1 John 2:28-3:3: Abiding in Christ

Hello and welcome to Confessors of Christ Church!

It is time for us to Open God’s Word together, and hear from God through the Apostle John as we explore 1 John.

Today we are in Chapter 2 verse 28-29 as we close out the second chapter and we are going to embark on the 3rd chapter this morning in verses 1-3.

If you have your Bibles you can follow along.

We will be towards the very end of our Bibles in 1 John beginning in the last two verses of chapter 2.

Last week Matt bought forward the Word to give us a biblical understanding of how we make God our commitment for 2023.

Matt gave us a roadmap in true baptist form that included 3 points and each point began with the same letter R.

Recognize, rejoice, renewal

Today, you have me preaching, and I am not nearly as cool or smart to be able to pull off something catchy like that.

The point that I took away last week was how the Gospel influences our commitment to God.

When we recognize the greatness and holiness of God, and recognize our inability to meet God’s standard.

When we recognize we need a Savior, we can rejoice that God’s plan is carried out in Jesus as our Redeemer.

Through the Spirit we are renewed into a new purpose, plan, and mission.

The Gospel is what encourages our commitment, encourages our prayer life, encourages our Bible reading. (Pause)

In a culture that tries to convince us each year to make new year’s resolutions with new trends and technology.

Christianity points us back 2000 years to Jesus.

Christianity points us back to the old rugged cross.

Christianity points us to a plan before the foundations of the world.

New Year’s Resolution Illustration: Not going to give in to the hype and more importantly the failure of NY Resolutions.

Then forced by Coty into 30 Day Shred Challenge.

Then seeing 22 people from the church join in greatly encouraged me to dig in.

Encouragement is important, commitment is necessary, motivation is vital to accomplishing any goal.

But, you may be asking yourselves, how do I really get motivated and focused on actually accomplishing a commitment to God in 2023.

Last week Matt showed us why our commitment this year should be to God.

He gave us a few pointers at the end on things to do as well.

But, how can we be encouraged and motivated to accomplish this?

Well, God’s Word invites us into this very answer, today.

I wish I was smart enough to say that Matt and I planned it this way,

but we serve a God who often surprises and delights us with the way He guides us.

It is now time for us to continue our journey through 1st John as we explore verse by verse this incredible letter written to the church.

We find ourselves now in 1st John chapter 2 beginning in verse 28.

Hear now the infallible and inerrant Words of God.

1 John 2:28–3:3 ESV

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

These are the Words of God.

Here, John has one main point he is making,

John has one focus, one grand theme he wants us to grab hold of.

He states this theme and bounces back and forth and all around to give encouragements and motivations for his main point.

So, what is John’s main point? (Write this down, it’s 3 words)

Abide in Christ.

John wants us to have Jesus as our main focus, main direction, and main purpose in this life.

John isn’t wanting a commitment for 2023, John is telling us of a new lifestyle that goes from this day through, get this: Eternity.

If commitments scare you, if you are unsure if you are ready, or even worthy, well, then then John has you in mind when he wrote this.

But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we need to answer a very important question.

What does Abide mean?

Let me try to give us clarity to our main point, then we will break down each verse individually.

Abide is the English translations of the greek word Meno (Minno)

It means to remain...... in Christ, stay...... in Christ, reside...... in Christ.

Basically, take residence, to live inside the refuge given to you in the redemption of Christ, the life, purpose, and mission of Christ, and live to this end.

So, this is what John is telling us. (Pause)

This leads us to the first question we must be willing to ask ourselves and answer as honestly as possible.

Are you abiding in Christ?

How many of us can say that Jesus is our main focus, main direction and main purpose in this life?

How many of us can claim that we make our decisions, our actions, our future plans, based on Christ’s redemption of us?

When it comes to how we spend our time, our money, our energy, is Jesus the priority?

You see, it’s not just the elder’s and Deacon of the church who are called to prioritize Jesus.

But, it is every believer’s call and purpose to be on mission for the Kingdom of God.

You were saved for this reason.

You were redeemed for this purpose.

You were born for this mission.

If you want your life to have meaning, purpose, and fulfillment. John wants you to abide in Jesus.

