[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn to the Gospel of John, John chapter 1, and we'll begin reading at verse 29. John chapter 1, verse 29.
[0:16] The next day, John, that is John the Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
[0:27] And this is the one I met when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.
[0:45] Then John gave this testimony. I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
[1:07] I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. The next day, John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God.
[1:22] And when the two disciples heard him saying this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want? They said, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?
[1:38] Come, he replied, and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
[1:50] Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, We have found the Messiah, that is the Christ.
[2:04] And he brought him to Jesus. And Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas, which, when translated, is Peter.
[2:18] The next day, Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, Follow me. Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.
[2:30] Philip found Nathanael and told him, We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law. And about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
[2:43] Nazareth? Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked. Come and see, said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said to him, Here is a true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.
[2:59] How do you know me? Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathanael declared, Rabbi, you are the son of God.
[3:14] You are the king of Israel. And Jesus said, You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.
[3:24] He then added, I tell you the truth. You shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man.
[3:35] Every word of God is flawless. Inspired by God. Out breathed from God himself.
[3:46] The participles or the prepositions and participles of the word of God as well.
[3:57] Yes, we say every word of God is flawless. God breathed. Last week and today, last week we began to look at three prepositions in the word of God.
[4:09] And we saw that a preposition is something, a word, a class of words that describe the relation between two objects.
[4:21] And so we began with the preposition upon. And so that describes the relationship between my Bible and the pulpit. What is that relationship?
[4:32] Well, my Bible is upon the pulpit. It's not beside it. It's not in it. It's not over. It's upon it. And so when the Bible speaks about the Christian and how he lives his life in relation to Jesus Christ, it uses this preposition upon.
[4:51] We live our life in Christ upon him. And so that means that all of our weight for the hope of heaven that we have is upon Christ and what he has done.
[5:05] Nothing of what I have done. So I'm living upon Christ for my hope for heaven. How do I live my life? I live it upon Christ and his word.
[5:16] Hearing it and putting it into practice is like a wise man who builds his house upon the rock.
[5:27] And that's what we're doing. Not living the way we want to, but the way God says that we are to. And then we saw lastly that we draw all of our resources, all that we need.
[5:39] We live upon Christ and we draw from him all that we need. So that was the first preposition, upon. And then we saw that the reason for which we live, what is the purpose and goal for which the Christian lives his life in relation to Christ?
[5:58] Well, it's for Christ. It's a Christ word, God word life. It's for him, no longer for us, but for him who died and for us and was raised again.
[6:11] The very motivation for our life is the love of Jesus that he has for us and that he showed to us on the cross. That that love constrains us to now live for him instead of for ourselves.
[6:26] So today we see that we live not only upon him and we live for him, but we live with him.
[6:38] The Christian life is to live with Christ. Now, as we had read for us in John chapter 1, when Jesus turned 30 years old and began to appear on the scene for his public ministry, John the Baptist was there with two of his disciples and Jesus was passing by.
[7:00] So John the Baptist said to them, look, the Lamb of God. And so these two disciples then followed Jesus and Jesus turned and said to them, well, what do you want?
[7:14] And they said, Master, we want to know where are you staying? Come and see, he said. And John tells us in his gospel, they went and saw where he was staying and spent that day with Jesus.
[7:35] Now, what a day that must have been. A day spent with the Son of God. It was so good that the first thing that Andrew did was to find his brother Peter and to tell him, you've got to come with me.
[7:49] And he brought him to Jesus. We found the Messiah, he says. And it was not long before all of them, Andrew and Peter, James and John, were ready to be done with their nets, their boats, their fishing business, that they might be with Jesus all the time.
[8:07] And they became four of the 12 that Jesus chose as apostles for the purpose of being with Jesus, that they might then go out and preach his gospel.
[8:21] So we're looking at this preposition with. They lived and we are to live with Jesus.
[8:35] What a difference a day spent with Jesus made in those two disciples' lives. And that preposition reveals their proximity to Jesus.
[8:48] Not apart from him. They didn't live apart from him. They were not without him, but they were with him. With him. That's how they spent the day and that's how they went on to spend their life.
[9:01] With him. Now, believers, what if I told you that what these two men enjoyed that day when they spent the day with Jesus is available to you?
