Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.heritagesermons.org/sermons/25935/christ-in-you-the-hope-of-glory-quality-average/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] As the Lord might help, I will again direct your attention to the epistle of Paul to the Colossians, the first chapter, the last part of verse 27 and verse 28. [0:16] The epistle of Paul to the Colossians, chapter 1, the last part of verse 27 and 28. [0:30] Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. [0:52] We read in the Gospel according to John of the importance of abiding in him and he abiding in us. [1:07] And there can be no true religion without this communication of life, peculiar and strange as it is, into our very being. [1:25] The apostle was able to preach this because he knew in his own heart that Christ dwelt in him. [1:36] As we came to the conclusion of our discourse this morning, we considered Christ in you, the hope of glory, in that he is our life. [1:52] There is no true spiritual life out of Christ. Sometimes we may be troubled because life seems very, very low. [2:07] It is because we do not feel the activity of the life of God in our souls. But Christ is the same. [2:18] And Christ in us will manifest that power belonging unto God, even in respect to the exercise of our faith and hope and love. [2:32] When there is such a change and we rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh, then it is that we prove from whence our life comes. [2:50] It would be a sad thing for any of us if we had to maintain spiritual life alive ourselves. [3:02] But this is in Christ. It is eternal in its content, in its nature, and therefore it will never go out. [3:15] Whatever we may fear sometimes, that our life will come to an end, that our religion will die, that we should give up everything and go back into the world, can never be if Christ abides in us. [3:32] And if this, what the apostle speaks of, is a true experience, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. [3:43] There is such a thing, sometimes, as the people of God being powerfully overcome by Satan for a time. [3:55] And they are drawn aside into a backsliding path. And many may give them up. And may write them off. But if this is true in the beginning, there will be a reviving. [4:10] The Lord says, But if the love of God is in our heart, then we shall be preserved from a willful sinning. [4:53] You may sometimes think that we have sinned against light and knowledge. And yet, can you discover upon a careful examination that there was some resistance, internal resistance, a resistance of Christ in you. [5:15] The hope of glory. The hope of glory. We now pass on to consider which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Christ being the truth. [5:28] There is one thing that concerns God's children. It is that they should not be deceived. Only they are concerned about being deceived. [5:40] This is not a continual experience. But there are times where the concern is great. [5:51] Because they seem to be in darkness. And have no light. It is astonishing for us to read some of these points in the scripture. [6:06] Where we see in Isaiah 50. Two points which will surely indicate that we must pursue a pathway of evident peace and joy. [6:20] But the word of God speaks differently. Who is among you that feareth the Lord? That obeith the voice of his servant? [6:33] What can be more right? What can be more attractive? Than for a person to fear God. And to be kept by that fear. [6:45] And to obey the voice of God. And those things which are written in the word of God. And then. Through the sound of walking. [6:57] In darkness and having no light. Well now. That is very clear. That God's children may sometimes be in that path. [7:11] And they are counseled what they should do. To trust in the Lord. And to stay upon their God. Now this is not surprising. [7:24] When we read. That the just. Shall live by his faith. And that faith. Is believing God. [7:35] When all things are against us. When temptations rise very high. And when. Satan. [7:47] Says that we shall. Never. Continue. That Christ has never died for us. Then. To believe. That. [7:58] There is hope in God. God. What is that. That. The movement of divine life in the soul. And. [8:09] The confirmation of truth in the heart. Christ. We noticed this morning. The. In whom we have redemption. [8:19] Through his blood. Even the forgiveness of sins. Christ is precious. To the children of God. God. [8:29] Because. Because he is their only hope. Their only prospect. Of. Being redeemed. And. Having their sins forgiven. [8:42] Whilst we may sometimes speak. About our. Own. Feelings. Yet. May we also speak. [8:53] Of. The activity of faith. Which. Would certainly show itself. If we are pressed into a corner. We cannot give up hope. [9:06] If we have the life of God in our soul. If we have the truth of God in our hearts. In order that this may be settled in our minds. Sometimes we might come into extremities. [9:21] In the 107th Psalm. We have described to us some extremities. They stagger like a drunken man. [9:36] And that. Is. An extremity. Maybe we have. Known. What that has been. [9:47] To stagger. Like a drunken man. Now what has been. The cause of it. Well it has been a cause. Because. [9:57] It has been brought about. Because of the storm. That circulates round about us. They that go down to the sea in ships. [10:09] That do business in great waters. These. See the works