What You Need To Know About The Antichrist (1 John 2:18-27)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:04.360 If you're able to remain standing, please do and will give our attention now 2 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:09.990 to first John, Chapter Two, Verse Eighteen Through Twenty Seven, verses eighteen 3 00:00:10.070 --> 00:00:21.899 through twenty seven. So First John, Chapter two, verse eighteen. This 4 00:00:22.059 --> 00:00:28.059 is the word of the Lord. Let's give our attention to it. Children, 5 00:00:28.820 --> 00:00:32.899 it is the last hour and, as you have heard, that antichrist 6 00:00:32.979 --> 00:00:38.130 is coming. So now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it 7 00:00:38.289 --> 00:00:42.009 is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not 8 00:00:42.210 --> 00:00:45.609 of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued 9 00:00:45.729 --> 00:00:49.969 with us, but they went out that it might be complain that they are 10 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.920 not they aught. I am sorry, but they went out that it might 11 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:59.200 become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed 12 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:03.520 by the Holy One and you have all knowledge. I write to you not 13 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:06.510 because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and 14 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:10.750 because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar? But he 15 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:15.989 who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Anti Christ, he 16 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:21.299 who denies the Father and the son. No one denies the son. No 17 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:26.180 one who denies the Son has the father. Whoever confesses the son as the 18 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:30.540 father. Also let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If 19 00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:34.609 what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you two will abide 20 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:38.010 in the son and in the father, and this is the promise that he 21 00:01:38.129 --> 00:01:45.209 made to us, eternal life. I write these things to you about those 22 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:49.760 who are trying to deceive you, but the anointing that you received from him 23 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.680 abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, 24 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:59.239 but as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, 25 00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:06.670 just as it has taught you, abide in him. He may be 26 00:02:06.790 --> 00:02:16.819 seated the God. Bless his word to us was. We continue moving through 27 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:24.340 this letter of the Apostle John, we come to an important section in which 28 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:32.090 John addresses a very particular situation that is going on in these churches. We've 29 00:02:32.169 --> 00:02:38.009 hinted at this from the beginning that there was a problem underlying or a problem 30 00:02:38.169 --> 00:02:45.280 that was a sparking reason for this letter. There are various in the beginning, 31 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:52.319 various tests who belongs and who doesn't, and these kinds of things insurance, 32 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:57.159 a section of assurance to the Christians that he's writing to to saying you 33 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:01.509 are truly born of God, God has worked in you and and here are 34 00:03:01.590 --> 00:03:07.349 some ways to know that. But now he comes in some ways to the 35 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:14.620 main reason for writing this letter. A people called they are addressed for the 36 00:03:14.740 --> 00:03:22.419 first time a group of people that John's readers obviously understood and knew about, 37 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:28.129 but which we do not entirely know about. Over the last thirty or forty 38 00:03:28.169 --> 00:03:34.169 years, scholars have tried lots and lots of different options and figuring out exactly 39 00:03:34.289 --> 00:03:42.039 what the situation was here with John and these ephesian churches. Various suggestions have 40 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.199 been made. This has been happened throughout the history of the church. Various 41 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:53.520 nastic groups, various sex perhaps a Jewish groups or Jewish Christians returning back to 42 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:59.789 the synagogue. Lots of different ideas. But after about thirty or forty years 43 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:03.270 of working on this project, at trying to figure out who these groups were, 44 00:04:03.310 --> 00:04:08.830 we don't seem to be any further along in the in the in the 45 00:04:08.949 --> 00:04:13.180 goal. I'm part of the reason is is that we just don't have a 46 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:17.740 lot of information. John doesn't tell us a lot about of the specifics. 