1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29: If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3: And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Introduction

When He shall appear. The apostle John here, is referring to the appearing of Jesus Christ the second time to receive His Church to Himself. The return of our Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely certain, but the time of His return is unknown to us. Only God knows when He will return but it could be any moment – this year, this month, this week, or even this very hour.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18: Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is one of the most frequently mentioned truths in all the Bible. Our Lord Jesus repeatedly mentioned His own return. On the night before His crucifixion, He promised His disciples in John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

When the disciples watched our risen Saviour ascend into heaven, two angels appeared and said in Acts 1:11 “... Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

Jesus Christ is coming again, and He is coming soon! 

This morning as we continue to think upon His appearing, I want us to consider the following headings: the Preparation for His Appearing, the Transformation at His Appearing, and the Jubilation at His Appearing.

I – Our Preparation for His Appearing

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 

Here, John not only reminds his readers about the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he also exhorts them so that they will be confident and not be ashamed at Christ’s coming. How do you prepare for His appearing? What is John’s exhortation to the believers so that when Christ appears, they may have full of courage and not be ashamed at His coming. John’s exhortation is to abide in Christ. As I have said before, the way to prepare for the second coming is not by standing around and looking for signs. No, the way to prepare for the coming of Christ is, as John clearly says it—“abide in Him.”

1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

To abide in Christ is a key biblical concept. The Bible describes saved people as “in Christ.”

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

What does it mean to be “in Christ?”

The expressions “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” and “in him” are used 164 times in Paul’s letter alone. This expression “in Christ” refers to the state of believers. To be “in Christ” is one way of describing what it means to be a Christian. It simply means we belong to Him; it denotes connectedness. It means that you are in relationship with Him. It is to live in relationship with Christ. So, to be in Christ means that we have a saving relationship with Christ and are brought into union and communion with Him. We are brought into that state or relationship when we accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice as payment for our sins.

The Bible uses metaphors to help us understand the reality of our relationship to the Lord. One of the metaphors used to describe our relationship with Christ is a vine and branches. We are like the branches of a grape vine. Just as a branch detached from the main vine cannot bear fruit, so we who are in Christ cannot bear much fruit unless we abide in Him. This is why our Lord Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” A branch cannot bear fruit by itself—it needs the vine.

The word “abide” means to live, to dwell, to continue or to remain. Understand that all believers and only believers are in Christ and that relationship is unchanging (John 10:28-29). It is fixed and it cannot be undone. But we can become very ineffective, unfruitful, and unable to stand in these last days if we do not abide in Christ. To abide in Christ simply means to remain in fellowship with Christ. It is to live with Him every day. It is to live consciously in the presence of Christ, to talk and walk with God day by day. To abide in Christ means to depend on Him for strength and power to stand strong in the last days and to counter the spirit of antichrist that is increasingly active in our day.

So, the Apostle John commands that all Christians should abide in Christ. As someone has said, “The Christian is to be occupied with Christ, taken up with Christ, operating on Christ’s power, obeying Christ and living every moment for Him. Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Christ is to be the center of the believer’s affection and attention and everything is to be related to Him.” If you and I are to stand in these last days and if we are to have confidence and not be ashamed at Christ’s appearing, to abide in Christ is a must.

II – Our Transformation at His Appearing

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

When Christ shall appear, we will experience complete transformation—we shall be like Him. John is not saying believers will one day be “little gods” or “little Christs” as the New Age movement and other cults falsely teach. Believers can never be equal to Christ, since He is infinite, and we are finite; but we can and will be similar to Him in holiness and in resurrection bodies. This is consistent to the whole plan of redemption.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9: Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Here, Paul explains that Christlikeness is God’s purpose for all His children. This is God’s ultimate goal in our lives—to make us like His Son Jesus Christ in holiness. And the complete fulfilment of that purpose will be realized when Christ appears the second time. When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Actually, this transformation starts at salvation and progresses throughout our Christian life and it will culminate when Christ appears the second time.

This is both a promise and an assurance of future glorification which all the children of God possess. We will no longer have the limitations we now experience in our “corrupt” bodies, which are constraint by disease and sin. Our resurrected bodies will be like Christ’s, and our sanctification will be completed. When we see Him as He is, we will be like him, we will completely and totally be freed from all sin. In this present time, we as believers are free from penalty and power of sin but on the day we see Him, we will be free from sin’s presence and pleasure!

Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

In our redeemed bodies we shall be free of sin forever.  We will be perfectly conformed to Jesus Christ with not a single imperfection in our whole make up. What a day! No more problems, no more conflict with sin, no more hatred, jealousy, envy, and pride. Free at last! Free not only from the penalty and the power of sin but also free form the presence and pleasure of sin!

