SERMON GM14-020
SERIES: Christian Living in a World of Chaos &
Contradiction
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM
SUBTITLE: The Test of Fellowship: Resisting the Anti-Christ’s
SCRIPTURE: 1 John 2:18-27
SUBJ: Warning against the antichrists
SUMMARY:
You must remain in Christ in order to overcome the deceptive teachings of the
anti-Christ’s.
SCHEME: The aim of this message is to test your claim of fellowship with God on
Christological grounds
1A THE CHRISTIAN LIFE VIEWED AS FELLOWSHIP (1:5-2:28)
1B Fellowship is
tested on practical grounds (1:5-2:11)
1C Practical
grounds of moral like-ness (1:5-7)
2C Practical
grounds of confession of sin (1:8-2:2)
3C Practical
grounds of obedience (2:3-6)
4C Practical
grounds of love (2:7-11)
2B Fellowship is
tested on relational grounds (2:12-17)
1C The Positive Relationship (2:12-14)
2C The Negative Relationship (2:15-17)
3B Fellowship is
tested on Christological grounds (2:18-27)
1C The Contrast (2:18)
2C The Christological (2:19-21)
3C The Centrality (2:22-25)
4C The
Clincher (2:26-27)
The Test of
Fellowship: Resist the anti-Christs
1 John 2: 18-27
(Part 11)
INTRODUCTION
A.
Review
The letters of John deal predominately with the fundamental
points of Christian theology. John’s letters are short and they are very
understandable with careful reading, prayer, and meditation.
This letter that we call 1 John indicates that the
interference and influence of false teachers had developed into a fluid system
of thought opposing the teachings of both Jesus and the apostles, including
John.
These false teachers withdrew from individual
churches and began working to drag believers out of apostolic churches through
the use of heresy and deception.
These false teachers were teaching that it was not
necessary to believe that Jesus was the Son of God to have knowledge of God or
to have an experience of salvation. They taught that:
·
One could live without sin or sinning
·
That there was no need of the practice of confession/forgiveness
through the death of Jesus Christ
·
They rejected apostolic authority, teaching, and doctrine and claimed
to have their own special brand of information
So, John responded by writing this letter to assure
these Christians that they were in fact the possessors of absolute truth from
God. John chose to give his readers some ‘tests’ to in order to demonstrate the
authenticity of the apostolic teaching and to re-build their confidence in
John’s teachings.
John made his goal very clear: it is a very real
possibility of having fellowship between men and God through Jesus Christ, His
Son. Fellowship is possible and the claims of fellowship with God can be
tested.
In 1 John 1:5 – 2:11, we see that the claims of
fellowship with God can be tested on or by practical grounds or means. One does
not have to look for secret, special, or selective signs in order to know for
certain if one has fellowship with God. John listed at least four (4)
distinctly practical marks that prove one does have fellowship with God:
·
There must be a
moral-likeness to God. (1:5-7) Children resemble their parents, their father. There must be
a moral-likeness to God our Father in order to establish our claim of being in
fellowship with God. Morality will not save you, but your salvation will result
in morality and a moral likeness.
·
There must be consistent
remorse and confession of sin. (1:8-2:2) We cannot deny that we are guilty of sin
nor can we refuse to confess sin when convicted and directed by the HS. We must
omolegew - say the same thing, or agree with God that our sin is sin and then we
must ask for forgiveness. A denial of sin, a reclassification of sin into
hang-ups or quirks and a refusal to ask God for forgiveness is a sign that our
claim of fellowship may be bogus.
·
There must be a commitment
and a lifestyle of obedience. (2:3-6) One cannot simply make a decision, or pray
a prayer, or as biblically incorrect as it can be “ask Jesus in your heart” and
then live with no desire to obey God and His Word.
·
There must be a love for
God, the things of God, and the people of God. (2:7-11). This love grows
and deepens as believers grow and mature. But one cannot claim to have
fellowship with God and not love God nor the things of God, including the
people of God. God pours His love into us by His HS and we must express that
love.
It
is true then that we can have fellowship with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is true that we can claim to have fellowship with God. But it is
equally true that there must be evidence supporting our claim of having
fellowship with God.
This
is important to remember when you come across someone that claims to be a
Christian, or that they are ‘OK’ with God and yet none of these characteristics
of qualities exist. Our claim must be able to be put to the test and to pass
giving us the confidence that we really are OK with God.
So,
The Claims of Fellowship can be tested. They can be tested by practical grounds
or means.
There
is a second test we looked at and that was Fellowship can be tested on relational grounds. The evidence of
salvation can be seen or proven by the fact that we have a visible and vital
relationship with God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
When
we looked at this test we saw that John had broken it down into two specific categories,
the first category was positive
relationship and he second category was negative
relationship.
