1 JOHN 2: 24-29
ABIDING IN THE TRUTH
[John 15: 1-11]
We reveal our value of Jesus Christ by the degree to which we allow the life of Christ to be reproduced in our lives. To know that Jesus Christ was characterized by love & yet not demonstrate His love proves that we think little of Jesus. To know that Jesus was submissive to the Father & then live in rebellion to His will & way proves we think little of Jesus. To see the holiness, righteousness, & obedience of Christ yet continue to walk after the manner of this world shows we have little esteem for Christ & His work. Only as the life of Christ is faithfully reproduced in ours can we truthfully say we think highly of Jesus Christ.
Our passage today speak about abiding in Christ. To abide in Christ is to abide in His Word & way. As we abide in His Word & way the Holy Spirit teaches us & molds us into the image of God’s Son. Abiding in Christ is the practice of righteous, which is the way of Christ-likeness.
I. ABIDE IN THE WORD, 24-26.
II. ABIDE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, 27.
III. ABIDE IN CHRIST, 28-29.
The readers must see to it that the Word they have heard from the beginning remains in them. Verse 24, “As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.”
These Christians had heard the gospel, very likely from John himself. They knew that Christ was God's Son, that He died for their sins and was raised from the dead to give them new life, and that He would return and establish His kingdom in its fullness. The host of hell is diametrically opposed to this teaching. So their fellowship was being infiltrated by teachers who denied these basic doctrines of the Christian faith, and some of the believers were in danger of succumbing to false arguments. John encouraged them to hold on to the Christian truth, the Word of God, they heard at the beginning of their walk with Christ.
It is important to grow in our knowledge of the Lord, to deepen our understanding through careful study, and to teach these truths to others. But no matter how much we learn, we must never abandon the basic truths about Christ. Jesus will always be God's Son, and His sacrifice for our sins is permanent. No truth will ever contradict these teachings in the Bible.
The word “abide” is a very important word in John’s writings, particular his gospel. To abide [menō] means “to remain, stay, dwell or rest in.” The word is practical and warmly personal. It is an invitation to settle into a genuine relationship and enjoy the fellowship and the perspective. Abide is the word that Jesus uses in the promises He makes to His disciples the night before His crucifixion.“Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4).
Here it indicates that we are to live in these truths, or in the Word and therefore abide or live in both the Son and Father. Abide in or let His Word and your relationship with God continually affect your life. If you do you will have your proof that you are truly God’s adopted Son.
Remain in “expresses a continuing of relationship. It is not enough merely to have heard and assented to the message in time past. The message must continue to be present and active in the lives of those who have heard it (John 15:4-5). They must continually call it to mind and let it affect their lives. This is why continual study of the Word and participation in Christian instruction is so important for perseverance in the faith.” [Marshall, I. Howard. NICNT. Eerdmans. Grands Rapids. 1978. p. 161]. If they would “abide” or “be at home” in the Word, they would continue to “abide” in the fellowship of God the Father and God the Son.
For those who let the Word remain in them there is an appropriate reward given in verse 25. “And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”
God has promised those in whom the Father and Son abide eternal life [or life of the ages (αἰώνιον)]. This life is experienced not only in heaven but here on earth by those who abide in Jesus Christ, by those who remain in His Word and Way. Eternal life is not simply the length of time after death, but the quality of life which is now ours and will eternally be ours throughout the ages. Those who abide in the Son experience this life here and now. What a precious promise God has made to those who abide in Him!
A man made some unusual MARKINGS IN HIS BIBLE. Next to some verses he puts a P, next to others PP, and by others PPP. He explains, "A single P refers to a promise of God, PP to a precious promise, and PPP to a PRECIOUS PROMISES PROVEN!”
In his Bible study, he has found many promises, though he realizes not all apply to him (such as those given specifically to Israel). But promises that reveal God's unchanging love for all believers are precious to him. The PPP verses contain promises that he has trusted God to keep, and God has proven that He is true to His Word.
We too would benefit by discovering and believing God's promises. As we read God's Word, let's search for the promises that apply to us. Then as we act on them, they will become precious promises proven.
