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. Okay. Very good, brother and sister and friend, dear children within the sound of my voice. As I said, we're going to be addressing verse 28 in your Bibles. There you have them in front of you. Verse 28 of chapter 2. And it says there, the apostle is giving this exhortation to the Christians and also to us. that we are to abide in Him, and that Him is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle says, so that when He, also referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, when He appears, we, the Christians, may have confidence and not shrink back or not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. I'm just going to be saying ashamed because shrink is not very easy for me to pronounce. So, it is that we will not be ashamed as at His coming. The apostle has given us a very clear brother, sister, and children, a very important exhortation here. The person who profess to be in Christ is to presently abide in him. And the present abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ defines a number of things. Our conformity to the Lord, our death to the flesh, and many other things. But according to this verse here, our present abiding in Christ defines how we are going to face the Lord at His coming. Every one of you, every one of us, every single person within the sound of my voice, it does not matter when that is. You can be one year old, you can be two year old, three, five, seven, 100. It does not matter how old you are. You're going to face the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, tomorrow, in a few years. You are going to face Him. You're going to see Him in His eyes. You're gonna be able to behold the countenance of the one who lived 2000 years ago, the one who divided this world. The one who is hated by a big portion of this world, and the one that is loved by those who have received grace, you are going to see his countenance. Many people have tried to draw faces and to have pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's going to be a day in which you are going to behold the countenance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And children, do not think that because you're young and because there are many years perhaps in front of you, that this is not a reality for you. You are going to face the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this verse 28 that we have here in front of us, we're not speaking about everyone, but we're speaking about the Christians. My little children, the apostle says. And there is implicitly, brethren, in this verse, the possibility that genuine little children are going to be ashamed at the facing or at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, we hold the truth that everyone who is genuinely saved by grace through faith, that the Lord will complete the work that He has begun. We hold all of that. But we also hold this truth, this verse here, 28. That our present abiding determines and defines, our present abiding in Christ, defines our future facing of the Lord. And that is either one of confidence, as the Apostle puts it there, or one of shame. That is going to be the reality for everyone in this room, brethren. My, we face the Lord Jesus Christ with confidence that the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church is not only saving all of our children and saving all of our family members, and that this will be a church that is not only people seated in chairs there, but that we're generally saved by the Holy Spirit. But also, brethren, that by the grace of the Lord provided in this present time, this church abides in the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that when each one of you, and myself included, and everyone within the sound of my voice, face the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not going to be the ones that are shrink from Him in shame, the genuine believers that will enter into the joy of the Lord, but that will confront the Lord with shame. So my dear brother, my dear sister, my goal is just simply for us to understand this a little bit better. The message of the apostle is very clear there. So we're going to read from verse 15 through chapter 3, verse 10. And as we read the context, I want you to pay careful attention to something that it will help us understand here the verse that we have in front of us, verse 28. And I want you to pay attention to this. Way that the Apostle John puts the temporality of this world with the reality of the last days and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, this is an old man. He had experienced the Lord Jesus Christ and the church. Yet for him, it was genuine and it was true that the times in which he was living were times that were passing away and times that were leading to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as you read this, brother and sister, test yourself and your heart and your mind, and ask yourself if 2,000 years of history of longsuffering of the Lord Jesus Christ have produced in you a heart that is hardened and a conscience that is seared, and in you there's no reality of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as it was present in the early church, and in this case, in the Apostle John. Because the Apostle John was certain that things were passing away, and he was sure, he had absolute certainty that the second coming of the Lord was at hand. So we'll say, as we are going to read, that this world is passing away, that it is the last hour, that the Lord is going to appear, that His coming is at hand. These are the things that the Apostles say, and that also here the Apostle John makes allusion to. Read from verse 15, brethren, to chapter 3, verse 10, paying attention to that which I have mentioned, and also seeing carefully there verse 28, which is what we're going to address this afternoon. Let us read the words of the Lord. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Little children or children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it may become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you know all things, or have all knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Therefore, in verse 24, let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If that which you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the son and in the father. And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you receive from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as the same anointing teaches you about everything, and it's true and it's not a lie, just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. Verse 28, 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, verse 29, 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. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen Him or known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteousness as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed is in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. nor is the one who does not love his brother." Amen. This is the reading of the word of the Lord. And as I said, brother and sister, I want to speak to you from verse 28 about abiding in Christ for the second coming. When I say for, it's with the purpose or with the intention or in light of the second coming of the Lord. The Christian is called to presently abide in the Lord Jesus Christ for many and diverse reasons. But in this case, the primary reason is the future coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we went through those verses, and as we read these verses here, brother and sister, I hope that you can see the burden of this apostle John. This is a man that is old, brethren. Old, not only in age, but also in experience and in wisdom. He has seen and witnessed many people who have died for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has spent time with the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He was taught he was discipled by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And if that was not sufficient, he was then discipled by the anointing of the Holy One, the Holy Spirit. This is an apostle who has seen it, who has observed it, who has heard the pains and the sorrows and the tribulations and the difficulties of the early church. This is an apostle who he himself has experienced trials and difficulties, who has been taught not only with the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not