47 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:23.660 He does give some, though. He tells us that those who went out 48 00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:28.170 are those who are lying, those who went out are those that are denying 49 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:32.050 the father and the son. We know that they belonged to the churches in 50 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:38.009 some way. They weren't an outside attacker, but they were like a tumor 51 00:04:38.170 --> 00:04:44.319 that was a built up inside the body and then had been removed, and 52 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.040 once it was removed, it was obvious that it was not of the body. 53 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:50.040 This is not a body part, this is not of us. It 54 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:55.829 was something that was infecting from inside. And so there are some things we 55 00:04:55.990 --> 00:05:01.629 know, but the exact people or the exact teachers or the exact circumstances we 56 00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:09.220 do not know. It's not a huge problem, however, though I suspect 57 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:14.660 will all remain historically curious. But God has given us everything that we need 58 00:05:14.779 --> 00:05:18.899 to know here. He's given us an important warning that applies not only to 59 00:05:18.939 --> 00:05:25.529 their time and the specifics of their circumstances, but applies to us as well. 60 00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:30.050 I want to think about that with you this morning, think about the 61 00:05:30.170 --> 00:05:34.209 importance of what John is saying, by the inspiration of the spirit, to 62 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:43.000 them and how it applies to us today. Let's begin with John's the way 63 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:49.550 John himself enters into this discussion. He speaks about something that they already know 64 00:05:50.430 --> 00:05:56.550 something that they are expecting, and that is the antichrist, he says in 65 00:05:56.589 --> 00:05:59.670 verse eighteen. Children, it is the last hour and, as you have 66 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:04.259 heard, the antichrist is coming. He says that antichrist is coming. So 67 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:12.980 now many antichrists have come. One of the important teachings of scripture is that 68 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:16.819 in the last hour, as John puts it here, there is a person 69 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:24.329 who will come, a person who will appear that is described in various ways 70 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:30.889 by the Bible, one who will appear prior to Christ's return, one who 71 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:36.160 will exalt himself above God as an object of worship, a one who in 72 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:42.240 some ways will be tied to the to this world, and promise the things 73 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:47.829 and joys of this world as things that are ultimate. I'm with this antichrist 74 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:54.110 will be accompanied by false signs, false wonders. He will in some ways 75 00:06:54.430 --> 00:06:59.990 pretend to be Christ, pretend to be the great a hope of the world, 76 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:03.579 but of course is not. He is not of the world, he 77 00:07:03.819 --> 00:07:10.420 is or he is not of God. He is a liar and he will 78 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:16.170 deceive even those he he would deceive many the elect if, even if it 79 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:20.410 were possible. I want to read one of the most important sections on this 80 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:25.930 to you from second Thessalonians. You can turn there if you like, or 81 00:07:26.009 --> 00:07:31.399 you can simply listen along. I'm second Thessalonians chapter two. Here described as 82 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:35.639 the man of lawlessness. There are other places that you might look at, 83 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:41.800 the section on the beast and revelation seventeen, for example, or some places 84 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:46.389 in Daniel as well, Daniel Chapter Eleven and twelve. The here let me 85 00:07:46.470 --> 00:07:51.149 read to you from Second Thessalonians chapter two. This is the kind of thing 86 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:57.149 that John Means when he says you have heard this and you're expecting this. 87 00:07:57.550 --> 00:08:01.379 Why? Because this was part of Apostolic Doctrine. This is something that had 88 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:05.540 been taught since the Old Testament and was something that was still true. Paul 89 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:11.740 speaks of this, and second thessalonians too. He says, beginning verse one, 90 00:08:11.259 --> 00:08:16.449 now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and are being gathered 91 00:08:16.610 --> 00:08:20.889 together to him. We ask you, brothers, we ask we ask you, 92 00:08:20.009 --> 00:08:24.889 brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a 93 00:08:26.050 --> 00:08:30.920 spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be of us, to 94 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:33.759 the effect that the day of the Lord has come. You see, there 95 00:08:33.879 --> 00:08:39.080 is error that is being spoken about a temptation to think that the return of 96 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.070 Christ had already happened, and Paul says don't be deceived by this. Here 97 00:08:43.190 --> 00:08:48.190 is why. Verse Three, let no one deceive you in any way, 98 00:08:48.830 --> 00:08:52.950 for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of 99 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:58.820 lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against 100 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:03.539 every so called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat 101 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:09.940 in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not 102 00:09:09.090 --> 00:09:13.330 remember that when I was with you, I told you these things? And 103 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:16.090 you know what is restraining him now, so that he may be revealed in 104 00:09:16.210 --> 00:09:22.809 his time? For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, remember that 105 00:09:22.970 --> 00:09:26.960 phrase, already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so 106 