Keep on Keeping On (part II, audio)

Well, please take your Bibles then this morning and if you would find 1 John chapter 2 and once again our text will be verses 24 to 29 so we'll go through to the end of the chapter.

Here this morning as I continue to preach through this wonderful letter penned by the Apostle John, the beloved Apostle. And so if you found it, let's read it from God's Word, 1 John chapter 2 starting with verse 24.

Therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you and you do not need that anyone teach you.

But as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie. And just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

And now little children, abide in Him that when He appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Now this morning, our subject is once again Christian perseverance. Christian perseverance. I believe that's John's subject here.

Perseverance, endurance, or as I have called it, keep on keeping on. And of course, we as born-again followers of Christ, we do face many challenges in this life.

Challenges on many fronts that touch us in many different ways. But in keeping with our subject, we certainly face challenges to our perseverance, our endurance.

Life is hard. It just really, it really is. And for the Christian community at large, one of those major challenges that we face, challenges to our perseverance, our endurance, is false teachers.

False teachers. False teachers teaching false doctrines. and this was the challenge to the church or churches to whom John was writing in his day 2,000 years ago and it is the same challenge today to churches in our day and indeed throughout the history of the church this has been the case right and this is what John kind of John opens with this is how you know that you're in the present evil age because in this present evil age there have been and will continue to be many antichrists that's the word that John used antichrists or false prophets false teachers teaching false theology as I mentioned last week the challenge for many who profess faith in Christ is simply this these false teachers are pretty smart people I mean they really are and because of many things about them and their approach they are sometimes believable that is what they're teaching is sometimes believable I mean they're compelling persuasive teachers and they are very subtle in their deception you know they'll take their lies and mix it with just enough truth to make it reasonable believable kind of like the national inquirer you know just enough truth there of course what you see on the cover of national inquirer you're usually not duped by any of that but these false teachers on the other hand they are very persuasive very smart very conniving very subtle and they know how to get across their lies mixed with a little bit of truth but lies mixed with truth is still a lie okay you know we hear a lot these days about fake news I'm almost tired of hearing that little new buzzword that we hear on the news fake news you know but it works I mean it really does it works and and it's not something new it's always been the case the fake news works because we as a society of people have a tendency to believe what we hear on the nightly news or on the 24 7 cable news networks that may be your favorite to watch we just kind of have a tendency to believe what they're saying is true and so sometimes the news is so sensational and sometimes the news kind of fits in with maybe our preconceived notions or whatever the case may be and so we kind of believe it and yet it's still fake it's fake news not true well the point is we have the same tendency many of us many within the Christian community same tendency toward false theology and we listen to the radio and false theology kind of just slips in unawares through popular Christian music I mean there's more false theology taught through music than any other medium and so we just kind of dupe we just get just kind of comes in that way you know or we listen to the

Christian talk radio and we hear some popular or great communicator espouse a false theology and because this program may be featured on say bot radio or American family radio or maybe some other outlet we don't question as we ought to question the doctrinal accuracy or we watch some television ministry a huge ministry and see the you the huge congregations that flock to hear these people preach or teach and we listen to some attractive preacher and his or her appealing message and we don't stop as we ought to stop and consider whether or not it is biblical you see how easy it is for this kind of thing to just be presented to us and how it can get into our minds and they're very smooth and very smart in the way that it is presented and appeals to our emotions and appeals oftentimes to our flesh and our certain life circumstances and we're just kind of ready to receive it without really checking it out so how how are we to to stay on the right track this is the question how are we to do that when these brilliant false teachers come on the radio or on the tv or in even into our churches and they're smarter than we are in many ways at least we think they are they present themselves to be they're smarter and they are they know more seem to know more than we know and they are teaching about things that we really have not really studied for ourselves things we don't know a whole lot about theologies perhaps that we don't really understand as we should understand and doctrines that have always been perhaps a little bit confusing to us in the first place i mean this is the dilemma we we face as the christian community here in this country i hope hope i'm not talking about the majority of you uh... we and i very intent on teaching the truth and i hope that uh... that you also check what i teach and preach with your copy of god's word but with the christian community at large there's just this tendency to to to to be overwhelmed by all of this and how are we to stay in the truth how how are we supposed to persevere persevere endure in the true faith to keep on keeping on well you know john the apostle john is very concerned about that too in fact that's why he wrote this letter and and that's the focus certainly the focus of this particular portion of this letter he wrote and john addresses this issue uh... here uh... in our passage with a threefold answer and this is just really basic kind of christianity 101 that sometimes even the most basics we can lose sight of and forget and and uh... and so here here the the three things that he says to keep on keeping on in terms of persevering and enduring number one remain in the scriptures number two rely upon the holy spirit and third be rooted continually rooted in the savior the lord jesus christ now as i pointed out last week john john's instructions his teachings here are kind of uh...

