Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our text for this morning comes from 1 John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25. Martin Luther is one of those characters in history about whom there are more anecdotes and quotes than you can believe happened in one lifetime. And there is an apocryphal story, I call it that because it's kind of a famous story, but no one seems to be able to track it down and know whether or not it actually happened or did Luther actually say this. But the story goes that Martin Luther was asked once by a friend, if you knew, Martin, that of a certainty that the Lord would return tomorrow, what would you do today? And reportedly, Luther replied, I would plant a tree. It's a somewhat amorphous story, and people have made a great variety of points out of it. What might we expect as an answer to a question like that? Not plant a tree, right? Something extraordinary. Something fantastic. When we don't know when Christ will return, then we go about our ordinary lives. But if we knew it was tomorrow, then perhaps today would be radically different in some way. Maybe I would pray all day and all through the night, make sure that's what he finds me doing when he returns. Maybe I'd sell everything and give to the poor. I mean, I won't need it after tomorrow anyhow, right? Maybe I need to take communion or be reconciled with a neighbor. Maybe I need to be out there evangelizing every minute because there's not a minute to lose, a minute to spare. As I say, there's different interpretations of this story, different points made from it. But I remembered it in connection with our text this morning because it seems to me that it reflects a conviction that the faithful Christian life is lived in the ordinary. It's lived in the mundane. It's lived every day. And it's lived by the regular use of the ordinary means of grace. those ways in which God has promised ordinarily to extend his grace to us. And it seems to me that it reflects an awareness on the part of apocryphal hypothetical Martin Luther that this is sufficient. Or rather, the Christ that we lay hold of and are united to by the faith that is both born of and fed by the ordinary means, he is sufficient. And if we knew he were coming back tomorrow, we wouldn't need to do anything extraordinary today. Because Christ is sufficient. Before we read these verses together, let's go to God who gave them to us in prayer. O God who made the ear, Grant us ears to hear your voice and incline our ears to hearken to you, that we might turn everyone from his evil way and from the evil of our doings and dwell with you forever. We will not go after other gods to provoke you to anger with the works of our hands. Therefore, turn away from our harm. Ready our minds to receive your word. Search us as we search the scripture. and give us the gift of faith. For we ask it for the sake of Christ and in his name. Amen. 1 John chapter 2, verses 24 and 25. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he has promised us. eternal life. Thus far, the reading of God's holy, inerrant, and life-giving word. May he add his blessing to the reading and to the preaching of it. Let's consider some of where we have been, some of the fantastic reasons for which thus far John has indicated that he has written this letter. He's written to us in the very first verses that eternal life was manifested in the world and We that is the Apostles John and the other Apostles He says we have declared this truth to you in order that you should have fellowship with us And that fellowship is not just between you and the apostles, but he says our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. And he has written, he tells us, that our, that would be the whole collective, our joy may be full. He's written that you might walk in the light, that light that God is, that light that God is in. and that being open and exposed before God, dwelling in that light, your sins should be forgiven. He has written so that God's love should be made perfect in you. because in you the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining because you have overcome the wicked one and you have known the father and you have known him who is from the beginning that is the son. He has written that the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life should come to have no place in you driven out of you by the love for the father. He's written to assure you that your anointing by Christ with his spirit teaches you the truth so that you cannot fall away. Some pretty amazing things in the course of less than two chapters, and the first one was short. What means might we expect for receiving such fantastic things? How shall we experience them? How shall we know these things and live in a way that reflects that we have received these things. I mean, there should be fireworks or something, right? I mean, something just amazing. We might expect. Having sounded notes of warning, he said, this is the last hour. The Antichrist is coming. And notes of encouragement, you have an anointing. John now comes to what I will call the Pauline therefore. This is how Paul structures his letters, right? Doctrine in the first chapters, and then there's a hinge, there's a turning point in almost all of his letters, maybe all, where he says, therefore, since all of this doctrine I have been giving to you is true, therefore, you should live in this way. And John now comes to this therefore in order to command action. So he says in verse 24, therefore, Let that abide in you, which you heard from the beginning. I'm for a moment going to skip over the main imperative verb here. Let that abide in you. We'll come back to