Let's turn in our Bibles to 1 John 2. We'll be in verses 1-6 today. 1 John 2. Your bulletin has one title for this sermon. I changed it slightly. I've changed it completely, actually. Because, actually, the text is a little broader than that original title. So I've titled this sermon, Our Deliverer from Sin. very basic but very precious truths here today about our Lord Jesus. Um, as we look at him in light of our sin, we've already seen in the first chapter of first john, the collision of God's light with our darkness. The apostle john opens by declaring how he and the other apostles and other eyewitnesses, they had this close encounter, but not a momentary encounter with the Word of Life, the eternal life who was with the Father and is now the manifest to the world. And if you encounter Jesus Christ, John and the other apostles did in person, face to face, but then he communicates that, the apostles communicate that to us so that we may encounter this eternal word of life, Jesus Christ. If you have that encounter with Jesus Christ, there's going to be a collision between the God who is light and who is no darkness at all, and our darkness, our depravity, our fallen sinfulness. Let me read chapter one again, it's not long, just 10 verses, to get us back up to speed where we were three weeks ago. This is how John opens this address, probably to the church in their own province of Asia, perhaps the area of Ephesus. as they were no doubt from the indications from the rest of the letter as they were no doubt being confronted with a false new new false version of christianity and spirituality that would that would try to lead them away from god the son who came in the flesh truly god and truly man verse one of chapter one says that which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and was made manifest to us. that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him, that is from the word of life, Jesus Christ, and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice, do not do, literally, the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. That leads right in to Our text today, verses one through six of chapter two. Of course, originally, when these things were originally written, there were no chapter divisions, let alone verse divisions. First John is not actually a very long letter, as the epistles go. So we can jump right in here to see, as John has talked about The fact that we should not deny we have sin or that we are sinners, because then we are lying to ourselves and we make God a liar if we say that. He talked about how we can walk in the light knowing we are still sinners, but don't deny that you're a sinner. Deal with your sin. Be those who continually confess their sins and find cleansing in Jesus' blood. as their walk in life. He said all that, but now there's this opening statement of clarification, beginning of verse one, chapter two. It's not that he wants them to not worry about their sin, not concern themselves with their sin, because, hey, if I say I have no sin, I'm a liar. I'll just sin, and whenever I sin, as I guess I often will, I'll just ask forgiveness. It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission. No. He says at the beginning of verse one, my little children, hear the tenderness of that to this aged apostle is writing to these, these Christians who have come to faith, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. He wants them to, progressively throughout their lives walk better in the light of God and Know God better and be more conformed to his glorious image in his light not just Again as he said They can't just walk in darkness that would show that they don't actually know the true God So he's balancing this out Don't deny your sin, accept that you are still a sinner as a Christian, but you're a sinner who confesses and deals with sin. But he's writing these things so that you may not sin. His goal is not what you might call libertinism, I can do whatever I want and not worry about it. His goal is that you know this God better in the fellowship you already have with him through Jesus Christ. But, We continue in our sermon text. But if anyone does sin, and that's not the idea that if possibly in a weird circumstance, one of you might still sin, no. It's understanding if and when you sin, because you will still sin as a believer. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. We're not righteous, but He is. Verse 2, He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And 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, it's been fulfilled, it's reached its goal, it's accomplished its objective. By this we may know that we are in Him. Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." It is in the same way in which Jesus walked. So verses one through six, what's the big idea, the big picture? It is that to know Jesus Christ is to experience deliverance from our sins. And this comes out in two ways in the text, two aspects of deliverance from your sins. To know Jesus Christ is to experience deliverance from our sins. He had that opening statement of clarification, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But recognizing that nevertheless we will sin, though we must fight against it, recognizing that we are still sinners, We find deliverance in Jesus as those who believe in him in two ways. He brings out first of all, in two aspects. First aspect is deliverance from the father's righteous fury, his wrath upon our sins. Don't think when you become a new Christian, Oh, I I've, I've made a fresh start here. I've come to God through Jesus Christ, so now all my sins in the past have been forgiven, but I better not mess up again. Or this is all off. No. That is gloriously false. We as believers, we look to the same one now throughout