Assurance that leads to spir..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Very good, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul within the sound of my voice. As I said, I want to speak to you once again about the assurance that is supposed to lead to a spiritual maturity.

Certainty, conviction that we are united to Christ. Certainty, conviction that the life of Christ is in our hearts. That certainty, that assurance that is supposed to move us and to lead us to a spiritual maturity. And last week we started to address that topic or that thought from this portion of Scripture that we have in these three verses in chapter two. And I said to you something very important, that the Apostle John, after he has given all of these piercing words, you remember from chapter 5, we're going to read that once again, from chapter 1, verse 5, as he writes all of these piercing words that are going into the hearts and into the minds of the audience, the early church.

He knows by the end of verse 11 of chapter 2, that he has spoken in a very piercing way to the heart of all of these believers. And he understands that it's not only the mission of the prophet to point to those things that should be examined in the heart, but also to point them to the certainty of the light of Christ and of the gospel, upon which all of these self-examination should be made and done. We are not supposed to examine ourselves in the flesh. We are supposed to examine ourselves in light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why the apostle then starts in verse 12 by saying, I'm writing to you and writes to the church and all of these messages that we addressed last week.

Last week, we focused more on the aspect of spiritual maturity. That's how things went. And I spoke to you that the apostle has here in mind three different stages of spiritual maturity, if you remember infants in Christ, young men in Christ and the fathers in Christ. He's speaking to the church in general, but then he addresses these three groups of people of these three stages of spiritual maturity. And the Lord, the way that the Lord led us last week is to emphasize on that aspect of spiritual maturity.

But that is not the main point of the apostle. The main point of the apostle is to bring assurance, to bring encouragement to the church after those words have been said. And actually, this is the way that the apostle is going to go in circles through this letter, that he is going to speak very piercing truths of the Christian life. And then he's going to bring portions of assurance of the gospel. In the end, he will say, I'm writing these things to you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

All of these things have been written for those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. So today we're going to focus more on the aspect of assurance, of encouragement that is supposed to lead to spiritual maturity that we have there in those three verses in chapter two. So let us now come to this text. And let us read together, brethren, the context of those verses so that we remind ourselves of what the apostle is doing and how he moves into that section in verse 12 through verse 14 of this chapter two of the first letter of John. And for us to get the context of what the apostle is doing, we're going to be reading together from chapter one, verse five.

And let us read, brother, sister, with faith in the Spirit of the Lord, that we will see the intention of the Spirit through John. And as we arrive to that section there in those verses that I have already mentioned. So, paying careful attention to each one of the words. and reading with faith and with humility before the Lord, asking in our hearts that He will speak to us, not as judges of the words, but rather as recipients of the words. Let us read together, brethren, from chapter 1, verse 5, moving on to that section that I have mentioned already.

This is the word of the Lord. 1 John 1, verse 5. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have no sin, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word in him truly, the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him.

Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved or brethren, I am writing to you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard from the beginning. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you. Why?

Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother, in him the darkness, in him his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Then the apostle moves to verse 12 and says, I am writing to you, O little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written or I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

And that is the reading of God's Word. Amen. Brethren, as I said, I want to speak to you about this assurance that the apostle is trying to communicate to the early church and also to us. Assurance, encouragement. Gospel realities are communicated to us from this portion of the Scripture that are supposed or are connected with our spiritual maturity.

And if you remember from what we said last week, I said, I hope clearly, that the apostle here is addressing the church in a general sense in verse 12, when he says, I am writing to you little children, he's speaking, he's giving a message to the entirety of the church. Once he has finished that entire message or that general message for the church, then from verses 13 through 14, he's going to address three groups of people or three stages of the Christian life that pertain to a spiritual maturity. In verse 13, he starts addressing the fathers. You can see that that is repeated exactly the same words there in verse 14. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

And the apostle repeats that in verse 14. Hence, he uses the tense time or the grammatical tense in verse 14, when he says, I have written to you, fathers, because he has done it already, because you know him who is from the beginning. Then in the 2nd section of verse 13, he addresses the 2nd group in the church, who is the young men. It says, I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. And he expands and he repeats that in the 2nd half of verse 14, when he says, I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

And the 3rd group that he addresses is the infants in Christ. If you remember, that is found there in the 3rd clause, in the 3rd statement of verse 13, when he says, I write to you infants, is the word there, different to the word that is found there in verse 12. I'm writing to you infants, or little children, because you know the Father. message that is communicated to the church in general, and then he addresses these three groups of people, these stages of maturity in the context of the church. And the way that he is going to address the general church and these three groups of people or levels or stages of spiritual maturity is by providing them a gospel reality.

to the church in general and then to the fathers, to the young men and to the little children or to the infants, a gospel reality so that they will be encouraged, so that they will be assured of who they are in Christ, of the identity that they have in Christ, not by virtue of their merits or their works, but rather because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in them. The first one of those gospel realities that is given to the church in general is found there in verse 12, and that is forgiveness. It says, I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. What is the first gospel reality that he communicates to the church in general? Forgiveness.

