The Presence of the Truth in..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. This section, as you can see there, as it starts in verse three, is going to be a very important confrontation of the Apostle John, not only to the church in the first century, but to all Christians. He starts by saying, and by this we know that we know him, or by this we know that we have come to know him in the ESV.

By this we know that we know him, that we keep his commandments, it says. We're going to have a warning here, a test. that the apostle is going to be given to those who receive this letter in the first century so that they can test their lives and conform or confront their lives to the words that are written in this section, and that they may know that indeed they may have come to know the one who is life. This letter, as we have said, is a very practical letter that speaks to the realities of the Christian life. And there will be not something worse than to be wrong about something, than to be wrong about the Christian life.

You can be wrong about whatever you want in your life. You can be wrong about the car that you buy or about the house that you buy. You can be wrong about whatever thing in life. But to be wrong and to be deceived about one's spiritual condition, my dear brethren, is something that has eternal consequences. And hence, the apostle, not only here, but through this letter, is concerned and is focused with reality in the heart of the Christian, is the desire of the Holy Spirit and through the apostles that those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will not be professors of faith only with words that are coming from the lips, but they will have the reality and the substance in their hearts.

So he says, and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. We're going to take this section of the Scriptures there, brothers, these 4 verses, that they are open with an open statement there in verse 3, that is going to be explained particularly and primarily in verses 4 and 5. If we were going to take only verse 3, the only qualifier for genuine knowledge of the Lord will be to keep the commandments. That's what verse 3 says. Whoever says, the better.

And by this we know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. If we just keep it in that verse, then keeping the commandments is the only qualifier for genuine knowledge of the Lord. But the Lord, or the apostle better here in this section, wants to expand in that, because it's more than obedience. So we're going to be reading this, my dear brother and my dear sister, with much reverence and paying attention to this. What I want to speak to you today is about the topic of the presence of the truth.

In you, the presence of the truth in you. And I'm taking that from verse 4. If you pay careful attention, and we're going to be reading, don't worry. Verse 4, it says, whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him.

The one who says with the mouth, I know him and does not keep the commandments, according to John and the Holy Spirit, is a liar. And it's not only that he's a liar, but there's something spiritual going on. That is that the truth is not in him. So what I want to speak to you, which will summarize this section of scripture, is about the presence of the truth. Not in this person that the Apostle John has in mind here, but in you.

The presence of the truth. in you. And what we're going to be doing, my dear brethren, is that we're going to be reading the first chapter and the first six verses of chapter two so that we will get the context of those four verses starting in verse three. May the Lord help us and give us freedom and liberty to speak and for you to understand my words as I decide to communicate them to you so that we will see the Lord Jesus Christ be strengthened in our faith and bear fruits of righteousness in Christ for the glory of the Father, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter one, verse nine and 10. So let us read together the words of the Lord through the Apostle John, in 1 John 1-2, verse 6.

This is the word of the Lord. that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The lie was made manifest, and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we are writing these things, so that your or our joy may be complete." This is the message, the apostle says. 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 that 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, verse 7, 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 that 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 not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you so 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. And then it comes our passage. And by these, 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." Who is that person that is referring there? He walked?

Jesus, right? Amen. This is the Word of the Lord. My dear brother, my dear sister... Sophie, put my tea somewhere here.

My dear brothers and my dear sisters and friends, as I said to you, we're going to be addressing or trying, I hope, trying to address verses 3 through verses 6 of chapter 2. And what I want to speak to you about is about the presence of the truth in you. The presence of the truth in you, as I said, that is taken from the end of verse 4, in which the apostle is speaking of this person who says, I know him. And if that person who says, I know him or I have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, in other words, and does not keep the commandments or the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, that person who says, I know him and his life is contrary to what his voice or his mouth professes, that person is a liar. But it's not only that the person is a liar, because that person says, I know him, while the life of that person is opposite to the profession of the mouth.

More than that, more than being a liar, the apostle says something very important. He says that the truth is not in that person. The apostle does not say that person is not telling the truth, which makes a person a liar, right? A person that does not tell the truth. But the apostle says that this liar who says, I know the Lord, while his life is denying that profession with the mouth, he's a liar.

And that is rooted in the fact that the truth is not Hence, I want to speak to you about the presence of the truth, not in this person, but the presence of the truth in you. And more particularly, what I want to share with you, and if I was going to summarize my message, I just want to show you and present to you from this passage and from the scriptures that the presence of the truth in you is two things. One, a qualifier of your spiritual condition. The presence of the truth in you is, first of all, a qualifier of your spiritual condition. That is, that if you're genuinely safe or if you're deceived and you're not saved.

Once again, the presence of the truth in you is a qualifier of your spiritual condition, either in Christ or in Adam, lost or saved. But also, the presence of the truth in you is a qualifier, if you are in Christ, of your Christian life. The presence of the truth is a qualifier of your spiritual condition. And if by grace, through faith, you are a genuine Christian, and you are inserted into the person of Jesus Christ by His grace, then the presence of the truth in you is a definer, a qualifier of your Christian life. And now pay attention, my dear brother and sister, that I say, the presence of the truth in you, singular.