fit around they're constructed around the use of a certain word repetition of a certain word keyword in the passage and that's by the way very important uh... method for bible study is to look at the words and look at the repetition of words and this particular word the word abide if you have an niv i think it's translated usually remain and that's still the idea but that word appears six times i mean six times i mean when you're reading a passage of scripture and there's a word repeated six times you ought to take notice because it's going to help you understand the meaning of the passage and the application of it so the word about abide or remain appears six times in the text and equally important is the small preposition that is connected to it uh... each time all six times and it is the preposition in so abide remain in remain in and it's also important to note the grammatical form of the verb and you really have to look this up unless you're a greek grammarian and i'm not i have to look it up but in the greek grammar every time this verb appears in the passage it is present tense active voice and all you really have to know about that is that it means it's it's continuous it's a continuous action it's not a one-time deal it's an ongoing kind of action john says continually abide in and then john fills in the blank with three things that we are to continually abide in and they are the scriptures the spirit and the savior let me read the passage again but read it this time from a respected paraphrase and uh... it is uh... the kenneth weist weist expanded translation i want you to listen to it very closely i'm not going to read the entire passage but just the key passages that highlight these three things that john is telling us to continually abide in listen to it very carefully as for you that which you heard from the beginning in you let it constantly abide be constantly abiding so there's the first one constantly abide in the scriptures that which you heard from the beginning in the truth it is to remain in you verse 27 but as for you kind of opens with the same uh...

kind of same beginning as for you the anointing and remember i explained last week that this is the holy spirit it's a reference to the holy spirit chrisma the anointing which you received from him that's god the father remains in you and no need are you constantly having that anyone be constantly teaching you but even as his anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie and even as he the holy spirit taught you be constantly abiding in him so there's the second thing constantly abide in the spirit in the sense of relying on him and then verse 28 and now little children so again it kind of begins the same way and you and you and you little children be continually abiding in him this time it's a reference to jesus christ in order that whenever he is made visible that is when jesus returns we may have instant freedom freedom of speech and not be made to shrink away from him in shame at his coming and personal presence so then thirdly continually abide in the savior in the sense of being rooted rooted in him so there you have really the outline for the passage to keep on keeping on remain in the scripture rely on the spirit be rooted in the savior the lord jesus christ now we looked at the first one last week didn't we hopefully you were here remain in the scriptures that's the first thing remain in the scriptures how are you going to be able to stand strong against all the false teachers how are you going to know the difference between truth and error remain in the scriptures again as john writes in verse 24 therefore let that abide in you or remain in you which you heard from the beginning that is see to it that the truth jesus taught john saying jesus taught to us we're teaching we taught it to you see to it that that truth continuously remains in you focus on that foster that remember foster it through the daily discipline of reading it and studying it and memorizing it and and meditating upon it upon the word of god yeah you do know don't you that the false teachers are counting on your biblical illiteracy do you know that they're counting on you you not knowing the scripture biblical illiteracy which in my view has reached near critical mass in our society really all over the west where a growing number are unable to distinguish between fact and fiction truth and error it's critical and so this is the first thing remain in the scriptures learn it more deeply practice it more fully remain in the scripture and we talked about that last week and so now here's the second thing John tells us rely on the spirit rely on the spirit the holy spirit again verse 26 and let's just kind of walk through this slowly and look at it in your copy of