of the Lord. And his wonders in the deep. Now that's a good thing. [10:20] When. Well we. Do go down to the sea. In ships. And do business in great waters. When we can see the works of the Lord. Not everybody does. [10:33] For if Christ is in us. The hope of glory. Then we shall see the works of the Lord. But we shall see them by faith. When Paul was in the ship. [10:46] Do you remember that he saw the works of the Lord. The days passed. No stars were seen. The situation became desperate. [10:57] The wind was contrary. And then. You see. He saw the works of the Lord. And the works of the Lord was. [11:09] Revealed. When he spoke to. The captain. And the rest of the ship. Those who were in the ship. And he said. The angel of God. [11:20] Stood by me this night. And said. Fear not Paul. For they must come. Go to Rome. And there shall be no loss of life. [11:32] Darkness covered. The scene. Opposition. And everything that was contrary. That could be a rope. And yet. [11:43] It was in those very circumstances. That. Paul had a revelation. Of. What we have in our text. Christ in you. [11:54] The hope of glory. God. And that's what he could preach. That. In those extreme circumstances. God spoke to him. And gave him an assurance. [12:07] That all would be well. That he would go on his way safely. And he would be delivered out of. This present. Scene. In which. To all intents and purposes. [12:18] Would mean shipwreck. We may also learn this. For he commanded. And raised it. The stormy wind. [12:29] Which lifted up the waves thereof. That. The stormy wind. That. This of course. Speaks of. That which is. Figurative. Though the winds blow. [12:42] In our experience. And the waves ride high sometimes. In Isaiah's prophecy. We have a reference made. Oh. They are tossed with tempest. And not comforted. And God commanded the tempest. [12:58] And God commanded that to come about. That would bring us to. Have this knowledge. That Christ is in us. How easily people give up. [13:11] And. Even if they have some kind of. Hope. That hope will perish. We read. The hope of the hypocrite will perish. But the hope of the people of Christ. [13:22] God. It continues. It enables them. Still to believe. When there is no prospect. Of their believing. According to. What they see. [13:35] And so. The psalmist continues. They mount up to the heaven. They go down again. To the depths. Their soul is melted. Because of trouble. [13:46] We do not hear a great deal. In the present day. About soul's trouble. But it still exists. In the experiences. [13:58] Of God's children. And remember. That God brings about those things. That produce. A soul trouble. [14:11] Then it is. They reel to and fro. And stagger like a drunken man. And are at their wit's end. Now all these things. [14:22] May be. May appear to be against us. But if you have known this experience. Then it is. That you will rejoice. In that preaching of Christ Jesus. [14:36] Christ in you. The hope of glory. Wherein you can look out of yourself. And see one hanging on a tree. In agonism blood. [14:47] And who speaks therefrom. And who speaks therefrom. And gives you. That hope. That. He has put away your sin. That he has forgiven you freely. [15:00] And that he will surely receive you. Under himself. In due time. Having. Passed through this bitter. [15:11] And painful experience. And a cry goes up to the Lord. In their trouble. He bringeth them out of their distresses. And he maketh a storm. [15:23] A calm. So that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad. Because they be quiet. So he bringeth them. [15:35] Unto their desired. Haven. And this has a spiritual significance. In the heart of God's children. [15:46] That the children of God. Will bear their testimony. That it is. In the pathway of tribulation and trial. That Christ will be revealed. [15:58] And that Christ will be precious. If we have ever. If we have Christ's precious. How often. He is precious. In the time of trouble. [16:09] That is not to say that. There will never be a time. When Christ will not be precious. In the time of peace. Indeed. [16:20] Precious when. The wind of rose. Favorably. Blood so many times. What. What God has given to us. Is exposed to. [16:34] Danger. Danger. The danger. The danger of destruction. The cross. As mentioned. In the word of God. [16:45] Take up. Your cross daily. And. Follow me. From the. Greek derivative. [16:58] We find. That. The real meaning. Is. A life. Which is exposed. Continually. To danger. And. [17:09] Therefore. Christ. In you. The hope. Of glory. Means. Life. And it means. The truth. Of God. Which will. [17:19] Continually. Be assailed. And. You will feel. Continually. Exposed. To danger. But let us. Remember. The glorious. [17:30] Words. Which will attract. Us. For him. That cannot lie. Who. Is he. That will harm. You. If ye. Be followers. Of that. Which is good. [17:42] Maybe. Some of you. Have been. In great danger. And that has been. Your consolation. Who is he. That will harm you. If ye. Be followers. Of that. Which is good. [17:53] If ye. Be a follower. Of our Lord. Jesus Christ. And if we are a follower. Of Jesus Christ. Let us bear this point. In mind. That we are not. Separated. [18:04] We are joined. To Christ. We are one. With Christ. We walk. In Christ. And it's not always. A right. [18:15] Consideration. For people. To say. That they walk. Far off. This is not. Possible. When we consider. There is. An abiding. [18:25] In Christ. And Christ. Abides