Well, good morning. What a precious song, full of precious promises.
I would like to begin our time together by reading some Scriptures.
The first is from 1 John 3:1-3:
Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.
Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.
Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.
Then over in 1 Peter 1:13-16:
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life;
because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
And then the last is Matthew 5:8:
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Let us pray.
Lord, how we thank You that You have given us this time together this morning—a time to consider Your great love for us, a time of thanksgiving. We can pour out our hearts to You, Lord, with gratitude for all that You have done.
And Lord, we thank You for Your Word, for this hope that You have put in us. Lord, we thank You for our time together, and we pray that You would show us today more of Yourself. Lord, be our enabling to hear You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
The thought that was on my heart began several weeks ago, and it actually begins with the first Scripture that I read from 1 John.
A couple of weeks ago, you may remember, I had the privilege to share the opening. I talked at that time about the verses in 1 John and about what manner of love the Lord has bestowed upon us. That manner of love is so great that, in fact, we would be called His children.
That is a wonderful thing to consider: who our heavenly Father is, that we should be called the children of God.
Then there is a future aspect to those verses. We are called His children now, but basically it says in verse 2, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.”
So, saints, that transforming work that the Lord continually does in our lives brings us closer and closer to Himself. It is an ongoing work that the Lord does, and He does that as we yield ourselves to Him.
So that is my burden today. Verse 3 says, “Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself.” So how do we do that, saints? What is this thing that we do as we purify ourselves? May the Lord help us in terms of that reality in our lives.
In 1 Peter, one of the main thoughts in that passage—well, actually, there were two. “Gird up the loins of your mind. Hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you.”
So it is a matter of that hope that we were talking about: the hope in Him. Also, we have this hope to the end for the grace. This purifying work that the Lord does is a call for us to do something. It is not something that we can just sit back from and drift. I believe the Lord would have us take action on certain things in our lives.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.” So I will be talking about sin that we have had, and how the Lord has revealed a portion of that truth to me in terms of dealing with that sin.
Lastly, in verse 15, we read, “Be ye holy in all manner of life.” There is a call for us, in obedience to the Lord, to be holy.
So, saints, my burden is the purifying work that the Lord would do in our lives as we yield to Him. Basically, in a nutshell, it happens because of His great love. We cannot lose sight of that.
“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.” Many prayers were offered this morning, and one in particular that I remember dealt with that living hope that the Lord has given us.
So praise God. He has done that work to bring us to Himself. We have that living hope within us. That is His work and not our own.
A couple of weeks ago, our brother Jim started a ministry on John the Baptist. Something that our brother shared really registered in my heart, and it was confirmation that what I wanted to share was timely.
If you will recall, Jim was talking about John the Baptist and the desert experiences that John the Baptist had. Remember that, saints? It was not just an experience, but experiences that John the Baptist had.
Saints, I believe that we have those experiences as well. As we yield to the Lord, those experiences do His work and transform us into His image, that we would be like Him.
Our brother shared that when you are alone, having those desert experiences, that is when you really begin to seek the Lord. How else would the Lord do that work in our hearts unless we seek Him?
So praise God for those desert experiences that we have. When we do seek the Lord, we are alone with Him. Our brother shared that those are the times that enable the Lord to do that transforming work in us. In those times, the Lord will confirm that you are His.
Our brother also shared that the righteousness of God, when we see it, moves us to do righteous things. As we have our eyes on the Lord, how can we help but see His righteousness?
So I believe, saints, it is something that we need to pray for: that the Lord would enable us to see more and more of that aspect of Him. We see His grace, and we see His mercy, but to see His righteousness and desire that one day we would be like Him is something that I believe the Lord would have us pray about.
Our brother also said, “The righteous acts of the saints adorn us before God.” Jim, I believe that is a direct quote: “The righteous acts of the saints adorn us before God.”
So we need to walk in them. It is not merely a positional thing. Yes, there are many things that we have in Christ, but we are to walk in these things. We are to have strength before the Lord to walk in these things and to do these acts that the Lord would reveal to us.
These acts demonstrate that we are walking faithfully before Him. So this has to do with being faithful servants and those who are waiting for their Master’s return.
It is not a new thought that we would purify ourselves or that we have these things to do. Look in 1 Corinthians 11 with me.
Oftentimes, when we come to the table, we read from this chapter. I want to start with verse 26.
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
This examination of ourselves, combined with what we said about purifying ourselves, is what I wanted to share about. How do we do these things? When does this purification—making us holy—come about? I think that is a question that needs to be answered.
Does this purifying work, “Be ye holy; for I am holy,” happen when we receive the Lord? Does it happen at salvation? That is one huge event in our life.
Or how about baptism? Does it come with baptism? We know that when we are baptized, we go under the water. Our old man dies; the new man rises up symbolically. That is what water baptism is. So does this purification happen when we are baptized?
Or does it come with regular church attendance? Does it come with Friday night meetings? How does it come?
I believe it has its beginning when we receive the Lord. As we are baptized, I believe that is one of those acts that we do as we demonstrate to the Lord our sincerity and His work in our lives.
But I believe the better answer to when this purification comes is in those times when we are alone with the Lord, when we allow Him to examine our hearts and do that hard work in us—to reveal our nature to us.
Saints, that is when we give those things to the Lord by His Holy Spirit. That is when we make ourselves available to the Lord and hear that still, small voice that speaks to us.
So that is the key: hearing and obeying. That “Trust and Obey” song was on my heart:
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey;
Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a f