around my birthday, my 21st birthday,

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I can say children, do not take a bite of that lure.

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You're not a fish. The whole of humanity has tried it and it hasn't worked.

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The worldly go the way of the wicked man in Job 20. They're destroyed.

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The people of God are blessed every day. The world out there has nothing for you.

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It's lies, it's deception. It's so funny that we've couched the commands of God or burdens upon us as a people when they are the place of blessing, the place of joy, the place of Thanksgiving.

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Are you abiding in him today? John is very eager for us and I cannot wait until next week is probably my favorite section.

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And first, John, I'm very excited. Hope you're looking forward to it. John wants us to remain steadfast.

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Will you remain steadfast in Christ? He's called us to it.

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Will you remain steadfast to the truth? May the

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Lord make it so. Let's pray together now. Oh, Lord, I hope that your people cry out today and say, oh,

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Lord Jesus, I will never let go of you. Lord, we may not say it, but we know that you say even in the feebleness of our faith,

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I will never leave you nor forsake you. You promised to take us as your people, to stay, to remain and to never depart.

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You promised, oh God, to maintain unbroken fellowship with us in Christ.

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And in this we rejoice and we say hallelujah and amen. Oh, Lord, if there be any deficiency in our abiding, whether it be in the truth or the promise of eternal life, the dangers around us, the indwelling and power of your spirit, the confidence that we should have in the day of judgment.

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Oh, Lord, I pray that you would reveal these things to us and that we will we will mourn our sin and we'll repent, but we'll also rejoice in the grace that is ours in Christ, which covers all of our sin and spurs us on to love and good deeds.

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Lord, be glorified in us, your people, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.