in you. How can you. Be separated. From Christ. No doubt. People refer. To their feelings. But. This is not. [18:36] Relative. To. The actual. Fact of things. Once in him. In him. Forever. Thus. The eternal. Covenant. Stands. [18:48] That placing. Of the church. Of God. In Christ. Took place. Before they were born. Takes us back. To the time. When. God's covenant. [18:59] Was made. By the father. And the son. And ratified. By the presence. Of the holy ghost. [19:11] Once in him. In him. Forever. Thus. The eternal. Covenant. Stands. But in the word. Before us. Which is. [19:21] Christ. In you. The hope. Of glory. We shall find. The establishment. Of that truth. But to consider. [19:32] Christ. In you. As the truth. The hope. Of glory. Now. How do we know. The truth. Because. We cannot. Learn. God's truth. As school boys. [19:42] Learn their. Past. So. We know. The truth. As we may. Read the scriptures. And. Come to the knowledge. Of the truth. [19:54] And then. There is a settlement. Of the truth. The people. Of God. Will able. Will surely. Be in agreement. Here. When. They. [20:05] In their. Earliest days. They came. They came to know. What the truth was. By. The. Reading of the scriptures. Through the preaching. Of the gospel. And they believed it. [20:17] In their mind. And. No doubt. It was attracted. To their mind. But as the time. Goes on. God. Leads them. Into. [20:28] Such pathways. Where. They. Know the truth. In. The fullness. Of it. We shall never. Rejoice. [20:39] In the truth. In the letter. Of it. As we shall do. In the experience. Of it. An example. Of this. Can be taken. [20:51] From. The Lord. Jesus Christ. The high priest. Of our profession. Now. We may see. That very. Very clearly. In the early days. [21:02] Of our. Christian experience. And. We may feel. Our need. Of a high priest. And because. God has shown. Us our sins. [21:14] And we need. Those sins. To be dealt with. And the only one. That could deal. With them. Is a high priest. And so. We learn it. And feel it. [21:24] Just a little. Now. As the years. Go by. If my. Personal experience. Is anything. To go by. We come into the. [21:35] Deeper experience. Of the value. Of the high priest. And we find. That. There is such. A value. In his office. [21:46] And such a value. In the sacrifice. That he offers. And such a value. In the altar. Upon which he offers. That sacrifice. All of which. Refer us to Christ. [21:58] That Christ. Becomes. Precious to us. Not just. In the letter. Just. Not just. In receiving. The wonderful truth. The glorious gospel. Of Jesus Christ. [22:08] But now. Walking it out. And so. We can rejoice. In Christ. As our high priest. And are thankful. That it is written. That we. Such a high priest. [22:19] Became us. Who was holy. Harmless. Undefiled. And separate. From sinners. And has now. As ended up. Into the heavens. And that is the truth. [22:31] That the essence. Of. The truth. Of real religion. Lies. In. Just this. [22:43] In feeling our sin. And rejoicing in a savior. And Jesus Christ. As a savior. Has. [22:53] Many. Aspects. For our consideration. What is attractive. To. The people of God. [23:04] To sinners. Lost in the ruins. Of the fall. Christ. In you. The hope of glory. Maintains. Your faith. [23:15] When. You feel. That. Your faith. Is almost ebbing out. Now faith. In Jesus. Can repel. [23:26] All the fiery darts. Of hell. Now what does that mean. How can we have faith. In Jesus. What is. Well it just means this. [23:39] That. In looking to Christ. Then. Satan. Will be. Silenced. You know. Satan. [23:50] Can never stand. By your side. When Christ. Is near. If. God. Jesus. Precious. Are. The. Is the experience. And are the words. Of one. [24:01] Who said. I may. My fierce. Accuser. Face. And tell him. Christ. Has died. and that is a satisfying word to your soul and a word which the devil will never be able to stand against but how can you say it unless Christ is in you giving you that faith to believe and faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen so though we cannot see with our natural eyes yet there is a substance in our faith there is that which seems to almost be tangible we cannot touch with our natural hands but we can touch with our hands of faith and we verily believe that Christ in us will fix our attention upon Christ out of us you see as long as you look at the devil he'll be doing all he can to frighten you and disturb you to cast you down and to draw you aside but oh for that strength of Christ in you to turn away from his gaze and his hypnotic power to Christ and to say thou oh Christ art all I want and however hard you may find it to do because of the power of opposition that you truly feel in your soul yet it is the answer it is the death now to the devil himself who will never be able to get your soul there is none that can pluck you out of my hand there is none that can pluck you out of my father's hand which is Christ in you the hope of glory the salvation of Jesus Christ it is called an everlasting salvation and therefore it is an eternal salvation there is something very precious in the consideration of this because it is important to believe in an eternal salvation that will take care of all your sins past all the sins of the church of God in the past and will stretch forth to the end of time eternal salvation the captain of our salvation was the son of God the eternal son of God this becomes essential to our faith when we believe that there is one and only one