The Priesthood of Believers

The Priesthood of Believers

(No. 3266)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1911.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 28, 1864.

"An holy priesthood." 1 Peter 2:5.

IN this Epistle Peter is speaking of the scattered saints in all parts
of the world and, taught by the Holy Spirit, he says of them that they
were "an holy priesthood." He is not talking about ministers! He is not
speaking of a certain number of men who have passed through many grades
of office and are, thereby, qualified to wear robes of a certain
color– he is speaking of every Believer and he calls every saint a
member of "an holy priesthood!" Every Mary and every John, every
peasant girl and every laborer that puts his hands upon the plow, every
servant of God in every capacity is a member of this "holy
priesthood"–at least so Peter says, and Peter was not mistaken, for he
spoke as he was "moved by the Holy Spirit."

Let us, for the ten-thousandth time, state our own solemn conviction
that it is time for England to wake up and solemnly rebuke the
priestcraft that seems rising up in our midst! No man has any right to
call himself, in any exclusive sense, a priest. When I take down the
Book of Common Prayer and read, "Then shall the priest say"–I shut it
up again with detestation! And if it were the best human book ever
printed and had no other blunder and error in it, yet if it ventured to
call any class of men, priests, I would denounce it as being tainted
with Roman Catholicism! Christ is the only Priest who can offer
sacrifice for the expiation of sin! He is "the Great Apostle and High
Priest of our profession." But there is another priesthood–one of
offering prayers and praises–and this belongs not to me because I am a
minister, nor to any number of men who are called "Reverend," or "Very
Reverend," or "Right Reverend," but to you as well, and to everyone
else who by faith has believed in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord! If
truly converted to God, a man though barely able to read his Bible, is
a priest unto Him, because he has a new heart and a right spirit! He
may never mount a pulpit, nor preside at a Church Meeting, but he may
be a priest unto God! His only pulpit may be a cobbler's stall–his
only platform for witnessing to Christ may be behind the counter or in
the factory–but he is a priest for all that!

Or if the Lord calls a sister to Himself, she is to be silent in the
Church Meeting, but she belongs to the Divine priesthood and her
prayers and praises will go up with as much acceptance before God,
through Jesus Christ, as if she were an eminent Divine, or the most
gifted of the saints! All God's children are priests and this is the
song of all in Heaven and all on earth who are truly saved–"He has
made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign forever and
ever."

Now, it is on this theme of priesthood that I desire to speak tonight.
And the way in which priests were made under the Law of God is
described for us in the 8th Chapter of Leviticus. So I invite you to
turn with me and look at the subject as expounded there, for surely the
way in which the sons of Aaron were ordained to their earthly and
temporal priesthood is richly suggestive and intentionally typical of
the manner in which God calls all His people to their holy priesthood!
On turning to that Chapter we find that one of the first things with
regard to the ordination of Aaron and his sons to their priesthood was
that, THEY WERE CLEANSED. We read in Leviticus 8:6, "andMoses brought
Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.''" That was one
cleansing. But several times in the Chapter we find that a second
cleansing was theirs and that by blood! In verse 2 we find that they
brought a bullock far a sin-offering, and two rams, and with the blood
of one of the rams, and the blood of the sin-offering they were
sprinkled that they might be clean before God. This powerfully teaches
that every one of us aspiring to be a priest for God must first be
cleansed, and that with a double purifying–

"Let the water and the blood, From His riven side which flowed, Be of
sin the double cure, Cleanse us from its guilt and power."

If we look closer into this cleaning by blood we see that Aaron and his
sons put their hands upon the ram, confessing their sins. Then the ram
was slain, the blood sprinkled upon the altar and the laver, and upon
all the vessels of the sanctuary–and then upon Aaron and his sons.
What deep instruction is here! If we are God's priests, we lay our hand
upon Christ, accept Him as our Substitute, trusting in that blood shed
for the remission of sins! He will have no priests in His sanctuary who
have not been cleansed with the blood of Christ! All service until this
is experienced, is a vain oblation which He cannot accept. Go to the
altar, confess your sin and lay it upon the Lamb of God–and then, but
not until then–can you be a holy priest.