I'm not speaking about the presence of the truth in the collective of the coming together of the saints, when they corporately come together to the church, or when they are doing some religious activities, and all of them look and sound Christian. I'm speaking about the presence of the truth in you. Individually, in you and, of course, in me. Individually, in each one of your hearts and in your souls. When I say, in you, I'm not referring to your mind only.

That is the power of that preposition that the Apostle uses there in verse 4 and through the chapter. That is, in you. I'm speaking about the presence of the truth in your being. not only in your mind, as you acknowledge certain statements of truth, as you recognize certain statements of theology, as you acknowledge certain lines and statements that correspond to Christianity, but rather I'm speaking about the presence of the truth In the vessel of your heart, in the vessel of your soul, in the vessel of your full being that goes beyond the mind, that reaches into the depths of the soul, that reaches into the depths of the spirit, that takes and arrives to that particular place where not even your intellect or your mind can arrive. I'm speaking about the presence of the truth inside of you, taking the substance of your being.

And when I say the presence of it, I'm speaking about the dwelling of the truth in you. I'm not speaking about just simply the truth passing by your mind or passing by your being and just dwelling temporarily in you and then departing, never to be seen or only to be remembered and only to live your life based on those practices that you learn 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 or 40 years ago. And that because you learn them so well, now you have engaged in those practices and you're okay with routine. I'm speaking about the type of presence of the truth in you that is an indwelling of that truth, that abides in you, that takes possession of you. And when I speak about the truth, of course, I'm not speaking about some set of standards and lines of theology of truth that are abstract to you.

But I'm speaking about who is the truth, brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ. So, when I said to you that I want to speak to you about the presence of the truth in you, as the Apostle will speak and expand in this person of Scripture. Basically, what I'm saying is that I want to speak and share with you about the presence of the beloved Son of the Father dwelling in your being. Being in you, abiding in you, the one who is the object of the love of the Father, the one who sustains everything that has been created by the power of His mouth, the one who is powerful to give life to the dead and to give sight to the blind, the one who is powerful and who knows absolutely everything, the presence of that man, the man God, Jesus Christ, in you.

And would you think that if that living God of ours, in the person of Jesus Christ, is and has taken presence in you, that your life will remain the same as when He was not in your heart? Impossible. It would be impossible to say that the creator of heavens and earth and everything that is in them, the one who holds everything that has been created by the power of his mouth, the one who is almighty and knows it all things, dwelling in the heart of a person is going to leave that person unchanged. or walking in the same ways that that person was walking before a profession of faith, or just simply having the same affections. And because of all of those explanations that I have given you about the presence of the truth in you, is that I say that the presence of the truth is, first of all, a definer of your spiritual condition.

And secondly, if you are in Christ, that the presence of the truth in you is a qualifier of your Christian life. My dear brethren, Jesus Christ said that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. The truth that the Christian is supposed to have is not only a set of standards, but is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And it's in that truth that we have fellowship, not only with the Lord Jesus Christ, but also with the Father, because it says no one comes to the Father except through me who is the truth. It is in the truth of Christ that we have fellowship with the Son and that we have fellowship with the Father.

And as the Lord Jesus Christ says, I will send you the spirit of truth who will point you to me. It is the spirit of God that guides us to that truth, who is Jesus Christ himself and gives us fellowship with the Father. This is the presence of the triune God in the heart of a sinful man who deserves, man or woman, who deserves death. Just think about that, brethren. At times we just simply get so wrapped up in doctrines and things like that.

But just think about that. The triune God, the only God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, taking presence, dwelling place in your heart. You know your heart, you know, the things that you've done, you know, the things that you've said, you know, the things that you the thoughts that you have, you know, the things that you have planned, and that you were not able to do, you know, the things that you intended once to do, and something prevented you from doing, you know, the things that you had the intention to do, but you ended up not doing those things, you know, the darkness of your soul, you know, the darkness of your eyes, you know, the darkness of your hands yet, by the condescension of this triune God, my dear brother and dear sister, not only that you are a Christian, but that this triune God, who is the embodiment of truth in the person of Christ, can be in you, in you when you sleep, when you're awake, when you're taking a shower, when you're eating, when you're running, when you're walking, when you're reading, when you're doing whatever, that this God who created all things remains in you by the presence of His Holy Spirit. And that is mind-blowing. That is not my sermon, but it just makes me speak and speak and speak about it, my dear brethren.

That is glorious. It's a glorious thought. That every time you know that a person has a problem or difficulty, they will want to go and speak to the wise person, or is going to speak to the president, to the prime minister, or whoever is in charge of those things to fix them. Yet the Christian has access to the throne of grace by simply bowing the knee or not even that, just simply closing the eyes or not even that. but just simply praying in the heart and then accessing to the throne of grace in the triune God and having fellowship with Him who abides in the heart of that sinner and guiding them to light.

