S - Epistle of John Pt. 5 (1 John 2: 28 - 3: 3)

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1 John 2:28–29 NIV

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

1 John 3:1 NIV

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

If you remember from last week, we got a chance to talk about the spirit of the antichrist. We learned the 2 characteristics of the antichrist:

1. They deny the church.

2. They deny that Jesus is God.

But last week I asked you a question:

Have you ever thought about Jesus coming back?

I want to show you a picture real fast:

have you ever seen this before? I was talking to Mrs. Cynthia about it last week and this is what it means:

Jesus came to us, He died on the cross for our sins but he rose from the dead 3 days later. He went back into heaven and one day He is coming back again.

We know that Jesus is coming back one day, have you ever thought about Jesus coming back? What will you be doing if he comes back tonight? What if comes back in 3 years at 4:30 PM. What will you be doing? But what in the world does it mean that Jesus is coming back? Is He just coming back for a visit? Is he coming by and just say hi? What will He do when He comes back?

I don’t truly know all the details but He’s coming back for us. If you remember this verse from last week:

John 14:1–3 NIV

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Jesus is coming back to get us because He’s building rooms and homes for us. Once He’s done, Hes gonna come back and say: I’m ready for you. Jesus isn’t come back for a visit, He’s coming to get his people and EVERYONE will see it happen.

Over the last few weeks we have seen John encourage us in a lot of way. But there’s a theme that we have seen all throughout this letter. and the theme reminds me of this verse right here:

John 15:4 NIV

4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

This word remain is said differently in other versions of Scripture. Jesus says:

Abide in me.

In the same way a branch needs to be attached to a tree in order to live, you should do the same. Let’s read God’s Word together and we’ll pray:

1 John 2:28–29 NIV

So what we read earlier in John 15, is a teaching from Jesus and Jesus said that directly to a lot of people, do you know who else was in that group of people? John was. Jesus told John in order for you to be able to produce fruit like a christian, you John must remain or abide in me.

Then John turns around and says the same thing to us in Verse 28

1 John 2:28 NIV

28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

Why should I remain, abide or continue in Jesus? Because He is coming back and when He does come back you can look Jesus in the face confidently and unashamed of Him.

Think about it this way, My baby cousin is grown now. Almost 17 years old. But years ago when she was like 4 years old, she would walk around the house and make a lot of noise. She would have a great time at my parents house. but one time my parents and her parents went outside to get some things ready for a cook out and some of us stayed in the house. And my aunt said, Ya’ll behave we’ll be right back.

Well, as soon as they left for about 30 minutes some of us went to our rooms to play with our toys, or we got on the computer or we started watching tv. But my cousin Denise wasn’t being loud anymore. And parents or house parents that have loud kids now that when loud kids get quiet, they’re doing things they aren’t supposed to.

Well, when my aunt and my parents came back in they couldn’t find Denise anywhere. So they looked around the house and finally someone found her in between the couch and the wall and she was eating an entire bag of white sugar. Eating all that sugar like FunDip.

When the adults left she was behaving having a great time but when they came back she was caught with a bag full of sugar. She was quiet because she knew that it was wrong. Now, in retrospect that’s hilarious right? A 4 year old eating an entire bag of sugar. But I do notice that our sin is very similar to sugar.

It taste good, and when we do it, we do it in silence to avoid attention. And I sin a lot friends, More than I should. Because I shouldn’t sin at all. But i do, I’m ashamed of it. Because God sees it. I hate it because I wish my nature was that of a person who could do God’s will 100 percent of the time. But I also realize that I can’t stand behind this pulpit and pretend like I don’t sin.

But I have been asking myself this question over the last two and it has helped me refocus my mind when I sin. What will I be doing when Jesus comes back? Am I going to be loud about sharing the Gospel with others? Am I going to be loud about sharing God’s word with the world? Am I going to be laughing and having a good time for God’s honor and God’s glory? Or will Jesus find me hiding in the corner covered in my sin?

That thought has given me an extra layer of accountability. I think we forget sometimes that God is watching us all of the time. Have you ever noticed someone that curses a lot, they stop at church. Because they think that God is only watching us at church. You can’t say that or behave like that because we are at church.

I appreciate people’s respect for the Lord’s house. But did you know God can see you and hear you everywhere you are? He can, and because we don’t see Him, we have a tendency to forget that.

Verse

1 John 2:29 NIV

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

You know God is literally the creator and embodiment of God. And if you do what He does, you begin to look like Him. You look good. Isn’t that awesome?

I want to look good, I hope you do too.

1 John 3:1–3 NIV

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Now, I want you to know that if you do the things God wants you to do, it’s going to come with its own consequences. Let’s be honest. We want to be like God, but if we don’t behave in a godly way then God is gonna look at us and be like “uh oh” but if we do behave like Jesus then the world is gonna look at us and be like: “uh oh”.

So I guess the questions comes back to:

Who would you rather please?

Would you rather be buddy buddy with the world? or would you rather be buddy buddy with God? I understand is the difficulty that comes from behaving in a godly way. Living the way Jesus did was not easy. I mean, after three years of living like the Son of God, He lost His life.

So if anyone understands how hard it is, it’s Jesus. But what I love about this is that we have a source of help. What does that mean? God’s love is the gasoline to our engine that keep us running. God’s love is our battery, it is the source of our power, motivation and energy.

It is not easy to live the way Jesus wants us to. but God’s love will give us the resources and the tools necessary to take on those challenges. Ultimately God wants us to remain, continue or abide in Him. Have you ever been in what I call a one way relationship?

What is a one way relationship? its kind of like a one way street. A one way street is a road that only goes in one direction. And if you’re driving one way, other cars don’t drive in the opposite direction. A one way relationship is the same way, it’s a relationship in which you give everything you’ve got. You spend time with someone, you make yourself physically and emotionally available for that person. You make sure you say good morning to them and tell them to have a good day. And whenever they are having a bad day, you do everything you can to make sure you are there for them.

But the moment you’re having a bad day, they don’t listen to what you have to say, as a matter of fact when you begin to share you’re troubles with them, they begin to make the conversation about them again. And they only reach out to you when you need something.

Is that a healthy relationship? Do you know anyone who is like that with you? Do you feel like you ever treat God that way? I mean it’s hard to think about. But here’s how you know if you’ve ever treated God that way.

Remember the last time you prayed, what did you say in your prayer? Did you ask for something? Did you ask God for help? For things? Did you ONLY ask? If you only pray when you need something, then you may be in a one way relationship with God.

We must remember that when we pray we should praise God, and even bless God. The old testament says you and I have the ability to bless God. To bless God means for us to praise and recognize all of the things He has done for us.

Now, our friendship and relationship with God isn’t like the one we have here on earth. We can’t just call God on the phone and ask: What can I do for you. We can’t ask Jesus out for lunch. Maybe the disciples did but we can’t. We can’t just pull out our phones and text God “Hey, you want to go to the movies later after church?”

But we can pray every night and check in. We can pray and ask God to show us what we can do for His honor and His glory. You may not be able to read a text message from God, but you can open up the Bible and see what He has to say to you today. That is how we avoid a one way relationship with God.

John calls this relationship: being called a child of God.

1 John 3:1 NIV

1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

And if you behave in that way John says you are a child of God! But if we behave like God’s children, the world won’t get it. So,

In order for us to be in right relationship with God, we must risk a right relationship with the world.

It takes a sacrifice, but I heard a pastor say this yesterday:

I am not a citizen of this world. I am only renting an apartment here. I am here for just a moment, because my home is in heaven with Jesus.

Guys, I can say that even though I fail, even though I screw up I am child of God. Billy Graham used to say:

Why don’t you let Jesus into your life? Why don’t let Him take away your sin and change you life? Why don’t you let Jesus be the captain of your ship and allow Him to steer you into the right direction?