Would you please turn with me now in your Bibles to 1 John chapter 2. Our text tonight is 1 John 2 verse 28 through chapter 3 verse 3. But in order to get some of the context, we'll begin at verse 18 of chapter 2. You can find this on page 1302 in the Pew Bibles. And as you're looking it up, I just wanted to give some background to this passage. John has been, or is writing to a people who have been going through a difficult time spiritually. They've gone through a church split. They've encountered false teaching. They're wondering about their salvation. So John is trying to comfort them. He's trying to combat that false teaching and to give the people assurance of their salvation. So let's begin reading then with verse 18 of chapter 2. Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, and so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now our text. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence, and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure. Thus far, the reading of God's word. Some people have a hard time following instructions. I guess you could say sometimes they could be a little dense. It's as if they need the instructions repeated or as if they need the instructions to have extra emphasis. Take, for example, the guy I was following one day on my way to church who was driving so slow that I thought for sure I was going to be late because of him. Couldn't he read the sign that you may go 40 miles an hour and not just 25? I felt like driving right on his tail and blaring on the horn just to get the message across that he needed to speed it up. But I refrained, and when that car pulled into my own church's driveway, I was very thankful I had exercised such godly patience. But I think you see the point. Sometimes people need a little extra emphasis or repetition to instructions. Just like with little children. Think of your own children, or if you don't have any, think of when you were a child. When mom says, clean up your room, the child listens with half an ear. But when mom repeats the instruction, perhaps with an elevated tone of urgency in her voice, the child knows he had better clean up his room. The repetition of the instruction added importance to the message. And as it is with little children, so it is with the receivers of John's letter, and so it is with us. You see, you and I can be a little bit dense sometimes too. And so our Lord, through the Apostle John, repeats instructions to the believers of the first century and to us in the 21st century. And so we see this right away in verse 27 where the last words of verse 27 say abide in him. And then in verse 28 it begins the same way. And now little children abide in him. That's not the only repetition John uses. He says twice that we are children of God. He brings it out twice that Christ is coming again. And he brings it out twice that our lives need to reflect the righteous life of Christ. And nestled within these couplets of instruction is a nugget of gold that people have held dear throughout the ages. This nugget of gold is found in chapter 3, verse 1, where it says, See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. God's wondrous love to us, displayed to us through his sending his Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. This love is described for us in Bible passages like John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That's probably one of the best known verses in all the Bible. But there are more that speak of God's love. Ephesians 2, verses 4 and 5, which says, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with him. For by grace you have been saved. Or, Romans 5, verse 8. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Or, 1 John 3, verse 16. We know love by this, that he, that is Christ, laid down his life for us. God's love runs deep, and it cost him a lot. It cost him his son, who he sent to suffer and die on the cross in our place. This is the wondrous love of God that we are to marvel at. And this is the love that gives us comfort and assurance and takes away our distress. Sometimes in our day-to-day lives, we may feel under distress. We may feel under distress about our past because we know that we have done things that were not pleasing to the Lord. Or we may feel in distress about the present, that things just don't seem to be going our way. Isn't the Christian life supposed to be lots of good feelings and lots of good times? Why does it seem like we just don't fit in? Or we may be under distress concerning the future, particularly our eternal future. And we wonder, what is heaven like, and will I be going there? And this is what John addresses in our text tonight, how God's love gives us comfort and assurance concerning our past, our present, and our future. It comforts us concerning our past in that we see we have forgiveness for the former. It comforts us concerning the present in that it explains our position in the present. And it comforts us concerning the future in that it gives us a hope for the hereafter. So those are the three points I want to develop tonight. How it gives us forgiveness for the former. It helps explain our position in the present. And it gives us a hope for the hereafter. Let's begin with how it gives us forgiveness for the formers. Looking at verse 28. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. Why would a person shrink back in shame at the Lord's appearing? It would be because of his sin. When Christ comes again, he's coming as judge, coming to judge the living and the dead. And when Christ judges, everything that is hidden will be revealed. Every little sin that you and I thought was done in secret and that nobody knew about, God knows about. Sometimes we look at ourselves and compare ourselves to others, and we think we're doing pretty good. We think that our good works somehow outweigh our bad works. But it needs to be remembered, God knows all. He knows everything that you've ever done or didn't do that you should have done. He knows everything that you've ever said or didn't say that you should have said. He knows every thought, every lustful, covetous, hateful, proud thought we've ever had. And any one of these is enough to condemn us before Jesus the Judge. Standing there before the righteous, holy, pure Judge, the sinner will shrink back in shame at the Lord's appearing. An illustration of this is seen in the first book of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, in the account of Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve were first created, they were perfect. They had an open, close relationship with each other and with the Lord. This is pointed out for us in Genesis 2, verse 25, where it says, And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed. Adam and Eve had an open, honest, intimate relationship with each other. They had nothing to hide from each other. And they had that close