There's one more water in there for me. Good to be with you all this evening. Bring you very warm greetings from all the brethren at Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky. We pray for you all on a regular basis as a church, and so it's really a delight and a privilege to be here to preach the word of God to you. Would you turn with me to 1 John chapter three, 1 John 3. This is a simple text, and I trust it's familiar to you all. The Apostle John says elsewhere in the letter, I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know the truth. And my goal this evening, with the help of the Lord, is to, like John did to this church, stir you up by way of reminder of those things that you know and have read. And I trust, with God's blessing, it will be a great encouragement and a blessing to you all. Now, although we will be focusing on verses two to three of chapter three, for context, we're going to begin in chapter two, verse 28. So let's read the word of the Lord, and then we'll pray together before we begin. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Come, Holy Spirit, come. Let thy bright beams arise. Dispel the darkness from our minds and open all our eyes. Amen. Is there anyone here this evening who feels that your progress in sanctification has stalled out? Are you bothered with a sense that you are not what you should be before the Lord? Is there something nagging you or weighing down your conscience? Something that makes you feel ashamed before the Lord? Is there anyone here who's lost the will to fight for progress in holiness? Maybe you've fallen into a state of carelessness or distraction, having lost any motivation for pressing on to put off sin and to put on righteousness. Maybe you are living an undisciplined life, being pulled this way and that way by carnal concerns with little thought to spiritual matters. Is there anyone here who's been maybe so shaken by something very bad that's happened to you that you feel you've lost sight for what purpose the Lord has for you in this life. Maybe you feel as though you are driving aimlessly without knowing where you are going. And maybe many of you are not in any of these places right now, but you know what it is to struggle and fight against sin and the remaining corruption that's in you. Dear brother or sister, I believe that the apostle John wrote his epistle to people in this state. He wrote to believers who needed to be stirred up with gospel motivation and with hope of future glory in order to live for God in a present and evil age. And this is the text that we have before us this evening. And this is the main idea of our text. Remembering what you are now in Christ and hoping in what you will be one day when you see the Lord provides purifying power for sanctification in this life. Let me say that one more time. Remembering what you are now in Christ and hoping in what you will be one day when you see the Lord provides purifying power for sanctification in this life. What we see in this text before us is a truth that the Holy Spirit uses to fire us up to kill our remaining sin and to be holy before him. And that is that the Christian is now a beloved child of God. And one day they will see their Lord face to face and they will be like him because they will see him as he is. And this purifies them in this life to be holy even as he is holy. We're going to open this text under three simple headings. Number one, what we are. Number two, what we will be. And number three, what we should be. And I'm indebted to commentator David Allen for this helpful outline. But before we begin, we just need to consider a little bit of background to help us in understanding this passage. How does this passage fit in with the purpose for which John writes this letter as a whole, and as well as the immediate context of these verses? Well, we can discern that chapter 2 verse 28 through chapter 3 verse 10 really comprise one unit with a single main idea. John argues in this section that Christians will practice righteousness and will not of sin. This is the proof that they are working as children who have been born of God. And John supports this point by providing the reason for this. What is the motivation for this in the life of the Christian? And that is because they are children of God and because they hope in the transforming power of the final appearance of Christ by which they will be glorified and changed into his image. What problem is he addressing here? Well, some within the church had been deceived by false teachers who seem to have set love to God against practicing righteousness. as though we could be Christians on the one hand, but not be concerned about whether we are living in sin or in holiness. The practical effect of this false teaching was lawlessness and sin within the church. And John is seeking to correct this error. You'll remember he writes in chapter two, 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." This is a critical point for John in his epistle. This is a high-stakes issue for him. Fellowship with God is at stake. You will remember John writes in chapter one of verse three that his goal for his letter is that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. This is one of these issues that is causing this church to break their fellowship with the triune God. And John is pressing this church to remain in fellowship with God. They are in danger of straying from this by embracing a form of lawlessness. And he sees such disregard of sanctification as