The gospel reality of forgiveness. Then when we continue through the text and then we see when he addresses there the fathers, we see that now the virtue of the gospel reality is fellowship with Christ. Once again, verse 13, I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. knowledge of Him who is from the beginning. And the one who is from the beginning, according to the gospel of John and the first chapter of John, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The gospel reality that he wants to bring to the mind of the fathers of the mature in the church is that they have known, they have fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The first one of the gospel realities to the church in general, forgiveness. The second one to the fathers is fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The third addressing the young men is there in the second half of verse 13. I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

Once it is extended in the second statement in verse 14, it says, you are strong. and you have the Word of God abiding in you, and because you are strong and you have the Word of God abiding in you, you have overcome the evil one. Third gospel reality, victory over Satan. Forgiveness, fellowship with Christ. Victory over Satan.

And then the fourth Gospel reality addressing the infants, the little children. You see it there in the last part of verse 13, when he says, I write to you, infants, because you know the Father. You have fellowship with God, but this God is your father. Adoption. The infant are known and know the father.

Adoption. Four gospel realities that we have here in this text, brethren, that the apostle wants to use to assure, to encourage the church that when they receive all of these piercing words, as he's going to continue to do it, they are to be certain, they are to have assurance, not in who they are, but rather assurance that comes from the gospel. And these gospel realities, forgiveness, adoption, Victory over the wicked one, Satan, and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we were going to take them chronologically or sequentially in order as the life of the believer progresses, this will be forgiveness. Then the infant is adopted.

Then victory over Satan to an ongoing communion with the Lord Jesus Christ of maturity. And the only thing that I want us to do, my dear brother and sister, is just to meditate upon these glorious truths, these gospel realities. That was the intention of the Apostle, brethren. The intention of the Apostle was that this church will be certain, that this church will be assured, that this church will be empowered from and through these gospel realities of, once again, forgiveness, adoption, victory over the wicked one, and this glorious reality of ongoing fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the gospel, my dear brother and sister, is not something that we learn just when we are saved.

The first time that a person prayed and they were saved or the person when they actually received the Lord and when they were converted to when the life of faith initially started. The gospel is the power of God and to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to Faith, the gospel, my dear brother and sister, is the power of God that empowers you from the very beginning of your Christian life to the end. And in the gospel, we find the person of Christ that is everything that we need for life, everything that we need for righteousness and sanctification. He is our life.

And these glorious gospel realities are not just simple, abstract doctrines, but they are doctrines that point to the Lord Jesus Christ. And being certain, my dear brother and sister, of who you are in Christ and being certain and having assurance of your salvation is not only to have certainty that you are a Christian, but rather assurance is a manifestation of faith. The faith that the Lord has granted you, the faith that the Lord has given you, without which it's impossible to please God, the faith that is supposed to be the conviction and the certainty of things that we have not seen and things that we have not known for, is that faith, when it's working in your heart, the one that is going to produce assurance of salvation. And that faith is the faith that looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. that looks to the Lord Jesus Christ and believes not only who you are in Christ, but more importantly, who He is.

A faith that is certain and assured of who God is in the person of Jesus Christ and the things that God has done for His people. When the eyes of the Christian are removed from self in a fleshly way and pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, we can discern through the Holy Spirit who He is, what He has done for us. And once we are illuminated into that understanding, then we understand our identity in Him. That's why, my dear brother and sister, these gospel realities empower the church for righteous self-examination. Your flesh is going to be tempted to examine yourself just for the sake of good works.

just for the sake of being good, just for the sake of being observed and being accepted by those who are around you. Your flesh is going to trick you and trying to tempt you just to fit the square of these people that are so different to me. But I need to make myself and force myself into this type of people so I can consider myself a Christian or I can continue to have community with them. Fleshly self-examination. The examination that the Bible calls us to have is an examination that is in light of the gospel with the freedom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One that is just the outpouring of the life of Christ through you. And then you are trying to please the Lord above everyone else and not the eyes of men that are upon you. So, brethren, having certainty of who God is, having certainty of what He has done and having certainty of who we are by virtue of His grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is of vital importance. And the Apostle wants us to have certainty here of these Gospel realities. First, that we have been forgiven, brethren.

Second, that we have been adopted. Thirdly, that we have victory over Satan. And fourthly, that we can have ongoing communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. The first one that we have here, brethren, is forgiveness. You see it there in verse 12?

Forgiveness. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. He wants the church to be assured that forgiveness has taken place. Not only forgiveness, but your sins have been forgiven. The first question that we need to ask ourselves to understand this text here clearly and according to the intention of the Apostle is what type of forgiveness is he speaking about?

What type of forgiveness is the Apostle John speaking about here in this first gospel reality? Because we acknowledge, my dear brother and sister, that from the Scriptures that there are two types of forgiveness. One that is the forgiveness that the Christian experiences on a continuous and ongoing nature or type. That is the forgiveness that when you sin, you come before the Lord, this experiential forgiveness that every time that you sin, you come before the Lord and you confess your sins and He's just and faithful to forgive your sins. But also we have the glorious reality of the once for all forgiveness.