Let me ask you do you have eternal life? Are you experiencing this life here and now? Do you have quality relationship with Jesus? Are you abiding in His Word and is His Word abiding in you? If you don’t have a quality relationship with Jesus it can be yours for the abiding.
Apparently there were those who sought to undermine the readers’ conviction that Jesus is the Christ and that they had eternal life through Him. In verse 26 John reminds them that he has warned those genuinely know God and know His truth (2:12-14, 21) of those who wanted to deceive them concerning Jesus and His teachings. “These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.”
Cults seem to focus much of their concentration on believers in other churches. Anti-christs are always attempting to deceive or lead astray true believers through false pursuits and doctrines. Jesus Himself warn us of them (Mk 13:22f). That is the reason we must base our faith solidly on the written revelation of God. Our thoughts or life experience or teachers can cause us to be led astray. Therefore we must always return to the written Word of God to be assured that we are following in His way. False religion spends most of its time trying to seduce Christians or near Christians to their way of thinking. [They seem to leave the wicked lost alone.]
Just because some one uses the Bible though does not mean we should follow them. Be aware for many antichrists will use the Bible, but they will not have the same Spirit you do and if you will listen, God will reveal that to you. Which brings us to our second point:
II. ABIDE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT, 27.
Next in verse 27 we are called to abide in the anointing by following the Holy Spirit’s leadership. “And as for you , the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
John again returned [v. 20] to the Christian’s all important anointing. You received [lambanō, past experience] Jesus and the Holy Spirit took up His permanent residence in your life. But just because He is there doesn’t mean we follow the Spirit [for we may be living in or following the flesh.] We must surrender to the Spirit if He is going to lead us. A mark of surrendering to the Spirit is abiding in the Spirit. If you abide in or live in the Spirit, He will lead you and teach you (Jn. 14: ). If the indwelling Holy Spirit is given liberty in your life He will teach you what you need to know about the Christian life. He teaches through His Word, His ministers, and life situations. He can also teach you by His voice speaking directly to your born again spirit [which will never contradict His written Word]. This means that we must learn to hear Him and place our trust in Him for strength and guidance. This personal life giving relationship is what God uses to teach us the Christian walk, to reproduce the life of Christ in you and to teach you to reproduce it others.
The Spirit will teach all that we need to know, but we must do our part and apply what He teaches. God’s grace must be met with our action.
III. ABIDE IN CHRIST, 28-29.
If we abide in Christ verse 28 teaches us that we will have confidence before Christ when we stand before at His second coming. “And 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.”
Once again John invites us, his brothers and sisters, to abide in the relationship with the Son by which they began their Christian walk. The reason for the necessity of our abiding in Christ is "that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming". This is definitely a reference to the Lord's return. Coming translates parousia, presence, or "being alongside." In non-biblical use it referred to a ruler's visit to a city in his realm. In the New Testament, especially in Paul, it is a standard term denoting the second coming of Christ. It appears only here in John's writings.
The fact of the Lord's appearing is certain, the time is not. Therefore we are asked to constantly abide in Him.
Appear is phaneroo, in the passive voice as it is here, "to be made manifest or visible." The invisible Lord Jesus will some day be made visible as He comes from heaven into the atmosphere of this earth to catch out His Bride, the Church. What hope that is for us here and now as we anticipate the climax of our earthly relationship with Jesus.
Abiding in Christ promises to produce in us a confidence in Him and in our relationship with Him. Confidence is perresia, which means “freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech, free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance.” It expresses the attitude the idea of intimate friends baring their hearts or having a heart to heart talk with each other. The word later came to mean “to have confidence” or “boldness.” The word speaks of the heart attitude of a saint who lives so close to the Lord Jesus that there is nothing between him and his Lord when he comes, nothing of known sin in his life when the Rapture occurs. This is the kind of saint that keeps a daily check-up on himself as to sin in his life. He maintains a constant yieldedness to and dependence upon the Holy Spirit to show him sin in his life and give him the grace to judge it and put it out.