Moreover, the priests were afterward also washed in water. On this
first occasion they were cleansed from head to foot, but on later
occasions when going into the Tabernacle, they needed only to wash
their hands and feet. So is it with our Christian life. By the Holy
Spirit's application of our Lord's merits, Believers are completely
cleansed and there remains neither spot nor wrinkle on their acceptance
with Him. But though a man is perfectly clean who leaves his bath, yet
his feet may be soiled as he goes to his room and he needs to wash them
again. So you and I need to pray, "Forgive us our sins," though they
have all been forgiven! We are washed, but daily defiling calls for
constant cleansing. Though every true Christian has been cleansed, as
was Peter, he must not say, "You shall never wash my feet." When Jesus
comes by His cleansing Word and Spirit, and girt with the towel and
carrying the basin, we must be willing to let Him cleanse us–no,
begHim to wash our feet–that we may be clean, every whit. We need to
pray, "Forgive us our sins." It is not in the least in conflict with
the Doctrine of a complete Sanctification, or complete Justification.

The priests, every one of them, were washed. They had a clear right to
go into the sanctuary, yet none the less, they had to wash their hands
and feet each time they entered.

So we are clean. God accepts us. We are His children and yet, day by
day, we must go with the prayer to Him, "Lord cleanse me again in the
Redeemer's Blood: make me pure by the washing of water by the Word!" So
when defiling comes, His cleansing power may be proved again and again.

Well, Beloved, have we ever attempted to serve God without this
cleansing? If so, may we repent of our imagined righteousness as much
as of our sins, for even our righteousnesses are nothing but sins until
we have been washed! Do we long for this perfect cleansing? The
fountain is full–the blood, the water, have the same efficacy as they
ever had. "Though yoursins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Step down
into this heavenly bath! Trust Christ to save you and, being cleansed
by Him, you shall be forever a member of this "holy priesthood."

Referring again to Leviticus 8, we see that the second thing in the
ordaining of the priesthood was THEY WERE DIVINELY CLOTHED. However
clean they were, they must be suitably arrayed, or they cannot appear
before the Lord. We have given to us a list of the garments and find
that Aaron, as High Priest, was sumptuously clothed, but not so his
sons. In the 13th verse we are told that they had coats, and belts and
bonnets. Let us glance at each of these for they are packed with
spiritual significance. The "Coat" is a priestly robe. Everyone who
ministered at the altar put on an ephod, a coat hanging from the
shoulder, generally in one piece and woven from the top throughout,
like that which the Lord Jesus wore. So every Believer is to put on the
imputed righteousness of Jesus given to us at our conversion!

He officiates as High Priest before the Throne of God clothed in white
linen, and so do all the saints–"white linen which is the
righteousness of the saints," says John in the Revelation. Now we have
no righteousness of our own, but the voice from Heaven speaks, "I
counsel you, buy of Me white raiment that you may be clothed." We come
to Christ just as we are and He clothes us with His righteousness,
active and passive, and this is the ephod in which we minister unto
God. With our Lord's righteousness clothing us, we can stand without
fear before the awful searching eyes of God now and hereafter, and not
fear–

"Bold shall I stand at that Great Day For who anything to my charge
shall lay, While through Your blood absolved I am From sin's tremendous
curse and shame?"

Are you, Beloved, robed in the righteousness of your Savior? Then come
forward and officiate as His priest!

