Antichrists, Anointing, Abiding | In light of love | 1 John 2: 18-27 | Ep.8

Welcome to Preaching from Bryanson Bible Church, located in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa.

It is our prayer that this teaching would bless you, deepen your love for God's Word, and encourage you as you follow Jesus.

And if you are not a Christian, we pray that this message would encourage you as you explore the Christian faith.

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.

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

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 I can remember us growing up together very vividly.

And so, because of the edge gap between us, um uh we uh spent lots of time together as an older brother looking after a younger brother, and actually some of those earliest memories are very precious to me.

And so I can um remember us, for example, watching the 1998 soccer world uh together, uh France against Brazil, uh Zidane against Ronaldo and all that drama.

I can remember us playing whether we soccer or rugby in the front yard, and so him being little and me being bigger, and yet some are finding ways in which we would just play together.

And so um it's funny to even think about it, but even to this day, I can vividly see us as being those two little boys who were fooling around up there in the yard all the time, even although we those days are long from we are both grown in now and uh well into uh our adulthood.

But those uh um uh memories of us growing up together are already deeply fond uh memories that I have.

But along with that fondness, I also had one great fear when it came to my younger brother, and that fear was around the end times, was around the end times.

And so before I was even a Christian, I'd heard all about the end times, I'd heard about the tribulation, I'd heard about the Antichrist, I heard about the rapture and how the faithful people will be taken away and the world would descend into chaos.

And so, being small, I did not even understand all of that theology, I did not know or was unable to differentiate what was really true biblical preaching or someone else's you know dramatic imagination, and yet I knew enough to be afraid.

And one of my biggest fears was what would happen with my little brother?

If the rapture were to happen and he was left behind, how would this little one who cannot even fend for himself be able to survive a world full of tribulation, full of chaos, full of destruction, and full of the Antichrist?

And so that was a deep fear that I had as I was growing up.

I know now that we all both of us are grown up, you know, so you think back, you're like, what was I ever afraid of?

And yet for me, it talks about the Antichrist, the end times.

We're not just great debate topics to just argue over, but I was deeply fearful, filled me with anxiety and apprehension as I came towards it.

Now, I wonder whether this morning many of us may approach talks about the Antichrist and the end times with a similar sort of apprehension and fear and suspicion around it.

Because if you are anywhere near 43 and upwards, right, we grew up in a world, right, full of apocalyptic movies, right?

Of conspiracy theories.

We grew up in a world where of secret codes, where every political leader was sort of kind of suspected as being the Antichrist, right?

And we grew up in a world of the boyish charm of Kirk Cameron as he navigated the end times through the left beyond series.

Anyone remember that, right?

We chuckled about that now, but let's just be honest.

For many of us, it was deeply stressful things that we were uh wrestling with, right?

And so we watched barcodes, right?

Remember that?

With spiritual suspicion, right?

We looked at microchips thinking, could this be the one, right?

And then what about Y2K?

It came and went, right?

And to our surprise, all of the computers, Sama survived doomsday, right?

And so when you think about it, how many of our end-time fears have just never materialized?

Just never materialized.

And even if that was not your background, right, you still may be uh approaching talks about the Antichrist or the end times, feeling somewhat afraid, feeling somewhat suspicious, confused, apprehensive about it all.

But what I found striking about our text this morning is that when the Apostle John wrote about the last days and the Antichrist, he did not write so as to fill the church with speculation or with curiosity or apprehension.

No, he said he wrote so as to settle the church, settle the church because the church that he writes into had just recently gone through a very painful and dangerous experience.

And so there were some of them that were part of their fellowship that had left.

And as they left, they were living beyond the truths about the Lord Jesus Christ, and that had deeply unsettled those who had remained.

And so the Apostle John writes to them so as to tell them that this very painful experience that they are undergoing is itself evidence that we are living in the lost days, that we're living in the lost days, and yet they should not be cause for panic in the church.

Why?

Because the lost days, friends, are not a call.

They're not a call for us to be sort of caught up, find ourselves caught up in all sorts of fresh revelations, more endless speculations.

No, but the lost days are a call for us to be deeply rooted in the gospel and deeply rely on the spirit of God.

In fact, that is the heart of our text this morning.

That the lost uh that the safest place to be in the lost days is where the gospel and spirit will keep you.

The safest place to be in the lost days is where the gospel and the spirit will keep you.

And so as we journey through our text, let's unfold it or unpack it through these four headings.

That one, we ought to recognize the days we're in.

Second, the uh we ought to discern the voices that deny Christ.

Third, we ought to remain in the gospel that keeps us, and then fourth, rely on the spirit who teaches us.

And so let's jump in, recognize the days we are in.

And so look at verse uh 18.

The apostle John begins by saying, Children, that is just his term of endearment to his audience.

