"John...gives us a promise that should have our hearts soaring"
[This message is part of a series through the book of 1 John, entitled "Salvific Assurance Through Testimony," preached by Pastor Senter].
I. Faith Explained (verse 24)
In verse 24 we see some past-tense verbiage. Once again, John is speaking to believers, but in the audience are those who have been approached by the secessionists. John is not giving them any new information; he makes that point in chapter 2 verse 7, where he states that he is giving no new directives or commandments. He is simply saying that what you heard from the beginning is to remain. What you heard is what you should be dependent upon–not this new revelation, not these new whiz-bang ideas that sound mystical, or better yet sound like something that you can do. If you think for a moment that you can do something to be saved, that gives you a moment of relief. After all, we are hardest upon ourselves most of the time. We like being in control. It is as if to say, “If I let myself down, well that’s my problem, I can face that.” The problem is that we are still focused temporally. Spiritually, this discussion then turns into an eternal let down. You think you take your eternal life into your own hands; however, you still actually have no control over it. You, on your own, can only destine yourself for one eternal place: eternal torment. That is not control–it is foolishness, or ignorance, or pride, or fear, or just plain rebellion that you will not give yourself up.
What is the encouragement from John here then?
A. Stick with what you know
The word translated “abide” here is very interesting. It is used three times in this verse alone. The Greek word “menw” which is pronounced almost like “minnow” but with an “E.” It means “to remain, stay, or abide”. It has the connotation of living in, existing in, and enduring in. It indicates steadfastness or a stick-to-it-iv-ness. One thing that puzzles me about this verse is that the first time you see it in the first sentence, it is an imperative. An imperative is a command. In addition, the predominant verb or action word is the word for hear, which is in the past tense. The sentence should read more like, “Stay with what you heard from the beginning.” Therefore, this is more a command that is the sense of the sentence. The word “let” in our language has more of a permissive connotation. It is a much softer way to give a command like, “Would you please hand me that hammer.” When the boss asks for a hammer, you know this is not a request you can turn down–it is a command. We would not say to our children “Let the garden be weeded.” We would say, if we were just giving orders, “Weed the garden.” In the Greek, there really is no way to convey this softness, and although they have placed the “let” word, a cohortative, in the sentence; this should not subtract from the fact that “menw” is an imperative, a command. My very basic Greek has me translating this one of two ways, either “let him be staying,” or “he must be remaining.” Being the military type, I prefer the “he must be remaining.” This would mean the verse with the imperative could be rendered, “you who have heard from beginning, in you he must be remaining.” Or, if we move the order around a little, “In you, He must be remaining, you who have heard from the beginning.” What encouragement this is. Those who remain; those who stay in the congregation; those who have heard in the beginning; and those who stay with the believers–in them it is proven that they belong, that He lives in them.
Staying in fellowship with the believing church, remaining under the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, desiring and seeking fellowship with believers rather than unbelievers–these are proofs that you belong, and that He is abiding in you. This steadfast remaining faith testifies of your salvation.
What is a result of this abiding, this staying, this remaining? What is seen from this steadfastness?
B. Fruits of steadfastness
In your obedience to this imperative, to stay, to remain, to abide in the body of Christ; in your desire to fellowship with and heart bending more and more toward the brotherhood of believers that is here in the ministry, in your continuing attendance and desire to remain among those who love you and whom you grow to love in the Lord, you prove that you belong here. It also is the same continuing love for Christ and His message, the Gospel preached at every opportunity. The proof is in your increasing desire to seek this Gospel, to hear of His great love for you, to hear of His sacrifice, and hear of His great plan for your salvation; a plan that spans over 5,000 years in development. Out of this recognition, understanding, and increased knowledge, a convicted heart (one convicted of his wretchedness, and seeing himself as the sinner that he is) will naturally want to serve, to obey, to fellowship, to love others in the Lord God.”
If in this proof you are still holding anything back from belonging here, if there is any separation that you are currently maintaining, you are not fully given to this body and are reserving a place outside this fellowship. The command here is to remain if you are a believer. The response should be to do all you can to remain, and in this obedience, we see that we prove that the Son and the Father live with us, stay with us, and remain in us. If you are doing anything to separate yourself from the Son and the Father, if you are doing anything to subject yourself to a broken fellowship with them or with other believers, if you are even reserving any piece of your life outside this fellowship, you do not comply with the imperative, a command from God to remain.