[9:12] Is indeed part of your privilege as a child of God bought by the blood of Jesus? To not only spend a day with Jesus, but to spend every day with Jesus.
[9:26] And to experience the difference that that makes in our lives. Not with him bodily. Not with him face to face as we one day will be.
[9:39] But nonetheless, to live with Jesus. With him. By his spirit. And to live with his spirit is to live with him.
[9:51] And that's your privilege, child of God. Now let me prove that to you from the scriptures. Because the Bible tells us this over and over. Almost as if we had a hard time believing it. And so, proof number one.
[10:05] I want you to consider the purposes of God in creation and salvation. The purposes of God in creation and salvation. Another way to put this is to say, let's see how things were in the beginning.
[10:18] When we came from the hand of God. And then let's also see how the things will be in the end. After God is all done with this present age and fulfilling his purpose.
[10:28] What was his purpose in creation? And what do we see in the age to come? Well, when God created Adam and Eve. And put them in the garden.
[10:40] Were they living with God or without God? Well, they were living with God, weren't they? His glorious presence filled his creation.
[10:52] God walked with them in the garden. In the cool of the day. He came and talked with them. He blessed them. He gave instructions to them. It was life lived with God.
[11:04] And that was his very purpose for which he created mankind. It was that they might live with him. It's why he made them in his image. With a soul that's capable of fellowship with himself.
[11:18] Of living with him. And to fellowship with him in all of life. So as for God's purpose in creation.
[11:29] We were never meant to live without God. You were never meant to spend the day without God. But the devil's rebellion in heaven spilled over into this creation on earth.
[11:42] And Adam and Eve joined forces with Satan when they fell into sin. And it was then that they were banished and cast out of the Garden of Eden.
[11:54] The place of God's peculiar presence. Because sin separates us from a holy God. God hates sin. And sin becomes a divider between us.
[12:06] And that's what happened at the fall. Not only for Adam and Eve. But for every son and daughter of Adam and Eve. You and me. Sin separates us from God. We're now apart from him as we come into this world.
[12:18] No longer living with him. Isaiah 59. Two year iniquities have separated you from God. Now, how to remove that separation.
[12:33] How to remove that barrier of sin that separates God and man. And to bring them back together again. So man is once again living with God. That becomes the whole theme of the Bible.
[12:44] That's the whole storyline of scripture. Genesis to Revelation. Can sinful men and women, boys and girls, ever live again with this holy God.
[12:55] Against whom we have rebelled. And if so, how? Well, then we turn to the back of the book. And we find out what happens after salvation is complete.
[13:06] The work of redemption is fully completed. And what do we find? Well, we find God living with men. And men living with God.
[13:17] Once again. Revelation 21, 1 to 3. I saw in vision. John sees a new heaven and a new earth. The new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.
[13:30] Prepared as a bride. Beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men. And he will live with them.
[13:44] And they will be his people. And God himself will be with them and be their God. Three times in case we missed it. The end of the story is to see man and God back together.
[13:58] God with man. Man with God. In other words, God does not give up on his creation purpose. Once the fall happened and the separation took place.
[14:09] God doesn't say, well, you know, that was a good idea. But it just didn't work. They just weren't in on it. They weren't for it. And so we'll just come up with plan B.
[14:20] There is no plan B in God. What he created us to enjoy, God and man together, is what he's pursuing, what he's planned through Jesus Christ to bridge that gap, to get rid of that sin that stood between us.
[14:36] By paying for it on the cross himself and living the perfect life we never could, that we might have a righteousness and be brought together. That was his plan.
[14:48] And he doesn't give up on it. Christ died for sins once for all time. The righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God.
[15:00] To bring us to where once again we live with him. So God's plans cannot be thwarted.
[15:11] His plans cannot be frustrated ultimately. The plans of the Lord stand firm forever. The purposes of his heart through all generation. And so that plan for which he created us, that we might know God and live with him.
[15:26] And that we squandered and lost in the fall through Jesus Christ. He's fulfilled. And we see that at the end of the book.
[15:37] The end of the scriptures. So the Lord deals with this separation and brings us back. Now personalize it.
[15:50] Not just Adam and Eve, but you. Every one of us. How did we come into this world? Not with God. But apart from God.
