September 28, 2025 - Sunday Morning Service - The Hope that Cleanses - Part 2 - 1 John 2:28

God is so good to us. We are looking at first

1 John 2 · chapter mention

John chapter 2 Just five verses and hopefully

we can get through these finishing them up Has

to do with the hope that we have in Christ Let's

have a word of prayer ask God for us in all this

time Well, you know our hearts our needs The

things that Lay us aside of following you the

things that distract our attention That causes

to to sin or that leads us into an environment

which we choose to sin I Pray that we look at

these verses. They are really powerful that you

will in spite of the limitations of the speaker

which are great That you would Your spirit would

work in our hearts and in the word that you would

make it alive In our lives that would glorify

our blessed Savior and change us into the likeness

of him Thank you so much for the privilege that

we have and the freedom To meet together in the

Lord's name this morning I pray this in Jesus'

name with thanksgiving. Amen. When we're looking

at the subject of hope, hope that cleanses, that's

taken from the very last verse of that five verse

section where it says that everyone who has fixed

his hope on him, that is on Christ, purifies

himself just as he is pure. This hope that we're

talking about is not to be equated with a wish

doesn't say that it's when it uses hope that

we're wishing for something the idea of this

hope is a recognition of the promises and the

provisions of Christ that will happen and we

are just anxious to see them fulfilled we're

anxious to see them take root in our lives and

and do great things for our Savior's, in our

Savior's name. And so as we start on this text

here, we've already been looking at it, but we've

been looking at the various aspects of hope,

but I want to focus on the text and get this

done. Beginning in 1 John chapter 2 and verse

1 John 2 · chapter mention

28, you can follow along with me. John writes,

and now little children, abide in Him. so that

when he is manifested we may have confidence

and not shrink away from him in shame at his

coming. That first verse talking about that hope

is the issue that kind of safeguards safeguards

our life by abiding. Notice at the beginning

of the verse He words it little children, but

it's really not talking about just little children

sitting down. It's been used as a kind of a loving

term. It's like, I was thinking this morning

as I was going over, it's like a great grandfather

or a patriarch sitting at the head of the Thanksgiving

table with his wife and his children and grandchildren

gathered around. And he raised, lifts his hand

and says, these are my children. They're not

all babies. There are a lot of them adults But

when he uses that phrase little children, he's

talking about believers in general We could translate

that and the fact I use that phrase mostly beloved

and now beloved Bide in him Want to talk to you

about this idea of abiding it it carries with

it staying and remaining in Him without yielding,

without being sidetracked. It's a good word.

It reminds us that the relationship that we have

with our Lord and with our Savior is not something

that should be passing, but it's something that's

pretty steadfast. That it should endure, it should

dominate our consciousness and our life. And

to be honest with you, I struggle with that.

It is easy, and I've talked about this, it is

easy for me to seek comfort. My studies last

night, I confess to you, I was very tempted to

turn over to the Alabama football game. And that

is not a good illustration, but I do enjoy the

game. And the temptation is... to sit down and

watch that, which I didn't. I put the sound down,

it was in another part of the house, and so I

couldn't see it. I didn't watch it. With one

or two exceptions, when I had to get something

to drink or whatever, I would go out there to

see what the score was. But there are distractions,

at least there are for me, and I'm sure there

are for you, and things that crowd... Into our

heart and our conscience and seek to push the

Lord aside and this verse is saying here now

beloved Abiding him stay in him walk close to

him you have your bibles turn over to the gospel

of John for a moment and Just let's look at that

idea of a binding because John talks about that

in the text of scripture Where he you know the

verse when he says I am divine the true vine

In that text of Scripture, which we will read,

it focuses on the idea of abiding, of hanging

in there with the Lord. And that's really important.

And what Jesus is doing here is he's painting

an agricultural, in agricultural terms, a picture,

they illustrate the importance of us abiding

in Christ and in the Lord. It's very important

but we can see it more clearly when we see the

illustration that the Lord gives. He says in

verse 1, I am the true vine and my father is

the vine dresser. Now that starts out in kind

of a picture. I used to grow, I used to have

a garden a long time ago when I had time to do

it and one of the things I really enjoyed growing

were tomatoes. I like tomatoes and fresh fresh

tomatoes and stuff like that. And so the picture

is you have this vine coming up out of the ground.

