Antichrists and the Children of Christ

Our passage this morning is 1 John chapter 2, verses 18 through chapter 3, verse 10.

1 John 2:18

Before we start, just a sound check. Does that sound good for everybody?

Good.

Verse 18.

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming,

so now many Antichrists have come.

Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us.

For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it,

and because no lie is of the truth.

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?

This is the Antichrist.

He who denies the Father and the Son.

No one who denies the Son has the Father.

Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.

If what you heard from the beginning abides in you,

then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life.

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you.

But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him.

And now little children abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him, and shame is at his coming.

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God.

And so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been appeared.

But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness.

You know that he appeared to take away sin, and in him there is no sin.

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning, and no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Little children, let no one deceive you.

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him,

and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Let's pray.

Lord, this morning we ask for your help as we open up your word and as we study this passage.

Lord, we pray that you would shape us, that you would teach us, that you would encourage us at this time.

Lord, that your word would be a sword and cut through what needs to be cut, and also lift up and strengthen those who need to be strengthened.

God, help us with distractions.

Help us to focus on you.

Help us to learn what it is to abide in you.

And we ask these things in your holy name.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm going to take keys out of my pocket because I play with them.

So I'm going to get rid of that distraction.

We live in a very strange time, as you guys know.

A lot of things that we've had our whole life, that we've taken for granted, for the moment has been taken away.

And you guys know this.

I'm not telling you anything new.

These things have been taken away in a way that we probably wouldn't have thought about before.

Freedoms taken away.

For safety reasons, our traveling freedoms have been greatly limited.

For safety reasons, our church doesn't meet together in one spot.

For safety reasons, we can't go to our normal workplaces and our classrooms.

Sitting down and eating at a restaurant with friends.

We just can't do that right now.

For the time being, we live in a very different, a very strange world.

And it drives us crazy sometimes, right?

It's also depressing at times.

But this life keeps going.

And what are we as Christians to do with that?

What are we to think or act?

How are we to live in the midst of this new silence and yet global chaos?

And that's what I want to dig in and pull out from our passage this morning.

As we look at a couple things.

We're going to be looking at the Antichrist and the children of Christ.

How are we to live in these last days?

And where do we find truth and eternal hope?

The idea that John has given us from this passage this morning is this.

He wants us to be warned of Antichrist.

And we'll get into that.

But he wants us to be reminded of the hope that we have in following the real Christ.

Now from that statement, you can guess that we'll be talking about two different people.

We'll be talking about the Antichrist.

That is those who oppose Christ and followers of Christ.

And for those two groups, we're going to be looking at who they are, how they live.

And from that, we'll be able to know what they believe.

So let's start with verse 18.

It says,

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come.

Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

This word children, as Sean has mentioned before, is one that John has used in 1 John over a dozen times.

It's not derogatory.

It's not looking down, but it's loving.

See, John is one of Jesus' disciples who's now an older elder in the church.

And he has this love, this fondness for the people in the church.

And so he calls them children.

Children, it is the last hour, that is the last days.

This is the time after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension.

But before Jesus comes back, and that time of judgment.

That time is the last days, this last hour that he's talking about.

Hebrews 1 says,

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

We live in the last days.

John is speaking to the people in the church of Ephesus in the last days.

We're in the last days.

And there is this Antichrist.

What is he talking about?

Near the end of the last days, before the final judgment,

we can read in the Bible and in several passages that there will be an Antichrist.

One who rises up and has power and authority from Satan.

And the world will follow after and worship this person.

I'm not going to get into that right now because we'll save that for when we go through Revelation.

But John here is making us aware of two things that are connected.

One is, in the end, there is an Antichrist that is coming.

But before that time, right now, in our time, in John's time,

there is a spirit of the Antichrist that is here and among us.

It's at work.

It's that battle that we feel,

that spiritual battle between God and Satan,

evil and good.

John is concerned that the churches in and around Ephesus

are going to be pulled into the teachings of these Antichrists.

That is, those who are teaching something that is against what Christ has taught.

So he's saying,

we've heard that the Antichrist is coming

and many forerunners of that Antichrist are already here and among us.

So be warned and be on guard.

The next verse starts to explain why.

And it kind of should grab our attention a little bit.

Let me explain as we read it.

Verse 19.

