Informed Faith Comes First | 1 John 3:23-24

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And welcome beloved once again to another Lord's Day a blessed Lord's Day turn with me to first John chapter 3

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We've been covering the past several weeks first John chapter 3 we'll start in verse 21 honey

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First John chapter 3 verse 21 God's Word says beloved if our heart does not condemn us.

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We have confidence before God. Thank you And whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight and this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son

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Jesus Christ and Love one another Just as he gave a commandment to us and the one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him

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We know by this that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he gave us

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Amen so I Have another confession to make

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I I thought I was going to finish up the chapter this week

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But I started digging in once again and sure enough. I'm not even sure if I'm gonna get to verse 24

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All right, so it's another it's gonna be another deep dive But I'm really excited about it to present to present this to you all lots of good stuff in here so A lot of this like I said, it's gonna be based on verse 23 the basic theme being faith comes first first believe and It's gonna be a deep dive.

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So gird your minds for action like first Peter 113 says

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Now by way of recapping for a little bit from last week We saw how

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Christ himself admonishes us to have the right balance and right priorities

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Right balance and my priorities that's in large part what Christianity the Christian life is all about having the right balance

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Doctrinally spiritually Naturally, etc, and the right priorities and We saw that just as you cannot love a right

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Without sound doctrine, which would be the weightier provisions of the law So you cannot pray a right without sound doctrine

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You cannot live a right without sound doctrine. You cannot believe a right without Sound doctrine.

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You cannot believe a right in the name of his son Jesus Christ like verse 23 tells us without sound

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Doctrine, I hope you see the pattern there, right? and In order to pray rightly in a manner that pleases

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God you need knowledge Faith or trust which are the same?

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humility persistence patience these are some of the key ingredients to praying rightly and And Contrary to what a lot of popular

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Movements tell you and and modern more modern Theologies tell you

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There's there's more to prayer than just pouring your heart out and describing how you feel There's more to it than just that going against the notion that Kierkegaard put forth that it's not so much about the external what but the internal how and And There's more to prayer than just being sincere

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There's more to prayer than just being sincere. It doesn't matter how sincere you are if you're praying to an idol

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Right. So there's obviously more to prayer than just sincerity Or if you're not even praying for the right things right, so Again, just just to prove so it just goes to show very clearly there

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That our prayers must be must be informed and guided by Scripture just as our faith must be informed and guided by Scripture and Keeping his commandments

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We saw is not just about doing right and not doing wrong It's more than just doing and not doing

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It's first and foremost about believing Believing in the name of his son

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Jesus Christ We are commanded to first and foremost understand and believe agree with the truth

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Just like Jesus said in Mark 1 14 repent and believe the gospel the

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Word of Christ his his gospel now

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Back in verse 23 I'll go ahead and reread that And this is his commandment that we first believe in the name of his son

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Jesus Christ and consequently therefore love one another just as he gave a commandment to us and the one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him and He in him so Faith always comes first Always comes first then good works follow

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Then we do good works in keeping with this saving repentance and faith like the

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Bible speaks to We have to also always remember to distinguish the difference between the gospel itself

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Which is promise it's what God has done for us and the command to believe the gospel

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Which is what we must do in light of it in light of the gospel. They are not the same thing

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They cannot be conflated like many teachers in the

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Lord's of salvation Can't do They are not the same thing and I wanted to correct a misstatement that I made last week as well about I Said that obedience follows faith, but that's not that's not right.

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That's not quite right Because believing itself is the first act of obedience

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Believing is an act of obedience Even though our belief is not our good work.

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It's not a work It is the work of God rather like John 6 29 says

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Right. It's the work of God. This is the work of God that you believe in his son because Without faith first and foremost without being united to Christ by faith through faith by his spirit

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It is impossible to please him in any way Because whatever is not from faith is sin plain and simple and I really appreciate how

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Our confession in the London Baptist Confession speaks to this in chapter 16 of good works of good works paragraph 3 says

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The ability of believers to do good works does not in any way come from themselves but entirely from the

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Spirit of Christ and Our union with him as well to enable them to do good works

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Besides the graces they have already received They require the actual influence of the

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Holy Spirit to cause them to will and to do his good pleasure That's quoting back from Philippians that it is

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God who works in us Yet they are not on this account to become negligent

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Nor to think they are not required to perform a duty unless given a special impulse of the

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Spirit And that's going against this pietism where oh, well, I have to send something

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I have to get some kind of feeling or from the Spirit to to do something. It's like no

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There are things that have clearly been laid out in the word that we are commanded to do regardless of how we feel

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Rather they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them that is in them in us

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Now paragraph 6 of the same chapter also further adds Yet although believers are accepted as individual people through Christ and in Christ in union with him

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Their good works also are accepted in Christ in Union with him.

