Gibbs, Alfred P: Things That Abide ~ 2 Cor.4;

Shall we turn, if you please, to, uh, 2 Corinthians, chapter four? The Second Epistle of Corinthians, chapter four, Verse fifteen. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. And now a verse or two in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter twelve, Verse twenty five. Hebrews twelve. Twenty five. See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth. But now we have promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. May God add his blessing to the reading of his word. I thought it would be appropriate on this, the second Wednesday of the new year, to suggest to you from the word of God certain things that abide, that do not pass away, that remain unchanging and unchangeable through the years. For with each passing year, we are forcibly reminded of the evanescent character of all things earthly. Time marches on. The years come and they go. As the hymn writer put it, time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream breaks at the hope of day. Time and tide wait for no man and carry all, rich and poor, high and low, young and old, indiscriminately from time into eternity. All things visible are transient, as our scripture puts it. The things which are seen are temporal. Everything your eyes can see is temporal, evanescent, transient, passing away. The words of that old hymn are true. Change and decay in all around I see. The passion of this world passeth away. Men come and go. Passions change. Governments rise to be succeeded by other governments. Tennyson's book, you remember, had its message, men may come and men may go, but I go on forever. Certain brother, not famous for his mental ability, was once asked what passage in the scripture brought him the most comfort. He replied promptly, I love that scripture, it came to pass. It came to pass. We said, what do you get out of that? Well, he replied, I've passed through many. Many trials have come my way. Sorrow. But it came to pass. They come just to pass. But there are certain things which abide. Time cannot affect them. They remain eternal and constant. I thought it would be good on the second Wednesday of the new year to remind our hearts, in a changeable world, of certain things which change not, which abide, unchanging, unchangeable. First, an abiding savior. John 8:35. Our Lord said, the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever. And the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews uses that beautiful expression concerning our Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. An unchanging Christ for a change. In the first place, his person abides. Through the lips of Malachi, he uttered this tremendous statement: I am Jehovah, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Moses, in that wonderful prayer, Psalm ninety, uses the expression, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. In Hebrews chapter one, speaking of our Lord Jesus, it is said, they shall perish, that is the things that are created, but thou remainest. Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. We have in our Lord Jesus an abiding Savior, but more, his love abides. Unto him that loveth us. And the word in the Greek there is in the continuous present. Not merely one who loved us in the past of yesterday, who loves us in the present of today, but one who will continue to lavish his love upon us forever and forever. Having loved his own, what? He loved them unto the end. You know, you have a very lovely hymn in your book of worship and remembrance. There's nothing of self in this hymn at all. It's all about the love of the Lord Jesus. I'll read it to you. Loved, then the way will not be drear, for one we know is always near, proving it to our hearts so dear that we are loved. Loved with an everlasting love by him who left his home above to bring us life and light and love because he loved. Loved when our sky is clouded o'er and days of sorrow press us sore, still we will trust him evermore, for we are loved. Loved when we leave our native soil, in heathen lands to live and toil, onto his shadow not confoil, still we are loved. Time that affects all things below can never change the love he'll show. The heart of Christ with love will flow, and we are loved. Loved in the past of yesterday, and all along our future way, and in the present of today, forever loved. Loved when we sing the glad new song to Christ, for whom we've waited long, with all the happy ransom throng, forever loved. You can count on the love of the Lordings during the whole of nineteen hundred and sixty one and so on, at infinitum. He'll never cease to love you. His power abides. Matthew twenty eight eighteen. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. In heaven where I'm going, on earth where I'm leaving you. All power. Power that is undiminished through the years, like the sun feeding upon itself and giving light and heat to every age. He gives but borrows none. That you may know the exceeding greatness of his power to us who do believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead. That power remains unchanging. His companionship abides. Hebrews thirteen and five. His promise to his own is, I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee, so that thou mayest boldly say, the Lord is my helper, what can man do unto me? Christ issues no divorces. He still walks the Emmaus road. His delights are still with the sons of men. He loves the company with those who have come to know him and to love him and to own him as Savior and Lord. And just as he stood by Paul when all others forsook him, so the Lord stands by those who put their trust in him and will never desert them to his foes. His salvation abides. My eye fit of those individuals who believe in being saved today and lost tomorrow. What a horrible kind of a salvation. To have eternal life on Monday and eternal wrath on Tuesday, and then back again to eternal life on Wednesday, and back again to eternal damnation on Thursday. Up and down, off again, on again, flat again. What a miserable salvation. I wouldn't