The following audio is from Shiloh Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. More information about Shiloh Presbyterian Church is available at shilopc.org. Remain standing please for the reading of God's Word which comes to us again from the book of 1 John, John's first epistle. 1 John chapter 2 beginning in verse 28. on page 1022 if you're using the Pew Bible. We'll be reading chapter two, verse 28 until chapter three and verse three. So again, let's listen well and give good attention to this, the reading of God's holy word. 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 thus hopes in Him purifies himself. as he is pure. Oh, Father, again, how we're thankful for your blessed, holy word of truth, your precious promises to us. Lord, we pray that you would come and that you would sanctify us by that truth. Your word is truth. Open up our eyes afresh this evening, oh Lord, that we might behold wondrous things from your law. And we pray that you would use it in our lives, that indeed we might abide in Christ, and that we might then bear much fruit, showing ourselves to be his disciples. For we pray in His name. Amen. Please be seated. You may recall that last time we were called, or we learned about the call of Christ upon us to abide in Him, we were called to abide in Him as those living amidst the antichrist activity of the last days. And so in one sense, we can say that the call to abide in Christ was in view of the Antichrist. Abide in Christ with your eyes fixed, in a sense, looking to the work of the evil one and his minions. But as John continues, we see that there's another reason. Really, there is a greater reason to abide in Christ. We do so not in view of Satan, not ultimately. We do so in view of Christ himself. Particularly, we do so in view of the hope of his appearance from heaven in glory. That's what we see in verse 21. And now, or verse 28 of chapter two, and now little children abide in him so that when he appears, see that? Abide in him so that when he appears, John is reminding his hearers, he will appear. We abide in Christ in view of his appearing. Now, there's a warning here, is there not? John speaks of those ones who will shrink from him in shame at his appearing. And here I believe that John is not speaking of true believers who will be saved on the last day, but who will feel a bit ashamed because they've not been living quite right when Jesus comes. I don't believe that that's the idea. I believe that the warning here Verse 28 really should be understood in the context of the distinction that John is making categorically between true believers and those who are not believers. Really a distinction between true believers and those who have followed the Antichrist's false teachers. It's the distinction that we'll see next week, later in chapter 3, verse 10, between the children of God and the children of the devil. And so this warning is about those who will have proven to be unbelievers when Christ returns. Individuals such as the false teachers themselves and those who have followed their lies and forsaken the gospel. Since they had denied that Jesus had come in the flesh, it's not hard to understand why they really weren't clinging to a hope that Jesus would return from heaven in the flesh, a bodily return. And sadly, when Christ does appear from heaven in glory for them and those who have followed their lies, indeed for all unbelievers, it will be a sad day. It will be as Howard Marshall describes it in his commentary, speaking to these words before us, quote, they will be put to shame by Christ. They will be disgraced openly. For them, the coming of Jesus will mean judgment and rejection. Those are sobering words, aren't they? All that we say this evening in terms of the great blessing that the appearance of Christ will be for God's people should be understood with that important caveat. But brothers and sisters, this evening Christ calls us to think about the wonderful blessing it will be for those who are abiding in Him, for those who are trusting in Him. And since we are called to abide in Him in view of that great day, in view of His appearing, how appropriate for us then this evening to meditate upon these wonderful truths, to consider these blessings as we see them in our texts, the blessings which will be ours when we see Jesus on that day. So I want us to note three things about our Savior's appearance this evening. And the first is this, that for all those who have been born of God, it will bring the fullness of our adoption blessings. You have your theological thinking caps on this evening. You may notice that I'm kind of joining together soteriological categories. That is, soteriology being the study of salvation. We think about all of the saving blessings that come to us as Christians, we make certain distinctions. Being born of God and being adopted by God are, in one sense, two different things, right? To be born of God, or the new birth, or what we refer to as regeneration, well, that involves a work of God's Spirit in us. We are given new hearts and our wills are renewed. Adoption, on the other hand, we think of as being really something more of a status which is ours as we are received into the number, as our Shorter Catechism says. We're given the right to all of the privileges of the sons and daughters of God. Although, as we learned from our Catechism, we're reminded that when we are adopted by God, He sends the spirit of adoption into our hearts. And so these different blessings, though distinct, they're joined together in that they are all possessed. Regeneration and adoption are both possessed by every true believer. Regeneration is part of our effectual calling by which we are united to Christ. Adoption is a benefit of that union with Christ. And so if you look again at our text, it does not surprise us to see that these different blessings are kind of mentioned together. The second part of chapter 2, verse 29 says, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. There's the new birth and its connection to sanctification, of course, but there's the new birth. And then chapter three, verse one, goes on to speak of adoption. We are called children of God, and so we are. And notice, brothers and sisters, the already and the not yet together in this text. On the one hand, John invites us, he really invites us to see the already. as we consider the fact that we've already been adopted. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. But then down in verse two, he writes, 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 here I believe that John is really writing about that future component of our adoption which comes in connection with Christ's return and our glorification. As blessed as we are now already to be God's adopted children, we will be more so then. In fact, you noticed as we cited the Westminster Larger Catechism earlier, it mentions in connection with adoption that hope of being with Christ in glory. There's something not yet about our adoption. We long for the fulfillment of our adoption. We long for that day when we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. If you'd like to flip over in your Bibles, I want us to see from Romans chapter 8, that this is supported by the Apostle Paul. Turn to Romans chapter 8 and verse 23. Paul, of course, He taught as well that the adoption will be completed at the resurrection, but notice that Paul calls the redemption of our bodies our adoption. Romans chapter eight and verse 23 says, and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Imagine that. the redemption of our bodies. That was a deplorable, unthinkable idea according to the pagan philosophy of the day. But to those who are in Christ, this was something central to the gospel. This was a wonderful hope to see and to be like Christ. That will be glory like nothing this world has ever seen. In fact, do you realize that what we will experience, what we will see on that day is something that even the apostles did not see when they witnessed the resurrection of Christ? Because when they saw Jesus, the glory was yet veiled, wasn't it? He looked like just an ordinary guy. He had not yet taken on that radiant heavenly glory that would be his when he would ascend again up into heaven. Later, the Apostle Paul witnessed the resurrection of Christ, and he did see something more of that heavenly light glory, but he was blinded by it. He couldn't look upon it. To behold Christ in his glory, to truly see him as he is, we will need those Christ-likeness new resurrection eyes in order to be able to look upon Him. And what a blessing that Jesus will give us those new eyes. He will give us new resurrected bodies on that day when He appears and we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. Will that not be most wonderful, brothers and sisters? You know, despite all of the terrible heresies of the false teachers in Ephesus, there was a shred of truth to their message. They were deceiving the believers and saying, you need something more. You need something more. Well, you didn't need what they were offering, but it's true. There's something more we're longing for. What we will be has not yet appeared. Or as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 4, for while we are still in this tent, that is, in this body, we groan, being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up. by life. Notice what Paul says there. It so happens that in Corinth he was dealing with a very similar error, the idea that the body, physical matter, was inherently evil. Well, the body is not inherently evil. It is cursed by sin. That's very different, isn't it, than saying that human flesh, as God created it, is inherently evil. But the false teachers were right, that there was something about the body from which there was a need to be set free. The solution, of course, came not through their antichrist lies, denying the incarnation, denying Christ's resurrection, denying his bodily return from heaven, denying the believer's resurrection. No, Jesus had a true body. Jesus still has a true resurrected body, now glorified in heaven, and we long to see him body and soul. We long to be like him in his resurrection. Glory. We seek not some kind of escape from being human or from having a body, being unclothed, to use Paul's words. We long to be further clothed. We long for the resurrection of our bodies, the fullness of our adoption. Is that true in your life? Are you longing for your adoption, brothers and sisters, this evening? Are you longing to see Christ and to be like him? It is coming. That day is coming. He shall appear. In fact, the reason for the already of our adoption is that, in one sense, it has already begun. We are already adopted. We are already adopted by the Spirit that has united us to Christ. We are adopted in union with our firstborn brother. And when he appears, we shall be like him. We shall see him as he is. Children often resemble their siblings, don't they? Children often resemble their parents. Well, a day is coming when we shall look like our brother and we shall look like our father. We shall resemble God in every way that the creature can resemble the creator. And as we see God, when Christ appears, we will shine. We will shine with the radiant glory as sons and daughters of God. That marvelous