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It is not as though in this life. They were entirely blameless and beyond censure or Or judgment in God's sight, but that he looks upon them in his son in his son

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Through the lens of us being united to him So when he sees us he sees his son working in us and is pleased to accept and reward what is sincere even though it is accompanied by many weaknesses and Imperfections and to that we are out of shout

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Hallelujah, praise God, right? It is God who works in us now

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Public service announcement number one very important here There is there is no difference oftentimes between believing in the name of his son

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Jesus Christ or believing in Christ or believing

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Christ himself or Believing the words of Christ All of those are used in Scripture they all tend to be synonymous they tend to mean the same thing

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Okay To believe the name of Christ to believe in Christ to believe

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Christ to believe What did I miss to believe his words to believe his words is

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To believe that is all the same is to believe his words his message his teaching his doctrine

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That's what it means There may however be a difference in one particular sense that is important to clarify

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When you believe someone You Might not necessarily mean that you always believe them

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You might just believe that particular statement that they said But when you believe in someone

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Can mean that you will always believe him now and in the future

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Okay, so that that could be an important distinction that you could make That you always believe them as opposed to just believing that one thing that particular thing and not necessarily other things that they say so and I I really

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Highly recommend and encourage you all to get Gordon's Clark's book. What is saving faith?

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It's actually on sale Right now from the Trinity Foundation. I highly encourage you to get that book where he speaks a lot more about this, but It is very important to understand biblically

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John 6 63 says the spirit of God the spirit is the one who gives life

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Remember, this is echoing what first John 3 24 says we know by the

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Spirit by the Spirit We know we know by this that he abides in us by the

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Spirit whom he gave us That the flesh profits nothing but the words themselves

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The words the very words of Christ that I have spoken to you are

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Spirit and our life The words of Christ our spirit and our life

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Just as Christ himself said what did he say? I am the what the way the truth the life in the same way his words our spirit and our life

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Just as the gospel is the power of God unto salvation unto eternal life

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Amen very important to understand and It's often very misunderstood today

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Jesus even equates himself with his words

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Quite explicitly in addition to what I've already stated turn with me to John chapter 5 verse 46

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In the gospel of John chapter 5 Verse 46 here in the beloved apostles gospel

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We find something extraordinarily revealing about Christ and about man and about our words

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God's Word says our Lord says for if you believed Moses if you believed him

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Moses Himself you would believe me Why for he wrote about me?

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But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

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My words My words Believing Christ believing him is the same thing as believing his words my words just as believing

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Moses is Believing what he wrote Same thing same thing public service announcement number two now do not be misled when people say

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That true faith is not believing things about Christ But rather believing

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Christ himself or in Christ Do not be misled

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When people tell you that true faith is not believing things about Christ, but believing

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Christ himself That is false that is a false unbiblical distinction and this goes hand in hand with the very pietistic sentiments of You must trust the person

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Rather than believe an impersonal creed or propositions Trust the living person not the impersonal creed or propositions this

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I hope you see is nonsense according to God's Word now before we

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Continue here. We need to understand what a proposition is because the

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Bible is full of them a Proposition is a declarative sentence or Logically speaking the meaning of a declarative sentence such as God is holy

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God is true God is righteous. God is good.

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Those are all declarative sentences Those are propositions however

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What did Jesus tell us? What did Jesus say he said that believing him

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Believing Christ is believing what Moses wrote about him wrote about Christ right

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There's no distinction there. It's the same thing Believing Christ to believe

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Christ in other words is to believe Propositions that are about him that are true

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He is God. He is man He came to live a perfect life and die a sacrificial propitiatory wrath

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Satisfying death for sinners. Those are all propositions that you must believe in order to be saved

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That is what it means to believe him. Very important that we understand this and Just to top it off How can you know and believe

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Christ? apart from his words How can you possibly know?