There are two types of forgiveness and one of them has already been addressed. If you remember in chapter 1 verse 9, the apostle says that if you confess your sins, He's just and faithful to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That type of forgiveness, brethren, is the forgiveness that pertains to our sanctification, that pertains to the experience of the Christian. And while there's lots of truth and there's lots of power in the idea that the apostle has already addressed, that we are forgiven when we confess our sins because he's just and faithful to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I submit to you here from the text that the one that the apostle has in mind is not the experiential forgiveness that happens on a daily basis, but rather is the once for all forgiveness that we have in the person of Jesus Christ.

First of all, we see that that is the type of forgiveness that the apostle addresses because of the tense. He says, your sins are forgiven. No, your sins will be forgiven every time that you confess, but your sins are forgiven. Once for all, your sins have been forgiven. And while we do acknowledge that every time that we sin, we are to come before the Lord and confess our sins and He will forgive us because of the life of the ascended Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His people and the forgiveness, He is the propitiation For our sins, while we do acknowledge that experience, my dear brethren, here the apostle is pointing us to the once-for-all reality that our sins have been forgiven or are forgiven.

If we were going to put it in theological terms, here we're speaking about the legal aspect of our forgiveness. That is that the Christian or the Christian sins have been forgiven once for all. And because of that forgiveness, he has been justified. And this Christian who has been justified is as justified the first day of his life as Christian, as he will be in eternity. We have been forgiven of our sins by virtue of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done.

And that forgiveness, there's nothing to add to it or to remove to it, because that forgiveness is related to our justification. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 4 from verse 1 through verse 8, but more particularly speaking there in verse 7 and in verse 8 of Romans chapter 4. If you remember when he's given the example of Abraham and how Abraham was found righteous because of his works. No, but because of his faith. And then he says that it was his faith that was imputed to him as righteousness.

And the apostle will bring a glorious message that is taken there from Psalm chapter 32, verse one and two. He's quoting that in Romans chapter four, verses seven and eight, when he says, Blessed is the man whose lawless deeds are forgiven. Blessed is the man whose sins or lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered. And then he elaborates and he says that blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not account his sins. That is that this type of forgiveness, brethren, once for all, is the type of forgiveness that says that your sins are once for all covered, that the Lord will not impute sin unto you, once for all forgiven.

My dear brother and dear sister, and sometimes we get so used to the fact that the simple message of the gospel is that we have been forgiven, that in the flesh we lose the amazement of that glorious reality, that the sins that we have committed are not imputed to us. And that is because not of our works or deeds, but rather because of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the reality to which the Apostle John wants to point the church, at least in this verse 12, that your sins have been forgiven once for all. That is that you have been justified, that your sins have been covered and that the Lord will not impute your sins to you. You are not guilty before the Lord and that is once for all.

But brethren, many times speaking in legal terms does not show us the depths of the power of the reality of justification. In order for us to see the depths of the power of justification, we need to see the fullness of what justification entails. Of course, we're not going to see the fullness of what it is, but the apostle gives us a hint and a clue when he speaks in Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Speaking of justification of being forgiven, Therefore, since you have been justified by faith, you know what it comes, right? We have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

How is this legal reality of being forgiven once for all understood in an experience of a relationship before the Lord? With this term, peace. My dear brethren, my dear brother, my dear sister, the fact that you are forgiven is not only a legal status and a little label that is put on your head or on your shoulder to show you that you are a Christian, but rather by virtue of being forgiven, you have been translated from the wrath of the Lord into having peace with the Lord. Before forgiveness, you were the enemy of the Lord. And when He forgave you, now you are His friend and you are in the person of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, since you have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We were in enmity with the Lord. Not being forgiven is not only a legal status, brethren, it is the manifestation of the wrath of God upon those who are not in Christ. Those who are not forgiven right now are under the wrath of the Lord. And the person who has been forgiven has been removed from the wrath of the Lord.

This is what the Apostle says in Romans chapter 8, brethren, that we were in enmity when we were not forgiven. We were in enmity with the Lord and we were not able to submit to the law of the Lord. Everything that we did was sin because we were enemies of the Lord. Indeed, we cannot submit to the law of the Lord because we were enemies. of the Lord, we were under the wrath of the Lord.

But the Apostle expands and even extends that thought. If you come with me to Ephesians chapter two, you will see the glorious, powerful reality of what it's actually to be a person who is not forgiven. Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul is speaking about this reality of this translation, just like Enoch and Elijah were translated from the earth to heaven. The Christian is translated from the wrath of God to be now in a stage of peace with God. You see there in Ephesians chapter 2, brethren, read carefully to these words that many times you have read.

It says there in chapter 2 of Ephesians, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins. You were dead, brethren, this is pre-forgiveness, in which you once walked, that is the sins and trespasses. following the curse of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom the sons of disobedience, we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and whereby nature, Children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Brethren, were we children of wrath because of our sins? No, because of our nature.

Our nature is what makes us sinners. When Adam disobeyed, sin entered into the world and sin spread to all people because all people sin. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Now the Adamic nature is in us and by nature we are children of wrath. sons of disobedience and the only thing that can fix that situation is being forgiven, is being justified, is to be translated from the realm of the wrath of God, natural wrath of God to the realm of being at peace with the Lord.