Next to the ephod, came the belt In the case of Aaron we are told it
was a "curious" belt. Ah, how curious, how matchless, how marvelous is
the belt which encircles the loins of Christ! He is girt about the
waist with a golden belt. His faithfulness, His truth, His love, His
every attribute of excellency combined, make up this curious belt
comprising the ephod. But every other true priest has his belt. You and
I, if called to this holy office, are to have our loins girt about,
standing always ready, instant to obey God's command and revel in His
service. Orientals wore flowing garments and when these were loose,
they could not hasten in their activities. So they used the belt to
brace themselves, gathering up their robes for special labor, or
conflict, or flight. So every priest of Christ must wear his belt of
faithfulness. There is a wicked world always on the watch. Be careful!
Be vigilant! You may be tripped up by the sin that does so easily beset
us. See to it that you are well braced, so that if the enemy came
suddenly you may meet him with courage, or if a message came from your
Master you may run upon it with diligence.

Yet another part of the priest's clothing is called "the
bonnet"–literally, "the turban." This, so we are told, "was for glory
and for beauty." Truly our Lord has put upon His people His own Glory
and beauty. We are not merely acceptable, but beloved. Not passable,
but admirable. Not merely not to be condemned, but full of imparted
loveliness. Jesus says to every saved soul, "You have ravished My
heart, My sister, My spouse–with one look of your eyes, with one chain
of your neck." Jesus so falls in love with His own image in each saved
soul, that His heart is captured. Here is "the Glory and beauty" with
which He has invested us. Every Believer is looked upon by God as if he
were Christ. Christ took your place and was cursed for you–you take
Christ's place and, notwithstanding all the blemishes, all the
backslidings, all the hardness you may feel within–if you are truly in
Christ, you are so clothed that Glory Divine and beauty is yours! The
priests were not only washed but clothed. My Soul, what joy is this!
Ponder it until it masters and enthralls you!

After the cleansing and clothing, came this to the priests, THEY WERE
ANOINTED. This is mentioned more than once. Aaron had the holy oil
poured upon his head until it ran down to the skirt of his garment. So
Jesus was anointed of the Holy Spirit without measure. The other
priests were also touched with the oil–sprinkled with it.

And you and I, if we have been both washed and clothed, must yet be
anointed. Child of God, do you distinctly and intensely recognize your
need of this anointing? If I have preached without the Holy Spirit I
have preached in vain. If I have gone to my prayer chamber, no matter
how earnest I desired to be, I have prayed in vain unless the Spirit of
God has been upon me. This anointing is the Christian's supreme need!
Dear Joseph Irons very often used to say as he went into the pulpit,
"Oh, for an unction from on high!" Sunday school teacher, you are a
priest and this is your great need– anointing! You who preach in the
streets. You who are intercessors in private for Christ. You who seek
to show God in your daily life–you all need the anointing! What can we
not do when the Spirit is in us? What can we do if He is withholding
His Presence and power? As God's priests we may–we must have a daily
unction–anointing–from the Holy

One!

After this, THEY WERE CONSECRATED. Here I must enlarge more than upon
the last point. This setting apart to priestly function and work was
very remarkable. We find that blood was taken and that Moses touched
the priests with it (according to the 24th verse) first, "upon the tip
of the right ear, then upon the thumbs of their right hand and then
upon the great toes of their right feet. And Moses sprinkled the blood
upon the altar round about." This description is very full and
suggestive. Every Christian is to be consecrated to God by blood as to
his ear. That is, we are to be eager to hear God's voice, whether in
His Word printed or preached. "Blessed are the people that know the
joyful sound!" They only recognize it because the blood is on the ear.
We are to hear God's voice in Providence. When there is a sound of
going in the tops of the mulberry trees, like David, we are be bestir
ourselves! We are to be willing to hear even the rod and Him that has
appointed it. There are many voices that the sanctified ear detects
that the carnal ear has never listened to. The godly man has monitions
from the Most High when the natural man catches no whisper. To always
hear the "still, small voice," is the listening we should desire. So
too, with regard to man, we should hear his misery and feel for
it–hear his sin and pray to God for its full forgiveness as Jesus did.
Yet on the other hand, there are some sounds that the ear so
consecrated must not hear. We are deaf to the insinuations of
suspicion, the slander of calumny, yes, to many an intended insult that
otherwise might have provoked and angered us! May we always feel that
as there was blood on the priest's ear, so all our reception powers are
to be consecrated to God! If so, I shall feel that there are some books
I cannot read, for I have blood on my ear–some songs I dare not listen
to–some talk I dare not share in, for I have a consecrated ear. I am
to use thatfor Him, for I am His priest.