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and believe Christ apart from his words You can't

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You can't you cannot right Mystics may tell you otherwise.

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They may tell you oh I had it's you know, some some ineffable inexplicable mystical encounter where you just Christ is in you and you just You're in Christ and knowledge and I'm gonna get to we're gonna get to that when we cover union with Christ But that's nonsense.

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That's nonsense. That is utterly against what the Bible teaches about What it means to believe

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Christ It means to believe his words and what the other biblical authors wrote about Christ That are all true

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It's about believing his propositions Now, I really appreciate how

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Gordon Clark explains some of this very important Distinctions here and and definitions

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Belief is the voluntary assent the voluntary assent meaning the willing the willing a

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Census in the Latin is a census to give a cent to agree with to an understood proposition to an understood declarative sentence

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Which in other words is knowledge or in the Latin is notitia knowledge

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And when we say we believe a man or believe in a man we mean

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We mean that We mean that We accept as true what he says

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What he tells us what he says hence when we believe

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Jesus name We mean that we believe what he said

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What he said About everything about himself about us about everything

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It's to believe his words His words, amen now

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When you trust someone When you trust someone with an informed faith a

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Knowledgeable faith not a blind faith You believe what they say is true and That they will keep their word

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They say what they mean and mean what they say unlike the hypocrites the

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Pharisees who Honored Christ with their lips, but inwardly their hearts were far far from him, right?

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That's not somebody who you can trust who is Believable or trustworthy because they are lying to you.

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They are deceiving you they are hypocrites and May them be deceiving themselves self -deceive blind guides leading the blind into a

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Pit now again

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Contrary to what people will tell you after all

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How can you possibly trust someone that you do not even know how can you trust somebody that you do not know

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What a mom always tell us mom and dad always tells never trust a stranger

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That is sound biblical counsel You should never trust a stranger

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You don't know who they are and that's why implicit faith is false faith without understanding is not faith at all

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Blind faith is no faith at all Because in order to believe something you have to understand it in order to accept something as true

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You have to understand what it means if you don't understand it. You cannot accept it.

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You cannot believe it And I know many of us have heard otherwise and don't you worry we are going to deal with it right now

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Take for example Abraham as a prime example of Faith of what faith looks like true faith looks like right if you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11 to the famous hall of faith the hall of faith here we find a very important Very important understanding of what

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God means by Believing and having faith and what it looks like You see because Abraham did not know where he was going

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He didn't know where God was taking him When God told him to leave Canaan Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8

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God's Word says by faith Abraham when he was called

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Obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance

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And he went out not knowing where he was going

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By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign land dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob fellow heirs of the same promise

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For he was looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is

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God himself Amen now

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Did that just contradict everything that I previously stated? well

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Let's put me to the test Does this mean that Abraham had a blind faith?

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The answer is an unequivocal Unhypocritical Unassailable Unescapable no, it is no no no by no means

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Why why do I say that? Why do I say that even though Abraham didn't because it says he didn't know where he was going.

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He didn't know Where he was going however

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Abraham did know something else or someone else rather He knew

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God himself He knows God himself He knew who

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God is His attributes his love his faithfulness his power and therefore trusted

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God's providence and will Because he knew who God is

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That's why he stepped out in faith not knowing where God was going to take him because he trusted

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God Because he knew who God is That's why there is no such thing as blind faith

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No such thing as blind faith you have to know what you're believing to be true

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Is God true Abraham certainly thought so and that's why he stepped out and trusted

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God in faith Because if you jump now to verse 17 in Hebrews 11

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God explains to us exactly this

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That by faith Abraham once again when he was tested offered up Isaac Offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was offering up his only son his only son of promise that is

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To whom it was said in Isaac your seed shall be called Now what is what is he what is

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God telling us here? He is talking about Abraham's descendants coming from Isaac and Yet God told him to offer up Isaac and sacrifice him

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There's a bit of a dilemma here, right? how can you have descendants from a son that you're supposed to offer up and and sacrifice and death

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That's the dilemma that this verse is presenting but What happened what happened with Abraham?

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He considered something he considered and the word there in Greek is very revealing the

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Greek word is Logisomenos Logisomenos from which we get the word.

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It's the word logos the logos Which is Christ himself?