relationship with the Lord as well. But when they ate that forbidden fruit and fell into sin, everything changed. The closeness that they once had was lost. They now realize that they're standing naked in front of each other and they are so ashamed that they cover themselves up with fig leaves. The closeness that they had with the Lord is also lost. For when God comes walking through the garden, calling out, Adam, where are you? Adam and Eve are hiding in the bushes, shrinking back in shame at the Lord's appearing. And as it is with Adam and Eve, so it will be with all men. For the book of Hebrews tells us that it is appointed for all men to die once. And after this comes judgment. All men will stand before the judge someday. And when they do, they will be as guilty as Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden. They will feel, the sinner will feel as naked and exposed as our federal head did so many years ago. And that is how we would feel too if we did not abide in him. But there's good news. the same good news that God gave to Adam and Eve. It's the good news that God will make a way to find forgiveness for sin. And it is not that the estranged sinner needs to work his way back into God's favor. No, the sinner must simply abide in Christ. When he abides in Christ, that sin will be taken away. But how can that be? What does it mean to abide in Christ? Well, we have scripture explain scripture. And in 1 John 4 verse 15, it says that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. Or in 1 John 2 verse 24, there it says, Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. If that message which you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in him. What is that message that was heard from the beginning? It's the good news of the gospel. It's the news that God has made a way to take away our sin and shame. It's the news, the message that we read about in 1 John 1, verse 9, where it says that whoever confesses his sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is the good news of the gospel. And are you wishing that you had that good news of the gospel in your life? Then look to Jesus, believe in him, abide in him, and you can find that forgiveness of your sins. And then you can say with the psalmist in Psalm 103 3, that the Lord will not reward us according to our sins, nor will he reward us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. What a comfort that is to the child of God. that he has been made clean, and that he need no longer be ashamed of his sin. Our gracious God has given us comfort and peace and taken away our distress. So that's our first point of the passage, how we have forgiveness for our past. But what about the present? How can we know if we are a child of God? Well, let's look to the next verse, verse 29, where it says, If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. We can know if we are a child of God if we see the fruit of righteousness in our lives. Now, that is not to say that it is by practicing righteousness that we become a child of God. No, that would be a salvation by works, and that is not what John is talking about here. What John is saying is that the practicing righteousness is a result of being born of him. Jesus said in Matthew 7 that a good tree will bear good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. And as believers in Christ, we are good trees. We will produce good fruit. The ESV brings it out very well here, where it says everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. It brings out the idea that this is a completed past action with continuing present results so that a person is born of Christ first, and then he will practice righteousness. It is not the other way around that he practices righteousness, And then when he's good enough, he can become a child of God. And so when you see the fruit of righteous living in your life, then you can know and be assured that you are God's child and that you need not be ashamed at Christ's coming. And now as you might think then, this practicing of righteousness is going to make the child of God look far different than the rest of the world. John had said earlier in chapter 2 of his epistle that the world follows things like the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. The child of God, however, the disciple of Jesus, will deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow the master. the world will display deeds such as immorality, impurity, idolatry, sorceries, enmity, strife, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. But the child of God, through the power of his Holy Spirit, will display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. the values and deeds of the child of God are far different than those of the world. Let me illustrate this with a little story. Once there was a young couple who wanted to go to a foreign mission field. Before they could go, they needed to get some immunizations at the county health clinic. Prior to getting the immunization, they needed to sit down with some of the staff and talk about health concerns. When the staff learned what country this couple was going to, this disease-infested country, they basically thought that this couple was crazy for going to such a land full of sickness. And then to take a little child into that environment was all the more insane. The young couple was just trying to answer God's call and to bring the good news of the gospel to people who hadn't heard it yet. But the staff at the clinic thought that this couple should be looking out for themselves. The values and deeds of the child of God are far different than those of the world. That's why John says at the end of verse 1 of chapter 3, the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Jesus himself said that this conflict would be there. In John chapter 15, the Gospel of John, we read, If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake, because they do not know the one who sent me. Are there times in your own life where you feel so different from the world? Are there times where you feel like you are an alien or a stranger in your own land? Don't let it discourage you. Just take it as another confirmation of your present position that you are a child of God. So, we've seen how God's love gives us comfort concerning our past, in that we are forgiven for our past. It gives us comfort concerning our present, how it helps explain our position in the present. But what about the future? What about our hope for the hereafter? Now, as we just looked at, we are living in conflict with this world. God has made us his children, and we long to know him and to be with him. Before we became children of God, we were prone to hate God and to love sin, like what the world does. But when we became a child of God, God renewed our hearts so that now we want to love him and we hate sin more and more. And so we read in verses 2 and 