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Now, this week’s verse really captivated me. Not, because of what we are told to do, but what drives us to do it.

This part is huge, so don’t miss it.

John doesn’t just say: “do this,” John doesn’t point the finger and say abide in Christ or else.

John isn’t a grumpy old man yelling at you to do this or else.

John encourages us, he motivates us, he tells us reasons why there is no greater purpose for us in this life than Jesus.

This is the part that not only fascinates me, but excites me to do exactly what John calls us to do: Abide in Christ.

If today you are struggling with what it means to abide in Christ

If you are wondering if this is going to be another failed attempt in your life to commit to something.

Then I believe you are going to be blown away by how you are encouraged and motivated to do this very thing.

So, let’s grab our magnifying glass and look deep into our text before we step back and see the grand pictures.

1 John 2:28 ESV

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Let’s begin with the first two words: And Now

John is telling us this is a continuation of what He’s spoken about and due to what he has already shared.

This is because of us being Children of God in the introduction.

This is in light of God being our Light in Chapter 1

This is including Jesus being our propitiation in Chapter 2

Take everything we learned all last year, John says, And now, because of all this.....

Here is what John wants us to do.

But even then, and I love this part, John doesn’t just get right to it.

He shares two more words with us.

Hey says And now, Little Children.

This isn’t him belittling us.

This isn’t John asserting his male dominance over us.

This is John, as an apostle, a messenger of God, telling those he has been called to shepherd,

a loving encouragement.

This is a term of endearment, we are His spiritual children whom he loves, John is our Spiritual father as we read this letter.

Now look at what John says: abide in Him.

Who is Him? This is Jesus, this is the Messiah, the Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

This is our Savior and our Redeemer.

This is the main point and exactly what John is calling his readers, and that now includes each and every one of you, to do.

We already hit on the meaning of Abide so let’s look at the first reason given for abiding.

Abiding in Christ gives us Confidence and anticipation for His return.

Now, here is what we are going to see now and beyond.

John isn’t just going to tell us what to do and now it is up to us to just do it.

John is going to give us reasons and encouragements and motivations on why abiding in Christ is exactly what we should be doing.

John is going to show us that if we are not currently doing this, then we need to make today the first day we begin doing this.

The first reason John is giving us to motivate us to abide in Christ is so that we will have confidence when Jesus returns.

Which first gives us the confidence to know that Jesus is and will return.

Now John gives us what seems like two options for how we will be when Jesus returns.

We will either have confidence or we will have shame when Jesus returns.

Whether we will have confidence or shame depends on whether or not we are abiding in Christ.

So hear this: Each of us will come face to face with Jesus.

There is not one person in this room nor one person out these doors that will escape this predestined meeting with the ruler and judge of all things.

We will stand before Jesus upon our death or we will stand before Jesus upon His return to earth, whichever comes first.

John focuses here on the second coming and shows that if we abide in Christ then we will have confidence when Jesus returns.

If we abide in Christ we will have confidence when we take our last breath.

But, if we are not abiding in Christ, if we choose to abide in the billions of other options this world is offering you, then when we stand before Jesus it will not be with confidence but with shame.

The results of not abiding is that we will shrink back from Him.

John isn’t trying to guilt you into doing something you don’t want to do.

John is reminding you based on everything he has already shared that we should anticipate the coming of Jesus

That we should have confidence in His return.

We should be excited to meet with Him and to embrace and be embraced by our Savior.

But, this means that we need to make Christ our commitment.

Jesus is who we must abide in if this is going to be our reality.

Now let’s see if John has any pointers to give us in our quest to abide.

1 John 2:29 ESV

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

John gives us an example of how we abide, and that is through righteousness.

The key phrase in this verse is the phrase born of him.

What this means is that John is speaking to those of us who are in fact Christians.

We have been, as John said in His Gospel in chapter three, Born again.

This is the difference between the believer and the unbeliever. The Christian and the Non-Christian.

The Christian is one who is born of Jesus, born again, given a new life, new direction, and the Holy Spirit.

You see, Jesus is righteous.

Righteous means right standing or morally just.

This is based on God’s standard and not any other standard in this world.

This is not based on the school’s standard, or governments standard, or even parents standard.