And yes, brethren, the elect, the one who was chosen in love before the foundation of the world, the one who was loved in Christ before the foundation of the world, the one who was the object of God's election and choosing in Christ before the foundation of the world, in time, genuinely, and according to the Scriptures, in truth, were children of wrath. That is what the Apostle says very clearly there in Ephesians chapter 2. Apart from the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ, we were under the wrath of God. And my dear brother, my dear sister, we were under the present manifestation of the wrath of God. And not only the present manifestation of the wrath of God, but also the future manifestation of the wrath of God.

What is the present manifestation of the wrath of God? Then the same Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, verse 18, or same from verse 16, that he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed for everyone. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed, right? In the gospel, we have eternal life and that is only through faith.

And it's in that life that we see the revelation of the righteousness of the Lord. But then he continues and he says in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. You remember that verse? The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Presently, at this very moment, as we speak, the gospel is revealing the righteousness of God that is found in the person of Jesus Christ for those who have faith.

But also presently, just as the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, from heaven we can see the revelation of the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The question is, how is that wrath presently manifested? I have not seen fire, I have not seen, you know, thunders, and I have not seen any manifestations of the anger or the wrath of God against the sin of men. The apostle makes it clear there in Romans chapter 1. Mind given over to the sinful nature.

Judgment that is manifested from heaven. Suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. the sin given the sinner that is unrepentant, the sinner that does not hear the words of the gospel, the sinner that denies and suppresses the truth in unrighteousness, the sinner given over to unnatural things. You remember Romans chapter 1, Men doing things that are against nature, men with men, women with women, doing things that are against nature. They have been given over to their natural condition.

My dear brother, my dear sister, you think that you are something different, that we are something different to all the sinners of this world? Not at all. Our mind is preserved. Our mind is kept. Our conscience is kept in the hands of the Lord.

Not because we are so good and not because we deserve it, but because we have been translated from the wrath of God into having peace with the Lord. Why? Because we have been justified. Why? Because He has forgiven us.

the present manifestation of the wrath of God against the world. Are we going to go and convince this wicked world of the things that they are supposed to do just with principles and morals and just with ethical things? No, the mind of people are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness and then they are given over for their minds to do that which correspond to their nature. My dear brethren, this is very fearful, because it only takes that you do a little bit of self-examination into the thoughts that you have had, into the things that you have done that you don't want your wife or your husband to know, or your friend to know, that you don't want anyone to know. It only takes that you go a little bit deep into your own mind.

to know what you could do and what you could have done apart from the restraining hand of the Lord that was manifested pre-conversion, and then the love of God that sanctifies you and makes you more like the Lord Jesus Christ upon your profession of faith. Fearful things happen in our minds, my dear brother and sister, and those are because of our nature. Yet, we have been removed from the wrath of God that is revealed against all of this world presently, because we have been forgiven. But it's not only, my dear brother and sister, a removal of the present manifestation of the wrath of the Lord, it's also that we have been saved from the wrath that is to come. You remember the glorious passage there in Romans chapter 5, verse 8 and 9, when he's speaking about the demonstration of God's love, that when we were still sinners, Christ, died for us.

Then he says in verse 9, How much more, having been justified by his blood, you shall be saved from wrath through him. How much more, he says, since you now have been justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved from wrath through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because we are presently saved and removed from the wrath of God that takes the mind of men and allows them to be what they generally are progressively and sequentially until the fullness of their sins are accumulated so that the judgment of the Amorites came. The judgment to this world will also come. It says for the saints that it is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that will save us from the wrath.

Brethren, just simply go through 2 Thessalonians 1 and you will see what is going to happen with the future revelation of the wrath of the Lord. Is our Lord meek and gentle? Yes, he is. Is our Lord loving and caring? Yes, he is.

But is our Lord terrifying and fearful? Yes, he is, brethren. And we are not only saved from the present manifestation of the wrath of the Lord in which our minds are kept in Christ and are not given over to our own nature, but brethren, also we are preserved and kept from the wrath that is to come. having been justified by His blood, how much more you shall be saved from wrath through Him. 2 Thessalonians, did I say, brethren?

2 Thessalonians chapter 1. Let us read just here, just to give ourselves from the Scriptures a picture of what that day is. Let us read from verse 3. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as it is right because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all persecutions and in the afflictions that you're enduring."

I'm just checking the time and in one second I'm not going to be able to do it. Let us just read carefully there, verse 4. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God, and pay attention here, brethren, for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring." Okay? Commending them for their persecutions.

Verse 5, this, what is this referring to? the persecutions and the afflictions, this is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are also suffering, since indeed God considers just to repay with affliction those who afflict you. and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with the mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus." Oh brethren, it couldn't be more clear than that. Verse 8, In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

Brethren, even in the feebleness of our strength, that we are afraid if we see that fire is coming and that the sky is turning to blood, and these sounds that will come, even in the feebleness of our flesh, even in the feebleness of our eyes, even in the feebleness of our senses, The Christian will be strengthened and will be empowered to know that when that day comes, the Lord has arrived. The Lord has come to take His bride. And even though all of these things that my senses perceive, all of these things that my ears can hear, and all of these things that are so powerful and fearful, I still have the hope that He's coming to rejoice in the midst of His people. to bring vengeance against those who have disobeyed the gospel. The Christian, brethren, by virtue of being forgiven, saved from the present manifestation of the wrath of God, but also saved by His blood from the future wrath of the Lord that is going to come when He indeed comes to take His bride, my dear brother and dear sister.