our lives, in the face of our ongoing sins that we fight, we still look to the same Savior, and we must habitually now always look to Him, not to something in ourselves that can make us acceptable to God despite our sins. We don't look to our performance today that was a little better than yesterday, so that now maybe God will overlook my sin as His child. We deal with our sin, as chapter one's been telling us, But we do that because we have a glorious Savior to look to and to bring it to. We have our righteous advocate before the Father, the end of verse one there. Our righteous advocate before the Father. So an advocate to speak in our defense, or you could look at it as simply appearing there by our side in our defense. We have the righteous one on our side. As we again see that we have sinned and we are facing a God of justice and righteousness who cannot countenance, cannot look with favor upon sin. We have the righteous one on our side, our righteous advocate before the father. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. That word translated advocate is the same word back in John's gospel that Jesus used for the Holy Spirit. He called the Holy Spirit another helper, besides himself, for his disciples. Another helper, that's a very vague, broad translation of that word, helper, coming alongside the help. Or the older translation, another comforter, or you could say another counselor, the paracletos, or the paraclete, people say. This is that same word, but it's Jesus, speaking of Jesus, God, the son, this time. An advocate, especially in a context like this, was a person of standing who could speak on behalf of another, like maybe in court or in some situation where someone needed support in that way. You might think of it, at least in a court situation, as legal counsel. But in ancient times, it could be a private person or friend, maybe not a professional lawyer, but someone coming along with you to stand there with you and speak in your defense, on your behalf. As Colin Cruz says in his commentary here, the one who has acted righteously, Jesus Christ the righteous, is the one who now stands in the presence of the Father to speak on behalf of those who have not acted righteously. Remember how Paul exalts in the conclusions we have to draw from God's grace to us in Christ. Romans 8, verses 31 through 34, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us believers, he's talking about the elect, the believers who will be glorified in God's mind and plan have already been glorified. If God is for us, who can be against us? He, speaking of the Father, God the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, wording of delivering Him over to death for us all. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? That is, if God the Father is the one who loved us, and our sinful world, our evil world, if He's the one who loved us in such a way to give His only begotten Son to die for us sinners, if He gave us that, how is He going to withhold anything else good from us? That's the best thing, the most precious thing He could have given us. That's what Paul's saying. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? But then the next verse, who shall bring any charge against God's elect, God's chosen ones by grace. It is God who justifies. God the father has already spoken to the matter of how he's going to treat us. He's not going to bring a charge against us now that he's declared us forever righteous in his son. He's justified us. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. Is Jesus now going to turn around and try to condemn us when he's the one who came to die to take our punishment? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who rose from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, the place of highest favor and authority in the universe, that right hand, the idea of favor and authority, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. He is there to appear, not just to be glorified himself, but to appear in our behalf. Just His presence there, reigning over all things from the Father's right hand, and appearing there as the great high priest whose work is finished. We'll talk about that in a minute. Just Him being there is all we need for standing with God. And He intercedes for us. If anything needs to be said on our behalf, Just His presence there says it. In fact, it's His death that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to be with the Father, the righteous Son of Man in God's heavenly presence. as our advocate. That leads into what John is about to say next, which is all about priestly sacrifice and the propitiation, the atoning, the satisfaction that sacrifice creates. I wanted to mention, I want to just read a few things from Hebrews before we get to how John puts it here. Hebrews chapter seven, starting in verse 22. says this makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. He, Jesus is the high priest of a new covenant, not like the old covenant under Moses and the covenant that to which that old priesthood was tied. Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. He's risen. He has resurrection life forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. It's priestly wording. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need like those high priests in the Old Testament to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law, the Old Testament law, points men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath of God's covenant oath, which came later than the law, appoints a son who has been made perfect forever. Now the point of what we are saying is this, we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. And then one more place in Hebrews chapter nine, verses 24 to 28. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. So, how is he our advocate with the Father? He can be our advocate in that way because His work of death on the cross is done. His work which dealt with our sins and their penalty. So that leads us to verse two in our sermon text. John goes on to say, in his own words, why he's such an effective advocate. because verse two, he's the only propitiation for anyone's sins. The only propitiation for anyone's sins. He is the propitiation for our sins. Starts out by putting that very personally, in a very personally precious way to us, but he's quick to add, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Yes, he doesn't really bring this out, but really where it says he is the propitiation for our sins. It's two pronouns. He himself for emphasis. It's like John Hannah loosely translates it this way. He himself alone and no one else. He's it. He is the propitiation for our sins, not for just us for the whole world. Literally. Now, let's talk about some careful doctrinal nuances. Because we need to, we need to be careful with God's word. Many people use verse two here as a proof text for what's called a general or a universal atonement. meaning that Jesus actually paid, made propitiation, for the sins of every human being who ever lived or ever will live in this world. And that he actually died, in other words, as the sacrificial lamb, the substitute, in place of every human sinner in history. That's what many, just at the first reading, think this is teaching. Now, if you don't mind being a heretic, great. He paid for everyone's sins, no one goes to hell, right? But if you're a Bible believer, which many people who believe this are, then of course, since scripture plainly says that many people will still suffer God's eternal wrath for their own sins, then you have to go a step further and you have to say that Jesus' payment only works If the sinner in whose place Jesus died, then decides by faith to accept that payment. So it's like a contingent thing. It worked, Jesus' payment worked, counted with God, maybe, if you accept it. See, that's how, if you really get them to be specific what they're saying, that's how, I'd say many, maybe most evangelical churches view this. It might work. It has all the potential to work if you add in your acceptance of it. There's so many angles we could go at this if we were just teaching a whole lesson on limited or I like definite atonement, particular redemption, which we're not doing a whole lesson today, but I have before. Many angles we could come at this from, but let me, try to come at this from the most important angles. Thus, if you believe that, many whose sins have been potentially or provisionally paid for are never actually forgiven and cleansed by that sacrificial atonement. But you see, that logic actually empties Christ's sacrificial blood of its precious worth. And I'm not trying to be Nasty, I'm saying that. I'm saying if you're consistent with that reasoning, that's what you're doing. That logic empties Christ's death of that which makes it an effective propitiation, an atoning sacrifice that actually satisfies God's wrath against sin once for all. A priestly intercession that actually works. An atonement that does not necessarily save men from the wrath of God is an atonement stripped of its great worth. The infinite value of Christ's blood is devalued then. People hear the term limited atonement. Again, I don't like that as my first choice for describing this doctrine I'm teaching. People hear about limited atonement. Christ only died for certain people. And they think, well, that devalues Christ's blood. Isn't his blood infinitely precious? Yes. How can we limit the preciousness of Christ's blood to a few people? That's how people tend to look at it. But really, what really devalues Christ's blood is not that. It would be a substitutionary atonement that only potentially saves those on whose behalf it's made. Now, understand this, and this is foundational to everything else we're saying. Christ's substitutionary atonement at the cross was an actual substitution. an actual propitiation, a satisfaction of righteous wrath against sin. The Bible doesn't talk about the cross of Christ as a potential propitiation, but an actual one. Either the blood of Jesus paid a debt or it did not. And if, as the Bible says, it did pay a debt, then the righteous God considers that debt paid forever. He's not going to demand payment from those for whom Christ died. So therefore, all those whose sentence was paid at the cross will be brought to faith. They'll be justified before God. They'll be saved from his coming wrath. So yes, we who have come to faith in Christ, there was a time in our personal story when we were actually under the wrath of God. Amen. And I'm not denying that for one minute. I would never do that. But we're talking about the eternal decrees of God and his plan to actually effectively save certain people. And so all those for whom Christ died, God will grant the new birth. He'll grant faith in Christ. And through that union with Christ by faith, that work on the cross will be effectively applied to them. And that will never fail to happen. So that's looking at it from the standpoint of predestination, which is a very biblical doctrine. Christ's blood actually purchases every grace for its beneficiaries, including their repentance and faith. You would not come to Jesus in repentance and faith if his blood hadn't purchased that grace on your behalf. It's his blood that cleanses and changes your heart so you can believe. Again, this ties into other doctrines, right? Like Spurgeon says, if I knew who the elect were, and if they had a stripe going up their backs, I'd go around pulling up shirt tails. But we can't do that. That's none of our business. God told