Series: 1 John
Sermon: Why Abide
Text: 1 John 2:28 – 3:10
March 25th, 2007
NBBC
Intro
We’re on our 7th week of a series in which we are going through the book of 1 John. And throughout the book we have observed how John is concerned about those who had received the Gospel that he had written and that bears his name, but now were being threatened by false teachers who are about to mislead the church. John’s constant cry to those who are reading is to resist the forces that are at work to lead them astray, by remaining in Christ. In fact the Greek word used is “abide”.
He so wants to impress this one point on the readers that he uses this same word 10 times from verse 6 of chapter 2 to verse 27. Now it’s not always translated as abide, the NIV often translates it as live or remain. For instance verse 6 “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” And in verse 24 “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.”
John has great affection for this young church, that is why he often calls them dear children, or dear friends, and out of his great affection he writes to warn them, “There are false teachers, people who will attempt to confuse your minds and lead you astray, you need to abide, to remain, to live in Christ. And there will also be a cultural pressure that is brought to bear trying to sway your desires called worldliness, you need to abide, to remain, to live in Christ. And there is also a spirit at work that is actively working against Jesus and those who identify with Him an anti-Christ presence that is out to destroy you in any way it can, you need to abide, to remain, to live in Christ.”
And can’t you just imagine this young church – who is being intellectually challenged by false teachers, emotionally tempted by the lure of worldliness and physically and perhaps psychologically intimidated by an antichrist spirit at work to crush them – you can just imagine them thinking, “Why? Why should I abide? Why should I persevere and resist, and stand my ground and fight and find myself weary and drained and beat up by what appears to be the insurmountable odds and pressures that are exerted against me?” Have you ever felt like that? Like quitting, like giving in.
Don’t you get tired of standing for a morality that others label as intolerant or prejudicial? Don’t you grow weary and confused by trying to have to sort through the barrage of attacks against your faith written by those openly opposed and others who profess to be a member of the faith, arguments that deny the resurrection of Jesus, that claims to have found the bones, the question the veracity of the Bible’s account or asserts that its simply false. Don’t you find yourself wishing you could turn off a conscience that won’t allow you to stretch the truth or remain in an angry disposition against another. Don’t you wish you could just rent any movie and not have to care if its contents are offensive, don’t you wish you could live for yourself like everyone else seems to and stop being everybody’s doormat. Don’t you? Sometimes don’t you just get tired of pulling your thoughts back from the brink of surrendering to desires that you’re tired of resisting and long to indulge and commanding your mind to be conscious of God and calling your thoughts back to what’s wholesome? Isn’t the work of abiding difficult when the stream of society is pushing and rushing and moving against you and your forced to stand face into the crowd and remain in Christ. And at times, perhaps when you’ve had an especially rough day and your lonely, and fed up, and bored perhaps at those time you wonder, like sometimes I wonder, “Why should I abide?”
I think that John must have been aware that his constant reminder and urging to abide against the forces that were at work must have caused his readers to be asking the same question and so John writes in this next passage several reasons why they ought to abide. (READ 1 John 2:28 – 3:10)
Because you will see Him (2:28)
The first reason John uses to encourage the church to press on in their efforts to remain in Christ is because one day they are going to see him. In verse 28 he writes “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”
Clearly John has in mind the second coming of Christ which Jesus predicted when he left the earth, but the reality is that one day, one way or another, by His second coming or by our death, we are going to see Him. Have you ever planned a trip or looked forward to a special event or day? Christmas as a child, a vacation you’ve been saving for, a visit from a friend, you wedding. And didn’t you at times need to do a little self talk to remind yourself that it was really going to happen. That’s what John is doing. He’s reminding them that one day Jesus really will be seen by us. One day we will be face to face with the son of God.
Sometimes when I’ve been travelling and have been away from my family, the best part of the whole trip is when I get home and embrace my wife and kids. Just as surely as you can see and hear, and embrace someone you love and in that embrace allow the familiar, comforting aroma of their presence fill your nostrils as you take a deep breathe finally at rest in their arms, so too friends, one day you will be safe and fully at rest in the arms of Jesus. It is a certainty. He will hold you to His breast and you will feel his heart beat, and you will hear the whisper of His affection speaking with such intimacy and tenderness. And friends on that day, says John, the last thing you will want are the feelings of shame because you know that He knows you stopped short of giving your best, you quit when the going was tough, you compromised when the temptation came, you crumbled under the pressure and you failed to allow the roots of your soul to go deep into the soil of His love.
“…dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”
Because it’s right (2:29)
John goes on to give a second reason for persevering, for continuing to abide even when it gets tough. In verse 29 he writes, “If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.” John is appealing to their sense of right and wrong. And essentially his argument is; it’s the right thing to do. You may not feel like it. You may not have the best attitude at times you may, after having done it, even regret what you gave up. But you do it because it’s the right thing to do.