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.080 until he is out of the way, and then the law is the one 107 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.440 will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ, will kill with the breath 108 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:41.750 of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The 109 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:45.149 coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan, with all power 110 00:09:45.350 --> 00:09:48.470 and false signs and wonders and with all wicked deception, for those who are 111 00:09:48.590 --> 00:09:54.539 perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, 112 00:09:54.659 --> 00:10:00.100 God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in 113 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:01.700 order that all may be condemned them, and who did not believe in the 114 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:13.450 truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Do you see how much this passage lines 115 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:18.169 up and is sympathetic, in the way that maybe two strings on an instrument 116 00:10:18.289 --> 00:10:24.879 vibrate at the same time, with what we have here in First John John 117 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:31.200 says there is, as you know, antichrist is coming, this man of 118 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:37.269 lawlessness who will do these things that Paul describes as one who will exalt himself, 119 00:10:37.909 --> 00:10:41.110 perhaps in the church itself, the Temple of God, a person who 120 00:10:41.110 --> 00:10:46.549 will appear prior to Christ's return. And there are these dangers that are warned 121 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:52.500 about and a response, right, a response to this one who is to 122 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:58.179 come. What is that response that the Christians, then and now are to 123 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:03.179 be prepared for? Well, I think we can sum it up in three 124 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:09.730 things vigilance, hope and discernment. They are to be discerning, they are 125 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:13.370 to be wised about these things. They're not to ignore them pretend that they 126 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:18.399 aren't true. There's also a lot about truth and lying. There in Second 127 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:24.480 Thessalonians, and also here in First John. In First John to he talks 128 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.759 about those that are come, are proceed or come out of the church. 129 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:31.990 In this way, these antichrists are liars. I write to you, he 130 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:35.470 says in Verse Twenty One, not because you do not know the truth, 131 00:11:35.590 --> 00:11:39.509 because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who 132 00:11:39.669 --> 00:11:46.629 is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Discerning 133 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:52.179 between truth and lie, between the Truth and a lie, is so important. 134 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:56.779 There are, of course, lots of different ways in which we can 135 00:11:56.860 --> 00:12:01.100 express the truth. There are various degrees in which we can get close to 136 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:05.129 the truth, and on some things we ought to be flexible with each other, 137 00:12:05.730 --> 00:12:09.889 knowing that we all can't see everything perfectly at the same time, that 138 00:12:09.009 --> 00:12:13.769 we all have error. But there are some things that are so essential, 139 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:18.320 so basic to who we are as Christians, that we must be able to 140 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:24.120 say what they are. We must be founded upon the truth as we have 141 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:28.759 received it. Remember, at the beginning of this letter, John says what 142 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:33.509 we heard, what we saw, we've told you about these truths are for 143 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:39.429 you as well. Paul is saying similar things, remains steadfast and what you 144 00:12:39.549 --> 00:12:43.419 have heard. Remember how he says, I've told you about these things. 145 00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:48.940 Don't you remember the words that we have given to us through the spirit, 146 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:56.100 in the Apostolic Doctrine we must lust hold fast to and when people come along, 147 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:01.409 no matter who they are, when they declare things that are false, 148 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:07.370 that are not true to what we have heard, then we must call it 149 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:11.690 for what it is. This, of course, requires discernment. It requires 150 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:16.399 knowing what the truth is, knowing who Jesus is, knowing who the father 151 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.559 is, who the spirit is. How can we abide in the truth, 152 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.240 as we have been called to, if we don't know the truth? How 153 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:28.950 can we be discerning about truth and error if we don't know what truth is? 154 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:35.230 Abiding in the truth is not having a passing interest in the truth, 155 00:13:35.870 --> 00:13:39.190 it's living in it, dwelling in it. Abiding is a dwelling word. 156 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:45.460 Another thing that Paul Calls for and John Does, as well, as a 157 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:50.899 vigilance in it. We are to be strong and persevere, even