The presence of the truth, my dear brother and sister, in you is a definer and a qualifier of your spiritual condition and also of your Christian life. And the presence of this truth that I have said, my dear brother and sister, is not something that happens in the mind alone, but it's something that is in the deposit of your vessel, in the earthen vessel, in the being, in the heart and in the soul. But it's something that does not happen besides or apart from the mind. It happens through the mind, but the dwelling place, the destination of that truth, who is Jesus Christ, is the vessel, is the heart, is the soul of that particular person. And every time that the Bible wants us to differentiate between those who are not in Christ and those who are in Christ, of course, the Bible tells us about the life of Christ in those who are generally saved and the presence of sin and death in those who are not generally saved.

But there's something very interesting that the Bible does, and that is that the Bible places the mind of the person as a witness of the spiritual internal reality of that person. Once again, the Bible presents the mind of that person as a witness, as a qualifier of that which is really in the heart of that person, or the spiritual condition of that person. Those who are genuinely in Christ, their minds are taken captive and set on the Spirit. But those who are in Adam, those who are not in Christ, but are dead and in the flesh, they have their minds set on things of the flesh. Come with me to Romans chapter eight and I will illustrate that which I want to share with you.

Because here we start to see in Romans chapter eight, the realities. I don't know if it's only me, but today seems to me a very hot day or not. It's only me. I'm brother Jesus because you said. Romans chapter eight.

So brethren, the spiritual reality of a human being, this is the only thing that I'm just trying to say here. The spiritual reality of a human being is defined by the presence of Jesus Christ, the truth in them. I made that clear, right? Those who are not saved, they do not have the presence of Christ in them. They do not have the truth in them.

And the abiding of that truth in the Christian happens through the mind. And actually, the mind becomes a testifier, a qualifier of where the spiritual condition of that person is. This is the whole point that the Apostle makes, or one of the points better, that the Apostle makes in Romans chapter eight. Read with me here carefully. And I want to point you to that.

It says Romans chapter eight. There is therefore no condemnation, if you have it there, Romans chapter eight. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemns sin in the flesh." Now pay attention to verse 4 here, because here we're going to see the distinction of the two types of people that exist in the world. Verse 4, and pay careful attention to it. It says, "...in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us."

Who are those us? Those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. That is Christians, brothers and sisters, according to that verse 4, Christians are in whom the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. And Christians in whom the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled in Christ are those who walk not according to the flesh, but they walk according to the Spirit. So that means that those who walk according to the flesh are those in whom the righteous requirement of the law has not been fulfilled in Christ, namely those who are outside of the person of Jesus Christ.

And here in verse 5, my dear brother and my dear sister, we're going to see about the mind of those who are walking in the flesh. It says, verse 5, For those who live according to the flesh, namely non-Christians, set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, enmity to God.

For it does not, that is the mind set on the flesh, for the mind set on the flesh does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it can not." Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Now, my dear brother, my dear sister, just one word that I want to call your attention to, and that is a mind that is set, and that is a mind that is fixed upon, a mind that cannot be moved and taken away. Those who are in the flesh by virtue of the absence of the truth of the person of Jesus Christ in them will have minds that are naturally fixed upon and set on things of the flesh.

Now, they may try at times in the flesh just to produce up to themselves thoughts of religion, come to church from time to time and do this thing from time to time, just to give themselves a little bit of thoughts of religion. But their minds, at its core, they are fixed upon things of the flesh. And those minds that are set on things and the flesh are seen in the fact that they cannot submit to the law of the Lord, external behavior, because they cannot, because they are dead in their trespasses. Even though the truth that is supposed to be in us is not to dwell in our mind, our mind is a testifier, is a witness, if we have or if we do not have that truth. Because if Jesus Christ is dwelling as the truth in us, then the testimony is that our minds are set on things above.

And you think that you have the ability just to simply just to say, think on things above, think on things above, think on things above? You don't. This is just the working of the Holy Spirit in a person. Now, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul in front of me, what is the testimony of your mind? What is the testimony of the thoughts that you have?

What is the testimony of the ongoing, constant presence of information of your mind? Where is your mindset, my dear person, my dear soul? Because your conscience testifies to you secretly. Your conscience in your heart speaks to you of where your mind truly is. Because those who are in the flesh set their minds and things on the flesh, and then their behavior is observed and seen that they cannot submit to the law of God.

And if that was not enough, and if the captivity that the mind of the lost has to their nature, sinful, Adamic nature, if that was not enough, then we also know, according to the Scriptures, that there is someone who is constantly and ongoingly blinding the mind of the lost. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, if you come with me, please, to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, to see this powerful, strong reality of what happens with the mind of those who do not have the truth present in them, those who have their souls absent of Christ, those whose beings do not have the holy habitation of the second person of the Trinity. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Second Corinthians chapter four. The Apostle is defending his ministry, which is not the point that we want to make, but he says in verse three, And even if our gospel is veiled, It is veil to those who are perishing. And then it says in verse 4, in their case, that pronoun there, referring to those who are perishing, right?

