How to be Ready for Christ's Return

A few years ago, the men who were involved in the formation of the old American Football League got together for a 25-year reunion. These seasoned football veterans and owners swapped stories and enjoyed a full evening of laughs and reflections together.

One of them, Al Davis, the owner of the Los Angeles Raiders, told a story that night. Way back in the early days of the league there was a dinner meeting which Al Davis and his fellow owners attended. These men were quite literally out on a limb together. Their new football league was struggling. They were locked in a life-and-death battle with the powerful National Football League. Each of them had taken an enormous financial gamble. Davis remembers these anxious men sitting around the table staring with envy at Nicky Hilton, the man who was their guest speaker that evening. When it came time for him to speak, Hilton was introduced as a man who had just made $100,000 in the baseball business in the city of Los Angeles. (Remember, this was way back in the early sixties when that was a lot of money.)

Mr. Hilton stood up as the room exploded in applause. These men were really interested in what he was going to tell them. But as he stepped up to the microphone, he said he needed to correct what had been said about him.

It was not he who’d had that experience, it was his brother Baron. And it wasn’t in Los Angeles, it was in San Diego. And it wasn’t baseball, it was football. And it wasn’t $100,000, it was a million dollars. And he hadn’t made it, he’d lost it!

Things are not always as they first appear, are they? We’ve been finding that out in the book of 1 John. Sure, there are a lot of people out there who claim to be Christians, but are they real? Are they authentic? How do you tell?

Recently, we watched the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Maybe you remember seeing pictures of some of the victorious American boxers receiving their gold medals. These guys, who weren’t exactly overcome with awe, had those gold medals between their teeth, biting them to see if they were real. I guess the old test for real gold was to bite it.

Well John put the bite on some of those so-called Christians with a series of tests. How to tell if a Christian is real:

1. A real Christian knows he’s a sinner, and he confesses his sin to God.

2. A real Christian seeks to obey God in every part of his life, and that shows by the way he loves people.

3. A real Christian loves the Father, not the world.

4. A real Christian believes that Jesus is a man who is God.

Now today, we’re going to go a little further in 1 John and discover another diagnostic test of authenticity.

1 John 2:24-29 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

Perhaps as we read that text, you noticed that there was a word that you kept hearing over and over. It is the word “remain”. Depending on which Bible version you happen to be looking at, this word may be translated “abide”. But if you were looking at the Greek version, which of course is the original language of the New Testament, you would see that word appear as the word “meno”.

“Meno” is a favorite word of the Apostle John. He uses it over sixty times in his writings. He uses it to describe how the Spirit of God came and remained on Jesus at his baptism. He uses it to describe the relationship between Jesus and God the Father.

John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

It is a word which means to dwell, to continue, to abide, to remain. In the today’s language, you might even say that “meno” means to “hang out”. It has the idea of a continuing presence, of staying in a certain place. When Larry and Anita Caldwell moved to our area from St. Louis, TWA put them up temporarily in the Sunrise Motor Inn. That is where they were staying. In Greek, they were “meno”-ing there. But then, when they found an apartment, they moved and now they are “meno”-ing there.

John uses that word “meno” six times in these verses:

v.24 See that what you have heard from the beginning “menos” in you. If it does “meno”, you also will “meno” in the Son and in the Father.

v.27 As for you, the anointing you received from him “menos” in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, “meno” in him.

v.28 And now, dear children, “meno” in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

So what is John saying? He is saying that an authentic Christian is one who “meno’s” in Jesus Christ; one who abides, who remains, who dwells continually in Jesus Christ.

There is a very beautiful and well-known passage in the Gospel of John about this very thing. Jesus and his disciples are on their way to the Mt. of Olives, and on the way, they pass some vineyards. Jesus points to the vines and says to his disciples:

John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I will abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must abide in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

But the question we need to answer is “how?” How can I learn to abide in Christ? Well, John gives us the answer in our passage in 1 John.

There are two important forces working in the Christian’s life that enable him to abide in Christ. The first is the Word of God, the second is the Spirit of God. They work in tandem, in balance. You never find one without the other.

Look again at verse 24.

1 John 2:24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

What is “that which you have heard from the beginning?” It is the teaching of the apostles. It is the Gospel. It is the message they received and believed to become Christians. In other words, it is the Word of God. And John says “See to it that it remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.”

You cannot be abiding in Christ unless you are abiding in the Word. You cannot grow as a Christian unless you are spending time in the Bible. You cannot have a vital prayer life unless you are in the Word. And you cannot successfully cope with the trials and problems and crises that hit you unless you are getting the Word into your life. So simple, yet so often we ignore it.

See to it that it remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

If Christian counseling were listed on the NYSE, I would buy stock in it. It is a growth industry. Counseling is now the largest faculty in many evangelical seminaries, including the one I attended. You would be amazed at the number of Christians who are in counseling today. Now I am not against Christian counseling. Christian counselors are doing a wonderful job trying to mend lives that have been shattered, marriages that have been broken. They are trying to give guidance to Christians who are suffering from a bewildering array of problems, from mid-life crisis, to poor self-image, to burn-out.