a breaking of fellowship by ignoring the moral commands that comprise the Lord's holy character. So he reminds this church about basic matters concerning the object of their faith. the fruits of faith in Jesus Christ, and how to discern who is truly a Christian and who is not, to discern the false teachers and those who have followed them. And so, with this background in mind, let's now consider our first heading, what we are. And this is found in verse two, the very beginning of verse two. Beloved, we are God's children now. Now we don't want to skip over the very first word of this phrase. in a rush just to get to that glorious phrase, we are God's children now. Because John begins this phrase with a very important word, beloved. We don't want to skip over that. Let's take a minute just to think about what this word means and what is the connection to the other parts in his letter. This is John's favorite way to refer to this church in this letter. He uses the word six times in the whole epistle. And he can use this word, of course, because he, John, loves the church. He can call them beloved because he loves them. But is he using this term as a reference to his own love for this church only? Is that the reason he's using that here? That is possible, but I think we should also read this in light of what he has just said in verse one of chapter three, which is, see what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God. This word should remind us of the truth that if we are in Christ, we are loved by the Lord. We are those who were chosen as firstfruits to be saved. We are those for whom Christ suffered and died. We are those who are precious to Christ, even those who comprise his bride. We saw the beauty of a wedding yesterday, which is just a foreshadowing of that glorious reality of the love of Christ for his bride, the church. And if you are in Christ, it is because the Lord loves you, and he desires to have fellowship with you, and so he died for you. Now some of us may feel at times that the Lord simply tolerates us. Sure, he saved me, but he doesn't really want to see me very often. And his primary disappointment and frustration. The Lord is a severe man, we can see at times, we can believe at times. But brethren, this is not the depiction of the love of God that we find in scripture. And this is not what the apostle is saying here. He's saying quite the opposite. The Lord is not a severe man toward his children. Is he disappointed with his children? Is he grieved when they sin? Yes, he is grieved when his children sin, but he is grieved with a fatherly displeasure. Not a displeasure of judgment, but with a fatherly displeasure. His compassion is for us, and he desires communion with us and for us to be holy. Would the father send the son to die for you just to send you to a corner? where he doesn't have to see you or deal with you at all? No, he loves us, and we must let that love stir us up to repentance and constant communion with him. But now, that's just the first word of this clause. What about the phrase, we are God's children now? Not only are we the beloved of God, but we are his adopted children. This is a glorious thing to think about. But what does this mean? What does it mean that we are the adopted children of God? I don't think anyone can improve on the statement in our Confession of Faith in chapter 12, which beautifully summarizes the scriptural teaching about this glorious adoption into the family of God. And it says, all those that are justified. It's not everyone in the world, this is all those who are justified. God vouchsafed in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ. For the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ. And in his only son, Jesus Christ. By which they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God. Have his name put upon them. Receive the spirit of adoption. Have access to the throne of grace with boldness. are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as a Father, yet never cast off, but seal to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation." Is that not glorious, the things that the Confession summarizes, the teaching of Scripture for the Lord's adopted family? We who were children of the devil have been regenerated, forgiven, justified, and now adopted as sons and daughters of the living God who we were once at enmity with. We now have the right to approach the throne of grace. How often do we take that for granted? The ability to pray to God as our Father, even our Lord, teaching his disciples, his sinful disciples, to pray our Father in heaven. Not only this, but we have the Father's pity, his protection, his provision, his discipline, his compassion, and his own determination to preserve us unto the day of the Lord. Indeed, even as the Confession says, all for the sake of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we possess that spirit of adoption which cries out, Abba, Father, within us. So not only are we positionally the children of God just to work on our own to live and walk and work to be like our Father. But we have the spirit of adoption within us. The spirit of God is working within us to give us new inclinations as the sons of God to glorify our Father. So it's not as though we are just working to be like our Father on our own. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God which gives us these inclinations to be holy even as our Father is holy. But then notice that not only does John say that we are some emphasis here, he says, we are God's children now. That is to say, we are already God's children. Through justification, we are in Christ. And through adoption, we already possess all the privileges of the sons of God. Right now, this is done. if you are in Christ. This comes first. Nothing done by us makes us the children of God. We are already the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, even though we still sin, even though what we will be has not yet appeared. We are now the children of God. So have you meditated lately on what it means to be beloved of God? Have you given deep thought to what it means that you are the child of the living God? Are you marveling at the mercy of God to you and the glorious privileges that he has granted to you through being his son or daughter by adoption? I encourage you to read our confession. Read it again and again and again until you feel as though you are availing yourselves to all of those privileges to the full. What a glorious truth it contains. Now I ask, does this not stir you up when you think about these things? Does this not stir you up to want to live in a way that is pleasing to your Father in heaven? John intends this to be fuel for our sanctification when we are struggling and when we are discouraged. If we are lacking in sanctification, if we are not where we should be, and none of us are, we must be stirred by this truth and we must repent of our sin. and rest in the truth of who we are as beloved children of God. But although as children of God we have new inclinations of the heart to be like God, we know that this is presently still tainted by sin. And so we want to consider the next phrase. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. And while it is the Christian's great desire to please God, that should be the great desire of every Christian, to please God, it is his constant disappointment that sin remains active among his members. Is that not your greatest frustration? That you continually sin against your master who bought you? That sin is continuing to be at work in your members? The Apostle Paul says in Romans 7, for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So while we know that we are not yet as we should be, the heart inclines towards God to do the will of God that is that spirit of adoption that is at work in our hearts, but we still sin against our Father. And a true Christian, this creates within us a powerful sense of longing and groaning for the completion of what has been started in us. We sense that something has been initiated that demands fulfillment, something has been started that must be brought to completion in us. And so each and every child of God while loving righteousness anticipates a day, one day, when we will be able to live unto our God perfectly, without sin. And this longing arises out of our very identity, flowing from the spirit of adoption that has taken up residence in our hearts. And in this sense, knowing what we are is to anticipate what we will be. And this is what we will now turn to under our second heading, which is what we will be. And this is in the second half of verse two. And it reads, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. What does this word appear mean? We find this word in reference to Christ's return used in a few places in the New Testament. Paul says in Colossians 3, 4, when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. This is the same word that the Apostle John uses. And again, in 1 Peter 5, 4, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. And John himself used this word already in chapter two, verse 28, we read it at the beginning of our time together, where he says, and now, little children, abide in him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. And here, John expressly connects this phrase, when he appears, to the Lord's parousia, or his coming again in glory. Do you know that the Lord is going to return again in glory? Well, of course we know that. But the apostle, again, is stirring us up by way of reminder. And this is because we are prone to practically forget it at times. Brethren, do we not find ourselves sometimes living as though everything is going to continue the way that it presently is? Isn't that some of the source of our discouragements? But it is the return of Christ that is that next great event in redemptive history. And it is imminent. The time of its appearing is unknown to us. It may be in our lifetimes. It may be in our generation. It may be in hundreds of more generations. But the apostles are unified in pointing to that event as something that should captivate our thoughts and influence the way that we live. It is always presented as though it were going to happen soon and that we should constantly expect it. This is that day when the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. This is the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians. The day is drawing near when Christ will not only be seen by the eyes of faith, but he shall come again in glory, and we shall see him as he is. John's exhortation for us is to consider how we are presently living and whether this will cause us to shrink back in shame when he comes again. Will we be those whose conscience bears witness against us that we are compromised and living inconsistently with what we say that we are and what we say that we hope in? Or will we be those who rise in confidence to meet our Lord, having believed what he said, having rested in him, and having loved righteousness in this