The saint at the time of the Rapture should be living in such close fellowship with his Lord that the sudden appearance of the Savior merely continues the fellowship that was in progress on earth, like Enoch who walked with God on earth and suddenly was not, for God took him.
Those who have made Jesus less than He is or should be to them will be ashamed at His coming. The word ashamed means to shrink away from someone because of a feeling of guilt. Literally, it reads "not be ashamed away from Him." The idea is that we should so live that when Jesus returns as the Judge we will not shrink away from Him with a sense of guilt, but will welcome Him in confidence and with a good conscience. [Revelation 6:15-17 depicts the former; Revelation 22:20b describes the latter].
All true Christians are accepted but there is a major difference between being accepted and being acceptable. Many Christians will be ashamed that they did not abide in God’s Word and way. Ashamed that they did not try to win others. Ashamed of the things they said. Ashamed of they did. Ashamed of the things they did not do. Ashamed that they were not transformed in to the image of God’s beloved Son.
Donald Grey Barnhouse told of a story he read in a London newspaper about a DIVORCE CASE heard in the courts of that city. A wealthy young man had gone away to war soon after he was married. His new bride wrote him of the demanding schedule she had to keep as a nurse in a certain hospital. Apologizing for her infrequent writing, she explained that she was spending a great deal of time with the wounded.
Some months later when the man was scheduled for leave, a friend suggested, "Don't announce your coming. Slip in quietly." Arriving in London, the young man went directly to the hospital, but his wife was not there. He then went to their house, where he was told by the servants, "Oh, she will probably be at the tea dance at the Ritz." Going there, he found her in the company of another man. How shocked and ashamed she was at her husband's appearing!
When our Lord returns, we won't want to be found flirting and preoccupied with the world. Expecting Christ to return at any moment to receive us to Himself can be a tremendously purifying force in our lives. Our hearts should be focused on Jesus, the one we love. Then our lives will be purified by the desire to be like Him and to see Him face to face.
What if He comes for you today? Would you be ready to meet Him face to face?
In context verse 29 infers that we reveal what we think of Jesus by the degree that He or His righteousness is reproduced in our lives. “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
How we live reveals what we truly think and how we esteem Christ. If you perceive [oida] that Jesus is righteous or right then you know by experience [gennaō], or by abiding in Christ, the resulting righteousness.
Practice indicates the habitual doings or life. The practice of a person is an index of his character. Since Christ is righteous those born of Him will do or practice righteousness, or God's will. We prove who we are by what we do. What we do also makes us into who we will be. Practicing righteousness makes changes in our character and actions.
John invites his young friends in the faith to enjoy their faith and put their weight down upon the faithfulness of God by Abiding in the Word, Abiding in the Spirit, and Abiding in Christ.
It seems to me that John’s counsel is as good and as wise for our own high-speed generation as it was for a people being pushed in this direction and that direction during the time of Nero. Most people who go adrift in their lives do so because they lose an abiding relationship with the Lord. He is not longer the center of their life, and they throw away the ballast. Then it is that superficial and secondary themes take over and the counterfeit looks appealing—not because it is good but because we are confused. John’s word addresses what is to be the center of our life. “Abide in Him.” Keep your focus upon what is the center of you life boat. If you do the winds of time and the currents of the world will not take you off course.
For those who do the good new is always good news [Palmer, Earl F. The Preacher's Commentary Series, Vol 35. 1, 2 & 3 John / Revelation. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. 47].
CONCLUSION
Because we are living in the last hour, the time between Christ's first and second coming, we need to be abiding in Christ. Our purpose is not to determine the exact time of the end but to fully please God with our words, actions, and attitudes in the present hour.
Because we are in the last hour we need to be prepared for the future. We will want to have confidence at His coming and not shrink away from Him in shame. Jesus said the end will come swiftly. There will be no time for preparation when He rolls open the eastern sky. We need to get ready right now for His return. We need to have the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Are you ready to meet Him if He were to come today? Are you walking in the anointing of the Holy Spirit? Are you abiding in the Son? If not, come and surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit’s leadership and be taught to live in righteousness.