future adoption hope, that is what motivates us to abide in Him as we look to His appearing. And that means living as His children now, doesn't it? It means glorifying Him even with these sin-cursed bodies. And that really brings us to the second thing that we see about the appearance of Christ this evening. And that is this, that it will complete our present moral and intellectual purification. Notice here again the already not yet tension. Verse 2 tells us that we shall be like him. What is he like? Well, verse three tells us that He is pure. We are not yet pure. The hope of seeing Christ is the hope that one day we shall be pure as we see Him on that day. We shall be pure as He is pure. And yet, do not miss the already. The future hope brings a present purifying dynamic in the life of the true believer. Verse three says, and everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. I wonder this evening if you've ever heard the expression, ah, that person is so heavenly minded that he's no earthly good. You ever heard that expression? What are we to think about that? Is it really possible to be too heavenly minded? Is it really possible to think too much about the return of Christ such that we make ourselves useless here on earth? Well, sinners are able to pervert and to wrongly apply even the most precious truths of God's word, even his most precious promises, even the promise of the return of Christ. In Thessalonica, some of the believers were misusing that promise, misusing the promise of Christ's imminent return to justify their laziness. They were refusing to work. Why should I go plant my field if Jesus is going to return and I'll never get to harvest those crops anyway? Paul rebuked that kind of foolishness by saying, in so many words, you lazy sluggards, get back to work. And if you won't work, you should not eat. Paul was clear that that kind of distortion of the hope of Christ's return was not true faith. at all. But it is also true, I would submit, that unless we are properly heavenly-minded, we will be absolutely no earthly good, of no use in the service of Christ. to look in true faith to his appearance. You see, it will not make us lazy. It will not make us sit on our hands and wait for him. It will make us diligently labor for our master. It will make us serious about holy living. That was the clear teaching of the apostles. Paul commended those Thessalonians who were working hard, being properly heavenly-minded. In fact, he describes them in 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 9 and 10. He describes how they had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus. who delivers us from the wrath to come. Listen as well to the way that the Apostle Peter wrote about how holy living went hand in hand together with a proper fixation, if I can use that word, proper fixation on the hope of Christ's return. 1 Peter 1, verses 13-14. through 16 says, therefore preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And I think that's exactly what John is saying in our text this evening, chapter three, verse three. Which person is it that purifies himself or herself? It is the one who has this hope. See, the same Holy Spirit who enables us to look to Jesus Christ in anticipation of his return from heaven is the one who has given us new birth and the one who is sanctifying us If we know nothing of the sanctifying grace of Christ at work in our hearts, then we cannot claim that we are looking in true faith in expectation of his return from heaven. Notice the way we're instructed, not only about our adoption, but also about our new birth and its connection to our sanctification, which is connected to our glorification. All of these benefits, all of these blessings John brings together for us. It says in verse 29, if you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. See that? He is righteous, and those who have been born of him also now practice righteousness. They practice righteousness in the hope that he will one day return from heaven and we will be glorified and perfect. righteousness, perfected in righteousness. It seems that the false teachers in Ephesus were not looking to the return of Christ, certainly expected nothing in terms of a physical bodily resurrection, and it's no surprise then that they also were not practicing righteousness. They were not walking in purity. We do not know all the details of their particular sins. We know that they were not loving the brothers. They had forsaken the assembly. They were paying no attention to the material needs of brothers and sisters. And though John does not explicitly mention it, I imagine also there was lascivious living, fornication, probably the call to purity might suggest that that problem was also a problem in Ephesus. And with regards to this call to purity, to this call to purify ourselves, we do well to remind ourselves. To remind ourselves, for example, of the words of the Apostle Paul to those believers in Ephesus earlier, Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 1 through 5. We notice in passages like this how marvelously the new life is described, not only in terms of it will one day bring of what it will one day bring, but also the reality that the Spirit produces in the lives of God's people even here and now as we wait for Christ to return it from heaven. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 1 through 5 says, Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is, an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. is those who have that hope, you see, that hope of seeing Christ and being pure as Christ is pure. We are called to rid ourselves of all forms of impurity, even now. And perhaps it's also important, I think, to point out in this regard, when we say that this is a purifying hope, we are not saying that if we just think much about Jesus returning from heaven, that holiness just sort of happens subconsciously. And as if holiness happens apart from any kind of conscious, deliberate decisions that we make. It is true that that hope transforms our heart, it transforms our motives, and there is some mystery with regards to the work of the Holy Spirit and the way that the Holy Spirit sanctifies the child of God. He's certainly working in us at the subconscious level, that's absolutely true. But it is also true that we are to think about and make connections. Think about the connection between Christ's return and our present holiness. We are to make conscious, deliberate choices for purity. Paul writes in Romans 12, verse 2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. You see, we are to do this in the hope of that future perfection in holiness. And as I mentioned, we should consider the intellectual component to this hope. Remember the false teachers, they were claiming, we have knowledge. We have knowledge that you believers are missing. And so the believers were tempted to doubt that they had the true knowledge of God. We can see how the apostle John counters this error by making true knowledge statements again and again and again. You see it again in our text. Verse 29 of chapter two says, if you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. Or there in the second part of chapter three, verse one, it says, the reason why the world does not know us as that it is that it did not know him. And then the second part of verse two says, we know, we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. And so John is reminding the believers, you have the true knowledge, but he is also reminding them that whatever you lack in knowledge, it will be complete. It will be perfected when Jesus comes again. The incompleteness of your knowledge, he was saying, it will not be remedied by any kind of false knowledge which the Antichrist heretics are offering. It will not come from those antichrists who have appeared. It will be remedied or it will be completed when Christ appears, when he appears from heaven in glory. True knowledge is the knowledge of the Lord. And we know him now. We know him by his true word. We know him as we walk in fellowship with him, as we live by his commandments. But we will know him fully. when we see him. So Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 10, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. And then in verse 12, now I know in part, and then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. On that day when we see Christ, we shall be morally pure and even our knowledge will be pure and holy, separate from any and all sin and error. Our knowledge shall be pure as Jesus is pure. And then note in connection with this, note lastly and briefly this evening, I think it's such an important to make in connection with John's overall, the message of this letter, that the return of Christ will bring about the fullness of our assurance of our salvation. Do you ever struggle with assurance, brothers and sisters? Ever struggle, am I really in fellowship with Christ? Do I truly have eternal life? Have I truly been born of the Spirit? Is the Spirit truly present in my life? If you have those doubts, if you have those struggles, know that you are not alone. In fact, John was writing this letter to a congregation of many Christians who are lacking assurance. Chapter 5, verse 13 makes this clear where it says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know. that you may know that you have eternal life. The lies of the false teachers had caused all kinds of doubts. The faith of the believers was wavering. John wanted to reassure their hearts that they were in true fellowship with God. We saw last time in chapter two, verse 19, that their doubts were in part due to the emotional duress of having had many of their fellow believers leave the church There was a sense in which they were feeling alone, feeling abandoned. I would imagine that part of John's purpose in reminding them of the return of Christ was to provide, yes, a powerful encouragement of Christ's faithfulness. They needed to hear that. John was saying, others have proven unfaithful, others have left you, but Christ will be faithful. He will not leave you. In fact, he is coming for you. He is coming for you. He will appear. He's reminding the believers of the very thing that Jesus promised his disciples when he met with them in the upper room in John chapter 14 and verse 18. And he said, I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." And even before that, chapter 14 and verse 3 of John's gospel, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. Doesn't the promise of Christ's coming for us provide such wonderful assurance that we are in fellowship with him? Who is he coming for but those whom he knows and loves and is never forsaken? I am coming for you. He says that to you this evening. I am coming for you because you belong to me. I am coming for you because you are mine, and yet we struggle. We struggle at times to believe that promise, don't we? We may not all struggle this evening with lack of assurance to the same degree, but there is not one person here this evening, there is not one believer remaining in this life who can claim to have perfect assurance of his or her salvation. So long as we continue in this body of death where everything that we say and do and think, indeed every inclination of our heart, is tainted with sin, our