This command is equally levied upon the gospel in your testimony and witness. You are to have a steadfastness in your discussions with others, you are to have stick-to-it-iv-ness in your defense of the Word, you are to have this living, abiding, and remaining of faith in your every day representation of the Lord Jesus Christ and His great love for you in your life.
True believers should be submitted wholly to their believing fellowships. This is not a permissive command, but a command with teeth. The teeth are the antitheses to this last piece of verse 24 – you do not fully show that the Son and the Father abide in you.
What do we then get, or receive, in our abiding? What is it that God will have for us?
II. Promise defined (verse 25).
The words here that are repeated “promise” as a noun and our verb past tense form “promised” are equally as similar in the Greek as they are in the English. They are “επαγγελια“ (epaggelia) and “επηγγειλατο” (epeggeilato) and by their simple pronunciation, you can gather that only the ending has changed, just as it is in our language. Literally if we translated this verse it would be “And this is the promise which He promised us “the” life “the” eternal.” The article (the word “the”) is affixed to both of the words, “life” and “eternal”, and they are in the same gender, number, and case. So you wonder, what does that mean, Preacher? It is as though John is saying, “The one and the only life and the one and the only eternal existence we can experience.” As with direct definitions of things, there are also direct promises in scripture and here today we have a big one. The phrase “eternal life” (26x) or “life eternal” (4x) is mentioned 30 times in the Bible, and all of those appearances are in the New Testament. We find them in the four gospels, Paul’s epistles to the Romans, Timothy, Titus, John’s epistles, and Jude. This does not count the phrases “live forever” or other directly related phrases that clearly teach eternal existence with God. Here in 1 John we have one such reference. A clear discussion concerning the receipt of a promise made to us. The reference back in this verse is to the Gospels, and some Old Testament references such as Psalm 37:18, where we read, “The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever.” Also Psalm 133:3 states, “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” In addition, Daniel 12:2 declares, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Therefore, this promise was given to us early in our biblical history, and continually in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.
Please look at 1 John 5, beginning in verse 10. Here is the promise again. It is repeated, not only in scripture as a whole, but in 1 John. Look again then at verse 20. Ladies and gentlemen, John, in his efforts to combat the heresy of the day, gives us great encouragement and a great promise that should have our hearts soaring. We should be exuberant at the thought that we are promised eternal life repeatedly in scripture. Our hearts and souls should so reach out to God in gratitude for this gift that no one on earth can deny our true happiness and sense of peace.
We find that if we abide in the Father, the promise is ours to receive. The questions I have for you today are:
- Have you ever truly accepted this promise?
- Do you really know that you have it?
- Are you still holding something back that you are reserving, something you are not giving up?
- Is there anything in your life you are clinging to for your own personal desires, even something such as a belief that you have to do something, or work at something to be saved?
Ladies and gentlemen, it has been done. There is not a thing you can personally do to secure eternal life. Nothing except receiving this promise, abiding in the Son and in the Father, believing and accepting their gift from the cross–only these things give you eternal life. Moreover, you prove you belong when you stay.
To wrap this up, we can put together scripture to form a statement that should make our hearts soar with excitement. Let’s join 1 John 1:7 with what we have just learned. We come up with a statement like this: “We are abiding in fellowship with God in his life-giving light through an enduring faith in Christ Jesus, Who promises and provides this life eternal.”
In knowing God, acknowledging His Son, and accepting the truth, you therefore abide in Him and receive the promise of eternal life. Have you done this?
We have been discussing the promise of eternal life. We first discussed a definition of the antichrist – liars that say they know how to obtain the promise, but deny God, or Jesus as God, and therefore, are denying both in the one. Unbelievers are also defined for us as those who accept this false teaching and leave the fellowship. They may deny either one, but they deny both in their efforts. In addition, we have attempted to define believers as those who, in accepting the Son, consequently accept both God and Jesus as God. Further, we looked at some unbelievers and their empty claims at knowing the promise. Next, we looked at faith, and faith defined. We considered a stick-to-it-iv-ness and the fruits of that steadfast walk. Finally, we looked at the greatest promise mankind can receive from God, which is eternal life.
So, where are you? Do you have the promise? Do you plan to stay and mark yourself as part of the assembly? What are your intentions – to be steadfast or depart? We pray you will be steadfast, that you will remain, that your testimony will be of one who is remaining in fellowship with us. Please contact us if we can help in any way.
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