only with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and not only in the riches of the scriptures, but also through trials and tribulations. The Apostle John has seen his faith being tested as genuine all of these years. And as he's addressing the church, he knows, brethren, that there's going to be perhaps a time in which he's not going to be any longer. with the church. And in the same spirit that the Apostle Peter had in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 12 and onwards, this Apostle is going to write with a concern for the early church. The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter chapter 2 or chapter 1 verse 12 and onwards, he has this Genuine care for the early church, knowing that he's about to die, that his Exodus, as he says, is coming close, that he is going to die, that he's going to perish, that the early tabernacle is going to perish and that he is going to be with the Lord. And he says that he wants to remind the church that he want to reinforce to the church the truth that he knows that the church already knows. This is the same heart of this old apostle here, brother and sister, not only for the early church, but for all Christians of all the ages. He is concerned with the time and the circumstances of the Christians. He knows that he's going to die, and perhaps the church is going to be left on her own. And not that the apostle believes that the church depends upon him. He clearly knows that the church depends upon the Lord Jesus Christ. But just as one who truly loves his family, he's concerned about the future of the early church. He's concerned about the time and about the circumstances of the early church, brethren. The time is the time is the last hour. According to the apostle, we have been told in verse 18 that it is the last hour. The apostle knows that this world is passing away, and he was certain he was sure that this world was going to come to an end and that the last hour was characterized for the presence of the anti Christ, the presence of Satan himself who wanted to destroy the church, wanted to destroy the church in the first century. Brethren. and the same Satan, the same Antichrist, or the spirit of the Antichrist, wants to destroy the church in this present time. So the apostle is concerned with the time and the circumstances of the early church, that this Satan, this Antichrist, is not only operating with his fallen demons, or his fallen angels and demons, bringing heresies into the church, but also, brethren, with these false Christians, Men and women who have been long ago separated for this condemnation have been false teachers, the Antichrist in the midst of the church. Those who want to destroy the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. That situation has not changed. So the warning that the apostle gave to the early church is not any different for us, brethren. Yes, we have 2,000 years behind us in history and the long suffering of the Lord waiting for the last of the elect to be added to the bride. Yes, we have seen all of that. But brethren, that we may not think that we are in a better place as a contemporary church. We are perhaps in a worse place than the early church was We are perhaps in a worse place than the saints from the first century were, because now we are filled with antichrists and we are filled with false doctrine and doctrines of demons. And the concerns of the apostles in the early century is the same for us. That concern was that we are to abide in Christ, brethren. That the life of the Christian depends on our present abiding on the Lord Jesus Christ. That your life, that my life, that our life as a community, brethren, depends upon abiding on the Lord Jesus Christ. That this that we call religion, that this that we call Christianity has no substance at all if we do not abide in the person of Jesus Christ. If you are only coming here and sitting in the church and saying amen or noting to the things that I said, but you don't abide in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, sisters, there's no substance in us and we're wasting our time. Even when we go home tonight or tomorrow, we are tempted to depart from the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and be easily taken captive by the things of this world. There is no substance and no purpose on this venue, these chairs, the sound of the pulpit. There's absolutely no purpose. If we allow ourselves to be taken captive by the affairs of this world, if work and money and reputation and education, my future, takes a place of an idol in my heart, brethren, then this which we call Christianity is of absolutely no value. And we are going to find ourselves abiding in waste. that are passing away and not abiding in the person of Jesus Christ. Brother, sister, those of you who are saved by grace through faith, young people and young Christians, please, this is the only thing that we are to understand. This is the simplicity of the Christian life, that all mountains of faith are to be climbed by abiding in the person of Jesus Christ. If we do not abide in Him, then all the threats And all the dangers of the spiritual world are going to come and are going to be victorious over us. Just as the apostle was warning the early church against Antichrist and about false teachers. Brethren, if we do not abide in Jesus Christ, then there's someone that is seeking to devour us. And brethren, if we think that we are firmed just because of a profession of faith that we made 20 or whatever years ago. If we think that we are firmed, let me tell you that there's already something wrong in your heart and in your mind. Satan has already taken much advantage in your conscience, much advantage in your heart. And perhaps you're already captive of sin and dark practices. And you may be aware, but simply neglecting or just simply ignoring those things and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Brethren, I don't want to continue and I don't want to say anything else. The only thing that I want and I desire that the Lord will teach us, teach me and teach you is that this which we call Christianity, Depends entirely on abiding on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not I'm going to abide, not I abide from time to time, but presently, ongoingly and constantly abiding in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And hence, the concern of the apostle continues in verse 28. He says, "...and now, my little children, not ashamed of repeating..." He has already said to them in verse 24 that the church is supposed to abide in the message that they heard from the beginning, and to abide in the Son and in the Father. And he is not troubled. He doesn't have any problem on repeating the same things that he said, just as the apostle Paul repeats and says many things in Philippians chapter 3 verse 1 that he's not troubled in repeating the same things that he has written because it's for the benefit of the church. So the Apostle John repeats and reinforces to the church that they are supposed to abide. But brethren, before we even think about that word, abide, as we have done it before, let us now pass through the heart of the apostle. We are told they're little children, and now little children, the apostle says. Brethren, these two words give us an insight into the heart of the apostle. This is a statement that he has used many times now through this letter. This experienced old man loves the brethren, loves the church, and he's given his life for the church. If you have the time and if you go to 2 John 1, verse 3 and onwards, you see that the heart of this apostle finds gladness and rejoicing and happiness and fulfillment in the fact that the Christians are walking in the truth, brethren. In times of individualism, in which by nature we are only seeking to please ourselves and our fulfillment is derived from our personal individual accomplishments, we see in these two words the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ upon these men who, after these many years of laboring and ministering to the Lord, finds rejoicement not in how he's going to retire, or not how he's going to live his last days, or not how he's going to find a good place to spend my last years, or not to put any labors or burdens upon my shoulders, but rather, he finds satisfaction and joy in seeing and observing his brothers and sisters that are walking in the truth. Brethren, unless we may think that this is just