This is based on God’s standard in which he revealed to us through His Word and in the life of Jesus.

Jesus is our standard and is righteous.

So, we take this and we see that John is saying that if we practice righteousness or do those things that are righteous, then we are in Christ.

If we make God our standard, if His moral law is our law, if Jesus is our role model, than we are born of him and practice righteousness.

Specifically, one who abides in Christ is one who practices righteousness.

To practices righteousness means to live out God’s standard and morality.

Let’s put what we have together and see if our picture becomes clearer.

If we live according to His standard we are abiding in Him and can have confidence we are born again and can have confidence when He returns.

See how all of this is coming together for us and is beginning to give us the encouragement and motivation we need?

John isn’t done yet, let’s see what happens next as we enter into chapter 3.

1 John 3:1 ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Now we come to an incredible motivation and encouragement.

We are not told to abide or else, we are told that we have been born again.

We have been given new life and new purpose.

We have the love of the Father applied to us through Jesus.

If that wasn’t good enough then the next part should blow our minds.

Not only do we have the love of the Father but we are also called Children of God.

We have been adopted into His family.

Now, this is mind blowing and absolutely radical.

Get this: We were once in rebellion against God, enemies of God, haters of God.

We were seeking our own fame, our own purposes, our own destiny.

Though God created us, gives us life, sustains our life, gives us every good thing on this earth, we still rebelled against His will and purpose For our will and purpose.

Yet, through Christ, we have been born again, we have been given new life, we are loved, and we are now invited into His family.

The one who rejected and rebelled is now called son and daughter.

Love is another reason for abiding.

The Father lavishes his love upon us.

Adoption is another reason for abiding.

We are now sons and daughters of the most high.

Which leads John to make a comparison.

God loves you who are born again and in Christ.

The world however, meaning in context those who are not in Christ, do not love you.

We are not in the same relationship with the world as we are with the Father, thus the world does not know us and we do not know the world.

Being born again means that we are no longer in relationship with the World but with the Father,

The world is at enmity with the Father.

The two are at complete odds with each other and thus if we are going to abide in Christ, then we must be at odds with those who reject Christ.

Now, do not misunderstand me.

The point is not to separate ourselves from the world.

We are to engage the world, proclaim to the world, and evangelize the world.

The point is that the world is not going to love you, because you are no longer the worlds.

But you are now the Father’s and now a part of this heavenly family.

Let’s see how our encouragement and motivation continues if we add this verse:

Because of the love of the Father and the adoption into His family, we are to abide in Christ, by pursuing righteousness and thus we have confidence we are born again and can have confidence when He returns.

This is getting so good and John is not done yet, let’s move to verse 2 of Chapter 3.

1 John 3:2 ESV

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

What was just said may be the most exciting and anticipated reason to abide in Christ.

We abide because of our future will be like Christ.

John motivates and encourages us into abiding is that we will be like Jesus, like His resurrection, sinless, Holy, free.

When I got to this part in my preparation for this message I had the worst headache and stiff neck.

I had to get Advil for my head and icy hot for my neck.

In case you were wondering, the answer is 42.

At 42 your body begins to fall apart! (I know some of you have no clue what i’m talking about)

Others are like ok Tony, you just wait, you haven’t seen nothing yet!

Because we are God’s children, we have something incredible to look forward to.

When Jesus returns we will be resurrected and given new glorious bodies.

If we are in heaven at the time of Jesus’s return we will be reunited with our bodies and they will be upgraded!

No longer will we have aches and pains.

No longer will there be pulled muscles and difficulties breathing.

Never again will we have to deal with sin and the affects of sin on our bodies or on our mind.

We will be like Jesus, sinless and perfect.

We will see Jesus as we should see Him and we will be as He already is.

What an incredible glorious day this will be.

This is the hope we have in Christ and the hope we have as we abide in Christ.

This is the motivation that we need to endure the difficulties and trials of this current age as we look to the hope and future of the age to come.

This is the encouragement we need as we deal with the curses of this earth and the frailness of our bodies.

This should give us all the more reason to do the very thing John is calling us to do, and that is to abide in Christ.

Let’s tie it all together again:

Because of the love of the Father, the adoption into His family, and the promise of new life and new glorious resurrected bodies, we are to abide in Christ, by pursuing righteousness and thus have confidence we are born again and can have confidence when He returns.

This is incredibly encouraging.

But we have one more verse to look at it and is given to help us to do the very thing we are called to do, that is abide in Christ.

Let’s look at it now.

1 John 3:3 ESV

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Finally, abiding means to purify ourselves.

Illustration: refining gold be taking out the impurities, heating it to high temperature, taking off the impurities, left with pure gold.

This is what we are called to do.

Because our hope is found in Christ.

Because Jesus is pure.

We are to purify ourselves so that we can be like Christ.

Abiding in Christ requires us to purify ourselves.

We must get rid of the impurities that are in us due to our sin. But how do we do this?

We are to put ourselves in the refining fire of God’s Word so that our impurities will be revealed and we can move them away.

God’s Word is the key part here.

You will have different people telling you different things and you will have different goals and come to different conclusions.

God’s Word is our standard and the fire that will purify us is found in God’s Word.

The Bible is our standard and that which we align our lives to as we seek to abide in Christ.

Let me tell you something that is so important.

This part here, the purification of ourselves, in partnership with the Holy Spirit, is the hardest thing that we have to do.

It is hard because this process encompasses every aspect of our lives.

We love our sin, we love our comforts, we love our distractions.

We fight against change and we move our hands away from the fire when it gets too hot.

This process goes against everything our flesh desires.

But, it is the process that will purify us and bring us into the righteousness that we are called to.

It is the process of abiding in Christ.

It does require us to go to God’s Word and read it, study it, meditate on it, and reflect upon God’s revelation.

But the reward will be unlike anything our minds can fathom or comprehend.

John is putting into words the encouragement and motivation that we need to accomplish this goal.

Now, let’s put everything together and listen to what we have discovered together.

Because of the love of the Father, the adoption into His family, and the promise of new life and new glorious resurrected bodies, we are to abide in Christ, by purifying ourselves through God’s Word and pursuing righteousness.

Doing so will bring us confidence in being born again and confidence for His second coming.

Let me repeat this one more time so that we can soak it all in.

Because of the love of the Father, the adoption into His family, and the promise of new life and new glorious resurrected bodies, we are to abide in Christ, by purifying ourselves through God’s Word and pursuing righteousness.

Doing so will bring us confidence in being born again and confidence for His second coming.

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It is so easy for us to get frustrated and give up when it comes to commitments and goals.

It is so easy for us to get distracted and side tracked when pursuing that which is of most importance.

But, this is why God, in his gracious kindness, has given us the direction, encouragement, and motivation that we need to accomplish the goals that He has laid out for us.

We are not told to do this, or else.

We are not told to be a certain way and good luck.

We are not told to make this happen while I abandon you to figure it out.

We are united together through the church.

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit

We are guided by the Scriptures and,

We are encouraged through the Apostles.

Listen to what John is saying to you this morning.

The Apostle John is telling you to abide in Christ.

Focus on Christ, live for Christ.

Align your mindset and your standards to Christ.

Trust in Christ, Rest in Christ, believe in Christ.

In order to accomplish this John wants to give you everything you need to be encouraged.

Let the Father’s love motivate us,

Let being a part of the family of God motivate us,

Let the future hope of being like Jesus motivate us.

Let these things motivate us to abide,

Let these things motivate us to be righteous,

Let these things motivate us to be pure.

This is what you are being called to do in 2023.

But in all reality this is what you are being called to every day.

This is the new direction and purpose of our lives because we have been rescued, ransomed, redeemed, and restored.

Let us dedicate this time, this day, this month, and this year to doing exactly what John is calling us to do.

Let us make today the day that we abide in Christ.

I want to close this message with a Poem.

This is probably my favorite Poem, and one that I try to reserve for one day a year.

So, forgive me that I am a little early

But this is a poem by none other than Patrick.

But you probably know Him as Saint Patrick.

Let me read to you his poem and listen to see if you believe Patrick figured out what it meant to abide in Christ.

“Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.”

I believe this is what it looks like when we abide in Christ.

May this be said of us as Confessors of Christ.

Amen? Let us pray.