Remain in Christ

MPT: John reminded his readers that antichrists will try to destroy the church, but be confident in the truth that is Christ.

3 WARNINGS TO HELP YOU REMAIN IN CHRIST.

INTRODUCTION

If you have your Bibles, go ahead and make your way to 1 John chapter 2. We will be looking at verse 18 through 3:3. If you are unfamiliar with the Bible 1 John is not that hard to find, flip to the back in Revelation, then start working your way back, you’ll go through Jude, 3rd John, 2nd John, this 1st John. If you didn’t bring a Bible that is okay there is a copy in the pew in front of you, and if you do not own a Bible please keep that Bible, take it home, read it and learn about the God who loves you, 1 John chapter 2:18-3:3.

I know every time I get up here I usually talk about my life, and today is no different. About 13 years ago, Ariana and I were living in Northern VA, and our oldest daughter was only a few months old, we decided to go to Shenandoah National Park with Ariana’s sister and her sister’s boyfriend. So we left Eden with Ariana’s mom and we drove about hour to the park. If you’ve never been to Shenandoah National Park before you are missing out. It’s a beautiful park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the park, there are several creeks, waterfalls, and a natural waterslide. That’s what we were aiming for, the natural water slide. We asked around and figured out where to park and what trail to hike. We hiked for probably 5 miles and still hadn’t seen the natural waterslide. We hike a little further and saw a sign that said “White Oak Parking Lot 1 mile” and it pointed to the left. Well, we parked in the White Oak parking lot, so we got bummed thinking we made a loop and completely missed the waterslide, but it was getting late and needed to head back. We hike the 1 mile and make it to the parking lot only to discover, that it’s not the same parking lot. In fact, for some reason, there are two parking lots named White Oak. So now, we have no idea how away we are from our parking lot, and it is getting dark. We didn’t know what to do, we genuinely did not want to hike back in the dark, there are way too many scary movies that start off that way. We get talking to a family who just got done hiking, and they are willing to give one of us a ride back to the car, but it is a 45 minute drive all the way around the park. I’m aware there are a lot of scary movies that start with picking up a hitchhiker, and since he wasn’t part of the family yet, we let Ariana’s sister’s boyfriend ride with the complete strangers. After he leaves, it gets dark, and an older couple in a small pickup truck pulls up and asks if we are ok. We told them what’s going on and they say they come about twice a week to kill snakes on the trail. So naturally that got us scared, and then, they said we shouldn’t be there anymore because there are also bears. Now we are freaking out, and the older couple offers to give us a ride to their home. So it’s either we test our luck with fighting bears, or maybe having to fight this older couple if they try anything fishy, so we hopped in the truck. We go to their house and wait a little while before they take us back. The older couple drops us back off where they found us and the boyfriend drives up and we finally make it home safely. I tell you that, because that scary adventure could have all been avoided had we have not been deceived by the sign that led us to the wrong parking lot. There are times for us as Christians, that we let ourselves get deceived by false teaching, emotion-fed worship, unbiblical preaching, and lies of this world. In this passage we see that John reminded his readers that antichrists will try to destroy the church, but they should be confident in the truth that is Christ. So today, we are going to see three warnings to help you remain in Christ.

CONTEXT

What we need to remember about 1 John, is that it was written by John the Gospel writer, sometime around AD 70 when he was in Ephesus. Now this is a real letter, written by a real person, to a real audience, with real issues. John’s purpose for this letter as a whole was to reassure believers about the truth of the gospel and to help them avoid the false teachings and harmful behaviors that had started to lead some people astray. In this particular passage, John is warning his readers about the theological dangers that antichrists threaten the church with. So the first warning to help you remain in Christ is.

DON’T FALL FOR SPIRITUAL DECEPTION

(V18): When John says children, he means it as a term of endearment, because he cares for the early church. What he means by last hour, is once Christ resurrected the last hour began. The next step is His return. The last hour doesn’t mean total annihilation, but rather, this terminology is meant to represent the end of one age, and the beginning of another. In this case, John is referring to not a total world obliteration, but to a total world re-creation. Because we are talking about a re-creation instead of total destruction, the question now becomes, will you be apart of the re-creation that is designed for those that submit to Christ? Now he brings up the antichrist. I know in many movies and books, the idea of an antichrist is one person who starts a movement to derail christians and to turn people away from the church. Others think that the antichrist is someone who will slowly start to convince people that he is Christ. There are many theories and thoughts about the antichrist, but here is what I know. The antichrist isn’t so much a person, as it is a principle, and that principle is actively opposed to God. So regardless of what eschatology you believe, we should all agree that antichrist is a direct opposition to God. What John seems to be saying here, is that indeed there is an antichrist, in fact, there are several. In our society today, we see a movement of beliefs spreading that are clearly in opposition to Scripture, and we see people leave the church to follow these false beliefs. Our society is so lost and don’t know how desperately they are searching for God that they choose to follow anything that makes them feel good. The fact that there are antichrists here and among us also points to this being the last hour. John is stressing to his readers that it is the final stretch for when Christ returns. We don’t know when that will be, but Scripture teaches us that when Christ returns, there won’t be a warning, that He will be like a thief in the night. That’s why John is stressing it like this to his readers.