He's talking about people who were part of the church.

People like us from the outside that look like are part of the church.

People who worshiped and fellowshiped together.

People who were in community groups with one another.

They were people that left the church.

And why?

John says,

because they were not of us.

Because if they were,

they would still be with us.

So we can pick up here that there's this

divine purpose for why they left.

And that's to become evidence to us

that they were not part of us.

So the test here is they did not remain.

That's how we know.

That's the first characteristic.

Now obviously we're not talking about

people who have moved on.

People who have

have gone to another church,

moved to another location.

And we aren't necessarily talking about

people who

never truly believed in Jesus

and fell away from the church.

Although that would fit here

because

someone who doesn't believe,

there is an aspect of

denying Jesus.

That is true.

But here,

John is warning us

specifically about a certain group of people.

Let's jump to verse 22

and we'll take a look at that.

Who is the liar

but he who denies

that Jesus is the Christ?

This is the Antichrist.

He who denies

the Father and the Son.

And this is the group

that John wants to warn us against.

Those who leave the church

and those who deny

that Jesus is the Christ.

No one who denies the Son

has the Father.

Whoever confesses the Son

has the Father also.

So John is talking about

people who have left the church

who have denied Christ

but that's not all.

Looking at verse 26,

it says,

I write these things to you

about those who are trying

to deceive you.

So they didn't just leave the church

but they were looking

to deceive others

by peddling a false Christ,

a counterfeit.

They are seeking to infect others

and further spread

the spirit of the Antichrist

that is already present

in the world where we live.

How was the church then

and how is the church now

protected against this deception?

Yes, we are protected by God.

That is true.

We could give it that pat answer

but John wants us

to get more out of it

than just saying

we're protected by God.

How are we protected by God?

Looking back at verse 20,

but you have been anointed

by the Holy One

and you all have knowledge.

What does he mean first

by the anointed by the Holy One?

If we look back to the Old Testament,

the anointing of someone

that took place

was this outward sign

that something was happening

as well as an inward change.

So 1 Samuel 16, 13 says this

about when David was anointed king.

It says,

Then Samuel took the horn of oil

and anointed him

in the midst of his brothers.

And the spirit of the Lord

rushed upon David

from that day forward.

So there was anointing physically

but there was an anointing

by the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 1, 22 says,

And it is God who establishes us

with you in Christ

and has anointed us

and who has also put his seal on us

and given us his spirit

and our hearts as a guarantee.

So John is saying

that we've been anointed

with the Holy Spirit.

And this signifies

an inward transformation

that has begun.

This is not a work of us

but one of God.

And because of that,

he says,

You all have knowledge.

Verse 21 says,

I write to you

not because you do not know the truth

but because you know it

and because no lie

is of the truth.

So their guard then

and our guard now

against these deceptions

is the anointing work

done by God

and the knowledge of truth

that we have been given

through that.

We have been given the truth

and there is no lie in it.

It isn't a true story

unless it's completely true.

The real truth

means that there's no lie in it.

I think of

if someone goes to court

and they go to testify,

the promise that they have to make

is I promise to tell the truth,

the whole truth

and nothing but the truth.

The reason why is

as we all know,

sometimes we've told stories

and we'll twist it

just a little bit.

Maybe we'll leave something out.

Something,

a slight variation,

usually to make us look better

or to take some of the fault

off of us.

But this is not the truth.

That's because it has

a little bit of a lie in it.

And so John is telling us

the truth that we have been given

has no lie in it.

That's how we are able to guard

against these false teachings

by that knowledge

that we have through

this anointing.

If we look at verses 24 and 25,

it says,

Let what you heard

from the beginning

abide in you.

If what you heard

from the beginning

abides in you,

then you too will abide

in the Son

and in the Father.

And this is the promise

that He made us,

eternal life.

He repeats that word,

abide,

three times

just in those two verses.

To abide,

meaning to remain

or to dwell in.

Let the gospel

that you heard

from the beginning

remain

and dwell

inside of you.

If the gospel

of Christ

remains in you,

then you will remain

in Christ

and in the Father.

And the promise

from that

is eternal life.

Think of the end

of John 3, 16.

Whoever believes

in Him

being Jesus

will not perish

but have eternal life.

the truth about

Jesus Christ

abides in us.