[16:02] Separated from God. Without God. And without hope. Is the description of our entrance. Of our reality. Living without him.
[16:19] Apart from him. And I might say. Quite content to have it so. Enjoying living. For myself. And by myself.
[16:30] With God out of the picture. On our way to separation. From God. Forever and ever. Being shut out from.
[16:42] The glory of his presence. Second Thessalonians 1.9. And it was then. When we were apart. Far from God. That in one disgrace.
[16:53] Christ was sent. And sought us. And found us. And saved us. That we might. Once again. Live together. With him. Now this leads to the second point.
[17:05] Then we've seen. The purpose of God in creation. And fulfilled in salvation. Is that. We might live with him. Forever and ever. The second point.
[17:16] Is living with Christ. Christ. Is a present reality. Of the believer. A present reality. Of the believer. It's not something. That we must wait for. Entirely. Until heaven.
[17:27] To enjoy. Yes. We are looking forward. To Christ's return. When the dead in Christ. Shall rise first. And then we. Who are still alive. And remain. Will be caught up together.
[17:38] With them. In the clouds. To meet. To meet. To meet. To meet. The Lord. In the air. And so shall we.
[17:49] Ever be. With. The Lord. Forever. And ever. Yes. We look forward to that. That is the. The blessed hope. The happy future hope.
[18:01] That one day. We who are in Christ. Will live physically. Face to face. With him in glory. But my. Second point here. Is that even now. In this life.
[18:11] We have the. The first installment. Of this blood-bought privilege. Of living. Together. With him. So when you trusted. In Jesus Christ.
[18:22] To save you. You were joined to him. You were united. To Christ. In an intimate. Unbreakable.
[18:33] Bond. First Corinthians. Six. Seventeen. He who unites himself. With the Lord. Is. One. With him.
[18:44] With him. There's our. Our partisan. Our preposition. You're one with him. In spirit. And that's not a future. That's a present tense. Right now.
[18:55] You are. One with him. In spirit. The very spirit of Jesus. Came. To dwell. In you. And this is just what. Jesus had promised. His disciples. That night.
[19:05] In the upper room. Before he was arrested. He tells him. I'm returning. To my heavenly father. John 14. 20. On that day. You will realize. That. I am.
[19:16] In my father. And you. Are in me. And I. Am in you. He goes even further. In verse 23. Of John 14.
[19:27] And says. If anyone loves me. He will obey. My teaching. My father. Will love him. And. We. Will. Come. Come. To him.
[19:38] And. Make. Our home. With him. With him. Not just the spirit. The holy spirit.
[19:49] But. But the father and I. We will come. By the spirit. And live. With him. Not just. Come and.
[20:00] See where I'm staying. Andrew. And he comes. And his friend comes. And. And they spend the day. With Jesus. But rather. Jesus saying. My father and I.
[20:11] We're moving in with you. We're going to be one with you. Forever. And ever. And this is how we can spend.
[20:22] Each day. With Christ. Christ. It's because he lives in us. And that reality is crucial. For our. Proper living of the Christian life. It's. It's something that the apostle Paul.
[20:33] Can't say often enough. Romans 8. 9. And 10. If anyone does. Not have the spirit of Christ. He is none of his.
[20:43] Doesn't belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you. Your body is dead because of sin. Yet your spirit is alive. Because of righteousness. To have the spirit of Christ in you.
[20:54] Is to have Christ in you. Not his body. But his spirit. It's a present reality. You're familiar with Galatians 2. 20. I have been crucified with Christ.
[21:05] Paul says. And I no longer live. But Christ lives where? In me. Christ lives in me. Believer. That. What is your confident hope.
[21:17] That one day. With Jorge Molina. You will be able to look on. Your savior. And hear from him. Well done. Enjoy the. The happiness of your Lord.
[21:29] And be welcomed into heaven. What is your. Your hope. For glory. Colossians 1. 27. Christ. In you. The hope.
[21:40] Of glory. If he's in you. You have a sure. Confident. An expectation. That one day. You will be with him. In 2nd Corinthians. 13.
[21:51] 5. Examine yourselves. To see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Here it is. Do you not realize. That Christ Jesus. Is in you. Unless of course.
[22:02] You fail the test. But if you are in. The faith. If you're a true believer. Christ is in you. And it's because of this personal union with Christ.