us to proclaim the gospel to everyone. And everyone is responsible. If you're a sinner, you're responsible to repent and believe and obey the gospel. Um, so all those, all those caveats said, uh, people often insist now that unless Jesus already paid for the sins of everyone, they'll say, then if you didn't pay for the sins of everyone, we can't honestly call everyone to faith in Christ. But you know, the Bible doesn't base the free offer of the gospel on an unlimited atonement for every human being. You're not going to find it in there in so many words. It never says turn from your sins and believe in Jesus because He's already died in your place. That's what a lot of preachers say. Bible never says that. Actually, that free and sincere offer of Christ that summons to salvation in Christ that the gospel announces, that's simply based on the person of Jesus as the all-sufficient Savior. So everyone is called to embrace Him by faith. Come to Him. Come to this person. by faith. And if you have him, you have all the benefits of his life, his death, and his resurrection. But the gospel call is come to Jesus. And Jesus says, all that the father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I'm not going to kick out. I'm not going to cast out. Jesus says that he laid down his life specifically for his sheep. And in the same breath, he was telling certain unbelievers, you're not my sheep, but my sheep, some of whom have yet to believe, they will hear my voice and follow me, et cetera. He said he died specifically for his sheep, laid down his life in their place. Paul says Christ lovingly gave himself up, delivered himself over to death for his bride, the church. Christ died intentionally for specific people. That's the point. He died for all God's elect, those whom he redeemed at the cross, and thus will certainly bring to faith in himself. He gave his life as a ransom for many, as the scripture says. And in doing that, as the Apostle Paul said in the book of Acts, God in the flesh purchased the church with his own blood. So we dare not say that for the vast majority of people, Jesus' blood was shed in vain. On the contrary, One of our classic hymns, we sing this. This is from There is a Fountain Filled with Blood. Here's one of the verses. Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. That's definite atonement. As J.I. Packer says in his book, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, he says, the fact is that the New Testament never calls on any man to repent on the ground that Christ died specifically and particularly for him. The basis on which the New Testament invites sinners to put faith in Christ is simply that they need him, and that he offers himself to them, and that those who receive him are promised all the benefits that his death secured for his people. What is universal and all-inclusive in the New Testament is the invitation to faith and the promise of salvation to all who believe. Or John Murray, he's a little harder, so I'll read slowly. John Murray in Redemption Accomplished and Applied, one of the classic books on these topics. He says, what is offered to men in the gospel? It is not the possibility of salvation, not simply the opportunity of salvation. What is offered is salvation. To be more specific, it is Christ himself in all the glory of his person and in all the perfection of his finished work who is offered. And he is offered as the one who made expiation for sin and wrought redemption. He did it. He successfully accomplished it. But he could not be offered in this capacity or character if he had not secured salvation and accomplished redemption. He could not be offered as savior and as the one who embodies in himself salvation full and free if he had simply made the salvation of all men possible or merely had made provision for the salvation of all. Later he says, it's because Christ procured and secured redemption that he is an all-sufficient and suitable savior. It is as such he is offered. And the faith that this offer demands is the faith of self-commitment to him as the one who is the eternal embodiment of the efficacy, the effectiveness, accruing from obedience completed and redemption secured. Yeah, John Murray writes a little higher level there, but. We call people to Christ himself. If they come to Christ, they have his cross work applied to them. And that's all been part of God's plan. God did not send Jesus to die on the cross, hoping against hope that apart from his plan, someone would actually accept this for themselves. But then you still might ask, okay, so we've been saying what this doesn't say. You still might ask, okay, so why does John say that Jesus made propitiation for the sins of the whole world. Well, wait a minute. He doesn't say that. Uh, look at exactly how it words it. He says that Jesus is present tense. Jesus is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but literally, um, it's shortened in the original Greek, but for the whole world. Here's the point. For we who know Jesus by faith, he's an effective advocate before his father's throne. That's what we're talking about, right? Why? Or you could say how? Why is he such an effective advocate? Because he sits there as our propitiation. It's not worded as a past accomplishment so much as a permanent role of our all-sufficient advocate in heaven. His very presence in heaven, as there is in Christ, shows that his priestly work of atonement, his propitiation for his people, worked. God accepted his priestly work. God raised him from the dead to vindicate him and enthrone him. God has accepted his work. Jesus Christ is no sinner. He is Jesus Christ the righteous. accepted by God, who suffered once for the sins of his people. But now that he's taken that guilt and condemnation and curse on