And when we abide

in Him,

there is eternal life.

And that's a promise.

That's a God promise

for us.

Verse 27.

But the anointing

that you receive

from Him

abides in you

and you have no need

that anyone

should teach you.

But as His anointing

teaches you

about everything

and is true

and is no lie,

just as it has taught you,

abide in Him.

So the anointing

talked about

in verse 20,

this anointing

by the Holy Spirit

from which we have knowledge,

that knowledge

we receive,

that knowledge

abides in us.

What knowledge

is He talking about here?

He's talking about

the gospel,

the gospel-saving knowledge

of Jesus Christ.

That's what we've been given

in that anointing,

the knowledge

of who Jesus is,

His God incarnate

sent to earth

to pay the penalty

for our sins

on the cross.

It's His victory

over death and sin,

His ascension back

to heaven.

It's not knowledge

of some counterfeit Christ,

but it's a true,

authentic Christ.

That's the knowledge

that we have

from our anointing,

our indwelling

of the Holy Spirit

that has come on us.

It opens our eyes

and it gives us

this knowledge

that we didn't have before.

This is Holy Spirit

God work

that is taking place.

This is not a work of man.

This is not something

we can go and achieve

and find out.

No person can do this.

When John says,

you have no need

that anyone should teach you,

it doesn't mean

that we don't need

anyone to teach us

about God.

We don't need anyone

to teach us about the Bible

or how we live.

That would go against

many verses in the Bible

about teaching one another

and what the scriptures

are used for.

It also doesn't make sense

because here we find

that John is teaching us something.

So why would John say,

you don't need a teacher

as he's teaching us?

So that's obviously

not what it means.

He's talking about

the knowledge

that we receive

from God

in the beginning.

That knowledge

when Christ

opened our eyes,

that anointing

that took place,

no one can teach

that to us

and that knowledge

does not change.

The truth

about the authentic Christ,

the cross,

the gospel message,

that remains the same.

In verse 21,

he says,

because you know it.

You are given it,

you know it,

and we don't move away

from that message

to anything new.

There is no new truth.

There's no new way

of following God.

There isn't,

it's not like technology

that we have

that gets old,

it gets slow,

and so we want

a newer model.

There are features

that we're missing out on.

This knowledge

that we've been given

strengthens us,

it helps us,

it builds our faith,

it helps us to abide

in Him,

and never changes.

The Holy Spirit

that works and moves

in each of us

will never move beyond

or be contrary

to what the Bible teaches.

I'm going to say that again

just so that you hear,

the Holy Spirit,

the work that the Holy Spirit

does in each one of us

as Christians

will never move you

beyond or contrary

to what the Bible teaches.

So if you're being led

towards something

or someone

that the Bible teaches against,

you need to check that

because it's not

of the Holy Spirit.

That foundational knowledge

is true,

and we are to abide

in that truth.

So we talked about

the Antichrist,

those who deny Christ,

and how we are guarded

and should be on guard

against them.

The second part

of our passage

this morning,

we're going to be looking

at what it means

to follow the real Christ.

Guarding against Antichrist,

following the real Christ,

and the hope

that is ours

in that.

As we look at

what it means

to follow Christ,

John is showing us

two groups of people.

He's showing us

children of God.

He's also showing us

children of the devil.

How you live

will indicate

which one of those groups

you are in.

You're a child of God

or you're a child of the devil.

As John ends chapter 2

and moves into chapter 3,

he continues this concept

of abiding.

Verse 28,

And now little children,

abide in him

so that when he appears

you may have confidence

and not shrink from him

in shame of his coming.

We are to abide in him,

to continue in him,

in the truth

that we have been taught

and given

from the Holy Spirit.

And if we do,

then we are confident

when he returns.

Why?

Because confident

that we remain

in the truth

until he came back

from us.

We can't be confident

if we left

and we followed

another truth.

Verse 29,

If you know

that he is righteous,

you may be sure

that everyone

who practices righteousness

has been born of him.

In other words,

we, children of God,

know that Jesus

is righteous.

And we also know

that all who do

what is right

are God's children.

Romans 3.10

says this,

None is righteous,

no not one.

No one understands

and no one seeks

after God.

He is the righteous one.

Those who practice

righteousness

are born of him

because in and of ourselves

we don't follow

after righteousness.

