Men of the Word Sermon Podcast · Grace Community Church

Assurance and the Anticipation of Glory

·56 min·3 clips

John says believers will be like Christ when he appears and will see him as he is.

The sermon begins with the start of a new year and a welcome back to Men of the Word. It uses the closing lines of two hymns to set the tone of anticipation. That anticipation is treated as something serious, not sentimental. For the sermon, it belongs at the center of Christian life and glory. The study then moves into 1 John 2:28. The command is simple: abide in Christ. Abiding is defined as a relationship of continual, intentional dependency and communion. It is not just location, association, or church membership. It is a life of ongoing contact with Jesus. John 15 helps sharpen the picture. The vine and branches image shows that fruit comes only through abiding in the vine. Apart from him, nothing lasting can be done. That point is then carried back into 1 John. Abiding is presented as the path to assurance, confidence, and fruitful living. The text also gives a reason for abiding. Christ is coming. The sermon slows down on the language of appearing and explains that John uses the same verb for both the first advent and the second. The point is not a psychological impression or inward mood. It is a real, physical appearance, like the first. From there the message presses the practical weight of the passage. Present faithfulness matters because the future meeting matters. The sermon speaks of confidence at his appearing as the fruit of a life that remains in him. It does not soften the call. Abiding is treated as the ordinary path of Christian perseverance. The closing prayer gathers the theme into one plea. The congregation asks to remember what is coming. It asks for deeper, more steady abiding. It asks for more consistent practicing of righteousness and deeper pondering of God's love. The final note is hope joined to discipline: the best is yet to come, and that hope should shape the present.

As heard by us

A steady sermon on assurance, abiding in Christ, and the hope of glory.

This sermon opens the new year by tying two hymns to 1 John and treating assurance as something rooted in abiding in Christ, not in a passing feeling.

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Why you'd press play

You want assurance that holds when your attention is on Christ's return.

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