Children, it is the last hour.

And so the apostle John doesn't begin by saying, Listen up, one day in far in the future, the lost days, the lost hour is coming.

That's not how he begins.

Instead, he begins by saying, It is the last hour now.

It is the last hour now.

And so the apostle John would have us know that we are living and living in the present lost days, and so Christians do not have to try to decode future world events uh so as to figure out when the lost days will come.

No, we're already living in an hour, in this present age, and it is an age of uh that is characterized by opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's the age we're living in.

And so the lost hour is simply, when you just think about it simply, the lost hour is essentially uh essentially the period between the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and his return.

That's what the lost hour is.

And so Christ Jesus has already come, the gospel has been revealed, the work of salvation has been accomplished, the spirit of God has been given to uh to the church, and so the only thing that remains is for Christ Jesus to return.

For Christ Jesus to return.

And so, therefore, the spirits of darkness, the powers of darkness, already know that their time is limited because that's the only thing left to happen, that Christ will return.

And so, therefore, the only thing they can do is to do their worst in this entrant period.

In this entrant period.

And so the apostle John is writing to the church, writing to us, saying, We're already living in the last hour.

We're already living in that final stage where great opposition towards the Lord Jesus Christ is rife.

That's the the uh the state uh the last hour or the age that we're already living in.

And so to give us evidence for that, he continues verse 18 saying, as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.

Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

Now, that word antichrist simply means against Christ or in place of Christ.

And so John is the only uh writer in the Bible who uh uses that exact term, though Daniel in the Old Testament and the Apostle Paul in the New Testament also refer or speak to about this final opponent that is to come.

Now, whether there will be this ultimate antichrist who will come in the future is either not John's concern in this text.

It is not John's concern.

What is his concern?

Yes, his concern.

So now many antichrists have come, therefore we know that it is the last hour.

And so what is John saying?

John is saying that we already see the spirit of the Antichrist already at play in the world whenever we see Jesus Christ being denied, being distorted, being reduced, or being replaced, or being abandoned.

We're already in that hour, in that stage where that is laying itself out.

And so then John's first warning to us will be that hey, we need to recognize the hour that we're in.

That we're living in an in a in an hour where where the opposition towards the Lord Jesus Christ will be rife.

The voices will be present, looking to distort the truths, the belief about Jesus Christ.

And those voices will not simply just occur out there in the world, but some of those voices will be rising from within here, within you, and we ought to recognize the day that we are in.

Because look at what he says about those voices, false teachers and teachings that may look to distort, deny, replace, or reduce the Lord Jesus Christ.

He writes in verse 19, they went out from us.

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

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

And so John is not talking about people that were out there.

No, he's talking about people that were in here.

He's talking about so-called brothers and sisters in Christ, right?

With whom they had worshipped God with, had Bible studies with, prayed together with.

And yet by their leaving, they're leaving, they showed something in particular, displayed something in particular, as he continues in verse 19.

If they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

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

And so, to be sure, yes, what the apostle John is not saying.

He's not saying that every single time someone leaves the church, they must not be a Christian.

That's not what he's saying.

So don't be looking at people funny, right?

You're no longer attending BBC.

That's not the point.

He said, John is after something particular, yeah, specific, yeah.

And so he is saying that these people did not simply leave the church, a church, but when they left, they were left behind the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what he's on about.

And by that kind of departure, they are displaying or exposing that they were never part of the people of God, that they were never a part of the people of God.

And so that's what John, the apostle Paul, is uh sorry, the Apostle John is calling out.

It's calling out.

And so then the first exhortation that John would have us here is say, Hey, we got to recognize the days that we are living in.

We're living in a days where there's opposition, opposition against the Lord Jesus Christ.

That there are voices that are seeking to drag people away from the Lord Jesus Christ.

And those voices will not just be outside the church, some of those voices may come from within the church.

And we ought to recognize the days that we are living in.

And so these days that we're living in, there are so many voices around us all the time, is it not?

You think about podcasts, you think about YouTube preachers, you think about TikTok theologians, you think about online apostles, you think about WhatsApp prophecies, you think about secret words of knowledge, you think about all sorts of stuff that are out uh out there that is constantly at play, at work.

You think about people who would be saying, Oh, the church has for centuries never gotten this thing right, but now we know and you fill in the blank, right?

Must come people.

And so the apostle John would say to us all, recognize, recognize the days we're in, so that second, you may be able to discern the voices that deny Christ.

That you may be able to discern the voices that deny Christ.

And so then he turns to those who had remained in the church and he says something important to them so as to reassure them.

Look at verse 20.

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

You've been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

Yes, what he's saying.

He's saying that those who have remained faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ have already got the Spirit of God in them, and it is through the Spirit of God that we are able to be taught, are able to be helped to remain faithful to the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we'll come back to this anointing of the Spirit in the final point.

