Come To Jesus

Title-

Come To Jesus

Passage-

1 John 2:18-28

Attention-

I don’t know if you are like me but I find myself being forgetful

I’ll be downstairs in my office and I will come up here and walk through those doors and wonder why I came up here

An older couple had trouble remembering common, day-to-day things. They both decided that they would write down requests the other had, and so try to avoid forgetting. One evening the wife asked if the husband would like anything. He replied, "Yes. I'd like a large ice-cream sundae with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry on top." The wife started off for the kitchen and the husband shouted after her, "Aren't you going to write it down?" "Don't be silly," she hollered back, "I'm going to fix it right now. I won't forget." She was gone for quite some time. When she finally returned, she set down in front of him a large plate of hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice. He took a look and said "I knew you should have written it down! You forgot the toast!"

Introduction-

There are some important things spiritually that we have to ensure that are never forgotten

Things that are up utmost importance that can never get twisted or skewed

John has this in mind as he writes these words…there are truths that cannot be twisted, distorted, or forgotten

The truths that pertain to the Gospel of Jesus can never be changed or forgotten

This is Johns main focus

Main truth-

This is what John wants us to keep in mind as we walk through these verses.

John wants us to keep in mind is “that which you have heard from the beginning”

That which we have heard

That which we have seen with our eyes

Looked upon and our hands have handled

John wants us once again to keep the person and work of Jesus as the main idea as we walk through these verses

Transition #1-

What is being taught here

What is being taught? (Explain the passage and draw out the 1st century truth)

I mentioned this alast week, that this portion of the epistle is layed out in a for of Hebrew poetry.

John is using parallelism and we will be using PowerPoint to visualize how John has laid this out.

Exhortation and promise (2:24–27)

Slide

Verses 24-26 are the parallel to verses 22-23

22-23 teach that those who deny any part of the person and work of Jesus is a liar and does not teach the truth

1. Don’t depart from the orthodox teaching (2:24)

a. (24a) Let that abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning 1:1ff

b. (24b) If you have believed in the truths of chapter 1 then they will remain in you…if they remain in you then the promise is that you will remain in Christ

i. He will never leave you nor forsake you

ii. Last week we talked about the sealing of the Holy Spirit and that that sealing means you are His and that he is coming again to take his own with Him to heaven (John 14:3)

2. You will have eternal life (2:25)

a. This, the truths of Jesus’ person and work

i. His deity…he never changes or lies

ii. His power…unparalleled in the universe

iii. His wisdom…incomprehensible

b. Because Jesus is God we can trust His promises

i. His promises are that He is coming again for those who have trusted in His sacrifice and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (John 14:3)

ii. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)

3. Let this letter prevent you from being led astray (2:26)

Slide

Verse 27a parallels vv20-21

Verse 20-21 are teaching that it is the Holy Spirit that anoints, or seals us, and a part of that ministry is helping us understand spiritual things.

- 1 Corinthians 2:11

4. The anointing remains in you (2:27a–h)

a. so that you have no need for any of these false teachers (2:27d)

-You possess everything that you need to understand the Bible and the will of God for your life

-The Holy Spirit does that for us

-He helps us to understand spiritual things

b. The anointing teaches you to discern truth from error (2:27f–h)

Slide

The second part of verse 27 parallels verse 19

Verse 19 tells us that the false teachers reveal their true character because they have not persevered

They have left

4. Remain in him (2:27b)

a. Those who are truly His will abide in Him

i. They will not walk away when it gets difficult

ii. They will not leave it all behind for a bigger paycheck

iii. They will not forsake their faith for the spotlight

b. We abide in him when we abide in the truths being declared from His Word and by His people

i. This is in contrast to the lies being spread by the Gnostic teachers

ii. John is telling his readers…in contrast to what you find in verse 19, they did not abide in the truths of Jesus’ person and work, abide in those who do