that in a minute. And I want to skip over that to go to this thing that should abide in you. What is it that you should let abide in you? It's that thing which you heard from the beginning. What does John mean by that? He has to refer here to the first hearing of the gospel. He has referred to that which is from the beginning, meaning Christ. And he refers that way to him at the beginning of his gospel as well. John chapter 1, in the beginning, was the word. But here he cannot mean that. You cannot let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. You weren't there to hear anything in the beginning. And so this must refer to your first hearing of the gospel, that which you heard that was for you the beginning. of a new life, a new understanding. Look at the beginning of both this epistle and then his gospel. First John, the first three verses. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life, the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you. that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." So that which you've heard from the beginning has a focus on, for John, the incarnation of the Son of God, the one he calls the Word of Life and eternal life. And he was made manifest in order to restore life. There are other ways we could talk about the gospel. There's a lot of details that are essential to understand. But this is the way that John puts it in a nutshell here. He does similarly as he opens his gospel, John chapter one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made in him was life. And the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. That man came for a witness, to bear witness to the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness to that light. That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Again, you see, the gospel put in these same terms, life and light through the coming, the incarnation of he who was life and light from the beginning. That is how John characterizes the gospel here. Life and light from he who was life and light from the beginning who came into the world, the incarnate one. Let's go back, as promised, to that main verb. Let that abide in you. That's the imperative. That's the command he's come to. Now that he's warned us and encouraged us, Here is the command. Let that abide in you. This gospel once heard is to abide in to stay with us to live in us. How would that be. How will we obey that command to let it abide in us. By what means. Well the opening of his gospel John chapter 1 that we've just read I read the first 13 verses gives indication. not the John who writes the gospel, but a different John, John the baptizer, was come as a witness of the light, that all through him might believe. He says a little later, as many as received him, and then makes clear how it is that that reception happens, as many as received him, he says, to them he gave the right to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in his name. How is it that we receive? How is it that we take this message into ourselves? How is it that it will abide there, stay there, live there? It is by faith. It is by believing the message that we have heard. If we are to obey this command, to let that abide in you, we must know what the gospel is and we must understand what the gospel is, that gospel that we have heard, that has been declared, that has been preached. You hear all these emphases on the audio, the word. I bring that out because since our fall into sin, we have a predilection for the visible and for experience. We want to see and we want to experience. You can see it in the record of the fall of Genesis 3, 6, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes. And a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." The immediately preceding verse has some of the temptation of her to it, the lie of the serpent. Genesis 3, 5, the serpent says, you're not going to die if you eat it. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. What does he mean by that? When you eat of it, then you will know. You will know because you listened to God who knows everything and you believe what he told you? No. You will know when you experience it for yourself. She sees the fruit as good. She desires to experience good and evil for herself. And it has ever been that way since. Sight and experience we have a predilection for. And God requires that we believe his word. The Reformed have always been suspicious of signs and symbols, of images, ceremonies, and rituals for this reason. At least, ceremonies and rituals beside the sacraments given to us and those simply administered. It's disturbing today to see so many Protestants so focused on images and videos, evangelistic films, and worship experiences. I'll give just a quick two-part illustration of that. The first time that I attended the PCA's General Assembly as a commissioner, I went some, I think, as a boy. I was around. I wasn't paying attention. But the first time I went as a ruling elder and as a commissioner, it was in Orlando. And that's where my younger sister works as a graphic designer for Third Millennium Ministries. And so living there where General Assembly was going on, she joined us for some of the worship services that happened in the evening. And I will never forget her criticizing the graphic design on her way out of worship one evening. And this had to do with putting the lyrics of the hymns we were singing up on the screen. And you know, what's there? Beautiful landscape photography. behind the text, and she was irate. She said, graphic design must serve the message, not distract from it. Graphic design that distracts from the message is bad graphic design. Why would they do that? Because