So for us to do that,

we have to be born,

born again,

of Christ.

So it takes us

to chapter 3.

And it starts off

with a beautiful verse

about our true identity.

Verse 1,

See what kind of love

the Father has given to us

that we should be called

children of God

and so we are.

It says,

See what kind of love.

What do we see?

What love

have we been given?

We've been given

the name

of being called

children of God.

And not just called that,

but he also adds,

and we are.

We are children of God.

In our life,

we are called

different things

and we are known

to different people

in different ways

by functions

that we do,

by areas

where we serve,

roles that we play.

But as a Christian,

if you trust in Jesus,

above all those things

for all of your life,

you are known

as a child of God.

If you trust in Jesus

and you believe in him

and you remain

in that truth,

you are a child of God.

God finished,

or God,

John finishes the verse

with this statement.

He says,

The reason why the world

does not know you

is that it did not know him.

John chapter 1

John 1:9–11

verses 9 through 11

says this,

The true light,

which gives light

to everyone,

was coming into the world.

This is talking about Jesus

coming to the world.

He was in the world

and the world

was made through him,

yet the world

did not know him.

He came to his own

and his own people

did not receive him.

So it feels weird at first

where John tells us

that we are children of God

and then he follows it up

with the world

doesn't know us

because it doesn't know him.

But really,

they're connected

if we think about it.

We shouldn't be surprised

because children of God

is not something

that the world knows.

We aren't to be surprised

when people don't understand

our call to follow Christ.

when we step out in faith

and trust in God

when there is nothing

humanly visible

to put our hope in.

And that's what we're called to do.

When we're called to be examples

of showing forth

the love of Christ

instead of living for ourselves,

the world will not understand this

because the world

does not know the God

who is calling us

to do these things.

Next, John reminds us again

of our identity

in verses 2 and 3.

Beloved, we are God's children now

and what we will be

has not yet appeared.

But we know that when it appears

we shall be like him

because we shall see him

as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him

purifies himself

as he is pure.

What we will be

has not appeared yet.

is what he's talking about

is our glorified bodies.

That is not taking place yet.

We know that.

Bodies that will never get old,

never get sick,

never get cancer,

never wear out.

And to be

completely

done with sin,

it will be glorious

when we will be like Christ.

when those two things

are taken away,

death and sin.

And sometimes,

depending on the day,

we're not sure

which one is worse.

Sometimes they both are.

Sickness and pain

in ourselves,

pain and death

in other people

that we love.

On other days,

our struggles are with sin.

our daily battles

against pride

and anger

and lust.

We see the struggles

in ourself.

We see the struggles

in those around us.

And it makes life hard.

But we know that God

has us here

in 2020

during this pandemic

for a purpose.

But we also

can't wait

until death

and sin

are no more.

John says,

when He appears,

we will be like Him.

At that moment

that Christ our Savior

comes back,

we will be like Him,

changed forever

and no sin

in us.

Our thoughts,

our opinions,

our actions,

our speech,

they will be pure

and sinless.

There will be

no temptation

towards things

of the flesh.

There will be

no weakness

in our body.

There will be

no flaws,

no disease.

We will be perfect,

filled with the Holy Spirit

and in complete

communion

with God,

our Maker.

We will be like Him

because we shall

see Him

as He is.

New glorified bodies

seeing God

in a way

we've never seen before.

Why?

Because we've never

been able to see

like that before.

To be able to see

with sin

and death

and pain

gone from us.

The way God

intended us

to see Him

in the beginning.

He follows that up

in verse 3.

And everyone

who thus

hopes in Him

purifies himself

as He is pure.

That is,

if our trust

is in Him,

we will want

to be like Him.

That's part

of the sanctification

work that the Holy Spirit

does in us,

in each one of us.

We know that

when Jesus comes back,

we will be like Him

and our bodies glorified.

We also know

that He is pure,

meaning He is

holy and undefined.

He is without sin.

Everyone who

hopes in Him,

who truly believes

in Jesus Christ

and what He has done

for us,

purifies Himself.

That is,

we try to live holy.

We try to live undefiled

as Jesus

is holy and undefiled.

We practice

holy living.

We practice

at being pure

because Christ

is pure.

and Christ

is coming

for us.