In their case, the case of those who are perishing, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. That is, my dear brother and sister, that the person who is lost and who is in the flesh is naturally in submission and in bondage to their sin. And for that reason, their minds are naturally set on things of this world, naturally set on things of the flesh, the things that are passing away, the pride of life, all of those things that are going to pass away is that which takes captivity or takes the mind captive for those who are in that condition. But on top of that, there is someone that is the God of this world that is blinding also, blinding the mind of those who are perishing. And now, my dear brother and dear sister, I want you to see there in what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4, that what they are blinded Of, or from, or whatever preposition you use there in English, is not only information, but it says the light of the gospel.

And one might be tempted to think that Satan is blinding the eyes of people just to understand the message of the gospel. Just to understand the statements that comprise the message of the gospel. But if you keep reading, that which people are being blinded... What is the preposition that you use? Of?

Of? From? Is more than the light of the gospel as in just information, but rather the person of Christ himself. Pay attention in verse five. Read with me.

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That is that, that which people are being blinded, you say from, right? From, is the light of the person of Jesus Christ. They cannot see the person of Christ.

They cannot see the glory of God, as it's manifested in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's there walking in the flesh. It's their belonging to the flesh that naturally set their minds on things that are passing away. And on top of that, you have the God of this age, of this world, that blinds their understanding. Brethren, if we just simply think about it, it should not only make us afraid, But also, brethren, gives us gratitude because how on earth a person can be saved if they are naturally born in bondage to sin, if they are naturally born in bondage to the flesh, if they are naturally born in submission to thoughts of the flesh?

And on top of that, there is someone out there that is blinding their minds to the only way of salvation. How can a person be saved? The apostle Peter answers the question in 1 Peter 1. If you come with me, please, to 1 Peter 1. Pay attention to this verse, because my dear brethren, There is a way in which our salvation is defined as obedience to the truth.

I don't know if you remember the many times I hope that you have read the scriptures in which the apostles mentioned salvation as obedience to the truth. And many Christians through the ages and church history have had problems with the fact that salvation is defined as obedience to the truth. And that is because clearly salvation is by faith alone. But the Scriptures do speak about being obedient to the gospel of truth, or being obedient to the truth. How are we going to understand that a person is saved by faith alone, yet many times the apostles speak of salvation as obedience to the truth?

Just simply putting the whole of the Scriptures together, and then just allowing the Spirit in humility to speak to the heart of a person, because we cannot understand things on our own. In 1 Peter 1, it says these words, my dear brethren. Have I announced the verse? I haven't. Verse 20.

Pay attention to this. He, speaking of Christ, he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you, speaking to the church, who, that is the church, through him are believers in God. We are believers in God through Jesus Christ. who, that is God, raised him, that is Christ, from the dead and gave him, that is Christ, glory, so that your, that is the church's, faith and hope are in God. And then it says something very important.

Verse 22. Having, that is how we were saved, having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. And then the question is, how can I be obedient to the truth? Many of your Bibles would have the answer there, through the Spirit.

The ESV does not have it, but many of your Bibles will. It says, having purify your souls by your obedience to the truth through the Spirit. But we don't need those two words there to understand what the Apostle wanted to communicate. If you come with me to the first chapter of Peter, the Apostle will make it very clear in the greeting of this letter. Having purify your souls through the obedience to the truth.

According to the Apostle Peter in chapter four, this is obedience to the gospel. How was I saved in May 2011? That was through the purification of my soul when I obeyed the truth of the gospel. How did I did? How did I do that?

If I was dead in my trespasses and my mind was set on things of the flesh and also there was Satan and there was all these demons that wanted to blind the mind of those who received the gospel, something took place in heaven for my behalf, and on your behalf, whenever you were saved, so that you will be in aid, you will be indeed purified in your soul and able to obey the truth. The first verses it says of first Peter chapter one, my dear brother, Peter, An apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God. Now, let me just read this carefully. Verse two, according to and number this in your mind. I don't know if that's how your mind works, but just keep the sequence in your mind.

According to the foreknowledge of God, the father. And then it adds in the sanctification of the Spirit. And then it says, 4. Obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling with his blood. How did I obey the gospel of Jesus Christ?

How did I respond in obedience to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ? How does any single person, every single person that is genuinely saved, respond in obedience to the message of the gospel? That person has been foreknown by God the Father. That person has been sanctified, has been set apart by the Holy Spirit. That is the coming of the Holy Spirit to open the heart of that person, to transform the heart of that person, to open the eyes of that person, to touch that person and give them life so that once the heart of that person has been made alive then there is a genuine response from the person in repentance and faith that is not the work of that person but it's rather the workings of God through the Holy Spirit that through that person makes that person respond in repentance and faith and hence both repentance and faith are both a gift that come from above but it's also a response of the one who responds in obedience to the proclamation of the gospel and hence the law is able to hold accountable all of those who do not respond in repentance and faith.