we love the visual, and it heightens our experience. At a meeting of presbytery some time ago now, the host church did something similar, though they'd upgraded. We now had beautiful scenic video playing behind the text of the hymns. Been taken with a drone flying along the creek. And after that worship service, as we stood in line to eat together, that was all the conversation. Where did you get that footage? That was amazing. When Paul writes in Romans 10, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? It's through the foolishness of the gospel preached that God designs to work. The Heidelberg Catechism asks in its 98th question, but may not images be tolerated in the churches as books to the laity? You know, because they're too stupid to understand speech. They're illiterate. They can't read for themselves. They can't understand, you know, the big words that the preacher uses. Couldn't we use images for them? Couldn't we dumb it down so that they can understand? Heidelberg answers, no. For we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word. We must know and understand That comes by the word but we must do more than simply know and understand we must also believe that what we hear is true and We must believe that it applies to us personally That it is true and it is true for us. I Those are also necessary. And Peter stresses this in his preaching on the day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts chapter 2. He is asked by the multitude there, what shall we do? And he says, you should repent and believe because, Acts 2.39, the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. They already knew these things are true. They were convicted. What you have said has the ring of truth. I cannot help but believe this is true. Therefore, what shall I do? He says, well, since it's not just true, but true for you, you should act upon it. You should repent and believe. The promise is for you. It is for your children. It's for all whom the Lord our God will call. We must know, we must understand, we must believe it's true and true for us. But that is all. It's that simple. It's that ordinary. The gospel heard abides in you when you believe it is true and apply that truth to yourself. There's no whiz-bang. I mean, there could be. God can do what he wants. But we're not commanded to seek that or create it. And then look at what is so marvelously attached to this. Back in verse 24, if, here's the if then, if what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And again, we're just struck with the magnitude of what is attached to a simple faith. By this simple faith we are united to Christ and are, according to Paul, to the Ephesians, blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. What is left out that you need to go seek by some other means? Nothing. We're blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In him, Paul tells us we were predestined to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will." That's the gospel. Mystery here, just the revelation of something formerly kept somewhat hidden. We talked about that in Sunday school. How much did Abraham understand? Not all of it. But with the coming of Christ, this is all opened up. He's made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also, we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. Don't expect you to have noted all of the wondrous things that are there. Adoption as sons. Accepted by God in the beloved. Redemption through his blood. Forgiveness of sins. The obtaining of an inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the down payment and the guarantee of the redemption of the purchased possession. And all of this is delivered through our having believed. The gospel of our salvation. The Holy Spirit is called the down payment and also the guarantee for the rest of the inheritance to come because that inheritance is a share in the life of the Godhead. So the deposit of the Holy Spirit is that already begun. And he guarantees that that share in the life of the Godhead will come to its completion for us. Therefore, Jesus prayed for us. His high priestly prayer that John records in John chapter 17. Jesus prayed, I do not pray for these, my disciples who can audibly hear me right now alone. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That's you. that they all may be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me, and the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved me, have loved them, I'm sorry, and you have loved them as you have loved me. We've seen that passage before, and doubtless we will see it again, as this is a consistent theme throughout 1 John, our union with God in Christ. If that word we heard from the beginning abides in us, then by that very means we also abide in the Father and the Son. And then verse 25. This is the promise that he has promised us. Eternal life. And the reader might ask, now how is that appended? Is this eternal life a benefit to be given later in addition to abiding in the Son and in the Father? Or are maybe those the same thing? Is verse 25 just what we call a little grammar lesson and a positive? Thing that we put between commas that says the same thing as we said before just to make make you positive what we mean Just to make it clear Is that what's going on? Is that eternal life the same? I think Robert Candlish is right You know if you've been here through all of this I much appreciate his commentary on first John 19th century Scottish preacher It says it makes very little practical difference how we answer that question. I Because really they amount to the same thing because we live between the already and the not yet So there is a sense in