It’s really not that new a thought; it’s an old argument but it correct. If you have chosen to follow the teachings of Jesus, if your submission was genuine, if your intention is sincere, than the right thing to do when things get tough is to continue to remain in Christ. Not because it’s easy, or comfortable, or because you understand, not even necessarily because it makes you feel happy or benefits you, but simply because it’s right.
It’s right not only because you made a promise and a commitment but because others are watching. People who have observed the changes that have taken place in your life and secretly envy you, and are close to taking the risk of asking you about the difference that walking with Jesus has made, but are waiting, watching, wanting to make sure it’s real, to see if by remaining in Christ you are able to withstand the pressure that they know you are under. And friends it’s just right.
It’s right because there are other, younger believers who observe your example and will imitate your life, and they will use you to justify their compromise or devotion. We need heroes to whom we can point, and from whom we can draw strength and by whom we can gain courage. And without you even knowing it, you are being watched and it’s just right to persevere.
Because God’s love more than compensates (3:1)
John goes on to say, “How great is the 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.”
There is actually a word in the Greek that the NIV fails to translate in this verse, it is the word “behold!”; “Behold how great is the love the Father has lavished on us…” John wants to call their attention to something greater than the struggles they are facing against false teachers, worldly desires and antichrist opposition. And it is the love of God. God’s love towards us more then compensates our heartaches and pain and trials, and suffering. Don’t you know that those who have it all, all the wealth, all the power, all the fame, all the pleasures, all the comfort, all the health, all the leisure and all of everything but have not experienced God’s love, have not come close to knowing one drop of our soul’s rest which God has showered on us by His love.
Helen Roseveare is a British medical doctor who worked for many years as a missionary in Zaire. During the revolution of the 1960s, she often faced brutal beatings and other forms of physical torture. On one occasion, when she was about to be executed, she feared God had forsaken her.
In that moment, she sensed the Holy Spirit saying to her: Twenty years ago you asked me for the privilege of being identified with me. This is it. Don’t you want it? This is what it means. These are not your sufferings; they are my sufferings. All I ask of you is the loan of your body.
The privilege of serving Christ through her sufferings overwhelmed Dr. Roseveare. After she was delivered, she wrote about her experience with God: “He didn’t stop the sufferings. He didn’t stop the wickedness, the cruelties, the humiliation or anything. It was all there. The pain was just as bad. The fear was just as bad. But it was altogether different. It was in Jesus, for him, with him.”
Friends, the greatest of everything without God is incomparable to abiding with God even in suffering because God’s love in our hearts more than compensates for anything we might endure.
Because we are of a great lineage (3:1)
But not only that friends, the verse says that we are called “God’s children”, and not just called that is says we are that. You are God’s child. Your lineage is great, your ancestry is divine, your family tree boasts living royalty. Friends, to not abide, to deny your roots is beneath you, it is to stoop to be something less.
Do you remember the funeral of Princess Diane? Do you remember the casket being processed down the streets of England and making its way past the queen, who stood in mourning for her estranged daughter-in-law? It was no secret that there were tensions in the royal family since the divorce of Charles and Diane and everyone was speculating as to what type of response the queen of England would have towards the people’s princess. And as the casket made its way through the streets, commentators were stunned as the queen in reverence for the princess bowed her head. She stooped a sign of inferiority, of humility, and of honour. You see a queen is only bowed to; the greater is revered by the lesser. You see everyone knows that what royalty bows to it honours and esteems and we are children of God, we have no reason to bow to the pressure and threats of this world. We will not honour them in that way. We are children of the great King, we bow only to Him. We will abide in Him because God is our father.
Because we will be like him (2:2,3)
But there is more, in verses 2, 3 John reminds us, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.”
Arguably one of the greatest of the world’s sporting events in the Olympic Games. For three years athletes undergo gruelling training, exhibit huge amounts of discipline, embrace tremendous sacrifice and endure both emotional and physical hardships. Three years of intense, focussed undivided drive and persistence because they know that their efforts will make them better, by fractions of time, height, weight and distance. While they may have already won many competitions and titles and accolades there is a hope that fuels their passion, it is the hope of what might be, of what they could be if they don’t compromise. But they’ll never know if they quit. If each day they don’t pay the price of training, they may for ever wonder if they could have been Olympic champions.
And friends the hope of what could be is one thing, but we have a sure hope of what will be. We will be like him! And as we discipline ourselves to follow in His steps and conform our lives to His image we move closer to that hope, we can taste it coming ever closer. And don’t you know friends that our pressing on, our abiding actually speeds its coming? In 2 Peter 3, the apostle asks the question in light of the times we find ourselves in, “what kind of people ought you to be?” He then goes on to give the answer to his question and listen to what he says, “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”
Friends, our abiding, our enduring and persevering in holy and godly living speeds God’s coming and when he appears we shall be like Him.
