1 John 2:28-29

Stay and Stand Firm in Jesus Christ

1 John 2:28–29 NASB95

28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Introduction:

As parents, we love our children, and we want our children to grow healthy and strong, and we want them to succeed in life. That’s is why we feed them, clothe them, enroll them to Christian school. Right?

and as parents, we want them to listen to us, and to obey our instructions so that they will not go astray and get lost in this world and waste their life.

In the same way, our Father in Heaven loves us, and He wants us to grow spiritually, and to live a Christ-centered life, able to fulfill our purpose in life while enjoying God’s presence in our lives.

That is the core message of our passage this evening.

That you and I, as children of God will stay and stand firm in the faith.

The Apostle John is commanding the believers to continually remain faithful in Christ while waiting for the 2nd coming.

1 John 2:28 NASB95

28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.

His coming = John refers to the visible and final return of Christ at the end of the age. At that time, Christ will come as the Judge.

abide = remain, stay, reside

imperative - command to continually remain

John 15:4 NASB95

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Fruitfulness is the result in abiding in Christ -

Confidence = we have confidence that when Jesus comes again, we who have put our faith in Christ will be rewarded.

Shrink away = dishonor and shame will come to those who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.

John desires for the believers to be found doing Jesus’ work at Christ’s second coming.

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.

know = experiential knowledge

Constant awareness (mind and heart) of God’s holiness and nearness to us, helps us to obey God and behave in a way that is pleasing to God.

Proper Response:

The love of Jesus and the truth of His 2nd coming should motivate us to stand firm in Him.

avoid compromise, and model the love of Jesus in our family, school, church...

2. We should be mindful of our right relationship with God while waiting for His 2nd coming.

right relationship with God means personal holiness - being intentional in our prayer and reading of God’s Word.