[22:14] That we can spend this day and every day. With Jesus. Did you spend yesterday with Jesus? That was your privilege. Well this has to be one of the sweetest prepositions of all for the Christian.
[22:29] What it means is that we get to live the whole of our lives here. Not only leaning upon him. For everything that we need. Entrance into heaven. How to live the Christian life.
[22:39] Resources for every. We need. But we get to live for him. As the worthy purpose. And goal. Of everything. And motive of everything that we do. But that we get to live with him.
[22:53] Every day. I want you to taste. More and more the sweetness of that privilege. We get to live a shared life together.
[23:05] To do. All of life. With Jesus. Every bit of it. Every bit of it. Just as in marriage. The two become one. And live with each other.
[23:20] And so know the reality of every blessing in life being doubled. Why? Because they have their spouse to share it with. And every sorrow being cut in half.
[23:33] Why? Because they have their spouse to share it with. Nothing less than this. And the truth. Nothing less than this is our sweet privilege as believers united to Jesus Christ.
[23:46] To never live another moment without him. But to live every moment with him. Happy the Christian. And happy the Christian. Who consciously realizes that they live with Christ.
[24:00] And therefore lives in the joyful light of his presence. You remember when Jacob was fleeing for his life from his brother Esau. And he stopped at Bethel for the night.
[24:11] And he laid down. And he used a stone. Remember that story kids? He had a stone for a pillow. How would you like that? And he had a vision that night.
[24:23] The Lord came to him. And he spoke amazing promises to Jacob that night. And in the morning when Jacob woke up.
[24:35] He said surely God is in this place. And I knew it not. Surely. I see it now.
[24:45] He was here. But I was not aware of it. Genesis 28. 16. Now how many sad hours do we live unaware of being with him.
[24:58] And of him being with us. How many days do we spend in loneliness and discouragement and worry and fear. When all along we live with a friend. I say we live with a friend.
[25:11] Who sticks closer than a brother. With one who is joined to us as bride and bridegroom. And gives us the privilege of doing all of life together. With the lover of our souls.
[25:23] How often then. Even many times a day. Do we need to do as David in Psalm 16 and verse 8. When David says I have set the Lord before me.
[25:37] I have set the Lord always before me. I see him there. I see him there. With me. And because he is at my right hand.
[25:48] I will not be shaken. And that's the. That's the baseline with us. In whatever we're facing. He's with me.
[26:00] He will never forsake me. And it keeps us from being shaken by life. And all it brings to us. But we forget that we're living with him.
[26:11] And then we are shaken aren't we? Yes. Sadly so. And so we need to keep returning back to the truth of the matter. He's with me.
[26:22] And I'm with him. I'm with him. Never once did we ever walk alone. I've never taken a step of the journey. Without him.
[26:33] And never will. Oh but sadly I've taken many steps of the journey. Without the awareness. Of his presence.
[26:48] And would have to confess with Jacob. Surely. I have been with him. But I knew it not. I haven't seen him. By faith.
[26:58] As being united to me. And I'm seeing what a huge difference. His realized presence makes. In my day.
[27:09] It's the difference between a good day. And a bad day for me. Do we not do better at everything. When we're spending our day with Jesus. Does your spouse.
[27:21] And your children. Not profit more. When they have dealings. With a mom or a dad. Who's spending the day with Jesus. Does your neighbor.
[27:34] Your church. Brothers and sisters. Are they not all. Multiplied. Many times over. Better off. To find you. Spending your day.
[27:45] Consciously with Jesus. Let me apply this. To three areas of our life. And we're done. The encouragement. Of living life. With Jesus.
[27:56] Doing all of life. With Christ. With. With. Not apart. Now first of all. Think about the work. Of. Of the gospel.
[28:07] That we're all called to. To bear witness to Christ. To be ready to give an answer. To. To anyone that asks. About the reason. For the hope that we have. We live in a hopeless. Day.
[28:18] We live in the midst of a people. Without God. And without hope. And here you are. And you got hope. Are you ready to give an answer. A witness for Christ. I'm talking about our.
[28:29] Our. Our fishing for men. I'm talking about our. Sowing the word of God. Planting seeds. Whether it be for me. Preaching to you right now. Or it be for you Sunday school teachers.
