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Abiding With Christ
Presenter: Larry Kirkpatrick
Location: Mentone Seventh-day Adventist Church, California, USA
Delivery: 2007-04-28 22:48Z
Publication: GreatControversy.org 2007-04-28 22:48Z
Type: Sermon
URL: http://www.greatcontroversy.org/gco/ser/kir-awx.php
And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him (1 John 2:28, 29).
The idea of abiding is found throughout the Bible. Today, we limit our study to John’s uses in his epistles. The basic idea of abiding is to continue, remain, survive, last, persist, stay, live on. How many times do you think abiding is found in these epistles? Eleven in 1 John and once in 2nd. We find four clusters of ideas here, too: (1) Abiding as linked with behavior, (2) as linked with the Holy Spirit, (3) as linked with love and hate, and (4) with strength and overcoming. What can we learn?
Abiding Linked With Our Behavior
Our first find is in 1 John 2:6. This verse says that if you claim to be abiding in Him, that is, to be closely following Him, a disciple and representative of Him, then your behavior ought to support your claim. But we might think, that’s not my job; that’s the pastor’s job, or the head elder’s job, or a deaconess’s job. No; it is the position and duty of every Christian.
Remember, we live in the midst of a capitalist society; claims, claims, claims—they are everywhere. There might have been a day when claims could carry a lot of weight. If so, it is long departed. Don’t tell me about your faith without showing me.
Another text, 2:17, claims that while this world is passing away, the person who persists in doing God’s will will remain. Enduring is something you learn to do. Resisting does not come to us (fallen humans) naturally. We have to seek God’s help so that we may persist.
A third text is closely linked to behavior: 3:6. Here it is: “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him.” It is one of the strongest verses in the Bible.
If we keep on abiding in Him, we will not sin. But if we choose to leave Him, our experience with Him is called into question. Have we seen Him, known Him? Do you find any escape clauses in this text? There really aren’t any. We are prone to seek out interpretations that match our experience, and for that reason this text and others like it are routinely ignored. We look for big rocks to hide under, great umbrellas to shield us, comfortable ideas to give us room for a milder kind of obedience.
We won’t find it here in 1 John.
This text lays out the expected experience for the Christian. This text was not written by Wesley, Wishart, or White; God inspired John’s mind with the idea, he put it into words, and the Holy Spirit superintended those words so that they passed into Scripture just as they did, becoming part of God’s infallible, that is, incapable of failing, revelation to fallen men and women who would live in 2007. Our experience must come up to the level of the Holy Spirit’s prompting, not down lower.
Abiding Linked with Holy Spirit
And speaking of the Holy Spirit, we now address texts that have a linkage to Him. First John 2:27 tells us that because God’s anointing of us through His Holy Spirit remains upon us, we “need not that any man teach” us.
Some have used this text to suggest that if you have the Holy Spirit then you need not listen to any other teacher. You yourself can be the head elder, the pastor, the church, the general conference president. But wait. Who is it that gives spiritual gifts? It is the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). And not every member receives every gift. Among His gifts are gifts of teaching (1 Corinthians 12:28, 29; Romans 12:7; Ephesians 4:11). So could it be that God who gives gifts of teaching by His Holy Spirit, by His Holy Spirit is asking us to disregard those who have that teaching? That can’t be right. Look again at the text. Look at verse 26. Verse 27 is part of a larger whole. In 26 John reminds the reader that he is writing this letter because he has a special concern about those whom he claims are seducing them. What seduction? The seduction of false teachings.
What is the fruit of false teaching? The fruit of false teaching is always the fruit of disobedience. Ultimately, somewhere, at last it will come out; false teaching will lead to disobedience to God every time. It is just a question of when and where. That is all.