when they're 158 00:13:50.940 --> 00:13:56.409 suffering, even when there's persecution. In many ways, this is the message, 159 00:13:56.450 --> 00:14:01.889 the entire message of the book of revelation. Remains strong, remain steadfast, 160 00:14:03.049 --> 00:14:07.129 for the Lord is sovereign in all things. He will keep his saints 161 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:11.679 close to him. Though you will experience persecution, though there will be division 162 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:20.000 and error and strife, remain strong, not by trusting in yourselves or even 163 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:28.230 trusting in a people, but trusting in the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, 164 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:33.870 who will put the man of lawlessness, the Anti Christ, to death, 165 00:14:33.990 --> 00:14:41.419 will kill him with the breath of his mouth. So strong is our 166 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:50.139 Lord Jesus that I only needs to breathe and the great evil one who threatens 167 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:54.690 to destroy us all will be put away. The strength of the Lord, 168 00:14:54.769 --> 00:14:58.450 of course, is not only manifested at the end, it's manifested here as 169 00:14:58.850 --> 00:15:03.730 well. Throughout the passage. There I read in Second Theusalonians. We reminded 170 00:15:03.850 --> 00:15:09.159 that the Lord Jesus Christ is restraining this one, that the revelation of him 171 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:13.639 is on the Lord's time table and in the Lord's way. These are not 172 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:20.399 too giant and equal cosmic forces, a ying and Yang, black and white 173 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:28.750 battling each other. No, the Lord is strong, the Lord restrains, 174 00:15:28.549 --> 00:15:33.350 the Lord holds back, and at the time that he chooses, he will 175 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:41.740 be revealed so that he might be put to death, vigilance, which, 176 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:46.539 of course, is connected with hope. We remain strong and we remain steadfast 177 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:54.850 in in in even in the midst and the danger of the antichrist, because 178 00:15:54.889 --> 00:15:58.690 we know who the Lord Jesus is, we know his strength, we know 179 00:15:58.850 --> 00:16:02.450 his victory on the cross, we know that when he rose from the dead, 180 00:16:02.490 --> 00:16:07.240 he rose Victoria's over death itself, so that anything that could be threatened 181 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:14.360 or offered from this world would be of such little value that we would have 182 00:16:14.679 --> 00:16:18.350 our sights set on something greater, what John Calls in Verse Twenty Five, 183 00:16:19.309 --> 00:16:27.230 Eternal Life, and this is the promise that was made to us. Eternal 184 00:16:27.350 --> 00:16:33.700 Life. God sends his only son into the world that who would ever believe 185 00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:41.460 on him would not perish but have eternal life, life that would last forever, 186 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:45.460 life that would be glorious, life that would live in light of the 187 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:52.610 resurrection of Christ. Vigilance, hope, restore a discernment. These are the 188 00:16:52.730 --> 00:17:00.409 responses that are necessary for when we think about this one who is to come, 189 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:08.599 the antichrist, it's not fear, it's not cowering, it's not being 190 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:17.430 terrified. Instead, it's being prepared, being ready, knowing who the great 191 00:17:17.509 --> 00:17:27.589 conqueror really is. But John's message is not primarily about the Anti Christ who 192 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:33.099 is to come. He says, children, it is the last hour and, 193 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:37.380 as you've heard, that antichrist is coming. So now, many anti 194 00:17:37.420 --> 00:17:45.490 Christs have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. You 195 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:51.250 see what he's doing. He's reframing the thinking. He's saying that the last 196 00:17:51.410 --> 00:17:56.450 hour. If we are defining it purely in terms of that moment or that 197 00:17:56.009 --> 00:18:03.559 little period of time in which Jesus returns, with a prelude of the antichrist 198 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.480 coming before that, then we're being too narrow in our definition of the last 199 00:18:10.599 --> 00:18:18.750 hour. That's what Paul says as well. He says the mystery of lawlessness, 200 00:18:18.869 --> 00:18:21.390 this thing that will be revealed at the end, he said, as 201 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:26.180 I mentioned in verse seven, is already at work. There is a power 202 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:32.940 and an influence that is happening even now. The End to times are now, 203 00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:37.140 the last hour is now. It's not something that's purely in the future. 