walk across the street to pick such a salvation out of the gutter where it belongs. I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. How long does that last? Forever and forever and forever. My love is oft times low. My joy still ebbs and flows, but peace with God remains the same. No change. Jehovah knows. I change, he changes not. The Christ can never die. His truth, not mine, the resting place. His love, not mine, the tie. Having begun a good work, he will continue it and make a jolly good job of it. So cheer up. Salvation abides. His faithfulness abides. First Timothy two thirteen, He abideth faithful, though we deny him, yet he abideth faithful, for he cannot deny himself. Christ is the author and the finisher of faith, and he will not suffer his faithfulness to fail. So we have in our Lord Jesus an abiding savior. Second, an abiding comforter. John fourteen sixteen to seventeen, Our Lord Jesus says, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. Now that word comforter is the word paraclete. Paraclete simply means one brought alongside to help. The Lord Jesus was their paraclete on earth. Now he's going away. He's going to give them another paraclete, another comforter, one who should abide with them forever. Contrast the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament with the work of the Spirit of God in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God came upon certain individuals for a certain specific purpose. Holy men of old spake as they were moved or borne along by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God so possessed certain individuals that what they wrote under his divine control were the actual words of God. The Spirit did not rob these men of their personalities. Isaiah wrote as only Isaiah could write. Moses wrote as only Moses could write. Ezekiel wrote as only Ezekiel could write, and so on. But their words were the words of God. But after the Spirit of God had accomplished his purpose, then he would leave them. That's why David prays, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Now, Christians cannot pray that prayer because the Spirit of God in the New Testament abides with us forever. We are sealed by the Spirit of God unto the day of redemption. The illustration has been used, and well used, of the difference between the work of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament and the Spirit of God in the New Testament. Same difference that exists between a sailing ship and a steamship. In the olden days, a sailing vessel started out on her voyage, but never knew when she was to arrive at her destination. It would depend entirely upon the wind, both from the outside upon the sails. If the ship got into the doldrums, where no wind was blowing, it would lie becalmed, sometimes for a month at a time. But a steamship can set sail from New York Harbor and know to a minute when she will arrive at Southampton, England. Why? Because the power is within. And against the wind and against the storm, that ship thrives on. So in the New Testament, the Spirit of God takes up his abode in the believer the moment he trusts Christ as his savior. What? Know ye not that you're the temple of God, that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you, that you're not your own, that you're bought with a price? Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Mistaken concepts of the personal work of the Spirit of God lead to confusion, both of thought and expression. Our hymnology very often is wrong in regard to the person of the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly God, with all thy quickening powers. No child of God can pray that prayer. The Holy Spirit dwells within him. He's already here. Sometimes you have people praying, oh God, send another Pentecost. You might just as well pray, oh God, send another Calvary. There'll never be another Calvary, and there'll never be another Pentecost. Pentecost happened once, it will never take place again. The Spirit of God is come! And if we are born again by the Spirit of God, our bodies have become his temple. He indwells us. Some refer to the Spirit of God as it, as though he was an a mere influence, an emanation from God, nothing of the kind. He is a person, equal and eternal with the Father and with the Holy, and with the Holy Son. Not three gods, but one God revealed in three persons. Through the Holy Spirit, we learn we've been baptized into the body of Christ. In one spirit were you all baptized into one body. First Corinthians twelve and two. That took place at Pentecost. Never takes place in the individual life of a believer. You will never find the baptism in the Spirit a personal affair. It's always a collective affair in one spirit where we're all baptized. He indwells each believer, as we have already mentioned, First Corinthians six and verse nineteen. He indwells the believer in order he might teach him. For Christ said, he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. John sixteen. He indwells the believer in order he might lead him into all truth. Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Only a man that's been born again by the Spirit of God can understand this book. The natural man understands it not, the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness unto him. Sometimes when you're talking with an unsaved person and trying to make the way of salvation as clear as you can, he will interrupt you and saying, it's as clear as mud to me. Why, of course. Couldn't be anything else. God has no translation of the Bible for an unsaved person. The natural man understands it not. I was twenty one years of age before God opened my eyes to realize that unless I was born again, I'd never see or enter the kingdom of God. And prior to that, I went to church regularly every Sunday. I like to go to church, like to sing, had a good loud voice, still got a good voice, that is loud rather, not good, but loud. People used to look around, see who was singing. APD singing at the top of his voice. Beautiful hymns, the meaning of which... didn't know a thing