The fact that he uses true vine I think is a

picture that there are many people who claim

to be substitute vines, substitute saviors or

whatever that are not. But he is a true vine

picture in the garden and the father is the vine

dresser or the gardener that comes by and tends

the garden and makes sure that things are doing

well. I can remember doing that many times. Believe

it or not, one of the best times to look at the

garden and see how it's flourishing is at night

when it's dark. The plants that are alive and

they are showing good health if it's a healthy

garden. So anyway, he says that. He says then

that every branch in me that does not bear fruit,

he takes away. This is the gardener. and the

gardener is attending those vines, those tomato

bushes, and he says the goal of the gardener

is for that vine to produce fruit. Now bear in

mind he's making a picture about Christian living.

And so what he's saying here is just as it is

the gardener's intention and purpose and pursuit

for those plants to produce fruit, so it is the

Father's intention for us. to be fruitful, to

us to have fruit as well. And so in this picture,

I'm the true vine. My father is the vine grower

or the gardener. Every branch in me that does

not bear fruit, he prunes, he cuts it away, and

every branch that bears fruit, he cleans it or

prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. So

you've got the gardener cutting off the the vine,

the branches that are not fruitful. And if you

have the blight, you know what it's like to see

these branches kind of withered, stuff like that.

And so it's the gardener's intention to make

them fruitful and to work with the branches that

are growing in the vine and starting to produce

fruit. But the ones that are not growing, he

takes away and puts them in a pile and burns

them. And just bear in mind again that this is

supposed to be a picture of us. the church and

the people that not everybody that's in the church

is fruitful not everybody is part of the body

that there There's one thing to be religious

It's an entirely different thing for the Lord

to own your life be Dominating your heart. It's

completely different the difference between fruit

and non fruit between life and death And so he

says that the father takes it away and prunes

the ones that are not bearing fruit, so they

will bear fruit. And you can do that with tomato

plants by cutting off these suckers that take

the nourishment away from the good vine. And

so that's part of that vine dressing. Then he

goes on to say, you are already pruned because

of the word which I've spoken to you. Again,

that picture of the fruit is applied to Christian

life. And what he's saying there is that the

Word, and particularly the words of Christ, carry

with them the ability to cut off the extraneous,

the extra stuff, the frivolous stuff in your

life. You mentioned this morning, Pete, that

people can look at the Word and not always get

the message, not always apply it to their lives,

and I think... All of us are guilty of that.

I know I am. And I can reinterpret a passage,

not for what it says, but for what I want it

to say. That was R .C. Sproul's strong message

when he was talking about election. He said that

a lot of us don't want election. We don't like

to talk about it. And we want to reinterpret

the Bible on terms. But he says, you're required

to teach what the Bible says. not what you want

it to say. And that's the same with us. We can

do that. We want to reinterpret it sometimes

so that we feel comfortable. So here talking

about abiding, he's now beginning to... He's

painted a picture of the plant and the suckers

being the wasted vine being thrown away and the

good ones that are needing to bear fruit. He

prunes them so they will bear more fruit. And

he says something very interesting. is so simple

and yet we miss it sometimes he says as the branch

cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides

in the vine so neither can you unless you abide

in me if you go in the garden and you see tomato

bushes and you see a few of them with the limbs

that are broken they're withered they're hanging

down they're not going to produce anything. And

the reason they're not going to produce anything

is because the path of nourishment, the path

of instruction, the path of life that goes from

the life -giving vine to the branches has been

severed. They've been broken. They've been cut

off. So you've got this bush, this tree that

you want the fruit on it, but you've got in there

a few branches. that are broken off and they're

just withered and they're not going to do anything.

And the reason they're not going to do anything

is because they can't get the nourishment, they

can't get the strength, they can't get the direction

that they need because they've been broken off.

That's the same illustration here talking about

this branch of this vine. He says, as the branch

cannot bear fruit itself unless it abides in

the vine, so neither can you. Unless you abide

in me. Now, what's the topic we're looking at?

We're looking at the topic of abiding. What is

he saying here? He says that if you want to be

fruitful, you need to abide in me. That's the

key of what he's trying to tell us here. He goes

on to say, I am the vine and you are the branches.