Because Jesus gave His life for us (3:4 – 6)
But that’s not all friends, there are more reasons to abide. “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No-one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No-one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
“He appeared so that he might take away our sins.” John’s encouragement to keep abiding is based also in the fact that Jesus gave his life for us so that we could and would abide. Jesus died so that humanity could live the way life was intended to be lived. That life was only made possible by Jesus giving His life for us. As we abide in Him we enter more fully into His life which we have been given access to through His death.
Friends, when you are tempted to throw in the towel, throw up your arms and say to your self, “just this one time.” that is not an indication that the life found in Christ is not adequate to sustain you but rather that you are drifting from an abiding presence in Christ, because a person who is living, abiding, in Christ will not sin. Christ didn’t give His life so that we might become a little better as people, He gave His life so that we could access it, and enter it, and remain in it. Sinning is not inevitable, Christ’s life is sufficient to keep us from sin; Jesus gave His life so that we might abide in the sinlessness of his life – He died for that.
Because those who tempt you seek to destroy you (3:7, 8)
There is another reason to make the effort and discipline yourself to abide, and it is found in the next couple of verses, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
In World War 1 much of the fighting took place along what is known as the Western front. Large systems of trenches ran from the North Sea to the border of Switzerland. Between the trenches was a section of land known as “no man’s land.” Often the key to survival was remaining in the trenches, lifting your head out of curiosity would run the risk of getting a bullet in the brain. You see the reason they needed to remain in the trench was because there was an enemy who was out to destroy them, no matter how quiet the enemy got, no matter how safe it may have seemed. To get out from their secure position of abiding in the trench was to risk destruction by the enemy.
And friends, we are to remain in Christ, to get out form our secure position of abiding it Christ is to risk destruction by the enemy.
Because God won’t abandon you (3:9)
John gives yet another reason to keep abiding in verse 9, “No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.”
“God’s seed remains in you.” Not only are you to abide in Christ, the reality is that His Spirit abides in you and he won’t abandon you. Now, rather than thinking “well doesn’t that go against John’s point? If God won’t abandon us than it doesn’t matter if we abide or not.” But it does matter and here’s why.
When I was younger, I remember when I was finally allowed to go out alone. Finally, I was out of the watching eyes of my parents, I could do what I wanted. I no longer had to be good. At least that is what I thought, but I soon found that the naughty fun I had hoped to enjoy I couldn’t enjoy, not because I was abiding in the presence of my parents but because their presence was abiding with me. I could hear them in my conscience. I felt guilty when I did what I knew they wouldn’t approve of. It wasn’t fun to be bad because even though I had left their presence, their presence was still with me.
And friends, the reason we need to keep striving to abide in Christ is because His seed remains. You won’t be happy if you quit, you will come to be more miserable then you ever thought you could be.
Because if reveals whose side you are on (3:10)
There is one more reason that John gives for abiding, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
You abiding reveals whose side you are on. In the book The Sacred Romance, author Brent Curtis writes this:
If I’m not abiding in Jesus, then where is it that I abide? I once asked myself. I began to notice that when I was tired or anxious, there were certain sentences I would say in my head that led me to a familiar place. The journey to this place would often start with me walking around disturbed, feeling as if there was something deep inside that I needed to put into words but couldn’t quite capture. I felt the "something" as anxiety, loneliness, and a need for connection with someone. If no connection came, I would start to say things like, "Life really stinks. Why is it always so hard? It’s never going to change." If no one noticed I was struggling or asked me what was wrong, I found my sentences shifting to a more cynical level: "Who cares? Life is a joke." Surprisingly, by the time I was saying those last sentences, I was feeling better. The anxiety was greatly diminished.
My comforter, my abiding place, was cynicism and rebellion. From this abiding place, I would feel free to use some soul cocaine watching a violent video with maybe a little sexual titillation thrown in, having more alcohol with a meal than I might normally drink things that would allow me to feel better for a little while. I had always thought of these things as just bad habits. I began to see they were much more; they were spiritual abiding places that were my comforters and friends in a very spiritual way.
The final light went on one evening when I read John 15:7 in The Message. Peterson translates Jesus’ words on abiding this way: "If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon." Jesus was saying in answer to my question, "I have made my home in you, Brent. But you still have other comforters you go to. You must learn to make your home in me."
Where are you making your home, where are you abiding? Where you abide tells whose side you are on.
Conclusion
Following Christ, walking in His steps, abiding in him is not easy and yes, there are times, especially when you feel the pressure of those forces which are against you, that you feel like quitting but John says don’t and here’s why:
Because you will see Him
Because it’s right
Because God’s love more than compensates
Because we are of a great lineage
Because we will be like him
Because Jesus gave His life for us
Because those who tempt you seek to destroy you
Because God won’t abandon you
Because if reveals whose side you are on
Let’s pray