Next in order was the thumb. This consecrated the hand. And as the ear
stands for our receptive faculties, so the hand represents our active
powers. There are some things we must not touch nor handle–some things
we cannot do, in which we can have no hand, no, cannot finger. Since
our hand is sanctified by the blood, all it does must be pleasing to
God. I know that a common mistake is to think that you cannot serve God
unless you get into a pulpit, or attend a Prayer Meeting. Nonsense! You
can truly serve God behind the counter, in the work-room! You can serve
God by digging a ditch, or clipping a hedge. I believe that God is
often served by the tailor or shoemaker who is conscientious in his
calling, quite as well as by bishops and archbishops, or by men of any
Church in the world! At any rate if you cannot serve God in all that
you do, you have need to ask to be taught the secret of the Christian
life, for that secret is the consecration of everything to Jesus
Christ!

You are to make your garments, vestments, your meals, sacraments, your
everyday a holy day, your every hour a consecrated season unto God! Our
hands, with all their manifold activities, are to be
consecrated–blood-marked–to

Him!

After this, came the feet. The blood was put on the great toe of the
right foot, so the feet were set apart for God. Ah, these legs of ours
used to carry us to theaters! We could run fast enough the downward
road with them! I recollect a man who would stand in the aisle for a
long time–he said he would "serve his legs out"–they had served the
devil so long, that they should bear a little hardship for his new Lord
and Master, Jesus Christ! I know some of you who used to walk many
miles to come to the House of God–six miles. I used to say to you that
it was too far. It was not too far for you, then, but lately it has
become much too far. The road has not grown longer, but you have gone
backward as to your zeal! And when the zeal declines, the miles get
dolefully long. But I have marked that when men and women are in a
right state of mind and soul, it does not matter how far they walk, nor
what they have to do for Christ–the consecrated feet can do it
joyfully. If I have consecrated feet, I must not let them take me into
bad company. If anybody says to you, "Can you come with me to
such-and-such a place?" You must answer, "No! I cannot. I have feet
that won't go and I cannot go without them!" And if any should say,
"What is the matter with your feet?" say, "I have a foot that has blood
upon it!" They will say, "Strange!" They will not understand you, but
if you attempt to explain to them that the blood of your Lord Jesus
Christ bought you and so, your feet–then they will understand that it
cannot go anywhere except where Christ would have you go. It may mean
that you will have to change your position in life–you have to move
and have a choice as to where you shall go. Make that choice on the
principle of having consecrated feet! Do not go where you cannot hear
the pure Word of God. A Jew heard of a good business where there was
much money but no synagogue–and of another where there was a synagogue
though but little trade. And being a pious Jew, he chose the place with
the synagogue. I am afraid that there are but few Jews who would do
that today–and quite as few Christians who think first of God's house
and the hearing of the Gospel! Better to have a dinner of herbs and the
Gospel with it, than a stalled ox and not to listen to the Truth of our
Lord Jesus Christ! In choosing your home–in fact in everything that
concerns your progress in life–act as if you had and knew you had
consecrated feet!

Gathering up all, it surely teaches that a Christian is always, and
everywhere, and altogether not his own, but consecrated to Christ! Not
merely to be baptized, to come once a month to the Lord's Table, to
take a pew and sit and look so heavenly-minded. Any hypocrite can do
that! But it is the mark of a Christian to be so honest, upright,
charitable, kind, Christlike, holy, that all who see may be compelled
to say, "That man differs from other men." The secret, though they may
not discover it, is that while other men are but common men, where
father Adam left them in the Fall, this man has been found and made
anew in Jesus Christ! Ear, thumb and foot all consecrated to Christ's
service!