My dear brother and my dear sister, this is the glories of the gospel, that it is nothing about the person who is saved, but rather it is about the eternal workings of the triune God, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, that when they come and visit a person, the heart of that person is utterly transformed. So that person can respond according to what is required of them. Faith. and repentance, and then move into a walk of conformity to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is how, my dear brother, my dear sister, the truth of God takes possession, if that is the way that you will say it, and you are not offended by that word, because possession might mean something different, but comes and makes a habitation in the soul and in the heart of a person, deadening your trespasses away from the truth of God.

But then when the condescension of God wants to be manifested to a person, The preacher comes and preaches the gospel. Whoever preaches the gospel to that person, the Spirit of God sets and sanctifies that person, regenerates that person, and the new heart of that person responds genuinely in faith and repentance, converting that person, uniting that person to the Lord Jesus Christ, so that now nothing can separate that person from the love of God that is in the person of Christ Jesus, that is in Him, the lover of our souls, our Savior and Redeemer, never ever to be separated. And that is how the truth of God takes possession once again, or comes and dwells in a person. The presence of the truth in you defines your spiritual condition. Those who are not in Christ do not have the presence of the truth in them.

They may have knowledge of certain statements of the truth. They may have certain knowledge of aspects of the truth. They may even have certain levels of commitments in their emotions and even in their hearts. They may experience it and describe it that way. But salvation is of the Lord.

And when the Lord saves, He completes the work of salvation, of course, not full glory, but He saves efficiently and effectively to that person. So that person can go and continue their pilgrimage until the moment of glory in which they are fully consummated and united to their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the truth in that person is now essential for their life. And that is what the Apostle Lee is trying to address in 1 John. If you come back to me, I'm really sorry that I spoke too much about that.

1 John. 1 John. The life of the Christian, my dear brother, my dear sister, now has the presence of the truth in them, but now also depends for the abundance of that truth in us. Apart from the abundant presence of the truth of the Lord, that is namely the person of Jesus Christ, and that is through the words of God. This is basically what I'm going to be saying later on in these coming words.

The presence of Christ through the words of God in us, then we will not bear fruits of righteousness for the glory of the Father. Come to Philippians first. So I just want you to have these verses there in your mind before we even just address that. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1, verse 9, pay attention to this.

And it is my prayer. I don't know why I'm quoting this, but let's pay attention to this. Brethren, 1 Philippians chapter 1, the Apostle says, And it is my prayer that your love, that is your love, the love of the Christians, may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Jesus Christ. That is to be holy, right? To be Christlike.

That is the prayer of the Apostle, that we will be holy until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sorry, verse 9. Philippians 1 verse 9, so this is the prayer of the Apostle saying, "...and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, that is, holy until the day of the coming of the Saviour." And here is the description in verse 11, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes, how?

Through Jesus Christ, or in Christ, and that is to the glory and praise of God the Father. That is how He wants us to be in this world, holy and sanctified, abounding in the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of Christlikeness that is only in the person of Jesus Christ, and that is to the glory and to the praise of God the Father. And this happens, my dear brother, through the presence of Christ in you. It will not happen by your morals, or your ethical principles, or your plans in order to be holy, or my set of standards of what to see and not to see, or what places to go up, what places not to go. It only happens, my dear brother and sister, through the presence of Christ producing in you this fruit of righteousness.

And that depends upon the presence of truth in you. Truth in you. We were sons of darkness and daughters of darkness. We were children of wrath. We were children of disobedience.

And the natural deposit of our heart is lies and darkness. And our process of holiness and sanctification is the removal of that which is naturally in us. Darkness and lies and things of this world with the presence of Christ. And the more that Christ takes possession of us, of our hearts, the more that those things are removed from us and we bear fruits of righteousness through and in Christ for the glory of the Father. And that depends.

This is not a mystical exercise in which you simply desire and you close your eyes and you do this three times and then it happens. It's not mystical. It happens through the mind. He is not supposed to abide in the mind, but he's supposed to abide in the earthen vessel in your being. But it does happen to the mind, and that is through the word of the Lord.

That is how the deposits of truth in you are filled. This is how the eternal barn of glory is filled with the deposit. So when darkness and scarcity comes, you are ready to provide and you're ready to have and you're ready to eat. This is how the well is filled. That is how the vessel is completed, is through the deposits of the words of God.

And that is what I wanted to share with you in 1 John. But once again, I'm speaking something different. So please come with me to 1 John chapter 2. Because brethren, now I want to show you some important elements of the real presence of the truth in you. Brethren, really, these are very important things that I want to show you from this passage.

Now, there's a little bit of complication with the Apostle John, and that is that he writes in circles. And he repeats words, and at times he repeats concepts with different words. So when you read, it seems that you're going from one place to another. Now, it's not a problem if we just simply read the Word and you ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you and to guide you in the truths of the Scriptures. But at times, it's difficult to explain what the apostle is trying to speak.