But then John continues, verse 21.

I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

To just put it simply, here's what John is saying it's saying that truth and falsehood cannot both be coming from God.

Truth and falsehood cannot both be coming from God.

And so then, if there is some spiritual authority out there, it will be teaching out of that spiritual authority, be leading us away from the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ, then John would say that that is not coming from the God and the Spirit of truth.

Not coming from the God and the Spirit of truth.

And we ought to be discerning, discerning our such voices, our such people, uh people who would speak in that way.

Especially we who have already received the Lord Jesus Christ, who have the Spirit of God in us.

John is saying that we have everything we need to be able to discern.

Discern the voices that deny Christ.

And so he continues to look at verse 22.

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.

That's such an important verse.

Because here's what John is saying to us through this verse.

He's saying this brother, sister in Christ, you want to be able to discern between what is spiritually true from what is spiritually false.

You want to discern what is gospel truth and what is antichrist teaching.

The test to that is Jesus Christ himself.

It is Jesus Christ Himself.

Because you see, antichrist teaching, teaching against Christ is nothing but Christ-denying teaching.

It is Christ-denying teaching.

It is any teaching that will seek to deny who Jesus Christ is.

And so Christ Jesus is the test himself.

As to what we're being taught or what we're being uh we're receiving, is indeed looking to honor Christ Jesus.

And not only does Antiochrist teaching denies the Christ Jesus, but then it also does something in particular to our fellowship with God.

And so look at what he says in verse 23.

No one who denies the Son has the Father.

No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Has the Father also.

And so when we're being led away from teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, we're being pulled away from fellowship with God.

And from being put away from possessing the Father.

And so you cannot have the Father while denying the Son.

And so and you cannot truly know the Father while rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ.

You cannot move beyond Jesus Christ into deeper relationship with God.

That can never happen.

Because Christ is the only way in which we have access into the Father.

And so any teaching that will say to us that some are graduate from Christ Jesus into something deeply more spiritual and more love-giving, it's not.

It's not of the Father.

Many of them will speak about blessing, faith, purpose, destiny, breakthrough, favor, healing, the spirit's power.

And so the way in which you discern around those voices is not by simply asking, does it sound spiritual?

Why?

Because, friends, danger is not only found in things that are less spiritual.

Sometimes danger is found in things that are wrongly spiritual.

Wrongly spiritual.

No, there are some better questions to ask.

And here are some of them.

Does this voice submit to the authority of Scripture in all things?

Does this voice keep Jesus Christ at the center of all things?

Does this voice confess the true person and finish work of Christ above all things?

And does this voice reflect the Spirit's work in leading us to abide in Christ through all things?

Why?

Because the Spirit of God will never lead you away from the Son of God.

Say again, the Spirit of God will never lead you away from the Son of God.

One of our responsibilities as elders is to protect the flock against false teachers and against false teaching.

And so if this morning you're thinking about a particular teacher, you're thinking about a particular teaching and you're putting them through these four questions, and so you still arrive at a point where you're saying, I'm still not sure.

Then I would invite you, please, reach out to one of the others to help you discern.

To help you discern if that is Christ's exalting teaching.

And so then the Apostle John exhorts us, exhaust us to recognize the days we're in so that we would discern, discern the voices that denounce Christ.

But he doesn't just leave us or talk to us about the dangers, but he gives us also safeguards.

Safeguards.

How are believers supposed to be protected from being led astray?

And he gives us two safeguards in particular.

The first one we see is this that we ought to remain in the gospel that keeps us.

Remain in the gospel that keeps us.

And so look at verse 24.

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.

Let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you.

What is he talking about?

That you heard, heard from the beginning.

He's referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ that was proclaimed by the apostles.

That's what he's calling them to abide in.

That original gospel message that declared the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, what is the gospel message?

It is the message that Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Christ.

What we mean by that is that he is the Son of God.

And that he rose to life.

And he now offers eternal life to anyone who would repent and believe in him.

That is the gospel.

It is the good news of God giving life through the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the apostle John is saying, let that gospel, let that gospel abide in you.

Abide in you.

And so in other words, he's saying, let the gospel take deep root in you, shaping how you think, what you think, what you believe, what you trust in.

What are the voices?

You allow yourself to be Shepard.

And so, in other words, what he's saying is this, he's saying, friends, what you need is not to move beyond the gospel.

But what you need is to be deeply connected to, deeply rooted in the gospel.

Why?

Because the gospel is not something we ever graduate from, it is where God keeps his people.

He keeps his people in the gospel.

So that's why we're abide in the gospel.

And when we abide in the gospel, it is such a beautiful promise for us in the gospel.

Look at verse 24 as he continues.