And that does not depend on your efforts. That does not depend on your works and deeds. It only is contingent upon the fact that you are forgiven. Because when a person is forgiven, that person is translated from the realm of wrath under God to the realm of peace with the Lord. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Brethren, and this is the once for all. forgiveness. How can the present reality of affliction How can the present reality of pain? How can the present reality of discomfort? How can the present reality of not having what I desire?

How can the present reality of not being what I wanted to be? How can the present reality of not having what I wanted to have compare with the fact that we are forgiven? How can any of this present life Compare with the fact that we are forgiven. How can any of this, of this world, of this creation, and the mountains, and the oceans, and the power, and the might of kings and rulers, how can all the things that we see in this world compare? with the fact that we are forgiven, that we have been translated from the realm of wrath into the realm of peace.

How can that be compared? How can all of these circumstances of life, brethren, take and rob joy from the heart of the Christian when we compare that with the absolute reality that we are forgiven? How can all of these trivial things, that things do not happen as I expected them to happen, that I did not say the things that I was supposed to say, or I did not touch what I was supposed to touch, or I did not move what I was supposed to move, or I did not become what I was supposed to become. How can any of those things or all of those put together compare, brethren, to the glorious reality that you are forgiven? Nothing, brethren, nothing compares to that.

All of the things of this world, passing away. Fire will come, passing away. The car, the house, the studies, the reputation, all of it, fire, passing away. Gone. Either time or the fire will come, all of them absolutely gone.

But there is one thing that remains once for all. Forgiven. because of your deeds, because of your works, because of your intellect? No, brethren, despite of it, Christ gave His life for your soul, so that when dying upon that cross and then grace visiting your heart, you will be saved and you will be forgiven before the Lord. And that is not for your namesake.

But did you read the text? For His namesake. Forgiveness, the forgiveness of the Christian is rooted upon the unchangeable, immutable pillar of the glory of God. the reputation of the Lord is going to be exalted as the just and the justifier of the ungodly. He is going to be exalted and worshiped by the one who is not only the creator of heaven and earth, but also as the one who forgives the one that it was impossible to forgive.

And at that day, your futile, little, feeble faith is going to be for the praise and for the honor and for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Peter in 1 Peter 1, verse 6 through 9. That is that the feebleness and the limitations of your little saving faith, whatever that is, that is going to be found for the praises of the one who is above every name. And on that day, my dear brother and sister, he is not going to need any preacher, proclaimer or any herald of the truth. Because when He comes, every eye will see Him and everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those in heaven, those on earth and those under the earth.

Some of them will confess the Lordship of Christ because of the grace that has been given to them in salvation and regeneration. And some others will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords because the heavy hand of the Savior with a rod of iron will break their kneecap and they will bow down to confess that this Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord. My dear brother and my dear sister, for His name's sake, forgiven. You are forgiven. What type of self-examination can move the heart of the person who is rooted in this truth to fleshly uncertainty or to fleshly lack of assurance?

Brethren, if we have the certainty that we are forgiven for His name's sake, then we are going to look into our heart with the desire to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to find things in our hearts that should not be there now with gladness and joy, not because they are there, but because now I am aware that they are there and I can come before the Lord asking to be forgiven and to remove these things from my heart and growing conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. How will self-examination put a burden of darkness upon the shoulders of the Christian if the Christian is fully assured of this glorious reality of forgiveness? No, brethren, this is what we are called to do, to have the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts, reminding us always with His light that we are forgiven. And my dear brother and my dear sister, I'm going to fail once again to present everything that I wanted to preach with you, but just bear with me.

Did you pay attention there to the transition in Ephesians chapter 2? It says that before we were forgiven, we were sons of disobedience and we were children of wrath. Remember in Ephesians chapter 2? The thing is that being forgiven is not a legal status only. You do not change from being guilty to be forgiven according to the scriptures.

It's much more than being forgiven because forgiveness always come and is attached to adoption. For being forgiven is not only this legal status of guilt being removed, and now by virtue of this guilt that has been removed, now by virtue of all of the sins that I have been committed, now I'm standing before the Lord and His favour is upon me. No, my dear brother and sister, forgiveness, the translation from being in wrath to be at peace is a translation from being a son of disobedience or a child of wrath to be a son of the Lord. It's a legal situation moving into an experiential reality. That is that to be forgiven is not only you can go now, there's no debt upon you, but rather come into my house.

You're my son and you're my daughter. You're not a children of wrath anymore, but rather now you are children or you're a child of the heavenly one. And this is what the apostle says in Galatians chapter 4. If you come with me there very clearly, I want to show you this glorious reality of how being forgiven or how come from being under the law is now translated into becoming sons of God. Brethren, it's not about being forgiven only.

Being forgiven is equal to be a son of God. And this is the relational aspect of it. Galatians chapter 4 or Galatians chapter 3 better. Galatians chapter 3, brethren. Brethren, every time that we think about being forgiven, it's not only that we are to think about the freedom that we have from the displeasure and from the wrath of God.