So I find, or I think, that the best way for me to present to you, first of all, is speak to you or present to you the concepts that the apostle has in the mind. and then show them to you from the passage, perhaps this is going to make it easier for us to comprehend in this exercise of preaching here. So brethren, there are four important things here that are qualifiers, four important things here that are qualifiers of the Christian life, in bearing fruits of righteousness for the glory of the Father. There are four important things. And the presence of these four important things is what is going to help us to walk in the Spirit, to walk in power, to overcome sin.

This is what is going to help us not to be like the liar of whom the Apostle John is speaking about, not to be like the one that is deceived that the Apostle is referring to, but rather to be the one that's living in the truth. Four important things. Now, the first one is the one that I have spoken about, which is the central one, and that is truth. And that is found only in verse four, when he says, whoever says, I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him.

So truth is the first one, and it's very important element that is the first qualified or very important element that we need for a Christian life. Okay, that first one is truth. The second one, my dear brother and sister, is fellowship with God. And this fellowship with God, according to the Apostle, is going to be called or alluded to as knowledge of God, or being in God or abiding in Him. Let us find it together here.

Verse three, it says, And by this we know that we have come to know Him. Okay, knowledge of God, or that we have fellowship with Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says, I know Him, that is fellowship, once again, knowledge of 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 know, or we may know, that we are in Him.

That is knowledge or fellowship. You see that we are in Him. And then in verse 6, it says, whoever says that he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Now, I'm doing an interpretation exercise from the pulpit, which they say that it should not be done. So that requires that you pay attention, please, to what I'm saying here.

I'm presenting to you only the elements of the text. The first one is the truth, truth of which I have already spoken. Second one, this concept that the Apostle has is of knowledge of God. Or if you allow me just to use the word fellowship for him is know him or to be in him that we are in him or to abide in him. First one, truth.

Second one, fellowship with God. The third is obedience. And you can see there very clearly when he speaks about keeping his commandments, right? It says in verse four, and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments, that is obedience, we have the first one truth, the second one, knowledge of fellowship with God, the third one obedience, it says, for once again, if we keep his commandments, but continue because he expands, whoever says I know him or have fellowship with him, but does not keep his commandments, obedience, or is disobedient, He's a liar and the truth is not in him. And then here in verse five.

Being obedient in the mind of the apostle is about as about keeping the word. But he says, but whoever keep his word, you see the comparison between verse four and five, the one that does not keep the commandments. And in verse five, but whoever keep 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.

And here we have the other allusion to obedience. Walk in the same way in which he walked. This is the 3rd concept or the 3rd idea that is in the mind of the Apostle. The 1st one, brethren, truth. The 2nd one, fellowship.

The 3rd one, I think I said the 3rd one. The 1st one, truth. The 2nd one, fellowship. The 3rd one, obedience. That according to the mind of the Apostle is keeping or not keeping the commandments.

keeping, or not keeping the word, in his mind keeping the word, and then finally walking as the Lord Jesus Christ walked. That is how he is thinking when he's referring to obedience, truth, fellowship, and obedience. And now the fourth one is mentioned only one time, and this is the result of obedience is in verse 5. And that is the perfecting of God's love in the heart of a person. It says verse five, but whoever keeps his word, in other words, whoever obeys the commandments or keeps the commandments in him, truly the love of God is perfected.

These are the four elements, brethren, that we need to understand to see something very powerful in our Christian life. So truth. fellowship, obedience, and the perfection of God's Word in us, whatever that means. Truth, fellowship, obedience, and the perfection of God's Word in our hearts, whatever that means. Now, those are the elements.

But now, let me present to you the order and the sequence. I don't know why I chose to do this in a sermon, but please bear with me. Now I want to present to you the order, the logical order of these elements, how they work out in the life of the person, according to this scripture here. The order, the sequence, which is basically the order that I have just given you, but let us see it together. Pay attention to verse 4, that is going to give us the order of the first three.

It says, whoever says... now pay attention to what it says, whoever says, I know him, and does not keep the commandments, whoever professes with the mount and says, I know him, or I have fellowship with him, or I am abiding in him, or I am in him, I have union with him, whoever he says those things. And the outcome of that is not keeping the commandments or obedience. He's a liar. But something deeper is going on.

And that is that the truth is not in that person. That is that if the truth is in that person, that is that Jesus Christ is enthroned in the heart of that person, then that person generally has fellowship with God. And when that person says, I know him, I have fellowship with him, that is going to be confirmed with external obedience, because that person is going to be keeping the commandments that the Lord has given the person. And it's also keeping the word that the Lord has given and is walking as the Lord has walked. That is that truth is foundational for the fellowship of my genuine fellowship with the Lord and genuine fellowship with the Lord will be seen and manifested in my keeping of the commandments.