himself, it's gone. And so death, the penalty on Adam's race for sin, death has no claim on the last Adam, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He's finished his work. God's raised him to glorious rest in heaven. The writer to the Hebrews says that Christ isn't standing to continue the work like other priests had to do. He sat down because his work is done, his work of atonement. Or as John sees in the book of the Revelation, Jesus is standing before God's throne as the slain but risen lamb. He's already suffered God's wrath to the last drop for the sins of his people. So now our propitiation is our advocate with the father. You say you're not answering all the questions yet. I know, hang on. But you get the emphasis here. He's there in the flesh, in heaven, our propitiation, the slain but risen lamb. I love that old hymn that's been put to a newer tune recently. Well, I say recently. I'm getting old. But it's not that recently now. Before the throne of God above, I had a strong and perfect plea. A great high priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me, My name is graven, engraved on his hands. My name is written on his heart. I know that while in heaven he stands, no tongue can bid me thence depart. When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see him there, who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free, for God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me. Behold Him there, the risen Lamb, my perfect, spotless righteousness, the great unchangeable I am, the King of glory and of grace, one with Himself I cannot die. My soul is purchased by His blood. My life is hid with Christ on high, with Christ my Savior and my God. And now, here we go, now John hastens to add that this is not just a propitiation for a select few. Like the false teachers of his day who claimed to be an elite group with secret hidden access to the divine. You other people who think you're Christians, you don't know the real secret. That was the flavor of what was being taught. And it's not just for perhaps one nation on earth like the Jews. This isn't just about a Jewish Messiah for Jews or about a mystical way for some people to find their unique path to God. Oh, the world would love for us to believe that because it would fit in with their pluralism and their idea that that's good for you, but not for me. No. John is directly striking out at that whole mindset. This is a propitiation for any and every sinner on Earth who will believe in this God man, this king and priest. Jesus Christ, the righteous, is himself the propitiation, the satisfaction for sins, and he will reconcile to God all who come to him. And more than that, it's not just one possible option for propitiation. It's not just that he's available for anyone who will believe. He Himself and He alone is the propitiation for the whole world. He's the only option. The only option. In John the Baptizer's words, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. There's only one Lamb for the world. He's not just the answer to our sins as if others might find another good way to deal with their sins. No. He's the one and only propitiation for the whole world. There is no other high priest, there's no other sacrificial lamb, no other atoner or atonement, if you will, to reconcile the world to God. There's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And that's the point. As the apostles declared in Acts 4 verse 12, there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven. If you're here on this earth, you're under heaven, under the sky. There's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. You can't come to God or accidentally be in Jesus while you're actually trusting in a different name, like Muhammad, or like the God of Judaism that is not the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, or like a God of the cults who is not the God of scripture, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Or there's no great teacher or mentor, no Buddha, no philosopher who can provide the salvation you need, the deliverance from sin. That's what it's saying. There's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Or gospel of John chapter three, verses 35 and 36. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. So don't. oppose what God's doing for his beloved son. Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. As a sinner, the way you're naturally born into this world, like the rest of us, you have a problem with the wrath of God. That is, it hangs over you. When the old, when the, uh, well, he wasn't of the Puritan era. He was after that, but he was like the Puritans, the New England Puritan, Jonathan Edwards, when he preached that famous sermon, sinners in the hands of an angry God, he wasn't just being sensational to, to get a rise out of people and scare them. When he's talking about, he compares us to a spider hanging by a web that God can drop into the fire at any moment. It says the wrath of God remains on you and over you. Scripture says, if you will not obey the gospel, if you refuse the only propitiation for sins. So what's the big idea in this text again? That first part of our sermon text was the harder one, the one we had to go deeper on to understand, I think. But what's the big idea of the text again? To know Jesus Christ is to experience deliverance from our sins. Now that's one side of our deliverance. Deliverance from the penalty. What we deserve from God for our sins. Deliverance from the Father's righteous fury upon our sins. But we can't stop there and have half the Christian message. Half of what Christ came to do in and for us. He's also the deliverance from our disobedient walk in sins. John's going to keep repeating these themes throughout this letter to make sure we get