But it's one aspect of being forgiven. The most important experiential aspect of being forgiven is that we are sons and daughters of God, that we are children of God. This is what the apostle does here in Galatians chapter 3. If you read with me there, please bear with me with the reading here and see the transition here from not faith to being faith in Galatians chapter 3, verse 23. Let us read this together.

Now, before faith came, before we had faith, before it came, we were held captive under the law in prison until the coming faith would be revealed. You see, from non-safe to safe, from not having faith to having faith. That is verse 23. Verse 24. So then, when we were not saved, the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith, Romans chapter 5.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Brethren, how are we sons of God? How are we saved? By grace through faith. But how are we sons?

Through faith. The faith that justifies us, Romans chapter 5, is the faith that equally makes us sons and daughters of God. It's not that now I had that debt that I don't have to pay anymore. Yes, that is true. But it's now that because I do not have that debt to pay for my sins, I'm his son.

I'm son in the Son. You're a daughter in union with Christ. You're a son of God in union with God, with Christ. He continues, verse 27, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free.

There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Pay attention to what the apostle is doing, because he, I don't want to say playing with words, but he's using concepts. He's now introduced this concept of faith takes you to be a son, right? And now when he's thinking about our sonship, he now goes back to Abraham and he thinks about his offspring.

What is the offspring of Abraham? The sons. Now he has in his mind this concept of sonship. Now he's going to speak the relationship between the legal aspect of our salvation, faith, with a glorious reality of being sons. And this through the son who was sent to be under the law.

Ben, let's pay attention there to chapter four. I mean, that the heir, as long as he's a child, you see this thought of the apostle, is not different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he's under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. This is the analogy that he's given. In the same way, we also, when we were children, that is before Christ, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for his son, born of a woman, born under the law.

He sent his son under the law to pay attention here to this succession of things. Verse 5, to redeem, that is to forgive, that is to justify, right? Romans chapter 5, to redeem those who were under the law so that Brethren, we might receive adoption as sons. You can distinguish between justification and adoption, but they come together, brethren. They come together, right?

Once you have been forgiven. This makes you a son of God, adopted there in verse 6, it continues. And because, pay attention to the succession of things here, you're redeemed, then you become a son, verse 6. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, zealed by the Spirit. How is the childhood or what is the word that you have in English to speak?

The sonship, better perhaps is the word. How is the sonship of the Christian confirmed for eternity? With the sealing of the Holy Spirit that comes into your heart and makes you cry, Abba, Father. But it continues because there's something else. You are redeemed.

You become a son and the sealing of the Spirit is given to you as a son. And then he says, so you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. My dear Paul, an heir of what? I'm a song now in the sun because I have been forgiven and have been adopted an air of water my dear Paul.

He answers that in Romans chapter eight comes to Romans chapter eight brethren. Bear with the reading please rather than here this is important. Romans chapter eight forgiven. And because of that forgiveness made sons of God, being given the Holy Spirit through which we cry, Abba, Father, and then we become heirs. Verse 14, brethren, chapter 8, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father, The Spirit Himself witnessed with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. You see, we're doing the same thing Galatians, heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided, here's the condition, provided we suffer with Him in order that we might also be glorified with Him. This is what the Apostle Peter, we're going to continue reading there, but this is what the Apostle Peter, you can read this in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 9 through 13, when he says that this is the grace that the prophets of the Old Testament were preaching, that were prophesying concerning this salvation for the Gentiles. They were searching and inquired about who the Christ was going to be, remember?

1st Peter chapter 1 verse 9 through 13. And they were prophesying about His sufferings and the subsequent glories, it says. And this gospel that has come to you has been preached by those who were sent, who received the Holy Spirit, even the angels. And they preached to you things that even the angels longed to look, it says there in 1st Peter. The sufferings and the subsequent glories of the Savior.

that are supposed to be lived by His people and by His church. This is what the apostle had in mind. The sufferings and the subsequent glories of Christ as the Son of God are the sufferings and the subsequent glories of those who are sons in the Son, those who are children of God. He addresses that in verse 18. For I consider, he says in Romans chapter 8, my dear brother, Romans 8, verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope. that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, those who have been sealed, brethren, with the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly, what?

for adoption as sons. What is the meaning of this future adoption as sons? The redemption of our bodies. Brethren, my dear brother, my dear brother, my dear sister, forgiven. Once for all.

This forgiveness does not give you a legal status. He makes you a son. And this sonship is already not yet. When the fullness of the sonship comes, they will be given a new glorified body. Glory will come.

That is what it says there. For adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies. This is the hope of the Christian. And you know what that means? this prophetic promise utterance here in Romans 8, He will come and He will indeed be victorious.

And the children of God, the sons of God are going to be revealed. And the sons of God, my dear brother and dear sister, are going to find the redemption of their bodies. This is going to happen. So that means victory. present victory.

It does not matter what the circumstances are for the believer. It does not matter what the situation is for the Christian, for the believer. It does not matter. The one who has been forgiven, the one who has been adopted as son will be son indeed when he comes receiving the adoption of the body. And through all of this time, there's one thing that is promised.