God's word these things John says these things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you that's what John is doing here how are we going to stand strong against the deceptive teachings of the antichrist the false prophets the false teachers and John says in verse 26 that's why I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you but the anointing look at it the anointing again that's the holy spirit Christmas the anointing the holy spirit which you have received from him that's God the father abides continuously abides continuously dwells in you and that's a wonderful truth isn't it continuously abides in you and you do not need that is you are not continually dependent upon anyone teaching you you're not absolutely continually absolutely dependent upon people outside of you to teach you the truth and why is that because you have because of the one who dwells in you who is that the holy spirit the holy spirit john says but as the same anointing literally his anointing the father's anointing the holy spirit teaches you look at it teaches you he teaches you concerning all things what things well he's already named those things or what those things refers to the things that you've heard from the beginning the gospel he teaches you the things you have heard the gospel the truth and he says and it is true the gospel is true and it is not a lie and just as it that could refer to the holy spirit but I think it refers to the truth the gospel has taught you now what has it taught you well look at what john says you abide in him in the holy spirit you continuously abide in the holy spirit so the idea is to rely upon the holy spirit upon him he continuously abides in every single believer by virtue of your regeneration your salvation the holy spirit lives in every born again believer and then every believer must continually rely upon him this is the idea and this goes hand in hand with the first thing john teaches us doesn't i mean both the word of god and the spirit of god abide in the believer abide in the believer jesus himself put these two things together if you have your bibles there look at john chapter 14 verse 25 john 14 verse 25 this time jesus is speaking he's going to say some similar things that john has said in our passage but john 14 25 listen to this jesus is speaking these things i have spoken to you while being present with you so john when he writes he says these things i'm writing to you and he could write those things because jesus had spoken those things so so jesus has spoken he says i've spoken these things to you while being present with you that's what i want you to notice now when is this happening well very near to the end of jesus earthly ministry and very

shortly he will be arrested and tried and convicted and crucified executed and so what does he say to his disciples he says to his disciples i have been teaching you in person that's what what what he says really for three years he's been doing it face to face in person i've been teaching you but now this face to face personal teaching is about to come to an end why because jesus is leaving he's leaving but and this is the great news news i sure you already know hopefully you know but the teaching is not over jesus their teacher is leaving but another teacher is coming and for us has come another teacher is coming listen to what jesus says to his disciples and what by the way he says to them apply it goes for us too but the helper i love i love this passage the helper with a capital h the helper and who is that well jesus tells us it's the holy spirit the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name same thing that john says in his letter the holy spirit but not will send has sent all right before jesus is his future yet for his disciples so he said the helper the holy spirit whom the father god the father will send to you you in my name i love this this is an awesome truth this incredible gift the helper the helper parakletos you ought to be familiar with that word parakletos the divine paraklete sometimes authors will refer to it parakletos it's a compound word in the