that is stronger than the devil stronger than ourselves stronger than our sins and yet and thus one who is a conqueror who led captivity captive and received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also which is [27:08] Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach Christ in his offices every one of them we may dwell upon the offices of Christ sometimes we might even meditate in the word of God we might go through those treatises that have been written and to a measure in a measure rejoice in what we read but then we come to those times when Christ is peculiarly suitable to our condition so we have mentioned his office as high priest and his office as a saviour how peculiar he is to our condition now we just mentioned another one which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach because [28:11] Christ is our father which is a great mystery and is the source of cavilling by many the Lord Jesus made it very clear when he spoke to one of his disciples and he said have I been so long time with you Philip and yet hast thou not known me who thou hast seen me hath seen my father also for I and my father are one the prophecy in Isaiah is the everlasting father the prince of peace his name shall be called wonderful counsellor the everlasting father the prince of peace and this is Christ in you the hope of glory where do you feel Christ where do you feel the glory of Christ where do you feel that his name is wonderful where do you feel that he is the counsellor where do you feel that he is the prince of peace is it some remote situation when you look out of yourself and you see it too far off is it not where you feel [29:31] Christ is in you you feel a response within your very being and you rejoice in this that his name is wonderful counsellor the mighty god the everlasting father the prince of peace and this is Christ whom we preach well it is in you and being in you he being in you is the hope of glory now isn't that true those of you that hope for glory have a hope of glory have a sound foundation in respect to it where do you feel that hope the movement is within and so this proves that Christ is in you and when there is that movement within then it directs your attention to the hope of glory now if you're born again in the spirit you know there will be certainly times when you'll be looking out of this time state and you will be looking up to heaven and you will be looking for the glorious appearing of the great god and if you do not have these experiences then what evidence have you got that you've got the [30:51] Christ of god in you people may talk about Jesus Christ and so on but if you never look up I said if you never look up if there's not a day when you rise in the morning and perhaps you look out of your window and you think upon these very words the glorious appearing of the great god will it be today when he will come and take his ransomed people home the grace of god in the soul you see draws us away from time to time from all forbidden care and toil and there's just one thought that we have the apostle makes it clear what his life was and he preached his life for to me to live is Christ what did he mean by that well he meant this that Christ was in him the hope of glory and every day that he lived though he obeyed the necessities of the day and dealt with those duties that were incumbent upon him yet there was that in him which caused him to look out and to look up to heaven itself and to feel sometimes more and sometimes perhaps less that he was getting nearer when he would see [32:22] Christ now you see we live in a sad day there's much profession and that's all it is they talk about Christ and they don't know him they don't live in and they don't long for him now the Christ that Paul preached he preached because Christ was in him as his life that's all he lived for and they be our concern to live only to know Christ now as I mentioned one or two of the precious offices of Christ let us just return for a moment to his being the everlasting father Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach now Christ is the everlasting father which means like as the father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth you and furthermore as we have it in the parable his eye is ever upon you you remember the case in the prodigal son he went a long way off but his father's eye was upon him the everlasting father that's what it means you know we may stray sometimes the power of our nature may get the better of us and the hardness of our heart may prevail but it doesn't alter the eye of our everlasting father being upon us he sees me often overcome and pities my distress and this affliction drive me home to anchor on his grace have we proved that [34:08] Christ is in us the hope of glory because he is our everlasting father sometimes we might be in the psalmist shoes where he said hath God forgotten to be gracious will he be favorable no more and immediately the psalmist corrects himself and he says this is my infirmity but I will look unto the right hand of the most high which is Jesus Christ which is the revelation of Jesus Christ in this glorious capacity of a father of a father now what responsibility is placed upon the father naturally in regard to his family what responsibility reposes in our Lord Jesus Christ as the everlasting father in respect to his family a family on earth whose father fills the throne and though a seed of heavenly birth the men they're