(V19): Many have left the church either to be false teachers, to follow false teachers, or were tricked into believing false teachers. If they were truly in Christ, they would not have denied Him. Because they left, it is clear that they were never saved. That doesn’t mean there is no hope for them. Christ can and does reach those who deny Him. Because it is the last hour, we must be diligent in telling others about Christ, even those who deny Him. That doesn’t mean everyone who leaves a church is not saved or an antichrist. There are many reasons people leave churches. People leave the church over personal worship preferences, or maybe they were hurt by someone and needed a change, or maybe it’s to seek a more Biblically centered church. It’s the ones who leave and deny our foundational beliefs that are problem. The ones who are trying to tear the church a part. Those are the ones to be diligent of. As you strive to not fall spiritual deception, you should IDENTIFY WHO IN YOUR LIFE IS AN ANTICHRIST. Now, I’m not telling y’all to go grab some pitchforks and run people out of town. But, you need to know who in your circle is attempting to pull you away from Christ. Who around you makes you feel guilty for talking your faith or the church? Who is trying to convince you that it’s okay to go against your convictions due to “self care”, or “you only live once”? An antichrist in your life could be someone you know, or an influencer you’ve never met. You most likely have more than one in your life.

Look at verse 20.

(V20): Upon conversion, a believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit, and He now lives and guides that new believer. Knowing and responding to the truth of the Gospel is a task we take to expand God’s kingdom. So the more and more we cling to the truth that is dwelling in us, the more we can defend the church from those trying to rip it apart. Our dependence on the truth we have from the Spirit is vital to combating spiritual warfare. I get it, that sounds intimidating, but the reality is, fighting spiritual warfare is not designated to the elite, or the “super spiritual”, it is designated to ALL believers, those who trust in Jesus. We all have the responsibility

(V21): John isn’t claiming anything new to his readers, he is simply reminding them that they can be confident in the truth that is in Christ. Rely on that truth and the power of the Holy Spirit to guide you and resist false teaching. God has set us apart to be His, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can know what is true. When we abide in Him, we can trust the He’ll keep s from falling for the lies that the antichrists of our world will tell us.

(V22): John is not saying that one specific person will be revealed as the antichrist, rather, anyone who denies the truth of Christ is considered an antichrist. Remember back in the first 4 verses on this letter, John made it clear that he is battling the heresy of gnosticism, the denial that Jesus is fully God and fully human. He set the record straight that to detach the Father from the Son is wrong, and the one who denies that Jesus is God is spreading lies.

(V23): You cannot have God without Christ. We can’t truly understand who God is without seeing Jesus for who He really is. If Jesus isn’t God’s Son—fully one with the Father—then His love and sacrifice would just be the actions of a good man, not the love of God shown to us. But because He is God’s Son, His life and death show us exactly how much God loves us. You cannot have faith the the one true God if you deny the divinity of Jesus. We serve a triune God. Do you acknowledge the trinity? Do you understand it? Is it important that we understand the trinity, or is that being too technical? Yes, it is being technical, and yes, it is important! If you are not worshipping the triune God, the one true God, then who are you worshipping? You have to know the God you worship, otherwise, you create a God to worship. This is why continued study on your own is important. The sanctification process involves spiritual growth and intellectual growth. Michael Reeves in his book “Delighting in the Trinity” he says “In our love and enjoyment of the Son we are like the Father; in our love and enjoyment of the Father we are like the Son. That is the happy life the Spirit calls us to.” So as you continue to resist deception, and you’ve identified the antichrists in your life, then you LIMIT THEIR INFLUENCE OVER YOU. If you find yourself not having Gospel conversations with these people even when the opportunity arises out of fear of losing their friendship, then they have become successful turning you away from Christ and you have fallen for their deceptive trap. We can’t let our fleshly desires for unholy relationships override what our purpose is in life, that is to worship and obey God, to know Him and make Him known. That’s it, and if you have relationships in your life that gets in the way of that, then stop it. Don’t fall for spiritual deception.

