Sermon Tone Analysis

Confident in God’s Love

1john2.28-3

Have you ever had someone show up at your house unexpectedly?

I remember when I was younger my Dad used to take me to run errands with him.

Back then you would never just let your kids stay home, there was nothing for them to do… No xbox, no internet, no cell phones...

So I would go with Dad to pay bills, stop at the bank, grab a bite to eat… And almost every-time visit someone in the family.

“Oh hey” Dad would say, “We are near your uncle’s house… Let’s see if he is home.”

In Italian families back in the day, ewe could always stop by Uncle nick and Aunt Mar’s, Uncle David and Carol’s house, and they would have a coffee cake and some other goodies to eat.

They were always ready if company stopped by to hang out.

I would play with one of my cousins, my dad and his brothers would start playing cards or go work on a car, and before long my mother was calling around to find out where we were...

It was a different culture at a different time… But it seemed as though we were always ready if someone was to stop over at the house.

The house had to be clean, and if someone stopped over we all had to come out of our rooms and visit.

It really didn’t matter if it was family of friends, we were always expected to be good hosts and visit.

For certain people, we knew they would stop by at some point and the house required a little more cleaning, because nana and papa were gonna come over, and no one wants to hear them make a comment about things not being nice and clean...

It seems like nowadays if someone knocks on your door or rings your doorbell, people hide and look out the window, or act like, “Who could that be?

Why would someone be here now?”

We live in a culture that is increasingly connected by social media and technology, but is less competent to actually be social and hospitable.

People don’t just stop by to see how you are doing because they were in your neighborhood.

And they usually don’t call first, they send an email or a text message, or a private message on whatever social media platform they use.

People don’t do the pop over anymore...

How odd would it be if the elders of your church appeared at your door one day… Would it be viewed as rude because they didn’t schedule a time beforehand to come by and check on you?

Would you have something to feel ashamed of in your house?

Why am I asking that?

The text we have before us today admonishes us to live in such a way that we will have nothing to be ashamed of at Christ’s return.

John points out that knowledge Christ’s righteousness should bring out our practice of righteousness since we have been adopted by God.

And all of this is because of the Love God has for us as his children.

John wants to promote holiness in God’s children by pointing us to Christ’s return.

The encouragement here is to ABIDE IN HIM… We have talked a lot about this idea of abiding in Him.

To Abide in Christ means more than to believe the Gospel or to just believe you are forgiven of sins, it speaks of a continued relationship with him that is characterized by Love, Faith, Godliness and righteousness.

To abide means to be found IN, it is a living condition.

The actual greek word here means to “KEEP ON” in Him… It expresses a thought of continued activity in Him…

“And now, little children, KEEP ON in Him, or CONTINUE TO STAY ACTIVE in HIM… WHY???

Why is there this continued active state of our lives now in Him?

Because He is coming again!

WHEN HE APPEARS we can have confidence that we belong to him!

Confidence in God’s Love comes from abiding in Him

Those who abide in him will welcome his return, they will long for it and expect it to come.

They will be confident in it.

In contrast those who will shrink back and will be ashamed at his coming will be the ones who are aware that their sin has no been covered… Like Adam and Eve in the garden they will want to hide, but at his next coming there will be nowhere to hide from Christ because he will be coming as the Judge.

And there will be a difference between those who await his return and those who are ashamed and shrink back at his coming… What a difference between those who belong to him and those who don’t.

Jesus is coming again and it will be a terror to those who have rejected him and his Gospel… yet there is a difference in how that day will be recieved for God’s children...

Do you see the difference in those who believe in him and those who do not?

Did you notice the confidence that we can have in God’s love as we abide in him until that Day… Because we know that he did not come to condemn us but to save us… So we KEEP ON in Him!

But remember that this was written to the church at a time when many were trying to infiltrate the church who actually did not belong to the church.

Theirs was a problem of understand ing how to live for him if they have really believed in him and how to tell the difference between those who are true believers and those who are not.

So it was simple for them to see who belonged to God and who did not… Look at their life and see if they practice righteousness.

A practice of righteousness is different from a work of righteousness...