Hastily running through the rest of this chapter (Leviticus 8) we
observe that the consecration was very thorough There is mention made
of unleavened bread. This teaches that a Christian is not to follow
religion for the sake of honor, gain, or fame. None of the leaven of
hypocrisy, or mere formalism is to be tolerated. We are to serve Christ
for Christ's sake, and follow God because our heart is right with Him.

Again, the consecration is set forth–though I have little time to
notice it–by the different parts of the victim being offered to God.
You will observe that the deepest feelings of the Christian are to be
with God–that the inwards and the fat of the kidneys were to be burnt
upon the altar. Thus the richest and fullest emotions of the
Christian's mind and heart

are to belong to God, for the fat and marrow were to be burned as well.
And the Christian's greatest strength is to be the Lord's, for the
right shoulder was to be offered as a wave offering, and then to be
consumed with fire. We are to give God our inmost thoughts, our deeper
passions, our greatest strength. "Blessed is the man whose strength is
in You!" Some people can call loud enough to wake up a town when they
are in their business, but when they come to pray you can scarcely hear
them. But I would have a Christian never so much, or so fine a man as
when he is serving God. Give the world, if you will, the ends of your
mind, soul and strength–but give God your whole man, your inward and
your outward life, every part and power and passion, strung to its
greatest height and all devoted to Him!

But to conclude once more, the Christian's consecration is to be
constant This remarkable Chapter has greatly interested me in observing
that these priests were to be for one whole week associating in the
Tabernacle. They were not either by day or night to leave their holy
work. How they found strength enough, or whether this really included
absolutely necessary seasons of rest, I cannot tell. But it says that
for seven days they were to serve without intermission both by day and
night. So the Christian priesthood is to be perpetual! We are never to
cease to serve God. You have heard of one that was so in love that he
did eat, drink and sleep for such an one! So the Christian is to "do
all to the Glory of God." Says one, "Can this be done? Are we to follow
Romish monks and get into a monastery?" No! I have no doubt they are
right in shaving their heads–there is probably a great necessity for
it. But unless we become demented, there is no need for us to imitate
their example! The Christian is not to shut himself up and become a
hermit, and think that thereby he can cultivate holiness! That is
unholiness! Christian holiness is social–the light of the world, the
salt of the earth. We are to be in the world, though not of it–our
priesthood exercised is in the street, the shop, the family and at the
fireside–by day and night, to offer up prayers and praises and
thanksgivings unto God–and so be perpetually a priest.

But what am I talking about? There are some, here, that have never yet
been priests to God. What have they been doing today? Why even on God's
holy day they do not serve Him but themselves! Why, Sir, God has never
reaped a solitary ear of grain from your field. Take care lest having
lived to yourself, you die to yourself–having lived without God, you
die without God and find it a tremendous thing to stand and be judged
without a Savior to be your helper, or interceding priest! I say
nothing to you about being a priest to God. You need a priest for
yourself, first. Do not go to any man. No man has power to help your
soul except to pray and plead for you. The saving, pardoning power lies
only with Jesus Christ. Look away to Him! He died–trust in His
Sacrifice! He rose, He ascended–He is standing at God's right hand.
There is life for a look at Him. Look! Trust! And you shall then be
cleansed, clothed, anointed, consecrated and so serve God. But your
first business is to go to Christ. Oh, may Christ come to you and save
you now–and He shall have Glory out of us, world without end! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: 1 JOHN 2.

Verse 1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you
sin not For this we ought to watch and strive, that we sin not.

1. And if any man sins–What then? Is it a hopeless case? Oh, no, far
from it! It is a sad case, but there is a remedy for it! "And if any
man sins"–

1, 2. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous:
and He is the Propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. Come you, then, to Christ for
pardon, whether you are Jews or Gentiles, whether you are saints or
sinners, whether you are old or young, whether you are moral or
immoral, for God is both able and willing to forgive all manner of sin
because of the Propitiation offered by His well-beloved Son "Jesus
Christ the Righteous."