little loath but they're known to their father are we known to our father would we immediately go to him if we were to hear his voice see the sheep of Christ as a sheep naturally know who the shepherd is and it is true today possibly some of you have read recently that sermon on the good shepherd in which reference is made to the man who had to sell two sheep and then he was given that wherewith he could buy them back again and he went to the market and he said I want my sheep back and the man said well if you can find them you can have them and how was he going to find his two sheep amongst all the rest and so he engaged in the practice that he always engaged in in respect for calling his sheep and they knew his voice they knew his whistle whatever it might have been and there was two sheep out of all that company that came to that man now that's just like it is with sinners coming to [36:35] Christ you'll know his voice doesn't matter how you're muddled up with a crowd of others that seem to be the same you'll know his voice why because Christ is in you the hope of glory whom we preach now do we know his voice my sheep know my voice may hear my voice and they will come now have you come to Christ because you've heard his voice and it's been such a distinctive voice and it's been such a compelling voice and it's been such a drawing and magnetic voice and you'll immediately be drawn in that direction which is Christ in you and I mention this word again Christ in you what do you think happened to those two sheep there was something that in naturally speaking took place in them because they heard that sound from their shepherd that was familiar to them now spiritually speaking when we hear the voice of [37:46] God where do we hear it it's inside here isn't it it's Christ in you that hears the voice of God calling to you sometimes saying come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing and I will be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord or again we may think upon those words in the 45th psalm where we read hearken oh daughter and consider and incline thine ear forget also thine own house and thy father's house so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty for he is thy Lord and worship thou him there is a closeness of thought in regard to Jesus [38:49] Christ as the father and as the shepherd they both have a watchful care over the sinner over the chosen one of their love over the sheep and so we may continue in a number of points in respect to Christ in you the truth which lead you to him as showing you what he is and who he is and culminating in the words in the song of Solomon he is the altogether lovely his mouth is most sweet then again he is my beloved and my beloved is mine which draws us on to a further point which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preached Christ love [39:50] Christ love in you we love him because he first loved us and we love Christ with Christ love we have no love to Christ by nature we never shall have not the true Christ we might have love to Christ of our own imagination but the true Christ is loved by the love of Christ in us now we see the love of Christ exemplified in a number of points in whom we have redemption through his blood we can go back to that point what brought Christ down to save his people from their sins to suffer and to bleed and to die it was all for love now when that astonishing declaration is made to your soul you must love Christ mustn't you and you will love him from inside [40:58] Christ in you thou oh Christ art all I want when you see Christ as the one that has laid down his life for your soul and that's whom we preach one who looks down from heaven and beholds and conveys by his spirit love into your soul and you love him back if all the world my saviour knew sure all the world would love him too and they would wouldn't they and you may sometimes wonder oh if this person and that person could come to Christ if only I could bring them you never will be able to and I don't want to discourage you when I say this but you never will be able to because they haven't got that they can love God they can love Christ they can obliterate themselves all together when the good poet said thou oh [41:59] Christ art all I want well there's only one interpretation of that and that is that you yourself are obliterated as well as everything else and that's whom we preach the love of Christ which is shed abroad in the soul by the Holy Ghost which brings our love to Christ and we love Christ for what he is for his person as well as what he has done and as well as what he is doing in the blessedness and glory of his intercession which is which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach warning every man in this verse every man is mentioned three times but surely it cannot mean every man in the world the whole context must be relative to those that not only hear the preached word but are affected by the preached word and receive the preached word of the apostle and the ministers of [43:16] God because Christ is in them but the word says here by the apostle warning every man and what do we need to be warned against we need to be warned against the temptations coming forth from our flesh wherein we might deviate just a little to trust in something base rather than reposing our confidence in sovereign grace this has been one of those temptations that has operated throughout the history of the world and