But their work is primarily repair work. They are trying to put the pieces back together again. And I cannot help but think that if we were abiding in the Word, we wouldn’t have a need for so many Christian counselors.

I see the work of a pastor as having a lot more to do with prevention. If I can somehow stimulate people to get into the Word, and to abide in the Word, if I can feed you the Word from week to week, I believe that your need for counseling will decrease. Because you’ll be increasingly abiding in Christ. You’ll be sinning less. You’ll have better attitudes toward life. You’ll have a better self-image as you experience the love of God in your life. But many pastors today are in a bind. As their counseling load increases, the amount of time they can give to biblical instruction and feeding the flock decreases. And the result is that the need for counseling rises even higher.

See to it that the Word remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

But there is also a second force working to help you abide in Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who lives in you. Look with me at verse 27:

1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

This anointing that John refers to is the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit the moment that we become a Christian. He is a gift from the Lord, and He comes and dwells - “meno’s” - in our life.

Now John is kind of needling the Gnostics here. They claimed that you had to receive a special anointing to make you a spiritual Christian. They actually used the word “chrism”, from which we get the word “charisma” to describe their special anointing. Once you had that special “charismatic” experience (sounds familiar doesn’t it?), then you would have all you needed to be a super Christian. In other words, they were advertising a new, improved version of Christianity.

But John says, in the original Greek, “baloney”. He says that if you are a Christian, you have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He remains in you. And furthermore, since you have him, you don’t need any of these Gnostic wiseacres to teach you. Because the Holy Spirit will teach you all that you need to know for life and godliness.

Today in North America, the Christian book publishing industry is big business. The Christian best-sellers far outstrip any of the books on the NY Times best-seller list. Authors like James Dobson and Chuck Swindoll have sold far more books than Danielle Steele or Stephen King. And that’s great! I’m glad that we have so many Christian books available. I’m a bibliophile - I love books.

But have you ever wondered how Christians behind the Iron Curtain or the Bamboo Curtain, get along? Christian books in many cases have been outlawed. How can they learn what they need to know to be good Christians? They can’t run over to the Rock, or the Olive Branch to pick up R.C. Sproul’s latest book. They can’t listen to Focus on the Family on WFME. They can’t tune in to the Old Time Gospel Hour with Jerry Fallwell. How can they grow? All they’ve got is the Bible and the Holy Spirit, and sometimes not even the Bible.

Look at the Holy Spirit’s ministry in verse 27.

1. He teaches us about all things. All we need to know to be Christians, the Holy Spirit will teach us.

2. His presence in our lives is real, not counterfeit. It is not some emotional experience, some spiritual high that some day we’ll come crashing down from. He is here. He is real. He abides with us.

3. He teaches us to abide in Christ.

You see how we’ve come full circle? We need to abide in Christ to be authentic as Christians. To abide in Christ, we need two things; the Word abiding in us and the Spirit abiding in us. And the Spirit and the Word teach us to abide in Christ.

And if we are abiding in Christ, there are two evidences in our lives.

1. confidence in His coming

2. conduct in His character

When I was a young boy, I remember attending some church meetings on Bible prophecy. Though I certainly didn’t understand everything that was being said, I do remember feeling very uncomfortable whenever the preacher spoke of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. “Jesus could come back at any moment.” he would say, “Are you ready?” Well, all I knew was that I didn’t think Jesus coming back at any moment was such a hot idea. I wanted to grow up first. I didn’t want to miss out on life. And furthermore, I really wasn’t ready to meet him.

An authentic Christian will be confident and ready to meet Christ when He comes, because he will be abiding in Christ. And in the meantime, he will be living in such a way as to prove that he has been born again. Look at verse 29:

If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

Throughout the book of 1 John, we run into the idea that Christians are people who act like God. Not that they think they are God, but that they reproduce God’s character in their character. So more and more, as he grows and matures in Christ, the character of God will determine the character of the Christian. The way that God is will reflect in the way that his children live.

In chapter 1:5, John says

God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

And a couple of verses later, he says that we should walk in the light. Here in chapter 2, John tells us that

1 John 2:29 …he is righteous

and then he goes on to say

everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

Still later, he says

1 John 4:16 God is love.

and then he goes on to say…

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

You see? The way that God is reflects in the way that we are. Our character as Christians is built on the character of God. To the extent that we know him and have fellowship with him, we will mirror his character in our own lives.

Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground in just a short amount of time. What have we learned today? That an authentic Christian is one who remains, abides in Christ. That a Christian who abides in Christ has the Word of God and the Spirit of God abiding in him. That the Word of God and the Spirit of God teach us all we need to know to live for Christ, and that produces confidence in His coming and conduct in His character.

Has this been your experience of the Christian life? Are you abiding in Christ day by day? Is the Word of God abiding in you? Or does your Bible remain on the night table, unopened from week to week? Are you conscious of the Spirit of God living in your life? Do you seek to follow his leading? Are you open to his promptings? And how about the Second Coming… are you looking forward to it with confidence? The answer to all these questions depends on whether you are abiding in Christ.

Jesus said

If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Be authentic! Abide in Christ.