3. And hereby we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
Obedience is the test of discipleship. Mere head knowledge is all in
vain, and all in vain our fears unless we render a practical obedience
to the commandments of Christ. We shall not only savingly know Him, but
we shall "know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."

4. He that says, I know Him, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar
and the truth is not in him. This is a terrible condition for anyone to
be in–to say that he knows Christ, and yet to have the Holy Spirit
calling him a liar because he is not keeping Christ's commandments!
Again I remind you that obedience is essential to Christian
discipleship. If we refuse to obey Christ's commandments, it is clear
that we do not really know the Savior at all–we are not even beginners
in the school of Christ.

5. But whoever keeps His Word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. When every word of His is
precious to us and when we strive to live according to His precepts,
then we know that "we are in Him." This is even more than knowing that
we know Him, for it is the assurance that we are united to Him by a
living connection which can never be broken.

6. He that says he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk even as
He walked [See Sermon #1732, Volume 29–in him–like HE IS.] What a
walk would that be! How holy, harmless, unde-

filed and separate from sinners is the man who tries to walk even as
Christ walked–

"Lord, I desire to live as one Who bears a blood-bought name, As one
who fears but grieving You, And knows no other shame. As one by whom
Your walk below Should never be forgot As one who gladly would keep
apart From all You love not."

7-9. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old
commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is
the word which you have heard from the beginning. Again, a new
commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you:
because the darkness is past, and the true light now yours. He that
says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even
until now. Love is the true test of light–that light which leads us to
love God, to love Christ, to love the Truth of God, to love God's
people, yes, and to love the whole world of men for their good–this is
the love that attests the light we have to be the very Light of God!

10. He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him. A loving spirit, kind, generous,
forgiving, unselfish, seeking the good of others–this is one of the
best proofs that our natural darkness has gone and that true spiritual
Light of God is within us. Some persons think very much of the Doctrine
of Christ, but very little of the Spirit of Christ. Let such remember
that it is written, "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is
none of His." If we do not know what it is to love, then we do not, in
the Scriptural sense, know what it is to live! We are dead! Hatred is
the cerement in which the dead soul is wound up, the grave clothes in
which it is put away in the tomb. But love is the garment of life in
which a truly quickened spirit arrays itself. The one who is full of
hatred dwells in darkness, but he that loves, abides in the light. Note
how love and life and light are most blessedly linked to one another.

11-13. But he that hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in
darkness, and knows not where he goes, because that darkness has
blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins
are forgiven you, for His name's sake. I write unto you, fathers,
because you have known Him that is from the beginning. "You are old
men, and you like to think of old things. The everlasting love of God,
the Covenant made with Christ before the worlds were formed– these are
things that are very dear to you–and you prize beyond all other, 'Him
that is from the beginning.'"

13. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the Wicked
One. "In the days of your strength, you have won the victory which no
human power can ever win unaided. You have overcome that Wicked One who
would easily have overcome you if you had been left to fight him by
yourselves."

13. I write unto you, little children, because you have known the
Father That is all that little children need to know at first. They may
not know the great mysteries that the fathers have fathomed, they may
not well know some things that the young men know, but even babes in
Christ know the Father and rejoice in His love!

14. I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that
is from the beginning. Twice, you see, John says the same thing about
the fathers and he says nothing more concerning them. But truly, to
"have known Him that is from the beginning is practically to know all
that even the fathers need to know or can know, for this knowledge
includes all other that is worth knowing!

14. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the
Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the Wicked One.Here
again John repeats his former statement concerning the young men, but
he adds to it

"because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you." There is a
purpose in the repetition of each case–it is to emphasize the
importance of the Apostolic declarations.

15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. "Your
affections are meant for something better than these transient and
defiled things, so let not your heart's love flow out to things so
soiled and base. 'Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth.'"

15. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
These two things are such deadly opposites that they cannot live
together! Where the love of the Father is, there cannot be the love of
the world! There is no room in us for two loves. The love of the world
is essentially idolatry and God will not be worshipped side by side
with idols. "If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him." Does not that text draw a very sharp distinction between those
who love the Lord and those who love Him not? Remember, children of
God, that this is the language of John, the Apostle of Love–and true
love is honest, outspoken, heart-searching, heart-trying! Do not
imagine that there is any love to your souls in the heart of the
preacher who preaches smooth things and who flatters you with his,
"Peace, peace," when there is no peace! No, the highest, deepest, most
Heaven-inspired love is that which searches and tries the heart lest
there should be any deception there.

16. Forall thatis in the world, the lust ofthe flesh, and the lust
ofthe eyes, and thepride oflife, is not ofthe Father, but is ofthe
world. That devil's trinity–"the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life"–"is not of the Father, but is of the
world."

17. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof.It is only a puff,
a phantom, a bubble, a mirage which will melt away as you try to
approach it! There is nothing substantial in it.

17. But he that does the will of God abides forever Not, "he that does
some great thing to be seen of men." Not, "he that builds a row of
almshouses, or leaves a great mass of money to charity when he dies
because he could not possibly carry it away with him." Not, "he that
sounds a trumpet before him to let everybody know what a good man he
is." Not, "he that must outdistance everybody else." But, "he that does
the will of God abides forever." Obedience to the will of God is the
pathway to perpetual honor and everlasting joy!

18. Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we
know that it is the last time. And now, I think, even more than when
John wrote, is this the fact, for antichrists are multiplying on all
sides and there are even worse evils to come than we have seen as yet!
And it, therefore, behooves Christians to be upon the watch and to let
this Truth comfort them, that, "it is the last time." Once get through
this dispensation, and the battle is ended even though the dispensation
should be protracted beyond our hope

and [See Sermons #811, Volume 14–UNTO YOU YOUNG MEN and #1715, Volume
29–A DESCRIPTION OF YOUNG MEN IN CHRIST.] desire, yet, still, once get
through it and it is over! This is to be the last charge of our great
adversary and all his hosts. Stand fast, therefore, you soldiers of the
Cross, stand like rocks amidst the onslaught of the waves, and the
victory shall yet be yours!

19. They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had
been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went
out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.The
worst of men go out from among the best of men. The antichrists go out
from the Church of Christ. The raw material for a devil was an angel.
To make a Judas, you must make him out of an Apostle! May God purify
His professing Church since even in her own loins she breeds
adversaries of the faith.

20. But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.
The Spirit of God will teach you as you need to know. He will so
instruct you that you shall know all that is for your soul's good and
for His Glory.

21. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but
because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.That which is of
man's making is false, "but the Word of the Lord endures forever. And
this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you."

22. 23. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ?He is
antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son,
the same has not the Father: [but] he that acknowledges the Son, has
the Father also. Some pretend to honor the Father while they dishonor
the Son, but this can never really be done. Jesus truly said, "I and My
Father are One," so that he that denies the Son, also denies the
Father.

24. Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the
beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain
in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. As it
was the Truth of God that was revealed to them at the first, there was
no need of a later Revelation to correct the mistakes of the first, as
some foolishly and falsely teach nowadays.

25. And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life.
Let those that want them have these novelties, these constant changes.
We who believe in Jesus have something far better, even the promise of
eternal life!

26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce
you. They would lead you astray if they could, so beware of them.
"Forewarned is forearmed."

27. 28. But the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you,
and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing
teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
has taught you, you shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide
in Him–How John continues to urge us to stand fast in Christ! As the
Holy Spirit has taught us to trust Christ, so would He have us "abide
in Him." And this is one great reason why we are to abide in Him–

28. 29. That, when He shallappear, we may have confidence, andnot be
ashamed before Him at His coming. Ifyou know that He is righteous, you
know that everyone that does righteousness is born of Him.