a characteristic of the years, of the age. Brethren, this is not age or years. This is the Lord Jesus Christ in him. When we hear or when we read those words, little children, this is the spirit of Christ in this man, the one who came and who was strong and in his body, his human body, in his studies. Yet he was compassionate to the elderly, to the young, to the children. saying to them, my little children." This is the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in this apostle. That we may not go beyond these words, my little children, that he says they're little children. Because brethren, this is supposed to be the heart of Christianity. This is supposed to be your heart. This is supposed to be my heart that I go beyond. These fleshly ways in which we are built up, individualistic, always seeking my own benefit and always looking to my own privileges and always looking to my own interest. But the heart of Jesus Christ in a person moves that person, brethren, to care for the church. This is very important, brethren. There's no operation of Christ in a person that is not evidenced in a genuine love for the brethren. And we are to examine ourselves, my dear brother and sister, if together with the Apostle John, We could join him in saying my little Children, a little Children to everyone else, not so much in saying I am older than you and I'm more like wiser than you and I have more experience than you. And hence I need to teach you and instruct you, which is there's something of it in here, but rather with this spirit off, I care for your soul. I'm going to die and I'm going to be here. I care for your heart. I care for your soul. Because this is, brethren, not only the teaching of this Apostle John, but this is the teaching of the Scriptures. When the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ comes into the heart of a Christian, a sign of abiding in Christ and a sign of maturity is that we are going to be moved to compassion and caring for those who are around us. That we will not look to our own interests anymore, but rather that we will look to the interests of others, as Sam read in Philippians 2. That we are to look for the interests of others, that we are to have lowliness of mind. That is the lowliness of mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. And brethren, my dear brother and sister, if we do not fight against our own flesh that is moving us to please ourselves in an individualistic sense, we are never ever going to build a church that is walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. We can only accomplish a gathering of people on a Sunday that because of the circumstances come and do certain things and tick boxes here and there. But we're never going to be able to walk in the power of the spirits, to pray in the power of the spirits, to evangelize in the power of the spirit. We're never going to see preaching the gospel and having people going underneath. and confessing the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not going to see baptisms. We're not going to see people being edified and having victory over sin. Brethren, if we do not abide in the person of Jesus Christ, and if we don't allow the Spirit to work in us in such a way that destroys the selfishness that is natural to us, and that moves us to look to the interests of others, and not for our own My dear brother, my dear sister, please listen to these words. We're never going to accomplish the fullness of the manifested presence of Christ among us if we allow ourselves to be taken by the individualistic preferences of our broken, selfish hearts. That in prideful ways or in self-pity ways, build walls of indifference towards the brethren, always desire to be served, but never asking him or herself, how can I serve others? Don't you see that this is the way that the church is built in these days? People go from one place to another, trying to see what a church will... Give them, offer them, trying to find the things that the church and the people in the church can offer them. So if the boxes are tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, now this church is a good place for me. But when do we ask ourselves, what can I do for these people? How can I serve these people, these people that I might not like, these chairs that I might not like, this aircon that is too cold or is too hot, or this place that is this or that? How can I serve the brethren? Because, brother and sister, that is the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in ways of pride, in ways of self-pity, many times, which are basically the same thing in the heart, pride and self-pity is always the same, we build walls of indifference around us, saying they do not, they don't have, they don't say, they don't, they don't, they don't. And we never, ever, either in pride or in self-pity, We never point to ourselves and to say, little children, how can I serve you? You don't deserve to be served. You don't deserve to be encouraged. You don't deserve that. But I did not deserve to be saved and he died for me. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ working in the life of every single saint, and in this case, my dear brother and sister here, in the life of the Apostle John. And the greatest manifestation of compassion and love and care for our brothers and sisters is not only in the practical matters, even though they are very important, brothers and sisters, Yes, we are to care for if a brother is hungry, to provide food. If a brother is in need, to provide what they need to give and to take and to whatever practical manifestations we can have of love. Yes, we are to do those. But the most important manifestation of love, the most important manifestation of care and compassion that a person can have for another Christian is for their spiritual abiding in Christ. In other words, it's for the spiritual condition of my brother and my sister. Because when John is writing here, my little children or little children, I'm reading the my in my mind, the little children there in verse 28, brother and sister, he's manifesting his genuine care for the spiritual condition of these people. When all people think that they are just not going to spend the last days resting because of the labors and because of the burdens of the many years, and they just simply care for themselves, we have the example of what the Spirit of Christ does in a genuine believer, and that is to move them to genuinely care for the brothers and sisters' spiritual condition. Not only, brother, do you have something to eat? Or brother, do you have something to drink? Or brother, do you have a place to sleep? And brother, do you have a place to go? All of those are important matters, but the core and the substance of those practical matters is supposed to be our care for the spiritual condition of our brothers and sisters. And the journey, brother and sister, the journey of genuinely caring for the spiritual condition of our brothers and sisters is offensive and difficult to the flesh. The flesh is OK asking about the weather and how many days did you work and how many days did you do? The flesh is satisfied with that level of care. The spirit desires to know if you are abiding in Christ. The Spirit wants to know what sins are you struggling with? The Spirit wants to know how can I help you and pray for you in important matters of your soul? The spiritual care of the soul goes beyond these practical aspects, not neglecting those, but goes beyond that. So it is offensive to the flesh. It is offensive to our carnal ways. And that cannot be done in the intellect of men, brethren. We cannot genuinely care for our brothers and sisters and their spiritual condition if we are carnally minded. If we are fleshly minded, if we only care for the things of the world and only just simply doing religious activities, then we are only going to care for the practical religious worldly activities of our brothers and sisters and never ever caring for their spiritual condition. Yet here we see the apostle brethren concerned with little children about their spiritual life. And the main concern that the apostle has is that they will abide in Christ. Brethren, what a big and difficult task. It is just simply to be worried about my personal abiding in Christ, right? It is when you're thinking about your personal abiding in Christ, that is a concern already. It's something your mind is filled now with all of these responsibilities. How