If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, the gospel abides in you, then you too would abide in the Son and in the Father.

Isn't that a wonderful thing?

Isn't that a wonderful thing that you two would abide in the Father, for in the Son and in the Father?

Why?

Because the gospel keeps us close to Jesus.

And Jesus keeps us close to the Father.

Keeps us close to the Father.

And so if we stray away from the gospel, we are straying away.

We're never straying closer to God.

We're straying away from God all together.

And so we ought to abide and remain close to the gospel, close to Christ and close to the Father.

Or else we will forsake the very promise.

What is the promise?

Verse 25 tells us, and this is the promise that he made to us.

What is it?

Eternal life.

Eternal life.

It is as if at this point the apostle John wants us to think back to Jesus' own words.

He needs high priestly prayer over us, as he declared.

And this is eternal life.

That they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

That they will know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.

And so, friends, true and eternal knowledge of the living God is our portion as we remain in the gospel.

It is a portion as we remain in the gospel.

That's what we've been called to.

That's what we've been invited to embrace and to enjoy.

And so, in these last days, in this last hour, friend, do not become unsettled by people who are claiming fresh insight.

Do not become intimidated by people who would say, Oh, we have greater moved on from simple faith in Jesus.

Do not allow yourself to be led astray or way from teaching that would say that the gospel is too basic, too old, too insufficient.

No, remain.

Remain in the gospel.

Why?

Because the safest place to be in the last days is where the gospel will keep you.

It's where the gospel will keep you, keeps you deeper into Christ, abiding in the Father and holding fast to the promise of eternal life.

But then John does not just tell us that we have the gospel, but he also goes on to tell us that we have the spirit.

That we have the spirit.

As John himself has already said to us, think back to verse 20, that you have been anointed by the Holy One.

I mean anointed by the Holy One.

And so God has placed his spirit within us so that we would indeed abide in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so that's why he continues in verse 27 to say, you have no need that anyone should teach you.

Now, to be sure, John is not saying that believers do not need preachers and teachers because he himself is teaching them, is he not by writing this letter?

Right?

And so what is he saying?

He is saying that they have no need for this super spiritual teaching that comes from deceivers and antichrists that looks to try to add or complete what is supposedly missing from the gospel.

You have no need of that, you have no need of that, is what he is saying to them.

Why?

Because the spirit himself is your teacher, the spirit himself is your teacher, and he will teach you how to abide and how to remain in the gospel and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so then if you ever hear anyone who's saying, Oh, the Spirit of God is leading me away from the gospel or into something else, John will tell us to say, Hey, that's it's not the spirit of truth.

That's not the spirit of truth.

Why?

Because as I've said earlier, the spirit of God will never lead you away from the Son of God.

The Spirit of God will never lead you away from the Son of God.

And he goes on to say, and as his uh his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie.

That's the Spirit of God, teaches us about everything we need of the faith.

That is true, that is no lie.

Now, to be sure, the Spirit does not replace the gospel, that the two work together, and so the gospel is the truth we ought to remain in, and the spirit is the one that helps us recognize, receive, and remain in that truth, and so that's why we will never be led by the spirit away from the gospel, and so the spirit of God will never, friends, will never make Jesus Christ small.

Spirit of God will never tell us that the cross is unnecessary.

The Spirit of God will never say that the gospel is insufficient.

Get this, the Spirit of God will never offer us the Father apart from the Son.

Never do so.

And so that is why John then ends this verse by saying, just as it, this referring to the anointing, and so the Spirit has taught you, abide in him, abide in him, and so remain in Christ, in Jesus, and so the Spirit teaches us so that we will remain in Jesus Christ.

Now, friends, as you put that all together, I find it deeply reassuring.

Why?

Because it means this, friends, when it comes to the end times, you and I don't ever have to worry and ask ourselves, what if I miss something?

What if what I know is not enough?

What if it proves to be all too confusing?

You see, we don't have to become experts on end time theories or uh controversies or speculations.

Why?

Because we have the master of time himself as our teacher, and he will ensure that we remain faithful to the gospel, remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ as we rely on him to teach us, to teach us.

Now, relying on the spirit to teach us does not mean that we will now become people who are just led by our own inner feelings, or I feel led by the spirit, and thereby and in the process, I completely ignored and know the gospel and I completely dismiss the scriptures for my own impressions.

The Spirit of God will never lead you to have independence from the word of God.

He will never do that, for that is the truth, and his role is to help you abide in the truth, abide in the Lord, and so that's where you lead us.

And so, therefore, we ought to be people who rely, rely on the Spirit teaching us by listening, listening to him, lead us to Christ, lead us to the gospel, lead us to the word of God that is truth, and that has been heard since the very beginning.

Why?

Because the safest place to be in the lost days is where the gospel and the spirit will keep you.

Amen.

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