which eternal life is still to come It is still a benefit that we look forward to that we hope in but there is also a sense in which we have it already and in both senses eternal life is just communion with God and That's what Jesus indicates again in his high priestly prayer, John 17, this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. And what is it to know God and the Christ whom he has sent? What is it to participate in the life of the Trinity? I will circle back to my main thrust, my main idea here, the ordinary. It's by the Word of God, the Word read, the Word preached, the Word prayed, and fellowshiped together in. As we encourage one another in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs, we are fellowshipping together in the truths of the Word. As we converse and counsel one another, we fellowship in the Word. Those things taken together, this is how we enter into the intra-Trinitarian conversation. Astonishing. Candlish explains it this way. It was hard to decide where to start the quote here, so let me just try to give you a little bit of the context without quoting it all. He's noted that not for the Sun as the second person of the eternal Trinity considered in himself apart from creation This is the second week in a row. I'm making that distinction But the Sun as considered in relation to us and his role in our redemption and As we as we think about the son as he is in our state and has taken our place in That place in that role then life to him is a gift of the father to the son It is given to the son to have life in himself also And so having noted that then candlestick rights let us enter then into the life which the son has by the gift of the father and his past life of obedience to the Father and acceptance with the Father on earth, his present life in fellowship with the Father in heaven. Let us apprehend that life as a reality. Let us apprehend the essence of it, which is really intercourse. Blessed intercourse between the father and the son converse communion conversation We have materials for this in that which we have heard from the beginning If we let it abide in us We have the father speaking of and to the son and the son speaking of and to the father. This is the life of the father and the son. That is life eternal. And it is that which he has promised to us. Even that very life eternal. The father so speaking of and to us as he speaks of and to the son. And we speaking of and to the father as the son speaks of and to the father. It's just beautiful the way he can put it together and have it make sense. Just as the Father and the Son converse with one another, and that is the life of the Trinity, so they converse with us and we with them. And we enter into that eternal life by means of the Word. this last part of speaking to the Father like the Son speaks to the Father. Candlash cites John 15 7. If you abide in me, Jesus says, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. And so Candlash says to ask. to be ever asking, and asking freely, confidently, boldly, is one way in which eternal life, or abiding in the sun, acts itself out. The very breath of that life is prayer. In 2 Kings chapter five, we have that famous story of the Syrian nobleman, Naaman, who's a leper. He's come from Syria to Judah to find Elisha, the prophet, in order to be healed of his leprosy. Elisha declined even to see him, but sends a messenger with a word. Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean. And does Naaman say, oh, is that all? I'm glad it's so easy. No, no, no. He is furious with such a simple and ordinary suggestion. He said, I had said to myself, he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of his God and wave his hand over the place and heal the leprosy. He expected a show. He wanted something elaborate, something ritual, something mysterious. Are not the Abana and the Farpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean? He asked. You see, his estimation of the direction is that this is wholly an ordinary and mundane thing. Simple washing. He could have done that at home. Where was the spectacular that he had traveled in order to access? But God doesn't need the fantastic in order to do his work. no smoke, no mirrors, just simple belief in His Word, evidenced by submission to it. We let His Word abide in us when we obediently make use of the means that He has ordained for it. We read His Word. We attend to it preached. We pray it back to Him. We fellowship with one another in its truths. And this is abiding in Him. Over and over and over again, we're gonna come back to, shouldn't there be something more? Shouldn't I feel something amazing? And sometimes we do. But that's not the essential part. This is eternal life. No bells, no whistles. Just life in His Son. Let's pray. O God of grace, by your grace, do not let us come short of your promise to us of rest. Your gospel has been preached to us. Grant always to us faith with which to mix the word we hear. Give us to hear your voice, inviting us to share in your rest. And let us not harden our hearts in unbelief. make us strong and encouraged to labor by diligent and earnest use of the ordinary means that you have given to enter that rest that yet remains a promised blessing. All that we are, think, feel, and believe is naked and open before you, manifest in your sight. But we have Jesus as our great high priest, And we hold fast our profession of faith in him. Therefore we are bold to approach you, confident that as we are in him, your throne is to us the throne of grace. And so we come to obtain mercy and to find grace to help us in our time of need. For we come clothed in his righteousness and we pray in his name. Amen.