about. And on the ninth of January, nineteen hundred and twelve, something happened. The Spirit of God stripped me of the filthy rags of my own self-righteousness. Revealed to me I was nothing but a poor, guilty, helpless, hell-deserving. What a come down. I'd had a very good bringing up, but God gave me a very good bringing down. I had no rest, no peace, until I came in all my sinner need and put my trust in the Lord Jesus. At that moment, the Spirit of God took a bit of hold in this body of mine. Soon as my all I ventured on Christ's atoning blood, God's Holy Spirit entered, and I was born of God. And then this Bible, which had been a closed book, became an open book. My, how I devoured the Holy Scriptures. I was in the building trade, and during the lunch hour, I'd dig into the Bible. Heading home, dig into the Bible. Devouring the word of God. All new to me. Marvelous. The Spirit of God doing his work, leading the child of God into all truth. Not only so, but he empowers the child of God. Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. But more, the Spirit of God within the believer delights to glorify the Lord Jesus, not glorify oneself. Whenever you hear a Christian bragging, you can depend upon it, the Spirit of God is not leading him to brag. If he does brag, he brags about one thing. Paul was a great bragger. Said, God forbid that I should boast or brag, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. He glorifies the Lord Jesus, makes Christ precious to your soul. And lastly, the Spirit of God will end up by glorifying each believer at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies. And when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. Spirit of God, you will quicken this body of ours. Those of us who are alive and remain shall be changed and caught up to be with the Lord and to be with him forever. The abiding comforter, the Holy Spirit. You can count on the blessed Holy Spirit for the whole of nineteen sixty on. Third, an abiding word. First Peter one twenty three. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth, and what? Abideth forever. Link that with the words of the Lord Jesus. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away. The word of God will abide. The word of God is having a rough passage in our universities today. They're manufacturing atheists or agnostics by the score. An agnostic, as you know, is a man who knows nothing and seems rather proud of that fact. They're turning them out with BAs and BScs behind their names, sometimes a PhD. There they are. One such was teaching in university some time ago, and one of his class put the question directly to him. Professor, is there a God? The great man lit his brows in thought and then came out with this gem. He said, well, gentlemen, some very wise and learned people state most emphatically there is no God, but I must say some equally wise and learned people state as equally emphatically there is a God. But I think we shall find the truth somewhere between these two extremes. There is and there isn't. Piggly wiggly. Help yourself. What nonsense. What nonsense. So they're manufacturing agnostics. And the word of God is given a rough passage. Forever, O Lord, thy world is set, thy word is settled in heaven. That's one, that's one place where the Word of God has its authority in heaven. And heaven is going to outlast earth. So you better line up with the authority of heaven. Its doctrines abide. Time cannot undo what once was true. A girl went to university. One of these professors began to laugh at her faith in the divinely inspired word of God, so much so that she felt her faith was beginning to fail. And this Christian girl went into a room, and she remained shut in that room for the best part of a day. When she came out from that room, there was a peace and a calmness on her face. And on the first leaf of her Bible, she'd written these words: Can time undo what once was true? If it was once true that God created man in his own image, in his own likeness, it's always true. If it's true that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, it's always true. Truth never changes. Truth is eternal. Man may deny the truth, that in no way affects its truth. Neither belief nor unbelief in any wise affects the truth, remains true, whether believed or not. So its doctrines abide. The doctrine of the divine triunity of the eternal Godhead being denied in many quarters. What's this you say? One plus one plus one equals one? No, no. One plus one plus one equals three. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must be three gods. Oh no, one god. A good argument to those fellows is this. Are you married? Uh, yes. What happened when your wife said, I will, and you said, I will? These twain became what? One flesh. One plus one equals what? One. You got them. These people who deny the eternal triunity of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and there are no adequate illustrations of the tri-unity. Lots of attempts have been made, but there were no adequate illustrations of the Trinity. There were no adequate illustrations of resurrection. Oh, you say springtime is an illustration of resurrection. No, it isn't. That tree is not dead. If a dead tree came to life in the spring, that would be a good illustration, but dead trees don't come to life. It's because they have life in them that they bloom again in the spring. They revive, that's all. There are no illustrations of resurrection in nature. Dead coming into life. Only God can perform the great miracle of resurrection. The essential and the eternal deity of our Lord Jesus, his virgin birth, his substitutionary sacrifice, his resurrection, his ascension, his present ministry at the right hand of God. That's a doctrine that is true and will abide forever. The deity and the personality of the Holy Spirit of God is a truth that will abide because it's revealed clearly in the Word of God. The doctrine of salvation, full and free and eternal, provided at the infinite cost of the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God, is one of the doctrines of the Word of God, and therefore it will abide forever. The doctrine that each believer is not only eternally secure in Christ, but is united by the Spirit of God to every other believer in Christ and to the head in heaven, the great truth of the Church of God. That's the truth that will abide. The truth of eternal retribution upon that person who dies either neglecting or rejecting or despising God's beloved Son and refusing the salvation that he has secured. Men may deny these truths, but this in no wise affects their veracity. They remain eternally true. The word of God abided forever. His promises abide, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon that hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast. Its prophecies abide, prophecies regarding the second coming of our Lord Jesus, shall all be fulfilled in their entirety, just as the prophecies of his first advent were fulfilled, so the prophecies concerning his second advent will be just as meticulously fulfilled. For the word of God liveth and abideth forever. You can bank on the word of God, nineteen sixty one and right on. Four, abiding fruit, John fifteen sixteen, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should abide. Three things are clearly taught by our Lord Jesus in this wonderful fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel. First of all, you have an abiding believer. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. For without me ye can do nothing. You have an abiding believer. What does it mean to abide? Stay where you're put. That's all it means. You say to your youngster, I want you to abide here. I'm going on an errand, and I'm coming back in about half an hour. What does that youngster understand by the word abide? He's got to stay right put where you leave him. That's the secret of a happy, joyous, fruitful Christian life. Stay where you're put. Don't go pussyfooting around, nosing around into all sorts of other things that don't belong to the child of God. Stay in Christ, abide in him, rest in him, live for him, feed on him, commune with him, walk with him. That's what it means to abide in him. Stay where you're put. Now, this abiding believer, maintaining abiding communion, John fifteen and seven. if ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, it shall be done unto you. Now, this is the condition for answered prayer. Do you want your prayers to be answered? If ye abide in me, my words are abiding in you. Now what'll happen? You'll ask for those things that he wants you to ask for, and naturally you'll have the answer. That's what that means. The abiding believer, maintaining abiding communion, produces what? Abiding fruit. Abiding fruit. Fruit that abides. And in Galatians five and twenty two, you have the ninefold quality of this fruit, which the Spirit of God makes possible in the believer that is walking in obedience to the Word of God, living in communion with him. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, meekness, faith, self-control. Love, joy, peace, that's Godward. Long-suffering, gentleness, and goodness, that's manward. Faith, meekness, and self-control, that's self. The ninefold quality of the fruit of the spirit seen in the life of the abiding believer. The fruit shall abide. You leave an abiding impression upon others of the fruit of the Spirit manifest in your life. Fifth, abiding virtues. Here are some virtues that abide. First Corinthians thirteen verse thirteen, And now abideth faith, hope, love. But doesn't they say faith will vanish away? No, it doesn't. That's what the hymn says, but the Bible doesn't say that. Now abide it. Faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is love. Notice they all abide. And this threefold cord is not easily broken. Faith, hope, love. What does faith do? Faith appropriates. That is, it lays hold on the promises of God. Faith is the hand that receives from God the gift of eternal life and all the other gifts that God gives. Faith appropriates. What does hope do? Hope anticipates. Hope nowadays has come to connote desire and uncertainty, but in the New Testament it means both desire and absolute certainty. Certainty that its realization will become the experience of the child of God that has laid hold in faith of the promise that God has given. Hope anticipates. What does love do? Love operates. Faith brings us to God. Hope anchors us in God. Love makes us like God. Faith gets the most from God. Hope keeps the most for God, while love works the most for God. Faith looks out of the window to see redemption accomplished. Can say, I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God. Hope keeps the door open, for she has bright expectations. But love spreads her table. She knows how to value faith's wi- window and hope's door. But she has a present portion right here, as she sits at the feet of the Lord Jesus, whom she loves above all others, and seeks to hear his word and translate it into terms of a life lived to the glory and honor and praise of that one whom, having not seen, she loves. Here then are the three abiding virtues: faith, hope, and love. These three. But the greatest of these is love. Now, sixth, abiding saints. We'll find these described in the first epistle of John, chapter two, where the apostle says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, 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. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Here is the abiding state. This was D. L. Moody's life's verse. You may see it inscribed on the wall above his desk in his study in the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. It is that which characterized his life and made him the man that he became. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. The name of the wicked shall rot, but a child of God who lives for God and seeks to order his life in accordance with God's will, that person shall abide forever. And this abiding is based on Christ's own word, who said, as we've mentioned previously, I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. In view of this eternal security guaranteed to the child of God, he is thus assured he will abide forever. But this abiding is made possible by the Spirit's indwelling presence. For we are sealed by the Spirit of God unto the day of redemption, and the Holy Spirit within guarantees the abiding character of the child of God, for he will never leave the one in whom he has taken up his abode. And more, the abiding saint is conditioned by his obedience to the known will of God as found in his word. For Jesus said, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. The proof of discipleship is continuance, and so the child of God abides, he goes on, growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus, seeking to carry on for God as a witness to him. But more, this abiding is maintained by Christ's presence for the believer at the right hand of the Majesty on High. It is written, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. A child of God may sin. What happens when a child of God sins? Is he lost? Must he be saved again? Born again, again, and again, and again? Of course not. John tells us, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He continues to make intercession on behalf of all those who have trusted him as their savior. But more, this abiding shall be consummated at the coming of the Lord Jesus, and at his coming, all his people, saved by his wondrous grace, redeemed by his precious blood, shall abide in his presence forever and forever, to sing his praises in that city foursquare, that land that is fairer than day. The path of the just is as a shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And lastly, abiding wrath. What a contrast this is to what we have been considering. In John chapter three and verse thirty six. we read, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. That awful wrath of God, that strange work of God's judgment that God enters upon so reluctantly. That wrath of God which is revealed from heaven against all sin and against all unrighteousness of men. That wrath shall descend and abide upon all who, by their willful rejection of Christ or the neglect of God's salvation, thus merit the eternal retribution of a holy God, and the wrath of God shall abide upon them forever. What is the cause of this abiding wrath? In one word, unbelief. The failure to receive Christ by faith as Savior. The neglect of the wonderful salvation purchased at such infinite cost. The despising of God's love. Treading underfoot the Son of God. This is the damning sin. This is the sin which will seal the eternal doom of all who die in that condition. Think of the consequences of this abiding wrath. Forever and forever. Weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth. The worm that dieth not. The fire that is not quenched. Mark these solemn words of our Lord Jesus, these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. And that same word that is used, eternal, is used to describe the existence of God, the duration of God's existence, forever and forever. But thank God there's an escape from this wrath. The message of John the Baptist was this: flee from the wrath to come. How can we flee? Flee as a self-confessed, lost, guilty, helpless, hell-bound sinner. Own yourself to be what God declares you are, and then, from the depth of your heart, believe that Christ on that cross suffered and bled and died for your sins. Believe that he took your place, that his precious blood was shed for your redemption, and that his death has satisfied God on account of all your sins. Trust him by faith as your savior. Flee from the wrath to come. When should we flee? God has only one time in which he is prepared to save sinners, and that is now. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Ought not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. The opportunity of a lifetime must be grasped in the lifetime of that opportunity, which usually is very short. Flee now. Flee to whom? Flee to the Lord Jesus, the one who loves you, the one who gave himself for you, the one who invites you now. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The one who says, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. The one who declared, I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture. The one who declared, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. That glorious being is standing close to you with wide open arms saying, come. Why not plead to him? Why not say to him, just as I am, without one plea but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Suit the action of the word, and it will never be true of you that the wrath of God shall abide upon you. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And again, there is therefore now no condemnation, no judgment to them that are in Christ Jesus. Please do this. Here then are the things that abide. First, an abiding Savior. The Lord. Second, an abiding comforter, the Holy Spirit of God. Third, the abiding Word of God, living and abiding forever. Fourth, abiding fruit, that your fruit should abide. This abiding fruit is the result of both union and communion with the Lord Jesus, who is the true vine that every believer a branch, an integral part of that vine. Fifth, abiding virtues. Faith, hope, love. These three, and the greatest of these, is love. Sixth, the abiding state. He that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And lastly, abiding wrath on all those who deliberately either neglect or reject or despise love so amazing and so divine, who refuse to accept as Savior the Lord Jesus, who refuse to acknowledge him as the Lord of their life. God grant that this message on these abiding things shall not have been in vain, that the child of God may be strengthened, and any unsaved person awakened to a realization of his need of God's saving grace and the danger of abiding under the eternal wrath of that one who hates sin and must, because of his holy character, visit his righteous judgment upon sin and the sinner if he dies in that condition. The Lord bless his word to each one of our hearts for his name's sake. Amen.