Slide

Verse 28 is paralled with verse 18

5. And now little children, abide in Him that is coming again

a. Yes the antichrist is coming but there are more important ones coming

b. One that the antichrist that they were worried about will fear

i. There is only one reason for John to bring up the antichrist

1. They were afraid of his coming

ii. John is honest, yes he is coming

1. But there is one more powerful that the world needs to be concerned with

Transition #2-

How do we understand this in our context? (Bridge 1st century truth to today)

John has built this poetic and logical argument as to the contrast between the false teachers and true biblical teaching

-Between Satan, the Antichrist, and Jesus Christ

He has masterfully balanced these contrasts for the purpose of declaring the preeminence and superiority of Jesus Christ to all…even Satan and the Antichrist

This parallelism and balance and poetry is to draw the readers attention to the center of the parallelism

This layout is intended to direct the reader to the center-most verses

SLIDE

verses 22-26

And I believe that if you take verses 22-26 and work through them and simmer them down to the main thing you will be left with this....verse 25 “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.”

-For John the center of it all is the promise of eternal life.

SLIDE

-This is what John is building towards…this is the reason for the first chapter declaring Christ and the second chapter revealing false teachers

SLIDE

Eternal life

If you allow the person and work of Jesus Christ to be manipulated and twisted the promise of eternal life is gone along with the truths of Jesus

Eternal life is based on the person and work of Jesus…

John didn’t spend close to two chapters on Jesus and his work on the cross for the sake of showing off his knowledge, or to make an extra buck, or to rise in prominence

-John did it because of the truth we find in Philippians 2:10..... that at the return of Jesus to this earth “every knee shall bow”….that includes the false teachers, the Antichrist, and Satan himself

Jesus will bring judgment to all of them

Jesus will send all of them to a literal hell for all eternity

This is the common problem for all mankind

We all WILL bow before Jesus

What happens after that is determined by your response to the Gospel

*If you are not familiar with this word it means that every human being after Adam and Eve were born sinners

-Sin being moral impurity

-We cannot live up to the standard that God has set forth

-His own holiness

Because of this sin, which started in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, there is a consequence

-When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or else they would die

-That death meaning a separation relationally from God and a separation of body and spirit in physical death

-The spiritual separation was immediate and the physical death came later

The only way to be released from the consequences was for a sacrifice to be made

The problem is that we are not sufficient in and of our selves to offer anything worthy to meet God’s demands

That’s why Jesus was born…the Son of God was born to be the sufficient sacrifice for our sins

To restore our relationship with the creator God and give us a future hope in heaven

That is what John is so concerned with

That this message of Salvation never lose it’s power

The power of the message is the person and work of Jesus Christ

If you are hear this morning or listening this morning and have never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins….

Transition #3-

How do we live this out in our context? (Application of the biblical truth to us personally)

Christian, my appeal to you is this….

1st keep the gospel personal

Never let it become just some abstract theological truth

Keep it at the center of all you are and all you do

2nd keep the gospel pure

Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart for out of it are the issues of life”

Guard the Gospel for it is the answers to the issues of life

3rd keep the gospel on the tip of your tongue

The joy, peace, and hope that the Gospel brought to you can become a part of the life of someone in your circle of influence

1 Peter 3:15, be ready always to give an answer for the hope that lieth in you

Do you have hope?

We are surrounded in this life with individuals searching for hope

They may not word it that way but that’s what they need

The hope of the Gospel…

Keep it on the tip of your tongue and share it

Conclusion

The Gospel is far to important to handle flippantly

It is far to essential to the future hope of those around us to be tinkered with and twisted to our liking

Gospel-

The Gospel is the reality of our sinfulness and the sacrifice Jesus made to give us His righteousness

Any other message is a lie

Whether you are a believer that has strayed from the true gospel message or one who need to call on Jesus for the first time I challenge you to just come and call out to him

I am going to pray and we will close with # 334 Jesus, I come

Let that be your prayer as you pray with me...Jesus, I come

I come to you for forgiveness

I come to you for peace

I come to you for reassurance

I come to you for restoration

Whatever the reason call out to Him and just come to Him

Closing song-

334 Jesus I Come