This brings us to the third and final heading...

III – Our Jubilation (Triumph, Delight) at His Appearing

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The apostle Paul describes our present life and walk in 1 Corinthians 13:12, where we read, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Today, though we are enabled to behold the glory of the Lord without the veil, we still are beholding His glory through a glass. The glass here is not like the prescription eyeglasses that we have today, but it is through a mirror. And the mirrors back in the ancient times were made of polished metals such as brass or silver, giving unclear and distorted image. That’s where we are today, we see though a glass, darkly and dimly. But at the second coming of Christ, we shall no longer see through a dark and dim glass, but we shall see Him face to face. Today, we see Jesus Christ only in a dim, unclear way, but one day, when Christ appears the second time, we will see Him with perfect clarity. We shall see Him face to face. We shall see Him as He is, no longer veiled in flesh, but we shall see Him in His full glory and majesty.

Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace. Heaven is wonderful to us for many reasons. There in Heaven, we will see and be with loved ones, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends who have passed before us and whom we greatly miss. There in Heaven, there will be no more tears, no more crying, no more sorrow, no more night, no more death, no more separation, no more sickness, and no more pain. There in Heaven, there will be no more sin, no more temptation, no more false teachers, no more devil to harass and oppress us!

The timeless theme, Earth and Heaven will pass away

It’s not a dream, God will make all things new that day

Gone is the curse from which I stumbled and fell

Evil is banished to eternal hell

No more night, no more pain

No more tears, never crying again

But as wonderful and precious as these things are, none of these make heaven really “heaven.” What makes heaven, heaven? What makes heaven, heaven is the immediate and direct, unhindered, unrestricted, presence of our Lord. As the song goes on to say ...

And praises to the great, “I AM”

We will live in the light of the risen Lamb!

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

To see Him as He is and to experience His immediate and direct presence will be the greatest experience of our eternal existence!

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

This will be our jubilation! This will be our delight! This will be our greatest joy! This will truly be a day of jubilation for the believer. We cannot begin to imagine the joy we shall experience when we meet the Lord in the air, clothed in a new, glorified, resurrected body. It will be a glorious time when we as the redeemed by grace meet the Lord in the air to ever be with the Lord. We shall behold the One who bled and died for our sin. We will be eternally free from the presence of sin, Satan, and the hindrances of this life. What a day, glorious day, that will be!

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand,

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Closing Thoughts

Let me close with 1 John 2:3, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

The appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ is our great and blessed hope as believers in Christ. The apostle Paul describes our blessed hope in Titus 2:13-14, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

We will be blessed beyond measure when we see Christ face to face. When we see Christ, the trials of this life will be over, and we will see that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18). When we see Christ, He will “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” (Philippains 3:21). When we see Christ, we shall be like Him.

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,

Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;

One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,

So bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Do you long to see Christ? Do you long to be like Him? Do you have this hope? The apostle John goes on to say, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”

According to John, this blessed hope of Christ’s soon and any-time return should have an effect on the believer in Jesus Christ. The believer looking forward to Christ’s blessed return will seek to live, in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, a life of purity. Our Saviour’s imminent return should motivate us believers to live godly in this ungodly world.

Martha Snell Nicholson, who, for more than thirty-five years was an invalid, bound to her bed, and yet has an excellent spirit in Christ said: “The best part is the blessed hope of His soon coming.  How I ever lived before I grasped that wonderful truth, I do not know. How anyone lives without it these trying days I cannot imagine. Each morning I think, with a leap of the heart, ‘He may come today.’  And each evening, ‘When I awake I may be in glory.’  Each day must be lived as though it were to be my last, and there is so much to be done to purify myself and to set my house in order. I am on tiptoe with expectancy. There are no more grey days—for they’re all touched with color; no more dark days—for the radiance of His coming is on the horizon; no more lonely days, with His footstep coming ever nearer, and the thought that soon, soon, I shall see His blessed face and be forever through (or done) with pain and tears.”

This is reality for believers and believers only. We are assured of seeing Christ and being with Christ throughout eternity because of our relationship with Christ. He is the only way to obtain such blessed hope, privilege, comfort, and confidence for eternity. This is what awaits those who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. But for those who are outside of Christ, those who deny Jesus Christ and reject His offer of forgiveness and salvation, it will be an everlasting sorrow, pain, and misery that await them. So, where do you stand today? If the Lord were to call for the church right now, are you certain you would meet Him in the air, accepted as one of the family? If not, seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Come to the “great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Come to Jesus and do it today! Come to Jesus now before it’s too late!

AMEN!