[28:42] There with your classroom. And these children in front of you. You're giving them the word of God. Or maybe you parents. Or even grandparents. As you gather together. Your children and grandchildren.
[28:55] And maybe at bedtime. And tell them a Bible story. Something from God's word. What an encouragement. To know that you do it.
[29:06] With Christ. Christ. Not apart from him. But that Jesus is present. And you do it with him. What a difference. Jesus left us.
[29:19] As Jesus left us. Just as before he ascended into heaven. He left his church with a mandate. That this to be front and center with us. Go and make disciples of all the nations.
[29:32] Witnessing. Winning souls. Fishing for men. And then baptize them. And then teach them to obey everything that I've commanded you.
[29:43] And I'll be watching you from heaven's throne. As you do it. Is that what he said? No. He says. And behold.
[29:54] I will be with you. With you. With you. In this task. All of it. With you.
[30:05] With all authority in heaven and earth. Oh what a difference it makes. That'll put steel in your backbone. That'll put boldness and confidence into your witness. I'm not here apart from Christ this morning.
[30:20] He's with me. And he's with you. Brothers and sisters. As you go. And our salt and light into the world. In which he's planted you. We see Peter and Paul's bold witness for Christ.
[30:36] Don't we? And we admire it. What a wonderful thing. To have the book of Acts. And to read. The history. To see this man Peter. Who just wilted.
[30:47] Before. To see his confidence now. That's because they weren't doing it on their own. Christ was with them. With them in power.
[30:58] With them in authority. And hear me brethren. The same spirit of Christ is in you. That was in Paul. That emboldened Peter. It's not a different Jesus.
[31:10] It's the same Jesus. So go in the encouragement of that. As you spend time with Jesus. You start learning from him.
[31:21] How to fish for men. And you start acting like him. And even others can see it. In Acts chapter 4. In verse 13. Peter and John were arrested for preaching. Christ.
[31:33] They were thrown in jail. And the next day. They're drugged. Before the Sanhedrin. The high ruling court of the Jews. And it says. When they saw the courage. The boldness. The confidence. Of Peter and John.
[31:45] And they realized. They were unschooled. Ordinary men. These men hadn't been. To their schools. They were fishermen. But they speak with such confidence.
[31:56] It says they were astonished. They didn't know what to do with it. But they took note of them. That they had been. With Jesus. That's what happens. When you spend.
[32:08] Time with Jesus. You learn from him. And what an encouragement. Then. To do. Gospel mission. To do witness. To do planting of the seed.
[32:19] With Christ. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians. 13. 4. To these Corinthians. We will live with him. To serve you. That's it. All of our service.
[32:30] Lived with him. To serve. With the one who has power. To help me speak. As I ought. And has power to. Take. My words.
[32:41] Which are his words. If we're witnessing. To the gospel. And to shove them past the ear gate. Right down into the heart. So that's the first encouragement.
[32:52] To live with Christ. In our. In our evangelism. In our. Discipling. Believers. Helping each other. Follow Jesus. Giving out the word of God.
[33:04] We do it with Christ. Secondly. Living with Christ. In all your trials and troubles. It's no small difference. To face trials. Without Christ.
[33:16] Or with him. I say. It's no small difference. It's a huge difference. It's. It's the difference maker. Isn't it? It's not. Psalm 46. 1.
[33:27] He's. A refuge. And strength. Our refuge. And strength. And ever. Present. Help. When? In trouble. And when are we not in trouble folks?
[33:40] We seem to get into it often. Man is born to trouble. As the sparks. Fly. Upward. And to.
[33:51] To face troubles. With Christ. Again. I'm talking consciously now. Because he is. He's there. It's just that we're asleep to that reality. Half. Half of our lives. But when we're awake to it.
[34:04] What a difference. It's the difference between panicking. And worrying. And. Calmly trusting. And relying. And going through this trial.
[34:15] With Jesus. With him. We were never meant to face a trial. And a trouble without Jesus. Never. Never meant. In this world you will have trouble.
[34:29] All but be a good cheer. For I have overcome the world. That's the one we're with. And that's who makes us overcomers. I live with Christ.