First
of all – John was confident that the people he was writing to have a positive
relationship with God. He wrote to them as little children, young men, and old
men. He knew that they were at various stages of growth, but they were truly
related to God. He based this confidence on:
·
The fact that their sins had been forgiven by God for His name’s sake
·
The fact that these believers had known God since they first heard the
good news
·
The fact that they had overcome Satan and were strong in the Lord
So
John has confidence in their claim because of their positive relationship to
God through Jesus Christ.
He
is also confident of their claim because of a negative relationship. They are
not related to the world. John tells them to not love the world or the things
that are in the world. True believers who have a real relationship and real
fellowship with God do not love this fallen world system. What is this world system?
We answered that question with the following things:
·
The understanding and reason of sinful men
·
Vain imaginations of men
·
Evil thoughts of men
·
Inordinate longings and cravings of man
·
Unlawful inclinations of man
·
The perversities of men
·
Stubbornness and willfulness of men
·
It is a system where God is left out, where his standards are rejected
·
It is a system that opposes God, promotes self, and loves self
I
summed it up this way:
·
Gratification w/o guidelines
·
Control/ w/o consequences
·
Rights w/o responsibilities
·
Pleasure w/o penalties
So,
if you claim to have fellowship with God, then your claim can and should be
tested. It can be tested on practical grounds and it can be tested on
relational grounds. This leads us to a third test. Let me give you a …
B.
Rundown
1.
Identifying Friend and Foe
When I was in the Marine Corps I was assigned a tour
of guard duty. It was my job to walk a perimeter line around our helicopters
that were sitting on the flight line. They were both vulnerable and susceptible
to sabotage. It was my job to protect them from any and all attempts of sabotage.
As guards we were given the password of the day. Any
time someone approached our position or attempted to get close to our
helicopters we had to challenge them by calling out, ‘Halt, who goes there?’
Naturally, the individual who had been challenged
had to respond with the correct password or be shot.
It was my job to determine who was a friend or who
was a foe, or an enemy.
2. The enemy of the church
The church faces
foes, or enemies on a regular basis. The church faces enemies far greater than
any that I might have faced on US soil or any foreign soil. The enemy is alive
and well and has battle plans drawn and ready so as to attack the church.
3. Our responsibilities as believers
We as Christians have no
less responsibilities today in our Christian lives. We must be able to
recognize who is a friend to the Christ and His cause or who is a foe to Christ
and his cause. We must be able to determine who the anti-Christ’s are. We must
be able to identify false doctrine and teaching.
Our theme is: watch out for anti-Christ’s
This
is a good reminder for us all to be sober, alert, and always on guard in order
to identify and resist the anti-Christ’s that attempt to destroy our faith by
deception.
Proposition: I propose to you that you must remain in Christ in order to overcome the deceptive
teachings of the anti-Christ’s.
Interrogative Sentence: Why does John warn these
believers to watch out for the anti-Christs.
Transitional Sentence: This passage implies four
(4) arguments that enable us to see the importance of the Christological test
of a claim of fellowship.
[The
first argument John gives is…]
3C A Proliferation of antichrists
are a sign of the end times (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.” (1 John 2:18, ESV)
1D Children…
John begins verse 18 with paidia. Little children. It actually
means infant or babe. It is a term of endearment. John loves his readers and
they are very special to him.
2D “…it is the last hour…”
The last hour is the last period of time between the
first coming of Jesus in the incarnation and the last appearing of Jesus at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.
John clearly means the short period which still
remains before the final manifestation of the last day.
Remember Jesus had told his disciples that the time
of His return was not revealed by God.
Read Matthew
24:3-14
“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of
Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44, ESV)
“Watch…for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13, ESV)
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is
coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40, ESV)
John reminds his readers just how important these
truths are. They are living in that last period of time and they needed to be on
guard, watching, and ready not deceived by false teachers.
As John thinks about the appearance of many false
teachers or antichrists, he wants his readers to realize that their appearance
is characteristic of the coming end of this particular age.
John doesn’t set a date, or speculate on the when,
his desire is to stress the urgency of the implications resident in these false
teachers.
3D “…and
as you have heard…”
This subject, the last days or final period of time
and the coming of the Messiah was taught to these believers. This was part of
the apostolic teaching. John reminds them that they had been taught these
truths.
A part of their instruction in the faith was the
teaching that “the” antichrist would appear or that he is “coming,” he is on
his way. The grammar tells us that the future coming of “the” antichrist is a
certain reality. He is coming.
The singular noun points to a definite individual
who is yet to come.
4D “…that
antichrist is coming…”
Who is this antichrist?
What
is significant about him?
Why
was he such a part of the apostle’s teaching?
First – The early church believed a number of
things:
·
that the Temple would be rebuilt in Jerusalem
·
that a Jewish man would come on
the world scene
·
This Jewish leader would have extraordinary powers
·
He would make extraordinary claims
·
He would harass and persecute the Christian church
·
He would deceive many people, attempt to deceive and mislead Christians
Second – During the period of time between Christ’s
first coming and his second coming, there will be many false teachers and
prophets who will pop up all over the place teaching false doctrine heresy, and
promoting wickedness/evil, and will persecute Christians.
Thirdly – the “spirit” or intent of the coming
antichrist is already at work even in John’s day.
There have been many imitations of this coming
antichrist.
For
example: the Roman Emperor Caligula
·
He demanded to be worshipped as a God
·
He had a temple built for him to be worshipped in
·
He had a statue set up in his likeness to be worshipped
You have to remember who our enemy really is.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)
The only protection that we have is the entire armor
of God and that is why Paul tells us to put in on and he describes our armor
piece by piece.
So John says, “…and you have heard…” These
believers have already been warned already. It seems that none of the apostles
ever preached without warning these early Christians about the danger of these
antichrists.
We as believers have been warned yet it seems that
so many are deceived today by them.
The church is constantly confronted by this evil
power that many times is quiet, subtle, and just under the radar.
Who is this antichrist?
·
He appears in the “latter times” of Israel’s history (Dan 8:23)
·
He will appear prior to Christ’s second coming to earth (2 Thess 2:2)
·
His appearance at this time is prohibited by the HS (2 Thess 2:6, 9)
·
There will be a unique and seemingly global apostasy (2 Thess 2:1)
·
It seems that he is a Gentile: (Rev
13:1)
o He arises from the “sea”
(depicts the nations)
o He comes from the Roman
empire
o He is the head of the last Gentile
world rulers
o He is a political
leader (Rev 13:1; 7:12
·
He will rule over the entire world
What is significant about
him?
o He will eliminate 3 rulers in order to take
control (Dan 7:8, 24)
o His rise to power is a
result of a peace program (Dan 8:25)
o He is marked by
extraordinary intelligence & persuasiveness
(Dan 7:8, 20; 8:3)
o He will rule with absolute
authority (
o His chief intent is absolute
power (Dan 11:38)
o He introduces absolute
idolatrous worship
o His authority and power is derived
from the pride of Satan (Eze 28:2)
o The one world, false church
actually helps him come to power because the church believes it can control
him.
o He will destroy the false,
one world church
Why was he such a part of
the apostle’s teaching?
His
chief aim is to oppose God and anything that relates to God
He
is the man of lawlessness – he is the very embodiment of evil/wickedness
His
mission is to destroy God’s work, his people,
He
is very deceptive
He
is very crafty
He
can be very subtle
Therefore
the church had to be on its absolute guard. I am afraid today’s church has been
lulled to sleep by the any antichrist’s who are active today.
When
Frodo put on The Ring it made him invisible to anyone and everyone around him. But
when he was wearing The Ring the all-seeing power in Mordor was drawn to The
Ring. Frodo or any wearer of the ring was subtly drawn to the all-seeing evil
power and its control.
The
church has put on The Ring. The church today is drawn toward power, success,
wealth, position, and notoriety. The church has been deceptively drawn more and
more to the world’s philosophy as it seeks to be relevant.
Next
week, Lord willing we will finish John’s three other arguments that enable us
to see the importance of the Christological test of a claim of fellowship.
Our theme is: watch out for anti-Christ’s
This
is a good reminder for us all to be sober, alert, and always on guard in order
to identify and resist the anti-Christ’s that attempt to destroy our faith by
deception.
Proposition: I propose to you that you must remain in Christ in order to overcome the deceptive
teachings of the anti-Christ’s.
[What
do you say we wrap this up?]
CONCLUSION
My goal this morning and the
aim of this series of messages is to test your claim of fellowship with God on
Christological grounds. Today, my goal was to review and remind you of what we
have covered since it has been a few months since we have studied this letter.
This warning was given on the basis of John’s
confidence in his reader’s position of being genuine believers. This warning
was based on all the prior apostolic teaching and preaching that these
believers had received.
John warned them that The
Antichrist was coming, but there were many similar antichrists spreading false
doctrine right then and there.
Exhortation: I
exhort you to be sober, watching, and on guard that you are not subtly deceived
into works of lawlessness by antichrists who are imitating Christ.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:7-8, (ESV)
“But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober,
and watch unto prayer. Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour…”
Let’s
pray! J
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