am I going to abide? But the Bible calls us to go beyond my personal abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be concerned about the abiding in Christ of my brother and my sister, to care about the abiding in Christ of those who belong to the congregation to which I belong. And if it's difficult for the flesh only to push myself to abide in the person of Jesus Christ, how am I going to now have a strength or power to care for the abiding in Christ of my brothers and sisters? Simply, I will not. We need the Holy Spirit in us, giving us the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one that empower us spiritually and also physically. Brethren, these men, like us, in the likeness of our flesh, with a body like ours, he will go and minister the whole day and then go and pray the whole night. And then wake up or neither even wait, but continue in the morning to continue and minister to the masses. And you think that is speaking to the masses is not draining. He says in the scriptures that virtue came out of the Lord when he was touched on what he was ministering. Power came out of the Lord. Yet he continue because of the task that was he was given. And because of the purpose for which he had come, he continued to minister by the power of the Holy Spirit. Brethren, we cannot do these things in the flesh. We can only do them in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the sooner that we realize that, the sooner that we're going to surrender ourselves to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and to say, we cannot do it in and of our own. We need the power and the strengthening of the Spirit of Christ in us that he will be the one that moves us to do all of these things that the Colombian person is just saying from the pulpit, brethren. We cannot do this just by simply understanding message that are preached. This is the concern of the apostle that the little Children will abide in him. That you will abide in Christ. That you will abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, abiding is that you will dwell in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not in a temporal sense, as a person that comes and visits a place and just goes to another, but rather that you will remain and dwell in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ as your abode. That you will remain there now, brother, sister and Children abiding in Christ is not only something that you do, but it's a commandment both in verse 24 in verse 28. Abiding is a commandment given to the Christian, and we are either obeying the commandment or we're not obeying the commandment of abiding in the person of Jesus Christ. Abiding in Christ is dwelling in Him in this spiritual way, so that we have fellowship with the person of Jesus Christ, and we are conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now brethren, I don't want to speak only these terms that are so general sometimes, that we just simply say, abide in Christ, or look to Christ, and then in the end, we do not have an answer of how we abide in Christ, or how we are united to Christ. So I've tried, and before the Lord, I want to give you Five important practices. Five important practices of the Christian life that are connected to abiding in Christ. We cannot abide in Christ apart from these five practices that I'm going to share with you. Perhaps there's more. I'm pretty sure that there are more. but in five important practices of the Christian life that are attached, connected to our abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, brother and sister, remember, abiding in Christ is a spiritual exercise. It's something that is not done in the flesh. It's spiritual. But we're not to disconnect the physical from the spiritual. The spiritual happens through the physical. So there are important five practices, I think, or four or five that I'm going to give you, that are going to be attached and define the way that we abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your eyes in verse 24, and there the apostle has given us the first one. The way that we abide in the Lord Jesus Christ, the first one is by abiding and reminding ourselves of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of love. According to the Apostle John, he says in verse 24. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, and then he says, then you too will abide in the son and in the father. Brethren, first important practice of the Christian life. We are to abide. Constantly, daily, if you want more explicitly, daily, every time that your mind is able to, we are to abide in that which we heard from the beginning and that which we heard from the beginning, according to the Apostle John is the gospel of love. that He loved us and He gave Himself for us, that God sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. It is a necessity that if we are going to abide in the Son and with the Father, if we are going to dwell in the presence of the Son and the presence of the Father, that you, my dear brother and dear sister, will practice The constant abiding in that which you heard from the beginning, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is not Christianity 101, brethren. It's what holds together all truth that has been given to us. All truth finds consistency in the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you are and we are to remind ourselves from the place from where we have fallen, the place from where we have been taken, the darkness from where we have been rescued, and the light and the kingdom of Christ in which we have been inserted. So the Christian needs to be diligent in constantly reminding him or herself of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, the words of the Lord. Come to John chapter 15. John chapter 15. The gospel is the first one, and then John chapter 15 will tell us the words of the Lord. John 15. John 15. This is a passage that we've read many times. It says in verse six, if one does not abide in me, he's thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burns. Now it says in verse seven, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish. and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples." Brethren, brother and sister, I don't want to make any of these complicated, not even for the children. But brother and sister, you're not going to be able to abide in Christ if you do not abide in the Word of the Lord. Now, if you are not presently abiding in the Word, the necessity is that you're not abiding in the Lord. And then when you face Him, when He comes, or when you're taken up to glory, you're going to be of the ones that are going to find shame, that are going to be shrinking back in shame. Remember, that's verse 28. Verse 28 is saying you are to abide in the present time, Because if you abide in the present time, when He comes, when He appears, you will have confidence. Otherwise, you will shrink back from Him in shame. Brethren, we cannot abide in Christ apart from the Holy Scriptures. And that requires diligence. And that requires a desire to be with the Lord. And that requires opening the book. And that requires time. And that requires dedication. And that requires that we will renew our minds. That requires that that which we put into our minds is passed and is filtered through this which we have in our hands. Brothers and sisters, there are many people around the world who will give their lives to have the book that perhaps you have 10 copies of them in your library. There are many people who will give their lives for that, yet we have this book in front of us. We are, because of the love of God and because of what He has done for us, to be diligent in abiding in the words of the Lord. We are to abide in the message of the gospel, and the more that we understand the gospel is only through abiding in the scriptures. When we abide in the Scriptures, my dear brother and sister, your will is aligned to the will of the father. So when you ask in your prayers, your prayers are responded. Why? Because now you're not praying out of your normal selfish condition, but now you're praying in the power of the spirit and you're praying according to the will of the Lord. So your will is aligned to the will of the Lord. He will respond. And more importantly, as we see here, the one who abides in Christ, will be fruitful. You want to be a fruitful Christian, whoever it is within the sound of my voice? Do you want to be a fruitful Christian? You want to give fruits of righteousness in Christ for the glory of the Father? You want to glorify the Father through your fruitfulness and your service to the church? The only way that that happens is by abiding in the word of the Lord, brethren. May the Lord bless us to be a church that is diligent and responsible in coming before the Lord, searching the Scriptures, and inquiring carefully through the Scriptures of the ways of the Lord. We are not going to be able to accomplish anything apart from the wisdom that is only written in the Scriptures. Second, and very important, come to 1 John chapter 4. Prayer. In 1 John chapter 4. Prayer. Now, brethren, prayer is not only the way in which I communicate to the Lord. Prayer is also the ways in which I keep myself in the experience of the love of God. Once again, prayer is not only the way in which I communicate to the Lord. It is that. But more than that, also prayer is the way in which I keep myself in the love or in the manifested experience of the love of God. If you go to chapter four, verse 16, we have this in the scriptures, he says. So we have come to know in chapter first, John, chapter four. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and it says, and whoever abides in love abides in God. Whoever abides in love abides in God. That is that I cannot abide in God if I do not abide in love. You see it there, right? And whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. My fellowship with God is not only contingent upon remembering that which I heard from the beginning, 1 John 2, verse 24, and it's not only contingent upon having the words of Christ abiding in me, John chapter 15, but it's also contingent upon the Christian abiding in the love of God. Because if you abide in the love of God, then you abide in God Himself. This is the way that you abide. Then when you come to Jude, chapter 20. In Jude, chapter 20, it tells us what is the place of prayer in keeping ourselves in the love of God. Jude, chapter 20. Jude, chapter 20. Chapter 1, verse 20. It says in verse 20, you remember, perhaps, the context. It says in verse 20, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and says, I'm praying in the Holy Spirit. You see, you have two verbs with I.N.G. These are qualifying what comes in verse 21. So build your building yourselves up and praying in the Holy Spirit. Qualify what comes in verse 21. It says, keep yourselves in the love of God. How do we keep ourselves in the love of God by building ourselves up in our most holy faith and by praying in the Holy Spirit? Brethren, brother and sister, you are not abiding in Christ if you do not have a life of prayer. If you do not pray in the secret place, if we do not pray corporately, then we're not going to abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what he says, verse 28, that you are to abide in Christ today so that when He comes, you may have confidence when you see Him and not shrink back in shame. Our present life defines our future facing of the judge of all. We're going to see his face like flaming fire, his eyes. We're going to see his countenance. Each one of you and children, you're not going to have your parents to come and protect you. You're gonna face the Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to face the Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna have to give an account for the things that we have done. According to each one's works, the Bible says, everyone will have to come before the Lord. The Bible calls us very clearly, and I couldn't be any clearer, I suppose, by saying the things that I'm telling you of how we are supposed to abide in the present time. remaining and abiding in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, remaining and abiding in the words of the Lord, and by praying in the Holy Spirit. Brethren, praying in the Holy Spirit that you will commune with the Lord in the secret place of your heart. When your eyes only see the darkness of being closed and when your heart is just in the silence of privacy, that you will come before the presence of the Lord to make your petitions known, your supplications before Him. that you will pour your heart before the Lord for the fears that you have, and the circumstances, and the uncertainties, and the sins that you want to mortify, and the brethren for whom we are to intercede, that you will come in the secret place and enjoy the presence of our Savior in that secret place, that the hand of the Lord will be upon you so mightily that when you depart, brethren, you're ready to face this world of darkness, because the hand of the One whose light has been upon you Brethren, the way that we commune with our Lord is through this means, is through prayer. If the Lord who knew it all and who had all the power, if He spent the whole night praying, how much stronger you are that you are going to pray just this little, or from time to time, or not at all, brothers and sisters. We are not going to be able to abide presently in Jesus Christ if we are taken captive by the affairs of this world, and by the rush of this world, and by the things that we need to accomplish in this world, and we give ourselves very little to prayer. We are not going to be taught the Scriptures if we are given very little to prayer. Please, brothers and sisters, that we may have this very clear in our minds. Fourthly, please come to John 14. This is prayer. Fourthly, obedience. If you return to John 14, brethren, Brethren, perhaps we can turn the aircon off because they are like very cold. Thank you, bro. So John chapter 14. You might remember this very famous verse, brethren, verse 15. If you love me, it says, you will keep my commandments. This is a very famous verse with obedience is connected to love. If you love the Lord Jesus Christ, you will obey. But brethren, obedience is connected also to abiding in Christ. If you don't obey the commandments of the Lord, you will not abide in Christ. And if you're a disobedient person, then you're not abiding in Christ. If you're not living in the words of God, you're not abiding in Christ. If you're not reminding yourself of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not abiding in Christ. Brethren, brothers, sisters, as simple as this, if you don't pray, Don't think that you are abiding in Christ. You are not abiding in Christ. These are connected one to the other. It says in chapter 15 of John that obedience is connected to abiding in the love of God. It says in verse 9, we have read already chapter 15, it says in verse 9, "...as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you." Abide in my love. Remember how do we abide in love according to Jude? By praying in the Holy Spirit and building our most holy faith. This is how we keep ourselves in the love of God. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ is abiding in my love. Now it says in verse 10, If you keep my commandments, in other words, if you obey, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." And remember that abiding in God's love, it's abiding in God. 1 John, Chapter 4. If you abide in my love, you abide in God, and God abides in you. It says, "...if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments, and I abide in his love." Brethren, you cannot presently abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. if we do not obey the commandments of the Lord. You have a conscience that has been given to you just by virtue of being created. But more importantly than that, as a Christian, you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that guides you in ways of righteousness and unrighteousness. And it's the Spirit of God, the one that convicts you of the things that you are to do and the things that you are not to do. And if you have been convicted by the Holy Spirit on a particular matter, and you continue to walk in ways of disobedience, brother, sister, you're not only walking in darkness, but you're not abiding in Christ. And if you are not abiding in Christ, and if you die today, then you're going to be one of those who is going to shrink from Him in shame. You're going to be one of those who is not going to have confidence at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And while, once again, abiding is a purely spiritual activity, as Christians, we don't have any mystical thing that happens just simply in the air. It happens by the simplicity of the practices of the things that have been given to us in the