[34:45] My ever present help in trouble. You remember when the disciples were in the midst of the storm. And the boat out in the lake of Galilee. And the water was coming in faster than they could bail it out.
[34:56] And they were ready to perish. And so. They told the Lord. Where was Jesus?
[35:07] In that storm. Well he was in the boat with them. And that's a picture. That's a picture. Of our troubles.
[35:19] Where is Jesus? In your trouble. He's in the boat with you. He's dwelling in you. He's right there. You're with him.
[35:31] Never alone. And he can calm the storm with a word. He can remove the trouble with a word. Kings. Do what he says.
[35:44] Presidents. Do what he commands. Devils. Do what he says. Troubles. Troubles. Could flee. With just a word. Or he may.
[35:55] Give you the strength. To go through the trouble. And glorify him that way. Look at her. She's still going. Like the energizer bunny. Just still going.
[36:06] What is. What is supporting that? Well. She's living with Christ in her trouble. She's living upon Christ in her trouble. With this Christ. Who is her ever present help.
[36:18] In trouble. You've got a mountain to climb. And it. It seems impossible. It is impossible. He can move the mountain.
[36:29] Or he can strengthen you. Teach you mountain climbing. By faith. One step at a time. As. From strength to strength. We go on. Because we're.
[36:42] In the trouble with Christ. When Shadrach. Meshach. And Abednego. Were in the fiery furnace. Were they alone? Or. Or were they there with. With Christ.
[36:55] And neither are you. In your fiery trials. And neither are you. When Satan shoots his fiery darts at you. You're with Christ. And that's the difference maker.
[37:06] And believer. When you come to the greatest trial. Of death. That great trial of death. You can say with confidence. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
[37:18] I will fear no evil. Why not? Because. Because he's with me. And I'm with him. There. With the one. Who's conquered death for me.
[37:30] And when you come to the greatest trial of all. When you stand. Alone before your maker. And must give an account of your life. In judgment. You're not alone then either. But if you've been joined to Christ by faith.
[37:45] You will be with Christ then. And he will answer. Yea. Thou wilt answer for me righteous Lord. Thine all the merits. And mine the great reward. And then will he own my worthless name.
[37:59] Before the father's face. And in the new Jerusalem. Appoint my soul a place. Is he your savior and Lord? Then you will be judged.
[38:10] Not apart from Christ. But with Christ. With all of his righteousness. As yours. With him answering for you. Oh you don't want to come to that day.
[38:23] Without him. But with him. Trusting. Putting your hope. All upon him. So. The encouragement. To. To.
[38:34] To do evangelism. And witness. With Christ. The encouragement. To go through troubles. And trials. With Christ. And then lastly. To live with Christ. In intimate fellowship together.
[38:46] First Corinthians 1. 9. God who has called you. Into fellowship. With his son. Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Is faithful.
[38:57] That irresistible call. Oh you resisted. And resisted. Also many calls. But there came an irresistible call. One day. That you could no longer resist. And that call. Drew you.
[39:08] To Jesus Christ. In faith. Faith. What was that calling. To. Well it says. God who has called you.
[39:22] Into fellowship. With Christ. That's the purpose. Of him calling you. That's the purpose of salvation. That is no small part of the salvation itself.
[39:35] It's the very pinnacle. Of salvation. To know Christ. And to live with him. In intimate fellowship. Here and now. And forever.
[39:46] In a perfect state. So it's this intimate fellowship together. It's carried on now. By mutual conversation. You see. It's no different. Than the way you. You have intimate fellowship.
[39:57] With anybody else. Fellowship. Always involves. A two-way street. We commune. With Christ. By what we call. Prayer. We talk to him.
[40:08] And he communicate. Communes with us. And fellowships with us. Through his word. Which is Christ. Still speaking. To us. So. There's an exchange. Of words.
[40:19] Going on. Exchange of hearts. So let's think about. Living with Christ. In prayer. First of all. So this is the way. To spend a day. With Jesus. We talk to him.
[40:33] Not for 15 minutes. And then. That's it. We'll see you tomorrow. We talk to him. All day long. Man. Isn't that. What you do. When you spend a day. With your wife.
[40:47] You don't say. Oh. I gave you 15 minutes. This morning. We're done. Till tomorrow. If you. If you do that. See me afterwards. No.