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the logi son he Logisomenos he reasoned carefully

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Intellectually with an informed faith What what exactly did he read that he reasoned carefully?

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That God is able to raise people even from the dead even from death

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Because why because he had an informed knowledgeable faith in who God is

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That God is powerful enough to raise people from the dead and to give them life

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Amen Hallelujah, praise God right, this is the faith of Abraham the informed faith of Abraham from and then the verse continues from which figuratively speaking he also received him back because the angel came and stopped him and Said hey

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There's no need God provided the the ram as a sacrifice so Because once again

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God is Sovereign God is providential

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God provides God is all -powerful and God is faithful He is always faithful To keep his word and his promises to us

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Who believe in him and to those who don't believe as well because he promises them to punish them in eternal hellfire

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God is faithful on every front all of this then

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Consequently informs it informs our faith and our understanding of union with Christ of union with Christ and What it means?

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So I guess I will at least get a chance to start on verse 24

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So that's exciting We have to now what are we what does this mean?

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What does union with Christ mean? Let's read let's go back to 1st

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John chapter 3 in verse 24 1st

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John chapter 3 verse 24 God's Word says and The one who keeps his commandments abides in him and He in him

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We know by this that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he gave us

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Amen So I want to repeat that with some drive -by comments here in verse 24 again and the one who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him and because of him

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We cannot neglect or ignore the rest of the chapter that came before it or the rest of the letter or the rest of the

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Bible It's not because of keeping our commandments. It's because of Christ What Christ has done for us and in us?

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Because of our union with Christ and his anointing of truth We know by this

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That he abides in us by or from The Spirit whom he gave us

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Whom he gave us he gave the Spirit to us how freely by grace through faith alone alone alone

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Like the Reformation Powerfully proclaimed to the entire world.

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It is all by the grace mercy of God alone and to his glory alone now

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Okay This this this passage here this teaches us twofold sense of union with Christ there is a universal union with Christ, but also a particular union with him a

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Personal one through faith by his spirit by his anointing of truth by the faith that he gives us as a gift and This personal union is evidenced by it is revealed it is manifested

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By our obedience to his commandments That's how it's evidenced

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Just like James chapter 2 also teaches us So there's a universal

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Union with Christ because we are all united to Christ universally

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Because we are all the body parts of the body of Christ Which is one body not many there is one faith one

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Lord one spirit one body one baptism Amen, so This is

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Very important To Understand have an informed faith about once again

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Appreciate once again what Gordon Clark Explains here as well. He says the

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New Testament does indeed teach a mutual indwelling a mutual indwelling of both

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Christ and the believer of Christ and the believer because it says

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He who keeps his commandments abides in him and he also in him There is a very real sense

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Clark continues in which minds in which minds in which inner man souls

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Interpenetrate interlock Interpenetrate Why because we believe the same things the same truths in?

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1st Corinthians 2 16 Paul asserts that Quote we have the mind of Christ.

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We have the mind of Christ. What does that mean? Christ dwells in us and we in him by our thinking and believing his doctrines his words his propositions his truths

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As John says in his gospel 851 he who maintains he who keeps my doctrine and I think the word there is once again my logos

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Shall not see death ever ever

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Now this is a very careful very precise explanation

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Because the abiding in this verse has to be mutual it's mutual

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Meaning that it must be true in both cases the fact that we abide in Christ and that Christ abides in us both have to be true in the same sense and They must correspond to Christ and to us in the same respect

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That's why it's a mutual in dwelling consequently then this verse does not

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Really refer to the Holy Spirit dwelling in us Because that is true the

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Holy Spirit regenerates us and dwells in us writ in a real sense physically and Spiritually dwells in us and seals us to redemption

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He seals our redemption But that's not what this is referring to because our spirits do not dwell in Christ the same way

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Okay, our spirits do not go and dwell in Christ God spirit dwells in us, but our spirit doesn't dwell in that literal sense in Christ spiritually speaking rather This is exactly what

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Clark explains. This is referring to a doctrinal unity of mind

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It is a doctrinal unity of mind of conviction of Truth it is intellectual

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It is belief. It is faith. It is knowledge of the truth

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That's what it's referring to and my oh my

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You would almost think That God wouldn't dare to say such things in light of what so many people say today

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That oh, you can have all this head knowledge and you can you know, it's not enough to to just believe in your head.