present age? But then, what does it mean that we shall be like him? Let's consider that. Perhaps many things come to mind when we ask a question like this, but I think it's clear from the apostle that he has righteousness primarily in view here. We know that we will not be like the being of the Lord in glory, for we will forever remain creature and not divine. The word like here does not indicate sameness of essence in this sense, but likeness or similarity as a child to his father. It is true that we will have a glorified body without the effects of sin, but recognize that the context of this verse is primarily speaking about righteousness as a proof that someone is a genuine believer and that someone is genuinely walking with the Lord. These verses are part of a unit which is speaking about the righteousness of believers which result in their identity as the children of God. And so I think righteousness is in view here primarily. And really, this shouldn't be a surprise to us. Why were we saved in the first place? What was the purpose of our election in Christ? Well, consider Romans 8, 28, where the apostle says, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. Paul says that the very purpose of our election, the very purpose of our predestination, our justification, our sanctification, our glorification, What's the purpose of it? It was for us to be conformed to the image of Christ. This is our telos. This is our end. It is our goal to which we are all going if we're in Christ. And can we believe this and it have no effect upon the way that we live right now? And the answer to that is no. And meditating upon our being with the Lord, and becoming like the Lord should instill into us strong desires to be holy even as he is holy. Now is it not wonderful for us to imagine being holy without sin in the presence of our Lord? Perfect in holiness, not able to sin any longer, not able to think an impure thought, not able to hurt a brother or sister. If we are in Christ, this is our sure destination. And John is pointing us toward both who we are as children of God, as we've seen, born of God to love righteousness, and he's pointing us toward who we will be in the eternal state, made perfectly righteous by the sight of Christ. He is doing this to show that these realities should empower us to long after holiness and practice righteousness in our present state. Is this not a glorious motivation for pursuing holiness in this life? But there is more still here from the Apostle John that should motivate us because it is the cause of our glorification that is really the most wonderful of all. We've already mentioned this. in the previous head, but how is it that unclean and unholy sinners will be transformed into the glory of Christ? And this leads us to that glorious phrase, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. It is because we shall see him as he is. It is the sight of the glorified mediator which will make us perfect in holiness. And as glorious as it is that we will be perfect and holy like our savior, what a wonderful thought that that is to be perfect and holy like him. An even more wonderful thing is that we will be with him and we will see him as he is in glory. And we should never separate the benefits of Christ from Christ himself. And truly, if we had all of those benefits alone that I've been speaking about, the glorious adoption, the glorification, if we had all of those benefits apart from Jesus Christ, they would be nothing to us. And it's impossible, because what makes being an adopted child glorious, and what makes our perfection and holiness glorious, is the unhindered presence of Jesus Christ with us. In this age, we endure as seeing him who is invisible through the eyes of faith. But in the age to come, we will see him face to face and know him even as we are fully known, in the words of the apostle in 1 Corinthians. There are many things that people say that they look forward to about heaven, maybe things that we've thought and wondered about. And this was a concern to Samuel Bolton, and he had this to say on the subject. Carnal men, sinful men, fancy heaven under carnal, sinful notions, ideas. They look upon it as a place where there is freedom from all misery and where there is fullness of all pleasures and happiness. But both these, the pleasures and the happiness, the freedom and enjoyment, they fancy in a way which complies with the carnality of their natural hearts. But It is God himself that fills heaven with glory and makes it infinitely glorious. God in heaven is the glory of heaven. It is the fruition and enjoyment of God, the enjoyment of Christ, who is the pearl of great price, the enjoyment of the spirit, the true comforter. It is the perfection and fullness of grace, says Bolton, glorious words. What is glorious about heaven is not the lack of pain, as great as that will be. It's not seeing our loved ones again, as great as that will be. Being able, perhaps, to eat whatever we want, if that will ever happen. It's not that we become some kind of superhumans. What is glorious about heaven is God. For the child of God filled with the spirit of adoption that cries out, Abba, Father. The lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land, even as we sing. Abolton continues, if we speak of heaven as the place where we shall be with God and find our full salvation in God, then as heaven becomes our happiness, so also it becomes our holiness. And to this, we must have an eye in all our obedience. He that lives much