it. He comes from every angle possible. It's like a symphony where he repeats certain key themes over and over again in different combinations. That's why commentators love to outline things, and this is terrible for outlining, 1 John is. They pull their hair out. It's because it's more like a symphony. There's all these repeating melodies and themes. So you're going to say, I think we've already heard all about this. Yeah, sort of. We're going to hear it again. Deliverance from our disobedient walk in sins, verses 3 through beginning of 5. Jesus Christ, he's the Lord Jesus whose word we heed and obey. If we really know him, he's our Lord whom we heed, that is we listen to him, and we obey. That's just the way it's going to be if we really know him. Verse three, and by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him, whoever says I know Jesus personally, but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. We've been here before, haven't we? Chapter one, lying to yourself about your relationship to Christ. But whoever keeps his word, what he's said, in him truly the love of God is perfected. Now notice, John doesn't say, And this is the way that some of you Christians might possibly know someday that you know Jesus. He says, by this, we know that we've come to know him. Joel Beakey says here, he just mentions, John assumes that it's normal for Christians to be assured of their salvation. It's normal. He's persuaded that God's people should have at least some degree of assurance. You can know that you have eternal life. Of course, famously at the end of this letter, John's going to say, I've written these things so that you know that you have eternal life. And so it's, again, Christians will have struggles, mental and emotional struggles along the way as they try to compare their lives to scripture and all this, but there should be a foundational certainty. And if you don't have it as a believer, you can, you can. You shouldn't always be wondering, am I God's child or am I not? That's not the way the Christian life is meant to be. Now, you're going to have, in some senses, greater heights and deeper depths of assurance and that warmth of relationship with the Lord the more you walk in His ways and the farther you get in the Christian life. But there should be a basic assurance. That should be normal for the Christian. By this we know that we've come to know him if we keep his commandments. Colin Cruz again says, this does not mean, of course, that those who know God will never fail to obey God's commands, but rather that those who know God will not be characterized by disobedience to his commands. John speaks in these absolutes, these stark contrasts throughout this letter. With all his clarifications as he balances it out, he's clear if you read the whole thing together. Okay, Christians are sinners, they're still sinners, but they have a new pattern of life. Both are true. And this is a side thought as well from Joel Beeky, he says, Just applying what said here. He says it's impossible to maintain high levels of assurance when we exercise low levels of obedience Don't expect to feel All warm and assured in your relationship with God your father if you're intentionally rebelling against him in the moment. I Duh. But he says, he quotes Charles Spurgeon. He says, Spurgeon rightly said, the lack of practical obedience to Christ is the root of 999 of every 1000 of our doubts and fears. That's true. Not always, but often. Struggles with assurance, not always, but often. It's at least connected to things we're feeling guilty about. and we should feel guilty about. So we should deal with them by God's grace, come to Christ with them. Well, it says at the beginning of verse five, but whoever keeps his word, what Christ has said to do in him, truly the love of God is perfected. Now we hear perfect and we, we go bonkers. We, we, we think, Oh, that means some people can have like perfect love in this life as Christians, or they can reach some level of Christian perfection. No, that's not what the word is talking about. It's a fulfillment, something reaching the goal for which it was intended. God has given us his love in Christ. And John speaks this way, I'll show you one place later. John speaks this way a little later in the same letter. God has loved us in Jesus Christ, but the reason he loved us was not just to save us from hell. The reason he loved us was to make us like his son, make us happy in holiness. And you may think you're happy in unholiness, but it's actually just a flavor of misery. But whoever keeps Christ's word, who listens and obeys, listens to the son of God and obeys him, that shows God's love has done what it set out to do in that person. It's being fulfilled in that person. That's what the idea is. God's love for us in Christ is fulfilled. Its goal is reached in us when we keep Christ's Word. See, if you've truly come to know Christ, that's because God's love brought you into that personal relationship. Another thing 1 John says, we love because He first loved us. Remember? It's God's love that made all this happen in the beginning and that sustains all this. And if God's love has made you His own, He's brought you into fellowship with Him whereby you know him, then his love has taught you and it continues teaching you to obey his son. And it would be unloving of God to leave you in your natural condition of disobedience and in the filth and misery that that brings. He would be treating you again as if you weren't his child, as if you were illegitimate, to use our polite word today, not the King James. God, if He treats you as His child, He's not going to leave you in your filth. He's going to clean you up. And after all, to know Jesus is to believe what He says. If you believe what He says, you'll find yourself doing as He says. Not perfectly, but that'll be the aim of your life. Now here's that other spot I said I'd mentioned. 