[40:58] You keep the conversation. You're spending the day. With her. You do that. By talking. It's a running conversation. And neither do we do that. With Jesus. Oh. I talked to you this morning.
[41:09] For 15 minutes. I had my devotions. Oh. We talked to him. All day long. And when we do. We're talking to a Christ. Who is not far off. But to a savior friend.
[41:19] Who is present. And listening. And that's what the Bible means. When it says that Enoch. Walked with God. He did life with God.
[41:32] God was a part of it all. In communion with him. Friend. With friend. And so we tell him everything.
[41:43] We tell him our frustrations. Our disappointments. Our doubts. Our fears. Our worries. Our troubles. Our sins. Yes. Our sins. We tell him our sins. We tell him our needs.
[41:55] Our heartaches. And sorrows. Our thoughts. We've never put into words. Our desires. Our longings. Our joys.
[42:07] Our laughs. Our thanks. And praises. Even things that we can tell no one else. We tell him. We've been called into fellowship with Christ. Christ.
[42:18] And that's how we spend the day with him. I think that's what it means. To pray without ceasing. You know that command is given to you brethren. How do you do that?
[42:32] You do it by sharing all of life with him. You keep the conversation going. You tell him all. All the time. And that's how you spend the day with Jesus. You're never done talking with him.
[42:44] With him. I don't mean. There are no gaps in between. But the conversation is always going. And now you're disappointed.
[42:57] You tell him. Now you're happy. You thank him. Now you're convicted. And you tell him. And confess to him. It's a running conversation.
[43:09] When John the Baptist disciples heard that. John was beheaded. They came and buried him. And then the scripture says they went and told Jesus. They told Jesus.
[43:21] And that's what it means to walk with him. You tell him. I must tell Jesus. I must tell Jesus. I cannot bear these burdens alone.
[43:32] I must tell Jesus. Jesus can help me. Jesus alone. Come. And are we not worse off when we fail to tell Jesus? Are others around us not worse off when we fail to tell Jesus?
[43:48] Oh, what peace we often forfeit. We just forfeit it. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Why? All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
[43:59] So. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not in your own understanding. In all your ways. Acknowledge him.
[44:11] That's it. Tell him all. And he will direct your paths. The shared life. Lived in fellowship with Christ. Andrew and his friend.
[44:21] They spent the day with Jesus. Will you spend today with Jesus? Not just for two hours Sunday morning. But the day. The day. And then there's the other side of the fellowship.
[44:32] Living with Christ. In his word. Listening to him speak to us. And so in all the intake of God's word. Whether it's preaching here. It's teaching.
[44:43] It's reading the scriptures. Whatever the manner in which God's word is coming to you. You're listening to Christ. He's with you. And he's present.
[44:56] And speaking to you. And so we sing that song often. Before we hear the preached. Reading and preaching of the word. Speak oh Lord. Oh no. You don't realize.
[45:06] The pastor's going to read and preach. Oh I realize that. But. But Christ. In his word draws near. Christ. Speaks through his mouthpieces.
[45:19] He's present. He's. And so we do. We do hearing of the word. With him. We read our Bibles. With him. Not. Apart from him. And in his word.
[45:33] He reveals himself to you. Dear believer. This is what I like. Here's my attributes. Here's my. Offices. Here's my jobs.
[45:44] Here's my. Names. Things that I do for you. He tells you his thoughts. Isn't that amazing? God. Christ.
[45:55] The son of God. Telling us. His thoughts. He lays bare his desires. To us. In this book. His promises.
[46:08] His purposes. His plans for you. And his providence. Over all things for you. His will for you. His commands. He's telling you things. You otherwise would never know.
[46:20] Pouring out his heart to you. Revealing his love. For you. And then having heard Christ. Speak to us. What do we do? What do you do husbands.
[46:32] When your wife speaks to you. You. You respond. What a wonderful way. To. To listen. To the. To Christ. And to read your Bible.
[46:42] To then respond. To what he's told you. Did he. Did he put his finger. Upon his sin. Then. Then you. You. You talk back. You respond in confession. Did he tell you something glorious. About himself.
[46:53] You stand and. Adore him. And praise him. Did he tell you something. He's done for you. Like maybe die on the cross for you. And rise again. And be praying for you. Well then you.