204 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:42.410 Again, as John says, it's so now. Many anti Christs have 205 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:48.049 already come. This is happening and this is how we are to understand these 206 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:53.849 people who claim to be Christians but are now setting themselves up and over over 207 00:18:55.009 --> 00:19:03.079 and against Christ. They are anti Christ's. He says the antichrist is someone 208 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:07.279 in particular to come in the future, but it applies to everyone who comes 209 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.829 even before him, who cut speaks with that same word, with that same 210 00:19:12.029 --> 00:19:21.630 power. He says that this struggle that we have, the temptation, that 211 00:19:22.069 --> 00:19:25.299 is something that we need to be vigilant about, not only at the end 212 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:33.140 when that happens, but even now, because it's happening right now. I 213 00:19:34.019 --> 00:19:37.339 just realized I forgot to print off a quote that I wanted to read to 214 00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:44.849 you, but it was a quote that which was really stress, stressing the 215 00:19:45.329 --> 00:19:52.170 difficulties of these times in which we live, how evil they are and how 216 00:19:52.369 --> 00:19:56.799 worse they could not get. The surprising thing about the quote is it's written 217 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:03.359 from a church father in the sixth century, saying that surely these are the 218 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:10.269 last times, because every evil is manifest, everything is being poured out in 219 00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:15.750 the sixth century and of course we know from our own experience and knowing even 220 00:20:15.789 --> 00:20:19.269 just a little bit of history, these things can be met are manifested again 221 00:20:19.309 --> 00:20:22.940 and again and again. The these feelings that we are in the last times, 222 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:30.140 the end times, is so prominent in our hearts. We see the 223 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:34.539 signs right, we see the signs. The thing is is, it's not 224 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:40.490 as though this man was wrong, it's that we're in the same time as 225 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:44.930 him. It's not as though he was wrong at that. The last days 226 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:48.730 weren't then, and it's that we are still in the last days now. 227 00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:53.920 From our perspective, that's hard to understand, but it's because, partly because 228 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:00.200 we have a very myodic view of history, we think of our own time, 229 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.950 in our own space is always sort of the most important thing. But 230 00:21:06.029 --> 00:21:08.869 it's also myopic in another way, a narrow minded in another way, and 231 00:21:08.950 --> 00:21:15.710 that God himself describes and characterizes these things as a little time. He says 232 00:21:15.750 --> 00:21:21.859 it's a little time between the time when the Lord came in his incarnation and 233 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:26.819 the time when he will come again and reveal himself on the last day. 234 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:36.650 As we read earlier from James, we're so impatient, as the word reminds 235 00:21:36.730 --> 00:21:41.930 us. To God, a thousand years are but a day. These things 236 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:48.799 are are so little. You perhaps have experienced this even in your own life, 237 00:21:48.759 --> 00:21:53.960 moments and trials where it felt like everything was falling apart and everything was 238 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:59.839 defined by this moment right here, right now, but that was thirty five 239 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:03.470 years ago and you go, well, you know, we got through it. 240 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:07.589 It was a small thing really in the grand scheme of things. And 241 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:15.180 that's just in your tiny little life, not to mention a generation or an 242 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:23.059 age or thousand years or even he all of human history itself. From the 243 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:32.130 perspective of the eternal Lord, who is from everlasting to everlasting, the things 244 00:22:32.170 --> 00:22:40.289 that we face are small. That is hard for us to understand, but 245 00:22:40.410 --> 00:22:45.119 that is why we have to have this heavenly perspective. As Paul puts it 246 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:49.640 in another place, the things that we struggle against here and now aren't even 247 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:57.240 worth comparing to the eternal weight of lory that is to come, he says. 248 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.910 Don't even bother comparing them now. That's really hard when you're dying of 249 00:23:02.150 --> 00:23:07.549 cancer, when your marriage is falling apart, when a church is breaking apart, 250 00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:15.460 these things are very hard to to hold to. But what ultimately matters? 251 00:23:17.140 --> 00:23:22.180 Our perspective on things, which is so limited, so small, so 252 00:23:22.420 --> 00:23:30.369 full of sin, or God's perspective, who sees everything, who is ordained 253 00:23:30.490 --> 00:23:36.930 everything from beginning to end, who holds all things in his hands and who 254 00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:41.759 is told us that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. 255 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:49.119 Who are you going to trust? I'm not going to trust me. I'm 256 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:56.589 going to trust the Lord God Almighty, and you should too. He is 257 00:23:56.670 --> 00:23:59.789 where our hope is. He is why we are vigilant, he is why 258 00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:04.190 we remain strong and that's why, when it comes to discerning the truth, 259 00:24:04.390 --> 00:24:11.380 we have to return to him and to his word above all things. That's 260 00:24:11.420 --> 00:24:18.059 why he tells them and he reminds them of the truths. The antichrist is 261 00:24:18.339 --> 00:24:23.930 anyone who denies the father and the son. No one who denies the Sun 262 00:24:25.089 --> 00:24:30.809 has the father. This is essential. You must hold fast to these things, 263 00:24:33.049 --> 00:24:37.130 because where is our hope come from? Where is our life come from? 264 00:24:37.369 --> 00:24:42.400 Only and always through the sun. That is how we know God, 265 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:48.240 our father. That is how we can come to have the holy spirits as 266 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:56.349 he works in us through the word and the breath of the sun. This 267 00:24:56.589 --> 00:25:03.710 is important for John's readers and hearers then, and it's important for us now. 268 00:25:03.869 --> 00:25:11.539 We also live in these last times, even the last hour he describes. 