3 then of our passage of what the future will be like for this child of God. It is no longer a future of shame or distress, but it is a future of intimacy with our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In verse 2, what we read is, Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. John says, we are God's children. He's repeating that. We are God's children. And he says, we don't know exactly what that will mean for us in the future, But there are three things that we do know. One is, Christ is coming again. John said that in verse 28. He mentioned Christ appearing, and he mentions it now again. We can know that Christ is coming again because Christ himself said so. In the Gospel of John, chapter 14, verses 1 to 3, he says, Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. in my father's house there are many rooms if it were not so I would have told you for I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again to receive you to myself for where I am there you will be also Christ is coming again we can know this for Christ has told us God's word promises it and God's word cannot fail The second thing we can know is that we shall be like him. In Romans 8, verse 29, it tells us that this is what God has intended for us. There it says, For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become transformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. We are meant to be in God's image. we are going to be transformed into that image. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that our bodies which are perishable will be raised imperishable and our mortal will put on immortality. So when Adam was first created, he was made in the image of God. But when he fell into sin, much of what that meant was lost. Christ has come to restore us and transform us back to the relationship that we had with the Lord there in the Garden of Eden. In the first Adam, all died. But in Christ the second Adam, all his children shall be made alive. We shall be like him. And then the third thing that we can know is that we shall see him just as he is. so what will christ look like well we get a clue if we look at the account of the transfiguration in matthew 17 where there it says that the three disciples that were with jesus saw his body change and that his face was shining like the sun and his garments were as white as light. Jesus' glorified body will look unlike anything that we have ever seen. In the book of Revelation, it also tells us that Jesus will be bright and white and shining like the sun. When Christ comes again, we will see him just as he is. We will see him as Lord and King and victor over sin and Satan and death and hell, and we shall be like him. The sin, the sinful nature that we have struggled with all our lives will be conquered. We too will be holy and pure and righteous. That will be such a wonderful day. Our sin and shame will be no more, and our past will be forgiven. We will no longer live in conflict with this world, but we will live in unity with the fellow believers of Christ. Death will no longer be able to separate us from those that we love, and there will be no more goodbyes. The book of Revelation says that there will no longer be any tears, that he will wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there will be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, and no more pain. The former things will all pass away. Our focus will be on Christ and no longer on our differences. as the precious Bride of Christ we will be presented spotless and pure to Jesus, our beloved Bridegroom and we'll gather around the throne of Jesus with the myriads of angels singing praises, singing Worthy is the Lamb we will be gathered around that throne with countless others and with the 24 elders and the four living creatures and will be singing and praising him saying worthy is the lamb to the lamb to the one who sits upon the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever and those four living creatures will keep saying amen amen amen and those 24 elders will fall down and worship What a glorious day that will be. That will be such a beautiful day. That is our hope for the hereafter. But what about today? How does this hope for the hereafter affect our day-to-day lives now? That's what John tells us in the final verse of our text tonight. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure. When we have this hope that Christ is coming again and that we shall be like him and that we shall see him just as he is, this hope will display itself in our lives now. It will display itself by our living lives of purity. This hope motivates us to live for him. We will live lives of purity out of gratitude to God for all that he has done for us. And now, before I conclude, I just want to speak to any of you who maybe aren't yet believers. Now, I haven't been here this summer. I don't know all of you. Maybe you're here for the first time tonight. Maybe you've come a few times. Maybe you've been coming here for years and years. And you're thinking to yourself, that hope, that joy, that forgiveness that he's talking about sounds so good. And I want that eternal life, but I don't know what I need to do to obtain it. You don't have to do anything to earn it. Christ has already earned it for you. All you need to do is accept this gift of God with a believing heart. And so don't put it off any longer. Because whether you're young or old, you never know how much longer you have. So believe on the Lord Jesus today. And this comfort, this assurance, this joy and forgiveness can be yours. And so, beloved, behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the children of God. May this love comfort you and give you assurance. May it comfort you knowing that your past is forgiven, knowing that this world is not your home, and knowing that you have a hope for the hereafter, in eternity with Jesus, shall we pray. O Lord, haste the day when our faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound, and you, Lord, shall descend, and even so, it is well with our souls. Lord God, thank you for your word and the assurance and comfort it gives to those that are in distress. Thank you for the hope that you give us that you will one day come back and that we have nothing to fear at your reappearing. We long for that day when we will be able to love, thank, and praise you with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. May this hope that you have given us of the glorious scene that awaits your children motivate us to live lives of gratitude now while we are here on this earth. And Father, if there be any that hear this message tonight, whose hearts are troubled and who do not yet know what it means to abide in you, I pray that your Spirit would work within them, that they might find this blessed assurance and be able to say it is well with my soul. In the name of our Savior we pray. Amen.