[47:04] You thank him. Does it bring to mind. A brother or sister. Who has a need. You. You intercede. You. You supplicate. For them. Acts. A. C. C.
[47:14] C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C. C.
[47:31] C. C. All with our best friend who's right here with us and we with him. Keep that two-way communication going.
[47:43] Well, what happens then as we spend our days with Christ like this? Well, we get to know him, don't we? We get to know him better. And to know him is to love him.
[48:02] To know him is to trust him. And to know him is to worship him. And is to serve him. And is to become like him.
[48:18] That's your privilege. May you with me step into that privilege more and more. Today and every day as we spend our days with Jesus.
[48:28] Until we see him in a way we've not yet seen him. No longer with the eye of faith but with the physical eye. Because he has said to his father.
[48:41] Father, I want those you've given me to be with me. Where I am. That they might behold my glory. Is that your present hope?
[48:53] Do you have that hope? Are you living with Christ? You'll never live with him in heaven if you're not living with him here. Have you been joined to him by faith? Are you leaning all your weight upon what he has done for sinners.
[49:05] And none of the weight of your hope for heaven upon what you have done? Oh, I have good news for you.
[49:16] Whoever you are. You can be put right with God today. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to know him. Personally.
[49:28] Have a relationship with him. Live the rest of your days here and forever with him. There was a man who had lived his life in sin.
[49:40] He was now getting what he had coming for it. Capital punishment. He's hanging on a cross. He's not coming down alive. He's just hours away from death.
[49:56] And standing before God in judgment. For a life of sin. To be separated from God forever. And in the kind providence of God.
[50:09] Beside him. Is another cross. With the eternal son of God. Become man. Hanging on that cross.
[50:20] Bleeding and dying. Expressing grace. Father forgive them. They do not know what they do. Answering kindly.
[50:32] Not cursing. Like others. Being crucified. They saw grace. He sees grace in this. And sometime while he's. On his cross deathbed.
[50:44] This thief is given repentance. And he repents of his sin. And in front of everyone. He says. To the other thief. We're getting what we deserve.
[50:55] But this man. Has done nothing wrong. Confessing. The righteousness of Jesus. And not only did he have repentance. For his life of sin.
[51:07] God gave him faith. That as he looked over. On that middle cross. And saw the blood streaked. Weak body of a man. That hardly looked like a man. He gave him faith.
[51:17] To see that he is the real king. That that sign above him is true. He is the king of the Jews. He's the king of the world. And he's got a kingdom. That is coming. And so he cried out to him in faith.
[51:29] Remember me. When you come into your kingdom. Nobody else thought he had a kingdom. I say nobody. Hardly anybody else.
[51:40] They made fun of it. They joked about it. They crushed a. Crown of thorns on his head. They mocked him. Bowed down. Oh hail the king.
[51:51] But this man sees he is a king. And puts his trust in him. And then. An invisible transaction took place. On those two crosses.
[52:04] All of the. Sinful thief's sins. Went on Christ. And his cross. And all of Christ's perfect obedience.
[52:15] Over to the account. Of this dying sinner. And then he heard the sweetest words. That any man. Any woman. Any boy or girl. Will ever hear.
[52:26] On their dying death. From. The Lord. Of glory. Today. You. Will be. With. Me. You've lived your whole life.
[52:37] Without me. You've lived the whole life. Not upon me. But upon yourself. Living for yourself. You've not lived a day for me. But you.
[52:49] My sinner friend. Will be with me. The savior of sinners. Today. In paradise. That's the gospel. And that's why I say. I have good news for you.
[53:00] Wherever. Wherever you are. Up to this point. You may still be living for yourself. Here's one. Who will forgive you. Cast your hopes upon him. And he will save you.
[53:11] And it says we live with Christ. That we come to enjoy Christ. Because in his presence. Is fullness of joy.
[53:23] We're going to sing of that. As we close. Jesus thou joy. Of loving hearts. You spend the day with Jesus. You'll find a new joy. Ringing in your heart. And in this song.
[53:37] We confess that. There's. There's joy. There's peace. There's love in Jesus. Let's stand as we sing. 549. 549.
[53:51] 549. 549. 549.
[54:01] 549. 549. 6. 549. 549. 549. 549. 549. 549. 549.