“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