scriptures. Reminding ourselves of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, abiding in his words, being people of prayer, and also obeying his word. Don't you see, my dear brother and sister, that this is a message and this is the simple preaching that brothers and sisters have heard throughout the ages from the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. People in France and in Europe and in any country where there was persecution, they would have heard the same message. He loved you, you love him, love one another, remain in the book, bow your knees and be with the people of God. And that has been the Christian life from the ages. We make it complicated and we make it difficult and we find ourselves in traps of darkness and then walking in unrighteousness. The fourth was obedience. We are to hear the voice of our shepherd and we are to obey it. We are to pay attention to what he says. And that requires, brother and sister, that you will have faith when you come to this book. that you will pay attention to what He says, and not to think so much that you are wise enough to find a way to solve your life, but rather that you will submit to what is written and submit your entire life to the Bible and to the Scriptures. Obedience. And then the final one, brethren, let me take you to John chapter 6. And this is going to be what you have in front of us. Communion. John chapter 6. John chapter 6. You remember the very offensive message that the Lord Jesus Christ preached and how the Jews were clearly offended with the things that he has said. He had called himself the living bread and he said, that he was the living bread that comes down from heaven, and that everyone was to eat of this bread, and they will live forever. It says this is the message that he was preaching, that they were to eat from his body and drink from his blood. Many people were offended, my dear brother and sister. Now he makes, of course, in verse 56 and 57, a spiritual Comment on a spiritual teaching is speaking of the union of the Christian with Jesus Christ is spiritually speaking. But of course, brethren, when we come to this table, we see the elements that represent the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. And even though we come to this table, we're not taking the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as if they convert into the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of faith in this obedience here moves us to abide with the person of Jesus Christ. It is told there in verse 56 and 57 of John, Chapter six. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me. Once again, whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me." In a sense, brethren, everything that I have just said before, reminding ourselves of the gospel, abiding in the Scriptures, praying and obedience. These are ways in which we feed on the person of Jesus Christ. But brethren, also when the church comes together and when saints do not neglect the gathering of the saints, but when we come together as brothers and sisters, those who have eaten the flesh of the Savior, those who have drank the blood of the Savior, those who have been united to the Savior. And when we come together and we are partakers of the fellowship of the saints, And when we approach this table by faith, we are proclaiming, brethren, that we are united to Him, that we have fed on Him, that we have received the life of the Savior. We are proclaiming that we are united in this new covenant with Him. And that's why it is very important that when we come, not only to the church, first of all, that we are supposed to come to church. And when we come to church with much joy and when we come to joy with much expectation that we hear the preaching of the word and that we approach this table with faith. Because in all of these things that I have shared with you, my dear brother and sister, there is an impartation of the righteousness of Christ when this is done by faith. When you believe what the Scripture says, when you fill your heart with the words of the Savior, and when you do all of these things, reminding yourself of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, abiding in the words of the Lord, praying in the Holy Spirit, obeying the commandments of the Lord, coming to the gathering of the saints and partaking of this table. When you do that, not in the flesh, but by faith, brother and sister, then there is an impartation of the righteousness of Christ. There is conformity to Christ. There is an abiding and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more that you abide with a person, the more that you will become like one of them. If not seeing, you're our children. Our children have no escape. They're going to be like us. They're going to speak like us. They're going to like the things that we like. They're going to have the preferences very similar to us. They have absolutely no escape. Even if they do not like us, they're going to end up looking like us and speaking to us. And the reason why that is the case is because they live with you. It's because they hear your voice. It's because they hear the way that you behave. It's because they taste the food that you give them. It's because you have fellowship with them. And then they will find themselves when they turn 20, 30, or 40, and speaking and making faces in the same way that their dad and their mom did. Why? Because they lived with their parents. And they may hate their parents. And they may not want to be like their parents. But they are going to end up in some way and in a level being like their parents. Why? They were abiding with their parents. Brethren, we can abide with the one that is our Father, with the one that is our God, the one that is our Savior. And if we want to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, how are we not going to spend time with the Savior? How are we going to neglect all of these things that I have said? How are we going to fill our minds and our hearts with things of this world and not things that are found in the Scriptures? How are we going to allow ourselves to be conformed to this world? Because not to be conformed to Christ, does have another option, and it is to be conformed to the things of this world. Something is going to go into your mind. Something is going to go into your heart. Something is going to go into your vessel. It's either the presence of Christ dwelling in you by faith, according to Ephesians chapter 3 verse 14 and onwards, or it is the presence of this world. And brethren, the outcome here is very serious. It is very serious, because let me just simply tell you this and finish with this, so we may just make it very clear. Abiding presently with Christ is your experience of the Triune God in His fullness. Abiding in Christ in the ways that I have previously described in the gospel, in the words, and in prayer, in communion, and in obedience. Abiding in the presence of Jesus Christ by genuine faith is your way to experience the triune God. It's the way that you have fellowship with the Father, and it's the way that you have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and it's the way that you have fellowship with the Son. Quickly come to Ephesians chapter 2, please, and I want to show you this and finish with the last point that I want to make here. Having present abiding or abiding presently with Christ is your way to have fellowship with God the Father and to have fellowship with the Spirit of God. Ephesians chapter 2. You may remember the passage, and I hope that you do. about the Jews and the Gentiles being separated and how they have been united through the person of Jesus Christ and how they have become the commonwealth of God and how they have become only one man. The Lord Jesus Christ has dissolved the way of hostility between the Jews and between the Gentiles. And now they are united in only one man is what the apostle says. Now, he says something very important in verse 18. I don't want you to read the whole thing, but verse 18, he says, For through him, of chapter 2, Ephesians 2, verse 18, for through him, we both have access in one spirit to the Father. Now, brethren, pay attention to that verse, this Trinitarian verse, this abiding, this fellowship, this community verse. It's saying now that both Jews and Gentiles who have been made one men, that is the church, have been made one. Now, for through Him, we both, Jews and Gentiles, have access in one