And then in verse five, we have that whoever keeps his word, in other words, that whoever obeys the commandments, or whoever walks as the Lord walks, then in him the love of God is perfected, whatever that means. That is, my dear brethren, my dear brother, my dear sister, my dear soul, that is that if the Lord Jesus Christ has taken possession of your heart and then the truth of Christ is in you, That is going to be seen and manifested, first of all, in a genuine, not a lying or a false fellowship with God, but rather a genuine knowledge of Him. And genuine knowledge of Him is going to be externally manifested in the keeping of His commandments. And the more that we keep His word and that we keep His commandments empowered by the truth that is in us and our fellowship with God, then something happens to the love of God. And that is that is perfected.

And you see the preposition there that is perfected where? In us, verse 5, whoever keeps his word, who obeys, in him truly the love of God is perfected. Why am I doing all of this? I'm doing all of this not only just to try to show you what is written in the Scriptures, maybe your brother and sister, but also to point you to the important logical order of where external deeds are when it comes to a genuine fellowship with the Lord. We cannot bear fruits of righteousness if we do not have the truth of Christ in our hearts.

We cannot do and keep the commandments and keep the Word and walk as He walked if we do not have the presence of the truth that is Christ in our vessels. We might move ourselves to try to obey here and there and push us in the flesh to fulfill the Word, to fulfill the requirements, but that is never going to be genuine obedience. Genuine, powerful obedience is only the result of the abundant presence of the truth that is the person of Jesus Christ in the heart of that person that will naturally manifest in a genuine, not false, but genuine communion or knowledge of Him that produces obedience and the keeping of the commandments And the ongoing keeping of those commandments is going to make something in your heart or inside of you. And that is that the love of God is going to be perfected. Now, I'm not going to be able to speak about all of them.

That was my plan. But I failed to do that. But let me just speak about a couple of important things here. Okay, I have spoken about truth. Let me just speak about genuine knowledge that is the result of genuinely having truth inside of you.

And when I say knowledge, I'm speaking about fellowship. How can I know that my fellowship, my daily fellowship with the Lord is genuine? How can I know that my genuine devotions, that coming to prayer and opening the Bible and bowing my knees and lifting up my hands and praying to the Lord and singing Psalms and songs? How can we know that our daily worship to the Lord, our daily knowledge of Him is genuine? The only thing that I'm going to say is this.

that just as the love that we have is a reflection of God's love for us, so my knowledge of God is a reflection of the fact that God has known me first. You know how we many times speak about the love of God, as the Apostle will say in 1 John chapter 4, and also mention that in 1 John chapter 5, that we love because He first loved us. That is that the love that the Christian has is a reflection of the love that He has for us. So I can love Him and I can love others just as a reflection and as a realization of the greatness and of the depths of the love of God for my soul. And how was that love demonstrated?

For God demonstrated His own love, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That is how God demonstrated His love for us. And I continue an ongoing realization of that love, which genuinely empowers me, not only to love Him, but to love my brethren. Because love is a reflection of God's love. My love is a reflection of God's love.

So knowledge, my dear brother and sister. Knowledge is a reflection. And I hope that I'm using that word correctly. Because reflection, it seems to me, that is something that happens in the mind. But you know, like a reflection of a mirror.

Knowledge of Him is a reflection of God's knowing you. Come to Galatians very quickly. And I will just make that comment there. Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. It says, formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. Speaking of the reality of our times when we were lost, right? So it says, formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

But now that you have come to know God, and then the apostle realizes that there's something to be said there. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? It says, but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, My dear brethren, just as we love, as a reflection of my continual realization of God's love for me, that He saved me and His Son died for me, and that is what empowers genuine divine love in me to love Him and to love the brethren, So my fellowship and communion and knowledge of Him is a reflection of the glorious condescension of God, that when we were set apart or separated from Him, He is the one that has saved me and come to known me, and that known there is an intimate knowledge of God for a sinful sinner who deserved wrath. but rather received love in the person of Jesus Christ. It's him, the one that was able to open the eyes of the person to reveal himself to that person.

He is the one that sent the preacher so that the preacher will speak the message and that through the message the person would believe and that that faith will come by hearing and hearing the word of God. It was the person, it was God himself who opened the eyes and the ears of that person to give the knowledge of himself into the heart of that person. My dear brother and my dear sister, it happens that every time that we come to our knees, that every time that we come by faith, because that is the element that is needed to enjoy the presence of the Lord, faith. When we come by faith and we seek Him diligently by faith through the Scriptures and in the truth, He is always there. He is always willing to manifest His presence to us through the Scriptures, in the Spirit, in the person of Jesus Christ.

And it's in the abundance and it's that better portion. It is in that place that if you tarry and you stay by faith, that you receive the glories of what it is to be in communion with God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and all of that by faith. Brethren, truth in the heart, genuine faithful empowerment in your knowledge of Him. How can you leave the secret place and go and give yourself on to sinful practices?

