Abide

Intro

To abide. To abide in something or someone… well, it’s a deep thought. It isn’t just stopping to rest somewhere. It isn’t just staying somewhere a while. Abide. to Abide is to be in full union and communion with someone, with something. To be fully engulfed, encapsulated, enveloped.

Once you abide, you don’t leave; you wouldn’t want to. Because you are SO in love with the one in whom you are abiding. We all abide in certain things and people on earth, sure. We abide in our homes and we love our homes. The house we live in across the parking lot is meaningful to me. It isn’t just my home. It isn’t just the first home my wife and I have shared. Years before, it was my grandparents home for a short time. So, even today the memories flood in when I think of abiding in our parsonage.

Abiding is personal, it is deep, it is all-consuming and when we look biblically at “abide” I believe you’ll see a deeper meaning than our english definition. We are called to abide, to abide in God. To abide in His Word. To abide in righteousness.

Are you abiding today? Are you constantly remaining in God and His Word?

Turn with me to 1 John 2:24-29

Abide in the Word of God

Hone in with me on verse 24 once again. I know we have touched on this verse before, but it fits so well into today’s text as well that I couldn’t avoid it.

As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning (the Word). If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

Jesus is the Message, He is who is from the beginning. But, when we look at this verse, I can’t help but see something more: the Word of God.

Once you receive Christ as Savior, you are called to, rather commanded to abide in His Word. You aren’t expected to abide in the things of God until you receive God, but once you receive God, you had better begin abiding in Him and His word!

We find things in the Word of God that we find nowhere else. For one, we find Christ! 1 John 2:25 “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.”

We know that God reveals His existence to us outside of His word, check out Romans 1 for that information; however, nowhere outside the Word of God, the Bible, will you find “Jesus is the way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes unto the Father but by Me.” Nowhere do you find the truth of Jesus Christ. Nowhere will you read about the reality of your sin and the need for a Savior. NOWHERE but the Word of God.

So, what does it mean to abide in the Word of God? Surely it isn’t just reading it, surely it isn’t just hearing it twice a week at church.

Abiding in the Word of God simply means, make yourself a person who lives for the Word of God. It is what you care about. It is the primary source of your life. It is the direction you follow. It is what you believe. It is what you study. It is what you care about. It is primary in your life in every way!

Be about the Word. Be a people of the Word. Abide in the Word.

Abide in Him

1 John 2:26–28 (KJV 1900)

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Folks, we are nothing is we abide not in God. Makes pretty good sense right?

When we receive God, we are called children of God. We have the HS who dwells in us. We dwell in His kingdom and become ambassadors of Him. If we do not strive to model ourselves after Him and abide in Him in our lives, are we even Christian? I would argue: no.

Abiding in God isn’t just coming to Church, it isn’t just reading the word. It is, just as we discussed with the Word of God, being a people of God. Known as such. Living as such. Acting in such a way. Modeling our Savior Jesus.

This is one of the reasons God uses language in describing our relationship toward Him such as “Father, Child, and Friend.” So that we can get into our minds the understanding that we are to be relational with God as He is relational to us.

Think with me on this for a second: Have you ever gotten into some trouble of some sort and needed help? I mean, in that moment you simply HAD to call someone to help you get out of that situation. Think, who did you call?

For me, I think of an instance where I had a car wreck. I had just left home and was heading back to Gallatin, TN for college and had a little fender bender. My instinct kicked in and I immediately called Granny and Papaw. I knew, they will know what to do. They will come help me.

Why? Because I abode in them. I abode in their house. I abode in their lives. They were who I needed.

We have that with our God as well. In the Father, we have just that: a Father who we can go to at all times for all things. In the Holy Spirit, we have a Guide and Comforter to rely on constantly. And in Jesus we have a Savior, Brother, and Friend who is continually advocating our cause.

I think of this at times like a sibling relationship. When we were younger, me, my siblings, and Lexi spent a lot of time together. And, when in the back of Papaws van or truck we wanted McDonalds… we knew who to send to ask. We knew who could advocate our cause to the patriarch in order to get what we wanted… Lexi! And 9/10 times it worked!

Of course, with Christ it goes so much deeper, and we aren’t just reaching out asking for wants, but He advocates our very eternity with the Father. What a beautiful picture!

Do you abide with Him? With God? Do you seek Him daily? Do you run to Him in good times and bad? Do you see Him as who He really is in your life? Creator, Father, Comforter, Guide, Brother, Friend, and Savior?

God is all we need, abide in Him.

As we begin to abide in Him and His word, we will find it simpler and simpler to abide in righteousness.

Abide in Righteousness

1 John 2:29 “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”

Remember, you aren’t expected to follow these commandments until you have received Christ, so if you think “oh, I have got to do better before I become a Christian” please understand with me how much of a lie of the devil that is. You come to Christ as you are, broken, sinful, falling apart. Come with your depression. Come with your alcoholism. Come with your addictions. Come with your pain and watch the Savior make something new out of you!

And, as you grow in Christ, as you abide in His Word and God Himself, righteousness will become the desire of your heart.

Remember, too, righteousness is a unnatural thing to a sinful human. Romans tells us that we are all sinners, therefore, none of us can expect righteousness to be a part of who we are outside of Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:10–12 (KJV 1900)

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

We are all lumped together in the words of this passage. We are all sinful. None are good. None seeks God. None understands. None do good.

Apart from salvation by grace through faith initiated by the invitation of Jesus, we are hopeless causes bound for Hell.

But, all hope is not gone. Actually, hope isn’t just here, it is alive! We have a true living hope in Jesus Christ that, if we but confess our sins and Him as Lord, we too can be saved.

And then, righteousness can begin to take effect in our lives, the righteousness of Jesus. And then, we are called to abide in righteousness.

Just as with God and His Word, in order to abide in righteousness as we are called to in 1 John 2:29, we MUST be all about righteousness. We have to seek righteousness, we have to practice righteousness, we have to remember above all that is is not our righteousness, but Christ’s.

Be about righteousness, love righteousness, abide in righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

But, there has to be some sort of result of all of this abiding? Surely this isn’t for nothing. And, of course, you would be right. Our abiding in God, in God’s Word, and in Christ’s righteousness results in something.

The Results of Abiding

Let’s re-read this whole passage this morning.

Simply stated, what are the results of abiding? Confidence!

Confidence in the Truth

The first confidence you’ll have this morning is in the truth of His Word. If you are abiding in His Word, I can rightfully promise you that you will find it to be the absolute truth and it will prove itself as such; therefore, have confidence in it!

As you abide in the Word and love it more, the truths will stick out more to you. God illuminates His Word for His people to truly mean something to them in specific times of need.

If you want more confidence that the Word of God is real and true and the measure by which we should hold our lives, abide in the word. Gain that confidence.

Confidence in His Coming

This is one area that many people struggle with, the Second Coming of Christ. When is it going to happen, has it happened, will it happen?

Simply put this morning, if you glance back over verse 28, it is going to happen. And the best news is, Jesus doesn’t even know when it will happen, only the Father. If Jesus isn’t privy to that knowledge, how dare we think we should be!

But, as you abide in Him, His Word, and Righteousness, you will become confident that He is coming back. No, we will never be confident in the when, but we can remain confident in that fact that it WILL happen.

And, before that happens, we must lastly be confident that we are His.

Confidence that we are His

This is one of the themes of 1 John, confidence in our salvation. How do we know that we are His children? Read with me again one last time 1 John 2:29 “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”

Have you believed? Have you repented? If so, do you desire righteousness?

This is how we remain confident that we are saved, where our desires are after repentance.

Everyone will receive this confidence and change in desires at different speeds, but the same direction if they are truly saved. Our desires will move toward righteousness, but we WILL stumble along the way.

Are you confident that you are His this morning? If not, as we get a SONG, I invite you to come pray.

Conclusion

Church, I really want each of you today to ask yourself, “Am I abiding?” Truly, are you abiding in the Word? Are you Abiding in God? Are you Abiding in righteousness? If not, you need to come pray. Confess and recommit.

Nobody is going to look at you funny, you wont be shamed, but celebrated as we all strive toward the same goal together.

We aren’t in competition with each other for who is doing the “best” in their walk. We are all broken and in need of constant healing.

If you have never surrendered to God before, I invite you, let us pray with you. Believe that you are a sinner, that Jesus saw you in your sin and took pity to the point that He became the sacrifice you needed on the cross. He died for you, and in that death was the payment you owed for your sin. Then three days later, he rose from the dead! Believe it.

Confess you sins to God genuinely and confess Jesus as Lord, this happens in your heart, turn from those sins and begin to abide in God today.