in the thoughts of heaven lives much the life of heaven. That is to say, thankfully and cheerfully. How often do you meditate upon these glorious realities of being with the Lord, future glory, when you will behold the Lord face to face? Does this not motivate you to live in a holy manner now at this time? And John intends this also as fuel for our present sanctification. Are you finding yourself to be weak and lagging in your progress against sin? You're not where you want to be? You must repent of what it is that ails your conscience, bring it to the Lord and find grace and forgiveness, and then fix your hope upon that state which is to come when we will behold the Lord face to face and when we will sin no more. But we now begin to bring this to a conclusion as we consider verse three under our final heading, what we should be. And of course, we've been speaking of this as we've gone along. But the Apostle John says in verse three, and everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. And as we have seen, the hope that we have is a purifying hope. This is not an ongoing, or I'm sorry, this hope is a ongoing or continuous hope. It characterizes us throughout our lives. As one commentator says, this is not a wishful optimism. It's not as though we would hope for something we like for dinner, this for dinner. No, this is a settled certainty and a confident expectation based upon the promises of God. But notice that this hope that purifies must be in him, as the apostle says. He who thus hopes in him. We do not hope in the blessings that come in adoption and glorification in and of themselves, as glorious as they are. These things give us hope because of him. And so we hope in him. And it is his presence that makes all of these things exceedingly glorious to us. Purifies is also a reference to an ongoing process of purification. Of course, we call this sanctification. The hope of future glorification at the sight of Christ is a motivation for present sanctification. And this hope, this ambition causes us to live as God's children in the present age, to delight in and to strive to keep the commandments of God out of love and thanksgiving for so great a salvation. We were made to live in this age as even ambassadors of heaven, part of the new creation embassy that's broken into this present age, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have God living in us through that spirit of adoption, and we will be made fully like God in the age to come. And so, in this motivation and ambition, and by God's grace and help, we strive to be like God now. Israel was a picture of this reality. And we sing about this quite a bit when we sing about Canaan. I don't know if you ever thought about this when many of our hymns speak about Canaan. But Israel looked back to their salvation at the Exodus. And they looked forward to the promised entrance into the land of Canaan. How many psalms tell of that progression of God's dealings with Israel and delivering them from Egypt and the future bringing them into Canaan? This was to motivate Israel to cheerfully obey God and image him to the world as they entered into the promised land. But the church looks back to a greater exodus, even salvation, through justification and adoption. And we look forward to a greater Canaan, which is glorification. And it is chiefly these things which are to motivate us to live now as the people of God, who we are and where we are going and who we are to be with the Lord. This is to motivate us to live as the people of God now in a time where the fullness of these things has not yet come. We are to lay hold of this by faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. And we endure as seeing him who is invisible and longing for the time when we will see him face to face. And so, in conclusion, to the frustrated, discouraged, or weak believer, look back to your justification and to adoption. Meditate on these glorious truths of scripture that we have discussed this evening. Meditate upon what God has done for you in these glorious realities. Let them stir you up to hate the sin that the Lord has delivered you from and to love the righteousness which is the very character of the Lord who has saved us. and to desire then to be holy as he is holy. Rest in the love of God for you and your adoption as children of God. Meditate on chapter 12, follow the scripture references that it cites, and just meditate upon the glory of those things that the scripture says about the children of God. Hope in the future glory that is to be revealed in you at his appearing. And this will strengthen you to live in a way that is pleasing to God by his help. But if any are hearing this outside of Jesus Christ, you have no reason to look back with thanksgiving, and you have no reason to look forward with hope. If you have never known what it is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, if you've never loved righteousness, come to Jesus Christ and live. Repent and believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. His promise still stands. for you this evening. If anyone will come to me, I will never cast him out. Have you come to him? Do not delay any longer. Trust in Christ, repent of your sin, and this hope will be yours also. Let's pray. Our Father, would you bless this, your holy word, to be effectual in the hearts of your people to stir us up to be a holy people. And may you bring those outside to yourself. For your glory, we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.