And that is that All of these purposes of the Lord will come to fruition and indeed will take place. There's absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is found in the person of Jesus Christ. There's absolutely nothing that can separate us from the purpose of the Lord of finding us being forgiven and being sons until the end. There's absolutely nothing that can separate us, that can remove us from that glorious reality and everything because He loved us and he gave himself for us. That is what He accomplished, brethren.

He accomplished not only a legal status that we are forgiven, but brethren, He accomplished this glorious sonship for our Father. This world is going to pass away. Families and marriages and things, all of it is going to pass away when He comes. New heavens and new earth and when the fullness of time comes and when the righteousness comes in fullness and in perpetuity, my dear brother and sister. we're going to find sinners that have been redeemed from all corners of this planet, from all corners of the earth, from every tribe, from every nation, from every tongue, sinners that have been redeemed, sinners that have been forgiven, sinners that have been made sons and daughters of God who have made it until the end.

Now, once again, if this reality is present in the mind of the Christian, How can the present circumstances rob us, take us, steal from us the peace and the certainties of the future that we have in the Lord? How can fleshly self-examination, how can even our shortcomings, brethren, I'm not diminishing the importance of confessing our sins. You have heard me preach many times before this, right? But how can even our sins, brethren, how can even our sins remove us from the certainty that we're supposed to have in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Brethren, there's absolutely nothing that compares with the reality of being forgiven, to being sons of God, and to have this eternity that is guaranteed and is already sealed for us.

We don't have the wrath of God upon us anymore. Why? Because, not because we have been forgiven, but because we are the sons of God, that the Lord can bring judgment upon the church. Yeah, that's correct. 1st Peter chapter 4, verse 17 and onwards speaks about the judgment of God coming and that has to come first through the household of God.

That is judgment. And indeed, in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 also speaks of the judgment of God that has come upon the people of God. the wrath of God upon that we were before being saved? Brethren, no. We are the children of God.

The disciplinary judgment of the Lord will come upon the church to purify her and to make her what she is supposed to be. But the hand of the Lord is keeping us until the end and giving us victory. Let us see if I can do this in 5 or 10 minutes. Come with me to the text, brethren, because there's a couple of things that I have to speak to you there. And the third one, if you remember, Let me just go to your memory.

Remember that I said four? I have spoken about the first one, forgiveness. I have spoken about the second one, adoption. What is the third one, if any one of you remembers? Thank you, bro.

Forgiveness. Forgiveness, adoption and overcoming the evil one. Brethren, pay attention to these and let me try to do it in five minutes because I'm over now. You see there are two young men, it says, because you have overcome the evil one, in verse 13. And then in verse 14, in the end, it says, I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

We have forgiveness of sin that moves us into this glorious adoption, this forgiveness that removes us from the present manifestation of wrath, that removes us from the future manifestation of wrath, forgiveness that is not only a legal status, but that gives us also this sonship that we have in Christ, this transition from this legal status into being the child of God, this hope now that we have of the future adoption of our bodies. And now we have this promise of present victory. not only for the young men, but promise of victory, brethren, for the Christian. And you see that word that we have there, overcoming? This is a very Johannian word.

When I say Johannian, I mean John. A word that is used by the apostle John almost specifically. Think about Revelation. He who overcomes, I will give him to eat of the fruit of the tree of life in the paradise of God. He who overcomes, I will give him a new name in the little stone.

He who overcomes, he will not be partaker of the second death. He who overcomes and then the overcoming one coming to overcome. Right. This is a very Johannian word of overcoming. And brethren, that word speaks of actual fighting and war.

This is a conflict that the apostle has in mind. And he says that he's writing to the young men because they have been in this conflict. My voice is going to go in like three or four minutes. So let's see how. This conflict, brethren, this conflict...

that is strong, is war. The apostle has this in mind and says that the young men have overcome this conflict, this strong fight, and not against anyone, but just against Satan. And this is the second level of spiritual maturity. These young men have overcome. And as you can see there, why did they overcome the evil one or the wicked one?

Why? Because they are strong. But why are they strong? because they have the Word of God abiding in them. The question here, perhaps you may have in your mind is, how is Satan overcome with the Word of God?

How do the young men and Christians in general overcome Satan, the wicked one, with the Word of God. How is him, or Satan, or the wicked one, overcome? There are three thoughts in the mind of the Apostle that we can see there in 1 John. This is what I currently see. Perhaps there are more, but there are three ways in which we overcome.

In the mind of the Apostle, the Christian is an overcomer. That word has been used by other types of people to speak wrongly, but indeed, the Christian is an overcomer in the mind of the Lord, in the mind of the Apostle. Come with me very quickly there to 1 John 4. And in 1 John 4, the Apostle is going to tell us I'm trying not to preach another sermon on these brothers, so please bear with me. First John, chapter four.

First John, chapter four. Here, the apostle tells us one of the first ways in which we overcome the system of Satan. And the first way that we overcome the system of Satan is by overcoming false teachers. We overcome false teachers. Overcoming false teachers, brethren, is a characteristic of the Spirit of God being the genuine believer.