Works righteousness is people who are “DOING” certain good things to earn a position from God.

However, practicing righteousness speaks of a lifestyle that flows from a position that God gives you first.

We practice righteousness because we know he is Righteous, and we know we are in HIM!

When Jesus is your identity your lifestyle, or practice changes.

But this comes from knowledge of him first… IF YOU KNOW HE IS RIGHTEOUS…

Knowledge of Christ’s righteousness help us practice righteousness

When we find ourselves in Him, when Jesus is our identity, when we no longer identify ourselves with the sinful ways our hearts used to go but now we know him and his righteousness, then we practice righteousness.

Meaning we live in an ongoing way of righteousness.

The key is that our identity has to be wrapped up in the truth of Christ...

This is an awesome memory verse… If you struggle with identity and identifying with your sinful ways, you need to remind yourself of this truth.

In Christ you are the righteousness of God because Jesus became sin for you… he was judged in your place for your sin, even though he didn’t commit even one sin… Why would he do that???

Because he is actually the one who is Righteous… And if you know that he is righteous, then you will practice righteousness because you are in him and he is yours!

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And going back to what John said earlier, those who appear to have him but do not continue in him but depart from him, they were never really in Him… those who are his Practice righteousness… meaning it is continual and ongoing in their life.

He finishes the thought by saying, “…we may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness, HAS BEEN BORN OF HIM!!!!”

Why is it that John favors this word to explain salvation… BORN.

What did you do to become born???

In what ways were you able to coax your parents into having you?

Likewise, how did you get God to agree to giving you new life?

There is nothing you could’ve done to prevail upon God almighty, to be born of him...

So John is teaching us about Abiding and practicing, or living in an ongoing manner, a life that has been given to us by God.

But not because we are so great that we in ourselves can just do the right thing and so be righteous… He tells us exactly why this is possible...

I love what Charles Spurgeon said about this verse and this word “SEE”

It invites us “to ponder, to study”, Spurgeon said, “to Pry into this secret!”

Behold, What kind of Love the Father HAS given to us!!!!

How do we gain entrance into God’s family??? John tells us in verse 1 that it is because of the Love of God for us.

And notice where God is positioned in this family?

The Father!

This is the key position to emphasize the family relationship.

If you are adopted into a family you take the Fathers last name, you are now of his line!

John goes on here to make it clear that we have recieved Love from God… And notice that this love is not earned but it is given to us… John is saying that this gift cannot be earned, bought or withdrawn.

It is a love that we do not deserve yet God stoops down and gives it to us… Behold that… pry into that secret… Ponder and study that kind of Love that no one can earn or buy, yet is freely given.

God’s Love is deep, wide, it is marvelous, unimaginable, incomprehensible, boundless, endless and measureless… Paul struggled to out it into words...

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One theologian put it this way… To try to understand the Love of God is like measuring the ocean with a teacup.

It is impossibly exhaustive and a futile effort to try and quench it!

And our Father, God, has given us this Love, and has “called” each of us his child!

Do you understand that?

Are you confident in that… because as John says, “AND SO WE ARE!!!!”

We can be confident of God’s Love because we know we belong to him

Just like you belong to an earthly family, one that even if you would bring shame upon them, you would still carry their name, and if they would disown you, you would still biologically be part of them.

You did nothing to make yourself be born to that family and you can do nothing to get out of that family as you share their DNA…

Likewise, you had nothing to do with your spiritual birth into God’s family...

God has adopted you because he wanted to do so, not because you did anything to convince him to do so.

By the means of God’s forgiveness of our sins and the new birth, we are in the family of God!

And we can be confident of his love for us because we are in his family!

Yet this world may not recognize us as his children, and this is because they do not know him as their Father.

This is not something that should surprise us, because the world did not recognize Jesus either.

Again we hear from John that Jesus will appear again!

But this time something will be different.

And in this is some of the most encouraging truths of the Christian faith in a world that is full of tension and heartbreak.

First another assurance that we are God’s children.

But John tells us that the implications of being God’s child cannot be fully realized in this life.

What we will be, has not yet appeared… Child of God listen to me… there is so much more!