So now the picture is we're looking at this vine,

this bush. Christ said, I am that bush. I am

the vine and you are the branches. He who abides

in me and I in him bears much fruit. What do

you mean? Abide in me and I in him. Well, I think

it's a picture of the communication and the sustenance

that goes back between the vine and the branch.

I abide in you and you abide in me. So you've

got that communication, you've got that nourishment,

you've got that life that goes from the vine

to the branches and the communication of the

branch back to the life. back to the uh the vine

telling it what it needs and so there it is there's

the picture he says um he who he bears unless

he abides in me and i in him he bears let me

back up i'm skipping over it says i'm the vine

and you are the branches he who abides in me

and i in him he bears much fruit apart from me

or cut off from me you can do nothing If anyone

does not abide in me, here it is. He's thrown

away as a branch and dries up and they gather

them and cast them into the fire and they are

burned. There's branches that are there using

energy or stuff like that and they are taking

away the sustenance from the good branches. He

says they cut them off, put on a pile and get

rid of them. Again, it's a picture of the church.

It's a picture of believers and the fact is that

God says I'm going to take those away. that are

not abiding in me and not dwelling in me. That's

a serious thing. It's placed here in the pages

of Scripture and I try to read the Scripture

every morning, but this is a serious warning

to me and to you. The warning is that we want

to make sure that we're abiding in Christ because

we're not going to be fruitful and eventually

he's going to cut... those away that are not

fruitful that are a waste of space and a waste

of energy so he said they are thrown away and

they dry up they're gathered and put into the

fire but if you abide in me and my words abide

in you that idea there means to stay in to be

to be fruitful over the long haul and that's

the idea of abiding not to quit not to turn away

if my words abide in you you You can ask whatever

you wish and it will be done for you. That's

the communication that comes through the branch

to the vine. The communication that goes back

and forth. My words abide in you. You can communicate

with me and ask back and I will hear your prayer

and I will answer you. This is a relationship

and it's a very tender relationship. and it's

a very good relationship pictured in the vine

and the branches but it's actually a picture

of the vine and the branches that's describing

us and our abiding with Christ and that's a powerful

lesson that's a powerful thing because as I've

already said we can easily be sidetracked and

be guilty of a lot of other things and get distracted

and football is nothing It's absolutely, in the

picture of eternity, it's not going to matter.

The man that was most influential in my life

with Alabama is in heaven right now and I will

bet you anything he's never thought about football

since the day he fell at the Savior's feet because

that's so unimportant. Do you see what I'm saying?

But we can, and I can do that, can focus on little

unimportant things instead of the real important

things of abiding in Christ. So he says here,

if you abide in me, and my words abide in you,

verse 7, you can ask what you will and be done

for you. My Father is glorified in this, He's

exalted in this, that you bear much fruit and

so prove to be my disciples. Here it is. He says,

it's a desire that you be fruitful, that you

bear fruit. In the process of bearing fruit,

you are proving to be my disciples. The whole

purpose of planting a tomato bush is not to provide

shade for some bugs on the ground. The whole

purpose of planting a tomato bush in the garden,

and yes, we enjoy it. I enjoy gardening. I don't

do it after the hunt time, but we enjoy it. I

enjoy watching the plants grow. I enjoy watching

them prosper. I enjoy the fruit that comes over.

But the fruit is the purpose for the planet.

Food is the purpose of the garden. And that's

the same thing that Jesus is saying here. You

bite in me and my words are biting you. You can

communicate with me and what I ask you, what

you ask will be done. My Father is exalted, is

glorified, and He is the Divine Dresser. He's

the one that's in charge that you bear much fruit.

And in doing that, you prove to be my disciples.

So the evidence to the church and to the people

is fruitfulness, and we can go on a study of

fruitfulness. Yes, fruit means believers, but

it means a lot more. It means what you do with

your life, or what you do with your time. The

fruit of life means what comes out of your mouth.

If you are abiding in Christ, it affects your

life, and it affects the aspect of your life,

and what people see, and how they react to you.

And so, he says here, if the Father Just as the

Father has loved me, Jesus is saying that, and

that idea of love, I'm going to get my water

over here. I got it under my chair over here.