You know, this changes a lot of things just to understand and interpret our own time. The Spirit of God in the Christian empowers the Christian to overcome the false teachers who are anti-Christ. Pay attention to what the puzzle says in 1 John chapter 4, and let us just follow the pronouncer. 1 John 4, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this, you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is now from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now... He is in the world already.

In the mind of the apostle, the spirit of the Antichrist is in the false teachers that he has mentioned in the beginning. It says there in verse one, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is what the apostle has in mind. Then he goes to verse four.

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world, the false Prophets that had the Spirit of the Antichrist in them. They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are, speaking of the apostles, we are, those who are preaching to them, the apostles, we are from them.

Whoever knows God listens to us, the apostle says. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, by virtue of the presence of the Spirit of God, that according to John, in 1 John chapter 2, towards the end of 1 John chapter 2, is the anointing of the Holy One, as we're going to see later on. This is the anointing of the Holy One. You don't have need that anyone teaches you because you have the anointing of the Holy One, the apostle says.

By virtue of the presence of the Spirit of God in us, we have the ability to discern the spirits. And just by virtue of that Spirit in us, we are overcomers of the truth. We hear the voice of the shepherd. When the Apostle speaks, we hear when the Apostle, the great Apostle, Hebrews chapter 3, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to us, we hear His voice. Brethren, the young men were overcomers.

They had the ability now because they were dwelling in Christ and having the Word of God dwelling in them, they were able to overcome those messages of the wicked one that were coming in the form of the Antichrist in these false prophets. But not only that, brethren, if you come very quickly there to chapter five, we see that there's another way in which Christians overcome the world. And this is a general way in which Christians overcome the world. And I will try to finish and elaborate the rest from here. Pay attention to verse.

Let us start from verse one. Let us just read from verse four. Chapter 5, verse 4, For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith, my dear brother and sister, all Christians are overcomers, overcomers of the system of the world.

The Apostle is going to tell us before, do not love the world, not the things of the world, because if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. The genuine Christian is not going to be taken by the love of the world, because by virtue of the Spirit given faith that we have in our hearts, we are already overcomers of the world. And the way that the faith that is overcoming the world and the faith that overcomes the false teachers and false prophets, my dear brethren, is through the Word of God abiding in us. I had many other things to say to you here, and I'm not following the words of the Apostle as he closes the second letter of John. I had many things to say to you, my dear brother and sister, but the time is not allowing me to say all of these things.

But there's one other important thing here about overcoming Satan, and that is persecution. When you have the time, just go and read 1 Peter chapter 5 and then you will see here that the apostle calls us to stand firm because Satan is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And what the apostle has in mind there is not a spiritual roar that is going to scare us, but rather suffering and persecution. and the Christian by virtue of the Spirit of Christ in us, by virtue of being forgiven, by virtue of being sons and daughters of God, by virtue of having the Word of God abiding in us, we will be overcomers not only of the world, we will be overcomers of that which opposes the truth, but even we will be overcomers of sufferings and persecution. Not that we are not going to die, but that our faith will remain until the end, because it's not your faith, my dear brother and sister.

is the faith that the Lord has given you. Your faith will endure until the end. In Revelation chapter 13, we see that Satan is allowed to overcome the saints. He's allowed to overcome the saints. He's given permission and authority to overcome the saints.

And that is not that the faith of the Christians are going to be taken by Satan. No, that the satans are going to die, that their bodies are going to die. But the faith of the Christian is going to endure until the end, my dear brother and your sister. And all of this is by virtue of the one who loved us and gave himself for us. Let us please abide in fellowship with Christ, brethren.

Having the Word of the Lord abiding in our hearts is not having words and thoughts, it's having Christ Himself in our hearts. That is a spiritual maturity, that is growing to be a father, having ongoing, perpetual, perpetual, ongoing, fellowship with the One who has already descended to save us and to redeem us, the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, let us not give our minds to the things of this world. Let us not open our eyes, our ears to the darkness and the things of this world, but rather let us make our hearts wells that receive the words of the Lord in faith, Let us make our hearts and our minds and our souls wells that are open to receive the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, that sanctify, that purify, that strengthen. How are we going to face temptation?

Through the word of Christ dwelling in our hearts richly, so that we will see the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. How are we going to face suffering and persecutions through the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling in our hearts richly, Him enthroned in our hearts, speaking through us and for us? How are we going to overcome and continue to overcome this wicked world? With the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ richly in our hearts, the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ richly in our hearts, How are we going to overcome temporal blindness because of our sins and because of the things that we have done that we were not supposed to do? By coming to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, knowing that we are forgiven, knowing that we are sons and daughters of the Lord, knowing that we have victory in Him who was already victorious, and knowing that He abides with us until the end of the age.

He is the one that is going to sustain us until the end, my dear brother and sister. These are the words of the Apostle John in 1 John 2, verse 27. Abide in Him so that when He comes, you will not be ashamed that He's coming. Abide in Him, abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when He comes, you will not be going into the caves to hide yourself from the wrath of the Lord that is to come, but rather the redemption of the sons of God has arrived. Lord, take me with you.

Amen? Very good. Let us pray.