Greek language starts with a preposition para para means beside alongside parameter like we have in our own language preposition para alongside kletos from the verb kaleo which means to call to call and here in the noun form it would be the one called all right so let's put that together the one called alongside this is the helper parakletos the one called alongside and jesus of course identifies this one as who the holy spirit the holy spirit god the spirit the third member of the holy trinity god not part god all god just as much as god the son and god the father so it's god the spirit and to whom is he called alongside me you every single believer true christian you see listen in the old testament the holy spirit was called alongside certain ones as a temporary resident to accomplish a specific purpose and then he would come and then he would go but in the new testament the holy spirit is sent by the father to come alongside all true born again believers as a permanent resident do you understand that not coming and going you don't have to pray for him to come he's there in you the hope of glory it's the person of christ it's christ in the person of the holy spirit living in you as a permanent resident the one called alongside paul said in first corinthians 3 16 do you not know that you are the temple of god and that the spirit of god that's the holy spirit what dwells in you dwells in you first corinthians 6 19 you do do you not know that your body is the temple of the holy spirit who is in you in you and you are not your own second corinthians 6 16 for we are the temple of the living god romans 8 9 if anyone does not have the spirit in the sense of indwelling spirit have the spirit of christ the holy spirit he's not his he's not his galatians 4 6 because you are sons god has sent forth the spirit of his son that's another designation for the holy spirit sent forth the spirit of his son the holy spirit into your hearts crying abba father and there are many other examples in scripture and this is great listen christian every true believer every true christian you have all the help you need living inside of you i don't know that most believers really know that or believe that does that mean you don't need preachers don't need other teachers no that's not the point but you have living in you all the help you need to know whether that teaching from the pulpit or from the classroom or on the radio or the television to know whether it's true whether it's it's the

gospel living in you it's god himself in you in you and what we need is an infallible guide i mean he lives in you to do a lot of other things but one of those things a very important thing is to be an infallible guide an infallible teacher to help us navigate through the many false truth claims that we're inundated by not only outside the church but inside the church as well we need that infallible guide and this is what jesus says there in john 14 26 you still have it open there look at it but the helper he says the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name and for us has sent he will do what he will teach you all things he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that i said to you now that certainly directly applies to the apostles who many of them would be writing down the scriptures writing down the revelation and that function the holy spirit would accomplish in them but by extension to all of us he is our teacher and he will bring to our remembrance the things that jesus has said to us so not new revelation you know that's that's part of the problem part of the lie of the false teachers and that is the holy spirit has given them new revelation no revelation is closed but the holy spirit functions in us to teach us what has been revealed and to bring to our remembrance those things we've already learned boy how we need that and by the way this promise this was a promise given to us way back in the old testament ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 27 i will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues and you will be careful to observe my ordinances my laws all right so here is how you guard against false teachers no matter how persuasive they are no matter how how smart they seem to be first remain in the infallible truth the bible remain in the scriptures and foster that don't be drawn away by new fangled theologies okay or some supposed new revelation or some new mysterious truth that has been discovered and never before seen it's always amazing to me some of the fads that come out and I'm not against the prayer of

Jabez but you know that was such a fad for a while and yet that scripture has been right there in the bible for several thousand years no it's the holy spirit that leads us into all truth and so you go to the truth you remain in the scriptures you rely upon the infallible guide the teacher who lives in you and that's the holy spirit rely on the spirit who indwells you rely upon the holy spirit yield to his influence submit to his control his authority in your life follow follow his guidance which will always line up of course with God's revealed truth so they go together don't they it's a winning combination a bible in the hand a spirit in the heart but there is a third thing that John tells us here remain in the scriptures rely on the spirit and then third be rooted in the savior be rooted in the savior the lord jesus christ look at verse 28 again and now little children abide again with the idea of continuous action continuously abide in him and this time the pronoun him is a reference to

Jesus how do we know that because of what John says next abide in him that when he appears that's jesus that's a reference to jesus when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed literally shrink shrink away in shame that we will not shrink in shame before him actually I think it would be better translated away from him at his coming what a picture and by the way the word translated confidence in the new king james actually means to speak freely be able to speak freely and it's the same word by the way that's found in one of those prayer promises that we love in Hebrews 4 16 let us therefore come boldly same word speak freely able to speak freely come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help and help to help in time of need all right so pay close attention to this when jesus appears one day he will appear he will come again and when we stand before him what is it that will either make us speak freely speak freely with confidence or shrink away in silence and shame what will make the difference well simply this the genuineness of our faith the validity of our salvation that we profess and claim is it real is it real this is what john is getting at in the next verse if you know that he that's jesus is righteous and look at that if we know that jesus is righteous or the righteous one and all true believers know that they all know that the word know here is a particular greek word a do a do and it refers to an intuitive knowledge not something we learn or experience but something we know it's in us it's a knowledge that is there an absolute knowledge and in this sense it's the knowledge god gives you at conversion i mean there is no true faith in jesus apart from knowing that jesus is the righteous one he didn't know that he would not be safe you would not trust him you would not believe in him but it's not a knowledge you learn it's a knowledge that you absolutely know it's it's it's given to us but let's go on if you know he goes on from there and says if you know there's the word know again well this is the same word if you know or absolutely know that he is righteous then what you know there's the second no in the in the sentence you know you know what that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him all right you know he is righteous you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of him and here the word know is a different word it's the word ginosko and that refers to an experiential knowledge it is something you come

