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  I THE LORD, THE FIRST, AND WITH THE LAST
  by A.B. Simpson
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Summary: The sermon emphasizes the importance of knowing Christ as a
living Person rather than depending on experiences or a static condition
of sanctification.

Topics: "Holiness", "Dependence on Christ"
Scripture References: Philippians 3:12

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DESCRIPTION
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A.B. Simpson emphasizes the importance of relying on Christ as a living
Person rather than merely on the experience of holiness. He warns that
many believers become disillusioned when they face trials and
temptations after initially feeling delivered from sin, leading them to
doubt their experiences. This cycle of failure can cause them to abandon
their pursuit of holiness, ultimately resulting in a worse state than
before. Simpson calls for a deeper understanding of sanctification that
centers on a relationship with Jesus, asking for His heart, faith, and
life. The message encourages believers to seek Christ continually rather
than relying solely on past experiences.

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CONTENT
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Thousands of people get stranded after they have embarked on the great
voyage of holiness because they have depended upon the experience rather
than on the Author of it. They had supposed that they were thoroughly
and permanently delivered from all sin, and in the ecstasy of their
first experience they imagined that they never would be tried and
tempted as before. When, therefore, they step out into the actual facts
of Christian life and find themselves failing and falling, they are
astonished and perplexed, and they conclude that they must have been
mistaken in their experience.

Then they make a new attempt at the same thing, and again fall, until at
last, worn out with the experiment, they conclude that the experience is
a delusion, or at least that it was never intended for them.

Thus they fall back into the old way, and their last state is worse than
the first. Men and women today need to know not sanctification as a
state but Christ as a living Person. Lord Jesus, give me Thy heart, Thy
faith, Thy life, Thyself.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ab-simpson/i-the-lord-the-first-and-with-the-last/
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