269 00:25:11.700 --> 00:25:15.339 What a striking phrase. You know, we talked about this even today. 270 00:25:15.380 --> 00:25:18.220 We talked about you know, they were saved at the eleventh hour, 271 00:25:18.339 --> 00:25:23.130 right the last minute, so speak. That's how we are to think about 272 00:25:23.130 --> 00:25:29.730 our times. This has all kinds of implications. If you might for a 273 00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:33.730 moment just let your minds go back to last week when we thought about John's 274 00:25:33.769 --> 00:25:37.440 words. Do not love the world or the things in the world? Why? 275 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:42.480 Because they're not from the father. Why? Because the world is passing 276 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:48.160 away along with its desires. You know, if you remember that it's the 277 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.509 last hour, or all of a sudden, things like amassing great amounts of 278 00:25:52.710 --> 00:25:56.470 wealth don't seem to matter that much if it's the last hour, all of 279 00:25:56.509 --> 00:26:02.630 a sudden, giving license to your sin when the judge is coming doesn't seem 280 00:26:02.670 --> 00:26:08.099 to be so important anymore. This is how we are to frame our minds, 281 00:26:08.940 --> 00:26:14.859 this is how we are to understand things and, of course, applies 282 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:19.210 in these other ways in which we've spoken already. There are dangers, he 283 00:26:19.369 --> 00:26:25.410 says, here and now. There are antichrists who are here, here and 284 00:26:25.529 --> 00:26:27.250 now, and that doesn't mean we have to all of a sudden get really 285 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:34.359 scared and frightened. It means we are aware and not foolish. But instead, 286 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:41.920 what do we do? Well, we remain vigilant. What is John 287 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:47.710 Say in Verse Twenty Six? I write these things to you about those who 288 00:26:47.710 --> 00:26:53.150 are trying to deceive you. There are people who are trying to deceive you. 289 00:26:56.589 --> 00:26:59.710 If you don't know that, it's pretty easy to be fooled. This 290 00:26:59.869 --> 00:27:04.779 is one of the things that we teach you little children, as you're growing 291 00:27:04.819 --> 00:27:08.380 up. We tell you that not all things are as they are. A 292 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:14.299 peer, there are people who want to hurt you and you and of course, 293 00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:18.569 can be a scary thing, but it's important to know. We are 294 00:27:18.650 --> 00:27:22.609 to be vigilant about these things. I write these things to you about those 295 00:27:22.650 --> 00:27:26.970 who are trying to deceive you, but he's brings comfort as well. The 296 00:27:27.089 --> 00:27:36.240 anointing that you have received from him abides in you, abides in you, 297 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:44.470 and we should remain abiding in him. We are not ships drifting on the 298 00:27:44.589 --> 00:27:48.950 sea without any wind and just tossed by each wave that comes along, hoping 299 00:27:49.190 --> 00:27:55.950 that something might happen. No, we have the winds of the spirit blowing 300 00:27:56.069 --> 00:28:00.059 in our sails, taking US toward heaven. This is what he says. 301 00:28:02.539 --> 00:28:07.380 Don't row against that, don't try to push against that or head back to 302 00:28:07.460 --> 00:28:14.769 where you came from. No, abide in these things. Learn the truth, 303 00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:19.769 learn the doctrine, learn who Christ is. This, of course, 304 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:26.359 applies not only in terms of knowing things, but in knowing things here in 305 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:33.720 our hearts as well. As John marked earlier, it's not just those who 306 00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:38.519 are teaching these things, but the evidence of their falsities in the ways in 307 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:44.630 which they are acting. They are not loving, they are not seeking after 308 00:28:44.670 --> 00:28:48.390 the things of the Lord, they are going after the things of this world. 309 00:28:48.589 --> 00:28:53.349 We are to be discerning, we are to be vigilant, but we 310 00:28:53.430 --> 00:29:02.579 are also to be hopeful. The Lord Jesus is coming again. He tells 311 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:07.140 us here that there is a promise that has been made to us, a 312 00:29:07.339 --> 00:29:12.009 promise of EA, of eternal life. So when you face dangers, when 313 00:29:12.089 --> 00:29:18.329 we face dangers and struggles and trials in this world, when, as a 314 00:29:18.529 --> 00:29:23.480 church in particular, we are trying to re examine our hearts and think about 315 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:30.200 who we are, about what's going on, let's put our minds and our 316 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:36.599 hearts on what God is doing, on who he has made us and the 317 00:29:36.759 --> 00:29:41.990 promises that he has given to us. Put Your faith and your trust in 318 00:29:42.269 --> 00:29:49.789 God, Father, son and spirit, and you will never fail. He 319 00:29:49.910 --> 00:29:56.339 will keep you to the very end and will give you eternal, glorious, 320 00:29:56.819 --> 00:30:00.619 blessed life. To him be the praise and the glory and the honor, 321 00:30:02.180 --> 00:30:03.019 forever Amen.