to know you come to know and what is it that we come to know more and more as we mature in our faith John says that everyone who practices righteousness is born of God everyone who practices righteousness is born of God not everyone who prays a prayer not everyone who makes a profession of faith not everyone who walks an aisle and gets baptized not everyone who joins a church but everyone who practices righteousness righteousness who's righteousness Christ's righteousness Christ's righteousness and so you put that together we know that Jesus is righteous and holy and we come to know that if we are born of him if we're truly saved then we have been born to his righteousness his same righteousness and holiness righteousness and it stands as a proof of our salvation and so righteousness is what it's the fruit of our

Christian life the righteousness of Christ is the fruit of the Christian life the true Christian life in a sense it is the one word by the way that describes what Paul called the fruit of the spirit righteousness even though he doesn't use the word righteousness in that famous passage in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 and 23 you know it some of you by heart maybe in a different translation but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control by the way that's a perfect portrait of Christ perfect portrait of Christ that's what righteousness looks like the righteousness of Christ and so how is it possible for us to bear such fruit such fruit to be in a sense righteous like Jesus how is that possible John says abide in him in

Jesus what does that mean to abide abide in him you know John was an excellent student and already I think we've seen examples of this because many times in John's letter things he says and writes in his letter parallel perfectly with the teachings of Jesus recorded in John's gospel that's not by accident John was a good student and this particular passage is a prime example because we can go to the gospel of John in John chapter 15 that famous chapter in verse 4 where Jesus said abide in me abide in me and I in you and he gives a little illustration as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself all by itself apart from the vine a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides unless it's rooted in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me you remember this passage don't you and Jesus said I'm the vine I'm the vine and what about you you're the branches you're the branches and he who abides in me remains rooted in me and

I in him bears much fruit for without me you can do nothing you can do nothing by the way it's interesting how that's worded simple fact is if you are detached from the vine you can do all kinds of things and many professing believers do a lot of things problem is they equal nothing nothing big fat zero and so he says I'm the vine you're the branches he who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit bears the righteousness of Christ not fruits but fruit as described in Galatians the righteousness of Christ so let's just wrap this up this morning how are you going to stay on track with the truth in this world where there is error all around us and error that is vying to get our attention and wanting us to accept and so forth there are very persuasive teachers all around us on the radio and TV and even in some of our churches and through some of our music that we think is really neat and nice and warm and fuzzy and yet it's full of lies how are we going to stay on track with the truth when it's so subtly!

so subtly presented to us how are we going to stay strong in the true faith remain in the scriptures rely on the Holy Spirit and be rooted in the Savior that is draw from the vine all that you need give to the vine all of your devotion cultivate cultivate a continual deepening relationship with the vine with Jesus Christ and I guarantee you if those three things become the priority of your life you don't have to worry about those people coming in and saying I've got a new truth for you you don't need those kind of teachers some mystical!

truth someone who is supposedly read between the lines of scripture and has unlocked some mystery truth that has been a mystery for years but now I'm gifted to unlock that mystery for you you don't have to have those kind of teachers in fact you have the best teacher living in you and you have the authoritative word in your hand and you are drawing from Jesus all of the strength you need all of the vitality you need and you'll stand against false doctrine Thank you.