How can you leave that place and depart from that place in which the hand of the Lord has been upon you through faith and through the scriptures and in the love of Christ and in the realization of the gospel and in the truth of the scriptures? How can a person depart from that place of communion and fellowship with the Lord where the Lord has been manifested himself to him or her? How can that person leave and then move away and not do anything but obedience? It's not that it will be the reasoning of that person that will move that person to obey, but rather is the hand of the Lord that has been upon that person that will naturally empower the heart and all the affections of that person, my dear brethren, to keep His word and to obey His commandments and to walk as He walked. Because now disobedience is not the result of, I have to do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

But rather, He loved me and He gave His Son for me. He has known me. I was dead in my trespasses. I'm still having this unrighteousness in my thoughts and in my eyes. And still He loves me.

And still every time I come by faith, He is there. And still He speaks to me through the scriptures. And still He continues to save me and keep me in His love. How can the realization of those facts by faith producing a human being something different to gratitude, humility, and wanting to please God just by virtue of who He is and what He has done. It is when we realize that, my dear brethren, by faith, by faith, that indeed we keep His Word, we obey His commandments, and we walk as He walked.

And the continuous, ongoing presence of disobedience, my dear brethren, produces something very important in the heart of the person. That is the fourth thing, and that is the perfection of God's love. You read it there, please. In verse 5, it says, "...but whoever keeps his word, but whoever keeps his commandments."

In other words, whoever obeys. That is, that the Lord speaks and I do. That the Lord says, go and I go. That the Lord says, do not go and you don't go. That the Lord says, do not look and you do not look.

That you obey and keep the word of the Lord. Because now it is not an empty, cold letter that is pointing you to do something, but it's a living word. that is dwelling richly in you and through the Holy Spirit leading you in ways of righteousness, and then you keep that word, something glorious happens, my dear brother. And that is that truly in Him the love of God is perfected. The love of God is perfected.

Not that the love of God is in need of being made perfect, because the love of God in and of itself, being God himself, is already perfect. But here is a sense of completion. Just as when you have a glass of something that needs to be completed. and something that needs to be brought to its fullness. That is that the love of God that goes beyond the scope of your earthen vessel, not that you can contain it, not that in you the fullness of the love of God can abide, but rather that which your deposit is made for, that which the hand of the Lord has shaped your earthen vessel for, that which your heart has been designed by this Lord to carry and to hold in that vessel, in that deposit of yours, in that heart of yours, the love of God is brought to fulfillment, to perfection.

And then the question is, How do I know? What is the manifestation of the love of God being perfected in me? What is the manifestation of dwelling so richly in the presence of the Lord? What is the manifestation of having the truth of Jesus Christ in my heart so richly and so present? What is the manifestation of by His grace and not by the righteousness of one's own?

But what is the manifestation of keeping His commandments and obeying by virtue of my communion with Him? What is the manifestation of my heart being brought to perfection, or the love of God being brought to perfection in my heart? The Apostle addresses this question in 1 John chapter 4, and that simply can be summarized in the elimination of fear. Come, please, to 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4.

1 John 4, it says, Verse 16, So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but pay attention, but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. Do you read those words, brethren? Whoever fears, and that fear of punishment has not been perfected in love. Not that you have to be perfect, but rather that your vessel of your heart, by the communion with the truth, fellowship with God, obeying his commandments, keeping his words, will bring the love of God to be perfected in the heart of a person. And that is going to give you dominion over your emotions.

That is that the climax of the greatest of the emotions of God, if you allow me to use that word, that the greatest of the feelings, if you want, of God, namely, or the greatest of the virtues of God, namely love, has now been communicated to you so effectively that your heart is filled with genuine awareness that Christ has died for your soul, that the Father loves you in the person of Jesus Christ, that God speaks to you through His Holy Spirit, and your heart is filled with certainty and the love of God so that there is absolutely nothing that can take place around you or in you or through you that will remove you from the experience of that love and the walking in that power. Fear removed. And this is the fear of punishment. And fear of punishment is guilt. And guilt happens in the conscience.

And guilt happens because of sin. But rather, you walk now in clear conscience. Clear conscience. And to have a clear conscience, brethren, is powerful. To have a clear conscience, brethren, is powerful.

Brother Diego asked me the other day, how do you know that you're walking with a clear conscience? The answer to that is, if you have experiences, experience it, you will know when you haven't. Because walking with a clear conscience, my dear brother and my dear sister, is powerful. It is the manifestation of the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ that now guilt and taints in your conscience are taken, not because you're good, but rather because you have this powerful realization of God and Christ and the gospel and the forgiveness of your sins and the promises of God for your soul. So then now you're not a liar.

You can say with your voice, I know him. And that profession is a truth statement because you keep his commandments and you keep his word and you walk as he walked. And you can say with fullness of certainty and clarity in your mind that the love of God is being perfected in your heart and you can live your life in power and you can be a vessel of blessing, not only unto you, but unto the others that are around you, because now you can love them, not with your love, but you can love them with the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who loved you and gave himself for you. And now, brethren, think about this glorious blessing that we have in him. that there are millions of people outside of this building that are dead in their trespasses.

They are suffering in their souls with burdens of guilt and burdens of darkness because of what comes tomorrow. Yet the Christian can be fully liberated and empowered just because He loved us and He gave Himself for us. Amen.