When you have carefully waded through the issues of truth and error, you begin to have a sense of the larger system of truth itself. Pieces that don’t fit the broader whole will begin to become easily apparent. When a confusing idea is thrown at you you will more and more readily begin to see something about where it is out of synchronization with the truth. The text does not say to forsake all other teachers and only go with your own opinion. It does tell us that we will come to the place where it is much less difficult to spot error, and much less difficult to comprehend when a teacher comes that is send by the same Holy Spirit who has anointed you.
There is nothing in this text about about trusting in yourself or in a mystical feeling. It is not about a selective close-mindedness. But it is about a growing ability to spot spiritual seduction for what it is, an increasing steadiness in your faith, and mind and heart with more and more strength, discipline, and carefully understood, more confidence in God’s guidance.
Another text concerning the Holy Spirit and abiding is found at 1 John 3:24, where we learn that we can know He is abiding in us by the Holy Spirit. However, look closely. It says nothing about feeling the Holy Spirit. We can know that Jesus is in us, that we are abiding in Him by His Holy Spirit, through what we find in the first part of the verse: “He that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him.” Very simple. When we keep His commandments we know that He is in us.
Remember too, that for selfish motives, a person may still accomplish actions that outwardly appear as sound obedience. But what John is talking about is actual keeping of the commandments and that in God’s power. He is not talking about piecemeal or selective obedience.
Move to 2 John 9 now. Again John is concerned about false teachings, in particular, false teachings about the humanity of Jesus. This verse has some similarity to 1 John 3:6. Notice that if you are transgressing, you are not abiding in the doctrine of Christ, and you do not truly have God either. But if you abide in the doctrine of Christ, that is, the authentic teaching of Christ, then you have both the father and the Son.
Some want to downplay the importance of correct doctrine. In their view, God is a lot like Oprah, doing many good but disconnected things, and handing out lots of free stuff. Mind you, I am not here attacking Oprah. I am pointing out that God’s whole picture is woven together, all the pieces mesh perfectly with the other pieces, and that giving stuff out is not His goal, but particularly, strengthening people spiritually. Correct doctrine all the way through matters. Here, John has a concern about a correct doctrine with reference to Jesus and His humanity.
Love, Hate, and Abiding
Now, on to love and hate. Back to First John 2:10. If you love your brother, you are abiding in the light. If love is motivating your actions, then there is very little that the devil and his imps can do. If love is motivating your actions, you will be a close student of God’s Word and it will be dwelling in you. Superficial kinds of Christianity are cancelled out by biblically-informed acts of love toward our neighbors. We need to be careful, to examine ourselves, because it is easy to fall back into strange motivations prompted by unresolved personal issues. Keep your heart clear and your actions pure.
In 1 John 3:14, 15 we have more. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. Let’s be honest; some people seem very difficult to love. Some are actually dangerous and you have to be vigilant with them. Children need to be protected against predators. Then there are the crazy family situations, separations that have left some with so much pain they hardly know how to they make it through from one week to the next. But we need to let God show us how to love the brethren.
Do keep in mind that according to the teaching of Jesus, every man is our neighbor. But not every man is our brother. We become sons and daughters of God. We become brothers and sisters. We should seek the good of every man; we should do what we can to help them on the pathway of salvation. But when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, our fellow church members, these we should love in even a distinct way.
These are fellow pilgrims on the pathway to heaven, fellow travelers, fellow prodigals who God helped come to ourselves, fellow former lost coins and lost sheep. There are clubs and groups that encourage others and take up tasks that they feel will lead to the social betterment of society, and that is all well and good. But this is the church. Here we deal with life, with death, with children, with marriages, with baptisms.
The church is different. This is where eternal matters have first place. We come together in prayer meeting, in church, and in church sponsored activities, to learn God’s ways, to strengthen our brothers and sisters in their trials and journeys. Church sometimes seems almost to wear us out. But it is also true that our labor for the Master Jesus will not go unrewarded. Lives are changed here and for eternity because you cared to be part of the church of the living God. So yes, love the brethren, and don’t be ashamed of it, and don’t leave all the work to others. Be part of the family.