assurance will also be imperfect. But let me ask you this in closing this evening. Brothers and sisters, does that not itself, that fact, does it not make the promise of the return of Christ from heaven such a wonderful promise? A day will come when you will see Jesus and there will not be one shred of doubt in your sinful heart. Sin will be no more, and you will know with perfect knowledge, with perfect assurance, that Christ is yours. A day will come when your faith, albeit weak, imperfect faith, but faith nonetheless, your faith will be turned into sight. and you will see Christ. Why is it, brothers and sisters, think about this, why is it that when you see Christ, here's the promise, for those who have abided in Christ, here's the promise, you will have confidence and you will not shrink back from him in shame at his coming? Think about that. to behold the Son of God shining in all of His glory, His righteousness, His holiness. It should be such a terrifying sight. We should be running from Him and hiding in the holes of the ground like the Israelites running from the Philistines. We should be running away in shame indeed. And here John promises that we will be confident. We will be unashamed. Why is that? We will have perfect assurance. The moment we behold him whose blood and whose righteousness is the ground of our assurance, sin will be no more. and we will trust Him wholly. Speaking of knowledge, I like to think about the fact that when we are in heaven with Christ, we will at last, perhaps, be able to wrap our resurrected brains around some of the deep mysteries of the faith. Maybe we'll finally be able to comprehend the hypostatic union, the joining together of the two natures of Christ, God and man, together in one person. On the other hand, maybe we won't be able to comprehend completely. We will not be sinful, but we will not be omniscient. How much we will know, how much we will be able to comprehend of all the things of God, I think we can only speculate. But this we do know. We will have no doubts. No doubts that God loves us. No doubts that we belong to Him. No doubts that He has saved us. Is that not wonderful news this morning, this evening? Is that not a wonderful hope for us? As I was thinking about this, I remembered those words, blessed assurance. And then I remembered the old Fanny Crosby hymn. I discovered that that hymn did not make it into our new Psalter hymnal. It was in the old Trinity hymnal, but not in the new one. That was kind of a well-known classic for me growing up, so I confess it was a little bit disappointing. But why did they exclude it? As I remember Dr. Robert Godfrey pointing out years ago when I heard him speak, it contains elements of the Wesleyan doctrine of perfectionism, which is not consistent with our reform doctrine of total depravity. And the reason is it says this. Perfect submission, all is at rest, I and my Savior am happy and blessed. Is that a bad thing to say? Perfect submission, all is at rest, I and my Savior happy and blessed. Well, it goes on to say watching and waiting, looking above. The implication is that here I am in this life waiting for Jesus to return and I'm already in perfect submission. I think if we can in charity say of our sister, she's speaking truth about a blessing the believer is to enjoy. The question is not the what, the question is the when. There is a time when we will be in perfect submission. Perfect submission. Happy and blessed. Not when we're watching and waiting, but when we see Christ. So long as we are in this life, we are not in perfect submission, probably better than that we not sing as if we are now in perfect submission. We are being sanctified. We are, by God's grace, dying unto sin and living more unto righteousness. We're growing in greater submission, but perfect submission not yet, not yet. But to say that is not to end on a negative note because Jesus is coming. That's the good news. He's coming for those who are not yet perfect. not yet in perfect submission. He's coming for those who yet lack perfect assurance. We are not yet perfect, but by God's grace, we are abiding in Him. We must abide in Him, and if we have been born of Him, then we will abide in Him. And brothers and sisters, when He appears, then you see, then we shall experience that about which Fannie Crosby wrote, perfect submission, we shall experience the fullness of our adoption blessings, fullness of our moral and intellectual purification, and then we shall at last enjoy the fullness of our salvation. Then we shall say, this is my story, this is my song. I am, how's it go? This is my story, this is my song. Praising my savior all the day long, Isn't that marvelous? Perfect submission. All is at rest. I and my Savior, happy and blessed. Then we will look to the heavens and we will see Christ. And we will say without a doubt, blessed assurance. Jesus is mine. Jesus is mine. Marvelous hope. Let's go forth in confidence and live in that hope and purify ourselves as he is pure. Let us pray. O Lord, how we do thank you and praise you and bless you for all that you are to us in Christ Jesus. Thank you for all the blessings that we do enjoy now, and we thank you for this, the blessed hope. Father, we pray that you would strengthen us in this hope as we fix our eyes upon Jesus, as we seek to live by faith. We pray that you would help us to look up to the heavens in expectation of his return. Though imperfect now, Father, we pray that you would come to us even this evening and you would strengthen our assurance and that you would sanctify us unto greater holiness each day until that great day. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen.