4-14-24 Sermon "Hope" - 18 Minutes

1 John 3:1-7

This morning I'll be reading 1 John chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 John 3:1-7 We are once again looking at the scriptures in 1 John as we continue to seek help with our daily walk with God. Remember that John is warning against the dangers of false teaching and strongly urges believers to live a life of obedience to God,,, as well as,,, love for their brothers and sisters. 1 John 3:1–7 (HCSB) 1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. 5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at 1 John 1:1-2:2,,, and we learned that,,, Jesus is light,,, and since we have Jesus' light in us,,, others should be able to see that light!

Since we have become Christians,,, we no longer live in darkness,,, but live in light!

And it's the love of Christ,,, shining out of us,,, that can catch the eyes of those around us that may not know Christ,,, and want to know Him,,, simply because of our witness!

A witness that is told,,, by our actions,,, not necessarily with our words,,, because we know that our actions speak louder than words,,, and,,, with more force!

So we must be sure that His light is shining for others to see,,, and we do our part,,, to help everyone that we can along our way.

God has made it possible for all to spend eternity with Him,,, if all will accept Him as their Savior,,, and we must do our job,,, by showing the world,,, the "Light of Christ" that shines,,, in us,,, so that all,,, can see!

This morning we will look at these verses in 1 John,,, and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 1 said: 1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him.

God loves us so much that we are known as God's children!

And the reason that the world doesn't recognize us,,, or know us,,, is because the world does not know God.

It was happening then,,, and of course,,, it's still happening today.

We have an abundance of people that don't know God,,, and as a result of that,,, they will never understand the love that God has for them,,, unless it's shown to them by us,,, Christians in the world,,, today.

___________________________________ Verses 2-3 said: 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

What we will be when we get to heaven,,, or when Christ comes back,,, will be revealed when we see Jesus,,, because we will be like Him!

This does not mean that we will be physically like Jesus in heaven.

Jesus will have His own definite appearance,,, as far as the way that He looks.

Each of us,,, we believe,,, will have our own distinct features,,, and will be recognizable as such.

The Bible does not teach that everyone will look alike in heaven.

However,,, we will be morally like our Lord and savior,,, Jesus Christ.

We will be free from the possibility of defilement,,, sin,,, sickness,,, sorrow,,, and,,, death.

And how will this marvelous transformation take place?

The answer is,,, that one look at Christ will bring it to pass.

The end of verse 2 said,,, because we will see Him as He is.

Here in this life,,, in this world,,, the process of becoming like Christ is going on,,, as we behold Him by faith in the word of God.

But then the process will be absolutely complete when we see Him as He is: for to see Him,,, is to be like Him.

Everyone who has this hope of seeing Christ and of being like Him,,, purifies himself,,, just as He is pure.

It has long been recognized by Christians that the hope of the imminent return of Christ has a sanctifying influence in the life of the believer.

We do not want to be doing anything that we would not want to be doing when Christ returns.

Notice that it says “purifies himself, just as He (Christ) is pure.”

It does not say “just as He (Christ) purifies Himself.”

Jesus,,, never had to purify Himself; He is pure.

With us,,, it is a gradual process; with Him,,, it is a fact.

___________________________________ Verse 4 said: 4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.

The opposite of purifying yourself,,, is committing sin.

We have to remember that John is warning them about false teachings,,, and he is warning them about some that believed that you could live in sin without consequences,,, similar to some of the teachings that we have today!

John is talking about willingly committing sin,,, something that is done over and over again,,, not a slip up or a mistake that we might make as Christians today.

When we fall short as Christians today,,, the Spirit will convict us of that sin,,, and we will be sorry for it,,, and He will guide us back onto the path that we should have never strayed from!

Someone blatantly living in sin,,, someone that doesn't know God,,, will not be affected by their failure,,, nor even realize that they have sinned!

___________________________________ Verses 5-6 said: 5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.

Jesus came so that He could take away the sins of the world,,, and He accomplished that thru His life,,, death,,, and resurrection!

It's because of His love for us,,, that we have the helper needed to live a life that God expects us to live!

The Holy Spirit is the only hope we have!

We aren't capable of living a life without sin unless we pay attention as He guides us every day!

___________________________________ Verse 7 said: 7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.

Again,,, John is warning them,,, to not be deceived.

We need to heed this warning as well!

We are supposed to live a life free from sin and live a righteous life because Christ is righteous,,, and lives in us.

All made possible,,, by the sacrifice,,, that Jesus made for us!

And we must be sure that we are paying attention to the words in the Bible,,, not the world,,, or the voices that we hear around us.

___________________________________ When most of us were younger,,, we might have heard,,, we will understand things better when we are grown.

Well,,, for those of us that are old enough to know what our parents were talking about,,, we can see that our thinking about things have changed.

We see more of what they meant when they told us that.

As I got older,,, it was amazing how much smarter my parents were,,, compared to the way that I thought when I was younger!

I can see how much their presence had affected me,,, how much their thoughts on things have changed me in ways that I didn't realize until now.

Just by being around them,,, we become like them,,, without realizing it sometimes,,, but we do.

In the same way,,, when we become a child of God,,, each and every day that we are near Him,,, we become more and more like Him as we strive daily,,, for the perfection that God intends for us to have!

___________________________________ Right now we are children of God.

Right now we belong to God through Jesus Christ.

Right now we are justified,,, saved by grace,,, forgiven.

At the same time,,, we are not fully pure.

We are not righteous all of the time.

We make mistakes,,, more times than we can count.

But when we finally see God,,, when God is revealed to us,,, “we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

On the day when our lives are fully and perfectly found in Christ,,, there will be no more sin,,, no more suffering,,, no more darkness,,, no more pain.

We experience glimmers of that now,,, but it is far from perfect.

When we experience God,,, we are transformed.

We learn who we really are in the presence of God.

And as we are transformed,,, we become more like him until the day when we finally see,,, when God is finally revealed.

But until that day,,, we live with verse 3: And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.

In this in-between,,, in this time where we are already children of God,,, but not yet completely who we are,,, we cling to hope.

When we fall down,,, we look to Jesus for direction.

When we struggle,,, we call out to Christ.

Even in the midst of hopelessness,,, our hope is in Jesus,,, and it is because of Jesus that we are being transformed and united to God.

It is because of Jesus,,, that we are being reconciled.

And in him,,, we find our hope.

___________________________________ I pray this morning that you know this "hope"!

It's this "hope" that keeps us going when times are tough,,, and we can't see what direction to go.

It's this "hope" that strengthens us when we are weak!

It's this "hope" that we cling to as the world does it's best to turn us away!

It's this "hope" that makes us realize that we are a part of the family of God,,, and nothing can separate us from that love!

It's this "hope" that we can praise God for,,, as we continue,,, down the path,,, that God has for us,,, if we just keep our eyes focused,,, on what Jesus has accomplished for us,,, on our daily journey,,, towards our home,,, that God has waiting for us,,, as a child,,, in the family,,, of God!

___________________________________ If you feel like you aren't experiencing God's presence the way that you should,,, if you want the feeling of being one of God's children,,, but you have questions,,,

Go to Him in prayer,,, He will guide you in what you need to do,,,

If you've never "made" that final commitment,,, if you've never "made" that decision to join God's family,,,

Let me remind you that Jesus said that He is always available,,, but you have to make that choice.

It will not be forced on you,,, that is something that you must decide to do.

If you have never made the commitment to allow Jesus to be your Personal Savior,,, please make that decision today.

We aren't promised tomorrow,,, so the choice must be made today.

We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus comes back nor do we know if we will be called home,,, we are just told to be ready.

And to be ready,,, you must have made the decision to follow Jesus,,, be sure that you have made that decision today!

___________________________________ So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------