spirit. to the father. It is in the person of Christ, which is the him there in verse 18 and through the spirit of God that we have access to the father in the person of Christ is how we have fellowship with the father and with the Holy Spirit and brethren, the more fellowship and community that we have with the triune God in the present, the more that we grow in something very important confidence. The more that we experience the Triune God in the present time, the more that our faith grows in confidence. Confidence that when we approach Him, we can come with boldness and that we can come without fear. This is the whole point of the Apostle John in verse 28 of chapter 2. That that which is going to happen in the last day, Christians are going to be divided if you want in two groups. Those who will come before the Lord and will receive the Lord face to face with confidence and those who will shrink back from him in fear. And that fear, which the Apostle calls a shame, and that depends upon the present experience and abiding of the Christian with the triune God. Pay attention in Ephesians 3, verse 11. Pay attention to this, and let me perhaps just build it from there. In Ephesians 3, verse 11. Let us just read from... Yeah, let us read from verse 11. This was according, it says in chapter 3, verse 11. This was according to the eternal purpose that he realized in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in whom, verse 12, that is Christ, in Christ, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. It's the same word that is used in verse 18 of having access to the Father. Brethren, the person that has fallen in sin, namely every one of us, and the person who still has sin in him or herself, does not have the ability in and of himself or herself to approach a holy God. We cannot approach a holy God. If we approach a holy God in and of ourselves, the outcome of it always is going to be fear of punishment because we are in debt to the Lord. If we are not presently abiding in the person of Jesus Christ and in the triune God, Then our faith is going to be weakened. And when we sin, the burden of sin is going to come upon our shoulders, and darkness is going to come upon our shoulders. And we are going to forget that we have been cleansed from our former sins, 2 Peter 1, verse 10 and onwards. And we're going to start to doubt our condition because it only takes that one sin will move us like an unstable person, like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. and sin will come and we will not be able to deal with our present sin because of our lack of abiding in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who abides in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who abides in his word, the one who abides in prayer, the one who abides in obedience, the one who abides in his love, the one who reminds him or herself of the gospel continually and ongoingly, is presently trained to access the presence of the Father with boldness and with certainty. And this word, confidence, which is the same word that the Apostle John uses in 1 John 2, verse 28, simply speaks of this, to be able to open your mouth with boldness. That is that you enter into the inner place of God and you have it face to face and you not put your head down, but rather you can approach God and you can open your mouth and free speech. Words are uttered with boldness and with certainty. How is a sinful man going to enter into the presence of God with this boldness and to speak this freely before God? Only when that person has in himself, not only the Spirit of Christ, but also conformity to Christ. Because it's only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that empowers us to presently come with boldness and certainty before the throne of grace, so that when that day arrives, and when indeed we see Him face to face, we don't shrink back from Him in shame and in fear, but rather with the same confidence of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can present ourselves before the Lord. Pay attention to what the Apostle says, or the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter 4. You might remember this very famous verse of approaching the throne of grace in Hebrews chapter 4, brethren. Pay attention to that, please. Hebrews chapter 4. It says in verse 14, Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted, as we are, yet without sin. Then he says, let us therefore, or let us then, with confidence, the same word that is used by the Apostle John, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That a Christian that has so many sins still, and a Christian that is so weak in so many ways still, might approach the throne of grace with confidence, That is, brethren, that you will enter before the presence of the Lord, not ashamed because of the things that you've done, but rather with certainty that you're innocent, that you're not guilty, that you have been cleansed. Brethren, if you are not abiding in Christ, it only takes the most minute of sins and the most minute of darkness and practices of unrighteousness to stain your conscience in such a way that you're not even able to lift up your head to pray before the Lord because you feel guilty. And now you have to go and try to cleanse yourself with your own works and deeds because you're not abiding in Christ. But a person who is presently abiding in Christ, that is presently abiding in the Word, and in prayer, and in obedience, and in the context of the church, through communion, and through the participation of all these glorious things that He has given us, is now equipped, is prepared, is trained in righteousness, and knows by faith, That even though I sin, I can confess my sins before this Lord of Lords. He's just and faithful to forgive my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. And because of that certainty, then I can approach the throne of grace with boldness and certainty. That's why the prayer of the one who is walking in the light is with power and with might. That's why the prayer of the one who is abiding in the person of Jesus Christ is the prayer that comes with certainty of the will of the Lord. It does not come with fear. It does not come with lack of faith. Because for prayer to be effective, brethren, you need faith. You need faith to think and to pray according to the Scriptures and according to the will of the Lord. That's why the same Apostle John will say then in 1 John 5, verse 14 and onwards, that if you pray according to God's will, He will answer your prayer. How do we put ourselves in the will of the Lord? By abiding presently in the Lord Jesus Christ. The parallel passage that we read on Thursday in chapter 10 says exactly the same thing, brethren. Chapter 10, verse 19. Therefore, brothers... Chapter 10, verse 19 of Hebrews. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is through His flesh, and since we have a great high praise over the house of God, Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and from bodies washed with pure water." Brethren, that is the present experience of what it is to have confidence. This is the present experience of what it is to have faith. that you're going to approach God not only as guilty that cannot be forgiven, but rather you're going to approach the Lord as a sinner who can be forgiven and who can be cleansed and who can be empowered by that Lord. And the only way that our faith is strengthened, brethren, is not by reading a book, is by abiding in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you experience the forgiveness of the Lord so many times, if you experience the sweet presence of Christ so many times, if you experience the removal of the burden of your shoulders so many times by coming to Christ, how then are you going to question in the future the ways of removing the burden from your shoulders? How are you going to say, I'm going to go to this man or to that book or to that person to remove the burden from my shoulders? No, you have been presently trained to come with boldness in the presence of your Savior, to know that He's the one that can cleanse you, that He can forgive you, and He's the one that is always receiving you and accepting you. This is the teaching of the Apostle, and this is the way that he concludes it in 1 John chapter 4. Please pay careful attention to that. If you return to 1 John chapter 4, this is the way that the Apostle concludes this teaching. And for some reason, the Spirit decided to break this topic into chapter 2 and chapter 4, but this is the way that the Scripture goes. If you go to chapter 4, the apostle expands on this in chapter 4. Let me now elaborate, perhaps, if I did not make it clear, and then we will read it here. Brethren, brother, sister, My dear friend, my dear child of God, first of all, it is of absolute necessity that we will come before the Lord and ask that He will grant us the grace that is needed for us to abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not in a religious way, not in just simply making a plan and a calendar of how am I going to do it? But actually by the Spirit of the Lord, by faith that He will. We are to repent if we're not doing it and come before the Lord, that He will strengthen us to abide in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way that we abide in Him is not with a mystical way of just simply elevating myself into this state in which I am with Christ. No, it happens by reminding yourself of the message which you heard from the beginning. 