“Remain in Him”
(1 John 2:28 – 3:10)
Series: A Word for the Church [on screen]
Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD
First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida
September 26, 2021
The Passage
1 John 2:28 – 3:10
28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
3:1 See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
Introductory Comments:
Have you ever experienced someone who stayed in a spot and refused to move? [show picture on screen]Perhaps it was a disobedient child, a driver with road rage, a stubborn employee, or even an angry spouse. When someone refuses to move from a spot it can be quite challenging and upsetting.
Well, what if that was not the case? What if it was actually a good thing for someone to remain in the same spot?
When we are faithfully following Jesus and we’ve been changed by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Bible often says that we are “in Christ.”
John begins today’s passage by saying, “ . . . remain in him.” When we are in Christ we need to remain right where we are, in Jesus.
Today’s sermon is entitled “Remain in Him.” [on screen]
Let’s go to God in prayer now and ask Him to speak to us as we continue our study of 1 John.
(prayer)
Thus far, in our study of 1 John, we have learned that John and the other apostles wanted to pass on to us the one, true, unchanging message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; we’ve learned that through Jesus, we have fellowship with God; we’ve learned that we should be growing in our faith; and we’ve learned to watch out for the lies and lusts of the world.
Today, we’re going to discuss two primary benefits of remaining in Jesus.
Here we go!
First, . . .
- I. In Him, we have confidence (2:28 – 3:3)[on screen]
John starts off by talking about the confidence that we have when we are in Jesus. Let’s look at the passage. Look at 1 John 2:28 – 3:3.
28 So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
3:1 See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
John gets right to the point in verses 28-29. If we are in Jesus, we have a certain confidence.
Confidence is this idea of knowing how something will turn out; you have a feeling that everything will go the way you think it will. Confidence is a matter of trust in something.
John says that if we remain in Jesus, we will have confidence when Jesus appears again.
It’s obviously important that we remember the promise that Jesus will return to rescue all of those who are in Him.
If we remain in Jesus, we can have confidence when Jesus comes back!
John says rather than being ashamed when Jesus comes back, we will have confidence.
Have ever been at your job, doing whatever, and then the boss walks in the room? [show picture on screen]If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, particularly if you’re doing it well, there’s a confidence that comes with that reality. However, if you’re goofing off, or causing problems, or taking a little nap on the clock, you can end up being ashamed of your conduct in front of your boss and perhaps even nervous about what might happen.
John says that if we remain in Jesus we will have confidence when He returns! Let us remain in Jesus by living as He lived, loving as He loved, and following His commands!
John then goes on to discuss another reason we can confidently remain in Jesus: because we are His children!
John says in verse 29, “Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”
He says in verse 1 of chapter 3, “See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children.”
He says in verse 2, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now.”
Church, remaining in Jesus gives us confidence because it reminds us that we belong to God; we are God’s children!
Because we are God’s children, we don’t need to worry when the world does not identify with or understand us. After all, the world does not identify with or understand God our Father.
Because we are God’s children, we belong to Him and we are becoming like God!
Because we are God’s children, we should want to be like God.
Just as a young boy will practice shaving in the mirror because he wants to be like his daddy, or a young girl will practice putting on makeup because she wants to be like her mommy.
So also, we should live our lives as children of God. As John says in verse 3, “ . . . everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.”
Let us be in Jesus and let us be confident in who we are in Jesus!
In Him, we have confidence.
Second, . . .
II. In Him, we have righteousness (3:4-10)[on screen]
Let’s look into this second point. Look at chapter 3, verses 4-10.
4 Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him. 6 Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
Ok, there’s a lot in this passage but there is no less than this: in Jesus, we have righteousness.
John starts by pointing out that the one who sins practices lawlessness. John wants to make a contrast between righteousness and unrighteousness, between sinning and doing what is right, between following God and following the devil.
John points out the incompatibility of someone who follows Jesus also following the way of sin.