Sorry about that. The idea of love there is almost

a synonym for salvation. I feel like Eric when

I drink in the bulldozer. The idea of love there,

as the Father has loved me and I've also loved

you, There's a synonym for salvation. If you

remember Paul in Romans, Jesus talked about no

one can snatch him out of my father's hand. That's

John 10, but in Romans 8, I forget now how he

words that. Well, let's look at it. We'll just

take a moment. Who shall separate us from the

love of Christ? That's it at the end of Romans

8. I'm convinced neither death life, nor angels,

nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to

powers, things to come, nor powers, nor height,

nor depth, nor any other created thing will be

able to separate us from the love of God. That's

not the emotion of God. That's the provision

of God. That's what love means. And so we cannot

be separated. from God's provision on our behalf,

and that's the salvation, that's Christ, that's

what he's done. We're secure in his provision

and his love. And so he uses that word here,

just as my Father has loved me, has provided

for me, I have also loved you, I have provided

for you. Abide in my provision, abide in the

things that I have done, abide in the truth that

I've given you, abide in these things. Stay in

these things because this is where you get the

fruit from this this is what produces fruit in

your life And so this is important these things

he says I was spoken to you so that my joy May

be in your joy is the flag That flies over the

life of the believer wonders walking close to

God They have in I think it's in Scotland they

have a flag that they fly over the resonance

of the leader when he's home. When he's not home,

the flag is taken down. And I'm getting that

now. I don't know firsthand. I'm getting that

from what I've heard from others. But at any

rate, the flag that flies over the life of the

believer, the person that loves Jesus, is joy.

And that's just an illustration. You need to

be joyful. You need to let your face know that

you love the Savior. It's going to affect your

life and what you do. So that's the first thing

he's talking about here in this verse. He says,

now, beloved, abide in him that is in Christ.

And so that when he is manifested, the idea of

manifested really carries the idea of revealing

by sight. when He has manifested or when He has

revealed to us by sight, we may have confidence

and not shrink away. Let me just say this to

you. I'm a pastor of a church and it can be debated

how closely I walk with the Lord or how closely

you walk with the Lord. But I can tell you this,

I know I'm going to stand before Him one day

and that terrifies me. That's a fearful thing

and in one sense of the word it's a fearful thing.

because it's that final exam, it's that final

standing before the Lord and giving an account

of Him, of what I've done and how I've lived

and the things that I've lusted after and things

that I've pursued. And that's a place that, as

Paul says in Romans 8, I mean Romans 3, that

he says that every mouth will be stopped and

all the world become guilty before God. There

is a time when we stand before the Lord There's

not going to be any way that we can explain things.

We won't have anything to say Our mouths will

be stopped and we'll stand guilty before the

Lord this word confidence here Is exactly the

opposite he said we may have and the literal

meaning is boldness of speech We may have boldness

of speech and not shrink away from him in shame

at his coming so here it is We are definitely

going to stand before Him one day. We are told

to abide in Him, that we can be fruitful if we

do that, and that's going to give us boldness

of speech when we stand before the Lord and we

see Him. In the one hand, it's a terrifying thing

to stand before Him, but another thing is an

amazing comfort to my heart to know that when

I stand before Him, I will have the freedom of

expression, and I don't want to make a joke about

it, but some of us talk more than others. But

when we stand before Him, we'll have the boldness

to be able to communicate. We'll be able to speak

to Him, not because of anything we've done, but

because God has been working in our hearts as

we abide in Him, and He has produced in our lives

an evidence of salvation. And so that's the first

point, and the first point is this, that the

idea of hope, Safeguard is safeguarded by abiding.

Abiding is what protects our relationship there

in this place of hope in that first verse. Well,

I wouldn't have to come back to this because

we're out of time, but we're going to go from

there talking about righteousness and how hope

also affects our righteous standing with the

Lord. Let me just have a word of prayer. Lord,

I want to thank you. Words really are not there

to express how great your love is and your provision

and your call to us. The fact that you have stooped

so low to communicate with us, to tell us what

you're like, to give us these illustrations and

to show us these things when we're not really

interested. We've got other things to do and

we are preoccupied with other things and yet

nothing Nothing is as important as this and so

I pray you'll help us to really focus on obedience

and love and really pursue you make room in our

day for your word and make room in our day for

prayer to you and and make room in our day that

we seek to honor you and glorify you and Lord,

thank you for your your mercy and your grace

You are so good to us and that's your blessing

now upon us this week Help us to learn more About

what it means to abide In our Lord and I pray

in Jesus name with thanksgiving. Amen