1 John 2, verse 24, the gospel of love. By abiding in the word of the Lord, John chapter 15. By obeying the commandments of the Lord, John chapter 15. By praying in the Holy Spirit, Jude chapter 1 verse 20. By participating of the communion, the Holy Scriptures. By participating in the gathering of the saints. By being in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the more that you are presently in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, or currently in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more that you grow in faith and in confidence to enter into His presence with boldness, so that when you see Him face to face, you are not seeing someone that you have not experienced before. Brethren, you don't need your eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Peter 1. You only need faith to see the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to see the Lord Jesus Christ, but your faith is enough to come to a genuine encounter with Christ. But if you're going to face this Lord Jesus Christ when you died, as someone that is unknown, as a foreigner to you, as a visitor, I've been with this man from time to time, every time that I went to church. Then when you find Him there and you see Him face to face, because the appearing of the Lord is a revelation of Himself, we shall see Him as He is face to face, brethren. You might be one of those who shrink back in Fear because this shame is no shame off, you know, embarrassment, but rather is fear is is I'm not able to stand with my hand up before the Lord and to say I'm innocent, not because of the things that I've done, but because of the Lord Jesus Christ. But rather with the head down in shame and with fear, expecting that perhaps he's going to send me to hell. with this uncertainty to such a level that I've been living my life, not abiding in Christ, that when I'm going to face Him, I don't have the certainty that I'm going to make it into heaven, but rather with this fear of, yes, the moment came in which I'm going to go to hell. I knew it. I've been doing all of these things, but I'm going to hell. Brethren, this is uncertainty that is not part of faith. And this is what the apostle says here in 1 John chapter 4. Let us read from verse 13, and please pay careful attention because the Apostle makes it more clear than I can. In verse 13 of Chapter 4, it says, verse 13, By this we know that we abide in Him. Right? We are speaking about abiding in Christ. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We are Christians. 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. We have said that. Now, verse 17. By this is love perfected with us. And this is, I think, the key experience of the Christian. By this is love perfected with us, or within us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. You see it there? That is the day of the coming of the Lord. Verse 16. 17. 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 perfect love cast out fear for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love we love him because he first loved us. Fear in the day of judgment is speaking to the Christian. Fear in the day when the Lord comes. Contrasted with confidence. And in chapter 2 verse 28, contingent, depending upon our present abiding. Our present abiding defines and determines how each one of you is going to face the Lord. Understand this, brother and sister, you're going to behold the countenance of the Savior. And you're going to respond to that either in confidence or in shame or in fear of punishment. And that is contingent, that response is contingent upon your present abiding in the Savior. Brother and sister, that our lives will be lives of fruit for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also lives of faith to know that even if He comes now, we can be at His feet, praising Him. Not because we are so good, but because, brethren, we have already experienced the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. His love has been shed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. And this is not something abstract. This is something spiritual and real. The love of God has been poured, has been shed into the heart of the Christian by the Holy Spirit that was given to us. This love is the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an urgent necessity, my dear brother and sister, because that is the case and the scenario for the Christian. But you know, brother and sister, that there is a worse situation. There is a worse situation that just simply shrinks from him in shame. Because the Christian who will shrink from him in shame, he will make it into heaven. There will be fear of punishment, but by the grace and the mercy of the Lord, he will make it or she will make it into heaven. It's only that the way that he's going or she's going to be presented before the Lord may be one of ashamed, but there's a worst case scenario, and you know, brother and sister, that the one who is not in Christ, that the one who is not in Christ at all, There's not even options of shame or just simply repenting or taking back whatever thing we did or did not do. But for that person, my dear brother and sister, there's going to be suffering and hell and eternal punishment. And the Scripture warns us, Christians, and warns all people who believe the Word of God. that there is going to be a day in which He's going to come to judge the living and the dead. And it does not matter where we go and hide ourselves, we're going to have to give an account for the things that we have done. Brother and sister, that is my main concern. My main concern is those of you who are in the person of Jesus Christ. Brethren, let us know, allow this world to take us captive with the things and money and power and reputation. Let us not allow this world to take us captive and to remove us from the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, because then we're going to be like waves of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Unstable men who do not have the faith that is required to know that we are fixed upon the person of Jesus Christ. We're not going to be able to approach the Lord with confidence and certainty. And brethren, He has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. You don't need to be a super smart person, and you don't need to be a powerful or strong person in order to abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only thing that you need is the faith that has been granted. Come with that faith before the presence of the Lord in much repentance, in much faith, knowing that He is just and faithful to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, to strengthen you in your inner man, according to the riches of His glories, with His Spirit." Ephesians 3, verse 15, "...strengthen you," it says, brethren, "...strengthen you." according to the riches of His glories, with His Spirit in the inner man, that Jesus Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that grounded and rooted in love you may understand with all the saints the surpassing majesty of the love of God. O brother and sister, Let us supplicate to the Lord that He grant us the grace that is needed for us to presently abide in the person of Jesus Christ, so that when we see Him as He is, we may have the confidence of seeing our Savior, the one that is going to take us into glory and not shrink from Him in shame. Amen? Amen. Let us pray.