even in those days when the gospel was preached all its purity by the lord jesus and his apostles yet you see there were those judaizing teachers who insisted that if they were to be saved the life and death of christ wasn't sufficient they needed to be circumcised that is they needed to do something themselves whereby they would quantify to be saved by grace and how disturbed the apostle was when he wrote to the church of galatia because these things were so and he put some very pointed questions to them warning every man we have to warn every man that is in christ jesus against the possibility of the stealthy approach and intrusion into our thinking that we must do this and do that and do the other for salvation let me make it quite clear that if you are born again of the spirit then you will want to walk in the spirit and bear the fruit of the spirit but not in so far that those fruits of the spirit may commend you to god that he might have a favor to you and save you warning every man against the wiles of the devil no is it not i think it is the apostle who says we are not ignorant of his devices now we may be sometimes ignorant of some of his devices and some of us might have been caught in his devices and have been brought into a great trouble because of his devices now his devices are brought into a very small compass they are those devices that will draw us away from christ and the fullness that is in him those are the devices of satan he doesn't need to go any farther his whole work is centered in drawing a soul away from reposing their whole salvation in christ crucified warning every man we need also to warn every man against the powerful attractions of the world that we go not after those things and be deluded into thinking well if christ has saved me if he has died for me then all is well i can satisfy the lust of my flesh and be saved also this is something against which we need to be warned but the grace of god preserves the people of god and the love of god will often bring them to say that did not i i could not do it it was against my christ the one that i love and the one that has loved me whom we preach warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom so there is teaching in warning and there must be warning in teaching but teaching will also direct our attention to the importance and the manner in which the church of god grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ what does that teaching convey well it teaches us just this a word that we may often mention because it is the fullness of teaching learn of me for i am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls which takes us back to the beginning of our text today which is christ in you and if christ is in you you will have that capacity and desire to learn of him to learn of his humility to learn of his gentleness and you will not be satisfied until the spirit of christ not only dwells in you but rolls over your spirit see this is what people look at no wonder the psalmist said create in me a clean heart oh god and renew a right spirit within me the world in particular will be looking at your spirit and mine and if it's a bad spirit then they will say well if that's religion i don't want anything to do with it and the people of god will be looking at your spirit as well but they will look at it in a different way they'll be grieved they'll be grieved now whatever that spirit may imply sometimes it is the spirit of pride the spirit of covetousness the spirit of envy the spirit which is uncontrollable and all these things will rejoice the church of god the world and be grievous to the church of god now what is the purpose of all this that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus the commentary on this is never more apt than what we read in the last verse or so in the epistle of jude now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise god our saviour be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and ever amen so then perfection that we may present every man perfect in christ jesus how important it is for us to have that witness in our own spirit that we are clothed in his righteousness alone faultless to stand before his throne that will be absolutely essential when the saints of god enter they will enter heaven without sin without any blemish without any spot without anything that is contrary to them because that which was contrary to them has been nailed to his cross and thus the lord took it out of the way of them we might look at this in respect to our approaches at the throne of grace if we come into the perfect presence of god how shall we present ourselves or come there perfect before him well now god is able to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy as he covers you clothes you in his righteousness ye are complete in him ye are accepted in the beloved now we are fully assured are we not that the father accepts our elder brother [51:51] Jesus Christ and if we are with him surely we shall be accepted too because unless the shadow of a spot on our soul be found he took the robe the saviour brought and cast it all around and that will be perfection and perfection is acceptance which is Christ in you the hope of glory whom we preach our warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus none will be left out of the family of God now may we know the blessed experience of it and rejoice in it amen out toacements h together bout [52:58] Sharon p for people