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You must Feel it in your heart You must feel it in your bloodstream and all this nonsense that people say

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That's what this verse is exactly telling us it is referring primarily to the fact that those who

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Keep the commandments of God Evidence the reality that they share the same knowledge as Christ does

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Not all of it not comprehensively not perfectly but some things that we believe are true and Are what

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Christ himself also taught and holds to those are the weightier matters of the word and of the law to believe the truth

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That's what saves us That is what saves us. What is the gospel itself after all?

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What is the gospel the gospel is not a command to surrender yourself to Christ. That's a command

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That's a law. The gospel is a collection of propositions That says what that describes what

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Christ did for us already on our behalf Christ died for our sins

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Christ was buried for our sins Christ was raised because of our justification

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That's What it means? So we cannot fall into the error and the dangerous error of Downgrading or downplaying the importance of knowledge to the

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Christian faith and the Christian life It is it is fundamental to everything else

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Everything else prayer sanctification holiness everything else is contingent upon our

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Understanding of the truth or a lack thereof or a lack thereof

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That beloved is I hope very clear for us Today, and I know much of this is not is not necessarily new

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From what we've already addressed before because the Bible repeatedly emphasizes these very things

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How Christ admonishes us to have a right balance and the right priorities faith comes first knowledge a right understanding of who

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God is of what man is who man is of what salvation is of law and gospel

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What law and gospel is and how they are distinguished and applied?

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That's what this all really boils down to And the fact that there is no difference oftentimes between believing in the name of his

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Son or Believing in Christ or believing Christ or believing the words of Christ Except in the specific sense of when you want to say that you believe what a

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Person specifically said as opposed to believing in a person and always believe what they say

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So once again, do not be misled When people tell you that true faith is not

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Believing things about Christ but believing Christ himself. That is that is in a very dangerous sense denying the gospel

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Because the gospel is things about Christ It's about him and what he did

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Amen, and I hope you better understand from the example of the life of Abraham how he modeled what it means to have an exemplary

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Quintessential informed faith in spite of the fact that we may not always know the future or What the circumstances will bring or what

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God will Put us through But we know who

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God is and that Should give us comfort If you know who

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God is that should come for you No matter what the situation is that you go through because if you know who

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God is then you know that Romans 8 28 You can claim that promise for yourself that all things no matter how bad no matter how good no matter how ugly

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No matter how indifferent all things Ultimately work together for your good

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For those that love God and are called according to his purpose Amen Now I actually did not quite define the union with Christ yet So I failed me in that Regard don't worry

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Lord willing Next Lord's Day stay tuned for that but at least

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I At least made the distinction there that there is a universal union with Christ and then there is a particular

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Union with Christ with Christ that is important to understand and Distinguish biblically

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Okay now beloved I hope this Word from God has blessed you.

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Let us now bow our heads in a word of prayer our precious

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Heavenly Father We thank you Lord so much for your truths your propositions your promises

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Lord that you have given us By means of Christ's words deliver to us in Your sacred word in the sacred scriptures in the

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Holy Bible Father God that you have you have preserved for us for all this time

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You have never left us without a witness without a Way to connect with you directly to you directly

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Father God By your means by your word by your spirit and by the channel of prayer

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Father God rightly understood in light of your word Lord, we thank you and for the church as well father

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How you use the church in such a precious way to be salt and light and to be the pillar and buttress of the truth in this wicked

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Degenerating world and society that we endure

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For a time Lord we thank you for these precious truths. We ask that you help us to Make good and proper sense of them in light of your word

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Teach us father and show us Your word and your doctrines and your propositions and how to balance them

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Properly and accordingly logically in light of your word

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We thank you father and we ask these things in Jesus precious in the name of your son

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Jesus Christ the Holy One of Israel Amen Thank you for listening to the sermons of thorn crown covenant

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Baptist Church Where the Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety has applied to all of faith and life

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We strive to be biblical reformed historic confessional loving discerning

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Christians who evangelize Stand firm in and earnestly contend for the Christian faith

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If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area or for more information about our church sermons and ministries such as Semper Ephraim on the radio and thorn crown network podcasts

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Please contact us at thorn crown ministries calm and may the mercy peace and love of our triune