There is a flip side in verse 15. If you hate your brother, you are declared to be a murderer. Again, this is your brother, this is your fellow believer, your fellow church member. If you hate him, you may realize that you are a false Christian. And you may set aside some time this very weekend to try to get your heart right with God, and with your brother.
Strength and Overcoming
Finally, let’s look at three texts on strength and overcoming. First, 1 John 2:14. This is part of a song or poem stretching from verse 12-14. There is a lot going on here. Three groups are addressed: (1) little children, (2) young men, and (3) fathers.
Let’s start with the fathers. Notice that both references to writing to the fathers are because they have known “Him that is from the beginning.” The first reference says John writes to them, the second, “I have written unto you.” Next are the young men. You see here that overcoming is especially associated with young adults. Again, first he writes and the second reference “I have written.” Then there are the references to the little children. First, he writes to them because their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, and the second time, he again says he writes to them because they have known the Father. Both references to little children are written from the standpoint of present tense.
But there is another thing that is different here. First John contains nine references to “little children” (2:1, 12, 13, 18, 28; 3:7, 18; 4:4: 5.21). Little children seems to be a general heading for everyone in the church. John writes to them all, but he also writes especially to the young adults and especially to those of longer experience. He is writing for the whole church.
Remember, this epistle says a lot in it about growth. According to 3:2, now we are the sons of God but also according to 3:2 it does not yet appear what we shall be, although the same text promises that one day we will. The expectation is that all the brothers and sisters in Christ will keep growing in Christ. The less experienced will become more experienced, the more experienced will become the full experienced. Little children in Christ become young men—overcomers—and overcomers become fathers, men and women of experience in Israel.
The picture here is one of character growth and maturation. It is also a picture of special activity by the young adults. The actual sequence John gives twice, is little, children, then fathers, then young men. The most extensive description of Christian experience is also linked to the “young men” (1 John 2:13, 14). It seems that the biblical expectation is that young adults in the church will have a powerful experience, not just in church-going but in overcoming. Being very strong, they will be very active.
Another point of interest, the generations are not isolated from each other, but they are together in the church. Little children, fathers, young men, all are together building each other up. No church will be as healthy as it could be if the young are kept separated from the mature. Each generation has something the other generations need. The Bible also grants the spiritually mature, elders, an especially significant leadership role because these are supposed to have some of the most mature experience in Christ.
Much more might be said about this passage, but enough for now. We move to two last verses. First, 1 John 2:24. This verse asks that we let that which we have heard from the beginning abide in us. Look back now to the first verse in this book. It begins like this, doesn’t it? “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard…” Who is it referring to? To Jesus.
Unless Jesus is at the center of our experience, we will veer off and go astray. We must stay close to Him from beginning all along the way. Notice nevertheless, that the Christ who is in us is Christ according to our understanding of the doctrine of Christ. This is a call to stay close to the Bible, to the inspired sources available to us. Continuing in the Son, that is, continuing in Jesus, is only indicated if we continue in the correct teaching we have heard from the beginning about Him.
The other text is four verses later, 2:28. We must abide in Him and then when He does at last appear, we will be ready, we will, as the next verse says, be doing righteousness. This is what it will be like along the way to 3:2 when we at last see Him as He is.
Conclusion
And so, we have looked at the epistles of John and explored several statements about abiding in Christ. The help, the power, the growth, comes as we stay close to Jesus. We can afford nothing less. The Bible demonstrates that God’s expectation for us is a victorious, overcoming experience here and now. We are not to come crawling into heaven, but to advance there with Christ in the vanguard, standing at His side (Revelation 14:1). We never equal Jesus, that is not the plan or the point. But we do become holy people, we are changed by walking with Jesus, we do receive the Holy Spirit in fullness, we do overcome in His power. Put away all thoughts of spiritual mediocrity. God’s plan is to grow you, to help you become His child through faith. His promises are meant for you, precisley for you. And now, Lord help us from this day to abide! GCO
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