John says in verse 5, “You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him.”
Sin is not the way of Jesus, it is the way of the devil. That’s why John says in verse 8, “The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.”
However, John points out in the rest of verse 8 that Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. Whenever we choose to sin, we’re not siding with the ways of Jesus, we’re siding against the ways of Jesus; we’re siding with the ways of the devil.
John is very clear in verse 6, “Everyone who remains in him does not sin.”
When we remain in Jesus, when we plant ourselves firmly in the status and relationship as people who are changed by the blood of Jesus and are committed to the ways of Jesus, we do not live in a pattern of sin; period!
John even goes on to say in verse 9 that the one who has been born of God is not able to sin.
Now, this does not mean that if you wanted to sin you couldn’t. John knows that we won’t be completely sinless because he addressed in chapter 2 verse 1 what we should do if we do sin.
However, what John is saying, again, is that for someone who has been born of God to walk a lifestyle of sin is incompatible; it doesn’t make any sense. It’s like an aspiring supermodel eating at the Golden Corral every day; it’s like someone who is allergic to sunlight moving to Florida; it’s like someone who doesn’t like to walk going to Disney World; it just doesn’t make any sense!
So, church, be stubborn about how close you are to the ways of God! Plant yourself squarely and firmly in Jesus and do not move.
When we are in Jesus, we do not live a life of sin; we walk in righteousness. In Jesus, there is righteousness.
Concluding Thoughts:
Church, there is something very special about being in Jesus. In fact, there’s something very concerning about not being in Jesus.
John said this in verse 10, “This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God.” That should catch our attention, shouldn’t it? Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, they are a child of the devil.
So, church, let us not waste one more minute not living in Jesus. Let this bottom line summarize what we’ve learned this morning:
Bottom Line: All the remaining time we have on earth should be spent remaining in Jesus. [on screen]
(repeat)
Let us spend every last moment of our lives making a permanent home in the ways of Jesus.
He is all we need! When we are in Him, we have confidence in our walk with God and we have freedom from the ways of this world.
Challenge yourself to live out this sermon this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge: [on screen]
1. Write down what it means to remain in Jesus. [on screen]
Put some thought into this. I’ve spoken some about remaining in Jesus. Well, what do you think? Examine the Bible. What does it mean to remain in Jesus?
Take some time to answer that question this week.
2. Write down how you will remain in Jesus. [on screen]
How will you specifically remain in Jesus? Write some steps that you can take to remain in Jesus. This might include something like reading the Bible more, devoting a certain amount of time each day to prayer, cutting out some sinful influences from your life, attending worship or small group more frequently, telling others about how God has changed your life, or something else.
Write these things down and focus upon them this week.
3. Choose to do one action that will help you remain in Jesus. [on screen]
Let’s put our money where our mouth is, shall we?
Choose one thing that you will write down on your list and choose to do that this week; just one thing!
How will you consciously remain in Jesus this week?
Closing:
Folks, God wants you to come to Him through Jesus and He wants you to remain in Jesus and flourish in the life He has designed for you.
The ways of the world may seem appealing at times, the ways of the devil may seem like a good idea, but those ways will ultimately fail.
Have you ever met someone who starts watching a football game partway through and then begins to root for whichever team has the high score at the time? [show picture on screen] They look at the score and say, “Hmm, 14 to 7 . . . I’ll root for the team with 14.” Well, guess what, church? Jesus is going to win. Listen to what John says in verse 8.
The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
The very reason Jesus came was to destroy the work of the devil and He will succeed in doing so. Choose the winning side! Choose Jesus and choose to remain in Jesus.
Church, there is also a hope that comes from following Jesus, one that cannot be taken away. We have the confidence and the promise of a glorious and everlasting life in Heaven with God.
Listen again to verse 2, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is.”
Have you experienced the change of Jesus? Have you received the blessings of Jesus? Are you remaining in Jesus?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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