1 John 4, 9-12, very similar concept. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Notice how propitiation is tightly tied to his goals for us again. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. One primary aspect of obeying Christ's commands John's gonna bring out is that Jesus commanded us to love his people, love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. Again, we can tell his love is doing what it meant to do in us if we love one another in obedience to Christ. All right. As we're looking at deliverance, not only from God's wrath against our sins, but deliverance from our disobedient walk in sins, who said that the Lord, our deliverer, the Lord Jesus is the one whose word we heed and obey, if we really know him. And secondly, he is the Lord Jesus whose life we share and imitate. We share Christ's own life and we imitate it. By this we may know that we are in Him." End of verse five, end of verse six. By this we may know that we are in Him. Very similar to how Paul talks about being in Christ and union with Him. Verse six, whoever says he abides in Him, ought to walk in the same way in which he walked, or ought to live in the same way in which he lived. Karen Jobes says, to walk as that one walked, means to live in unflinching obedience to God, which constitutes love for him and for others. Now again, Joel Beakey, who's always the compassionate, careful physician of the soul, he jumps in here to say, you may shrink at the thought of comparing yourself with Jesus. You are too aware of sin and shortcomings in your life to make such a claim. Yet is there within you a small beginning of obedience, of Christ-likeness? Is your life bent toward Christ? The great predestinating purpose of God is to conform his people to the likeness of his son." Still quoting Behe. but Romans 8, verse 29, he refers to there. The great predestinating purpose of God is to conform his people to the likeness of his son. That is what God is doing through the church, taking people and reshaping them into the likeness of his son. He reshapes people by working in them that which is pleasing in his sight, obedience to his commands, adherence to his word, and walking as Jesus walked. Let's turn to the gospel of John now, chapter 15. We're toward the end here, but let's go to the Gospel of John, chapter 15, where John, well, I say John, John records Jesus really developing this idea of abiding in him. Abiding in Jesus as branches, living branches abide in the vine. They get their life, their sustenance, from the vine. We get our spiritual life and vitality from Jesus. We abide in Him. John 15, starting in verse 1. I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser, the one who takes care of the vineyard. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away. There are those who have an outward appearance, maybe for a while, of being in Jesus as Christians, but There's just not a living real faith in him and they don't bear fruit. There's no evidence that they really know it. So the father takes those away. And Jesus says, every branch that does bear fruit, he, the father prunes, or it's also the word in Greek for cleaning. He prunes or cleans that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, there's that emphasis on Jesus' words, listening to what he says. 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. As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. You see how the Apostle John in 1 John is just applying what Jesus taught at length when John was with him. So to abide in Jesus is to share his life flowing from him to us and to actively engage in that process, to embrace it. And if we truly share his life, the patterns of our lives will more and more reflect the pattern of his life. We'll walk as he walked. He's not only truly God, remember, but he's also truly man. He didn't come down and live as Superman with special abilities, superhuman abilities to live a human life. He lived a truly human life of righteousness. So because he gives us his life, We can and we have to, we must imitate his pattern in our own human experience. He obeyed the word of his father and so can we. He loved God and man and so can we. Is that your Christian experience? Not just deliverance from the condemnation and penalty for your sins, also deliverance more and more from the pattern of disobedience, the walk of sin. This is one of those many times when I'm glad I'm here by divine calling, not on my own, because I would shudder to say this stuff. I'm as much of a sinner as any of you are. But is this your experience? To know Jesus Christ is to experience deliverance from our sins in every way, ultimately. So let me close with something the Apostle Paul said, where he in his own way brings together these two sides of deliverance from sin again. 2 Corinthians 5, starting at verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself. and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God, For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, in a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Let's pray together. Father, please don't let anyone here go on in life without knowing Jesus truly and knowing the forgiveness of sins and cleansing from sins. Help all of us to understand this isn't a spiritual germophobia where we just want to not have all any bad stuff on our record or around us. But we, we want to have a relationship with the living God who is perfect. Help us to understand the beauty and the glory of being like Jesus Christ increasingly and having that kind of relationship with him by which his life flows into us and changes us. Help us for Jesus' sake, Father. Amen.