In verse 4,

we see another group

of people

practicing something

different.

We know that

Christ is,

sorry,

wrong paragraph,

everyone who

makes a practice

of sinning

also practices

lawlessness.

This is in verse 4.

Sin is lawlessness.

Lawlessness

is what it sounds

like it is.

It is a condition

of being without

law.

In this case,

we're talking about

God's law.

So to be lawless

is to be without

God's law,

whether by ignorance

or deliberate

violation against it.

And that's what

verse 4 says

is sin.

Sin is lawlessness.

Sin is to be

without God's law.

You don't want it.

You're ignorant

of it.

You have your own

law.

That's lawlessness.

That's sin.

Verse 5,

you know that he

appeared in order

to take away sin.

John the Baptist

testified to this

at Jesus'

baptism in

John 1.

He says,

the next day

he saw Jesus

coming toward him

and he said,

Behold the Lamb

of God

who takes away

the sins of the world.

He came to take away

sins by dying

on the cross,

by taking our

punishment

and paying the price

for our sin.

That's what makes

it possible for us

to repent

and to ask forgiveness.

And in that,

our sins

are taken away.

And then the rest

of verse 5 says,

And in him

there is no sin.

We know this.

He could not

have died for us

if you had

any sin in him.

2 Corinthians 5.21

pulls those truths

together in this.

For our sake

he made him

to be sin

who knew no sin.

So that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

He did not know sin

and his sacrifice

made it possible

for our sins

to be taken away.

We know that Jesus

came to take away sin

and we know that in him

there is no sin.

And that is the great

thing to know.

But what do we do

with that knowledge

that Jesus had no sin

and he took away

our sin?

How does that affect

our daily living?

sin?

Look at verse 6.

No one who abides

in him

keeps on sinning.

No one who keeps

on sinning

has either seen him

or known him.

We talked earlier

about abiding.

That is to

remain

or dwell

in Christ

and the knowledge

of who he is.

If we remain

in Christ

then we cannot

keep sinning.

They oppose

each other.

They both

can't happen

together.

It is like saying

you remain healthy

and you keep

getting sick.

You can't do both.

There is a connection

between the words

abiding and keeping.

You can't abide

or remain in one thing

while keeping

and remaining

something else.

You can't remain

honest

while keeping up

a lie.

Both cannot happen.

And John helps

nail this down

for us.

If you keep

on sinning

you cannot

know him

is what he is

saying.

Genuine Christians

that know God

that abide in Christ

because they believe

in who he is

cannot make a

practice of sinning

because they

are making a

practice of

abiding in Christ

and we can't

do both.

That practice

to practice

something

is to

continue in it.

To do it

repeatedly

on a regular

basis or pattern.

A lot of times

it is to get

better at something.

I want to get

better at guitar

so I will

practice it.

I want to get

better at running

so I run

more.

So if you

practice

or make a

practice of

sinning

you cannot

be a child

of God.

What do you

do with

your sin?

Is there

a sin

that you're

practicing

and not

fighting against?

A sin

that you're

not letting

go of?

Do you

hide it?

Do you

continue in

it?

Maybe

perfect it

so people

don't notice

it and

you enjoy

it more?

That's what

it is to

practice

sinning.

Verse 7

he says,

Little children

let no one

deceive you.

Whoever

practices

righteousness

is righteous

as he

is righteous.

John is

going after

two things

here.

One is

the false

teaching of

the Antichrist.

and we

didn't get

into it

earlier

but this

was part

of what

the false

teaching was

about at

this time.

That the

son of

man remained

spiritual

and never

came in a

physical form.

They were

separated.

So by

implication

our spiritual

beings

remain separate

from our

physical

being.

To be

more specific

the Antichrist

were teaching

that their

spiritual life

was disconnected

from their

physical

actions.

So they

could have

a pure

spiritual

life

and their

sinful

physical

actions

didn't

affect it.

They could

be righteous

but not

practice

righteousness.

John says

no,

this cannot

be.

The nature

of our

spiritual

life is

shown in

our physical

actions.

Who we

are in

our hearts

will come

out in

how we

act.

If you're

children of

God,

you will

act and

have a

life like

you were

a child

of God.

If you

are a

child of

the devil,

then you

will live

that way.

You will

practice

sinning.

You will

not want

the law

of God.

You will

want

lawlessness.

What we

believe

comes out

in how

we live.

If you

follow

righteousness,

that is

Jesus Christ,

then you

will practice

righteousness.

sinning.

The other

side of

that,

in verse

8,

it says,

whoever makes

the practice

of sinning

is of

the devil.

For the

devil has

been doing

it from

the beginning.

Like we

read in

verse 4,

if you

practice

sinning,

you practice

lawlessness,

and that is

rebellion

towards God.

The rest

of verse

8 says,

the reason

the Son of

God appeared

was to

destroy the

works of

the devil.

So he

came to

take away

sin,

we just

talked about

that,

and he

came to

destroy

lawlessness

and rebellion

against him.

Back in

verse 1,

we saw the

kind of love

that we've

been given.

We are

called a

child of

God.

In

verse 2,

called God's

children.

And now

in these last

two verses,

verses 9 and

10,

John goes a

little deeper

with that

concept of

being a

child of

God.

Verse 9

says,

no one

born of

God,

meaning no

child of

God,

makes a

practice of

sinning.

This points

out what we

saw earlier,

that there's

a category of

people that

are born of

God.

It is those

who practice

righteousness.

Why?

It's not

because any

of us have

some innate

level of

righteousness in

ourselves.

Verse 9

goes on to

tell us,

it's because

God's seed

abides in

him.

The meaning

of that

could be a

couple different

things,

both of which

are true,

and they're

connected

together.

God's seed

could be the

word of

God that

brings salvation.

It could

mean the

presence of

the Holy

Spirit in

our life as

a Christian

that brings

about our

regeneration.

Both of

those are

actions that

take place

on every

person who

is born

again.

God's seed

abides in

him.

That is

born of

God,

and that's

why we

are called

children of

God.

2 Corinthians

5.17

says,

therefore,

if anyone

is in

Christ,

he is a

new creation.

Old has

passed away,

behold,

the new

has come.

We cannot

keep sinning

and be

born of

God,

just like

we cannot

abide in

Christ and

continue to

walk in

sin.

it is

from your

life,

your

actions,

even the

intents of

your heart,

because we

can't all see

each other's

heart.

We can

be seething

one another.

We can

look good,

but have a

sinful heart.

In those

things,

in our

actions,

in our

intents,

and in

our life,

we show

who we

are.

Verse 10

says,

by this,

practicing

righteousness,

or practicing

sin,

is evident

who are

the children

of God

and who

are the

children of

the devil.

Whoever does

not practice

righteousness

is not of

God,

nor is the

one who

does not

love his

brother.

So as we

look at

this passage,

as we see

that John

wants to

warn us

against this

deception

of the

Antichrists

that are

among us,

and wants

to remind

us of

the hope

we have

in following

Christ.

Our

question

today to

think about

is,

what do we

practice?

What do

you practice?

Do you

practice

righteousness?

Do you

practice

holiness?

Do you

practice

those things

because you

have a

God who

died for

you and

is coming

back for

you,

who has

called you

a child

of God

and loves

you?

Or do

you

practice

sinning?

Do you

practice doing

the things

that you

want to

do and

not living

for God?

Do you

work at

making

righteousness

your habit,

your routine

for living?

God,

let's

close in

prayer.

Lord,

thank you

for your

word.

Thank you

for the

promises

that you

give us

of what

it is to

be a

child of

God.

And Lord,

at the same

time,

we need

correction

to keep

us from

doing what

we want

to do,

going after

the things

of this

world that

bring death,

going after

things that

pull us

away from

who you

are.

So Lord,

we pray

that you

would help

us as

we think

about this

passage,

as we

meditate on

the thought

of what

we worship

and where

do we

abide?

Do we

abide in

sin?

Do we

abide in

righteousness?

Do we

look to

you at

a time

where we

can see

no hope

in anything

else?

When things

that we

thought were

solid begin

to fade

away and

are taken

away from

us?

Does our

trust and

our hope

in you

remain

knowing

that you

have given

us eternal

life?

Knowing that

you have

called us

children of

God?

And so

we are.

Lord, I

pray that you

would help

us with

that.

I pray that

you would

comfort us

in those

truths this

morning,

Lord.

We pray

these things

in your

holy name.

Amen.

Amen.