DON’T DRIFT FROM THE TRUTH

(V24-25): The Gospel message. If you heard the Gospel message and accepted it, then it doesn’t leave you. Rest in the salvation in have in Christ. And since you remain in Christ the Son, you also remain in God the Father. John again is assuring believers in Christ that through Him they have salvation. Being confident in your salvation is vital to not falling victim to false teaching. To remain and abide in Christ means that you are sticking to truth. And the truth is the good news of the Gospel. God had a perfect design for special creation, his image bearers, and when Adam and Eve sinned, they corrupted this world and they corrupted themselves, and from then on, our world became broken, which is why we see the destruction, devastation, and disease we have today. But from the beginning, God had a plan, and that was to send a perfect representative to live the life we couldn’t live to be a sacrifice for us. Jesus, the only begotten son of God, lived the perfect life, from conception to death. He took on all of our sins, and died the death we deserve on the cross. He rose three days later, and those who put their faith in him will have an eternal life in his presence. That is the truth that John implores his readers to remain in, and that is the promise of eternal life he mentions in verse 25. It is only through the work of the Son, that we will get to enjoy eternal life with the Father. As you strive to not drift from the truth, you need to REMIND YOURSELF OF THE GOSPEL DAILY. As you see, this has probably been an application statement since we started this series, and sure, it seems repetitive. A buddy of mine said one of his seminary professors told a story about his time as a pastor. One Sunday he gave a sermon, and some church members told him how great the sermon was. The next week, he preached the same sermon, those same church members thanked him for repeating himself because they missed somethings from the first time. The next week, he preached the same sermon for the third time. The same church members weren’t as enthused and asked why he felt the need to preach the same message 3 times in a row, and the pastor simply replied “have you done what I told you to the first time?” The point is to not bee repetitive just to be repetitive, but to reinforce the simple truth that we all need a savior. And if we don’t continue to remind ourselves of that daily, we run the risk of allowing this broken world to pull us away from that truth.

(V26): John is preparing his readers to combat the heresies that are ripping through the church. John’s insistence that his readers genuinely know God and his truth was part of his strategy for preparing them agains the antichrists. Whether we are ready or not, we are going to be challenged by those trying to turn people away from the truth of the Gospel.

(V27): No person can possibly teach us what the Spirit can. We as believers rely on the Spirit to teach us and guide us through life. To get closer to him, and to bring people in too. To know Him and make Him known. We John is warning the early church of those attempting to deceive, and the only teacher we can depend on is the spirit in us, as you remind yourself of the Gospel daily, you should SATURATE YOUR LIFE WITH GOD’S WORD. You can’t expect God to teach you and guide if you are not willing to put in the work yourself. I’m not saying it’s beyond God, He is certainly capable, but you should be filling your life with this truth that John has been speaking of in this passage. You should be in God’s Word daily. Look I get it, some of you have been reading the Bible longer than I’ve been alive, and probably know it more than anything, but some of you are intimidated by Scripture. You have a hard time understanding what you are reading. That’s ok. This is an ancient text written in ancient languages to be read under ancient traditions. But as God has revealed Himself in His Word to us, and as His Spirit lives in us, we can trust that He will help us understand what He is communicating to us.

(V28): Trusting Christ with your salvation also means trusting that He will return, because He says He will. Always be ready! Continue to help others see the truth. It is not too late, but once Christ comes, it will be. Be confident in your salvation.

(V29): Righteousness only come from God but as His children, we must strive for righteousness. So as you remind yourself of the Gospel daily, and saturate your life with God’s Word, you should then BE A GOSPEL WITNESS. We just read in verse 28 that John urges his readers to have confidence in the way they live their life for when Christ returns. Do not let opportunities pass by to have Gospel conversation. And I admit, I need to be better about this myself. There are times where I have had a conversation with someone, and if I’m in a hurry, I will just keep going, and then later kick myself for not taking the time to tell them about Christ. John is giving a clear warning that Christ is going to return, and when He does, do we want Him to see us arguing with a waiter, or yelling at someone in traffic? Or do we want Him to see us showing compassion and grace, and then telling people about Him? When Christ returns, I want to hear Him say “well done good and faithful servant” not out of vanity, but out of being the type of person God wants me to be.

DON’T IGNORE GOD’S TRANSFORMING WORK

(V1): God’s love for Christ from the beginning was a father loving His son, and that love has overflowed onto us! Those who are in Christ have been adopted and are now a child of God. This broken world doesn’t recognize Who God is, so therefore, they don’t see the validity of our faith and in how we live our lives. So don’t ignore God’s transforming work by CONTINUING TO MODEL HIS WORK. John just said that those who are in Christ are God’s children, we should act like it. How many times growing up did you get smacked in the head by your parents followed by “stop it, you are embarrassing me”, or when your child was a baby and they wouldn’t stop crying you would joke around and say “who’s baby is that?” The reality is, our kids embarrass us at times, and I know I’ve certainly embarrassed mine. But we as children of God, should set a good example. We should be a model of the good work God is doing in our lives. How may times do we see celebrity pastors fall from grace, and the world starts bashing Christianity? When the world sees that behavior, they see hypocrites. We should not be okay with that narrative. If the world is going to be angry with us, it should be because they are convicted of their sinful lifestyle, not because another Christian has let them down.

(V2): We cannot imagine what life will be like when Christ returns. All we know, is when He returns, it will be glorious, and we will freely live without the weight of sin, and we will see the beauty of Christ face to face!

(V3): The hope we have in new creation should motivate us to stay on mission. As you continue to model His work, you should CLING TO THE HOPE THAT IS IN CHRIST. This dark and sinful world is desperately trying to break you. Don’t give in to it. There have been many popular Christian pastors and artists who have openly renounced their faith. One of the hardest ones for me was from a band called MXPX. They were a popular Christian punk band and were a major influence on my life and one of the bands who inspired me to learn the guitar. A few years ago, the lead singer renounced Christianity and said it was just a “phase he went through”. Many other artist have simply lost faith because of the brokenness they’ve seen on the road. Y’all. What we read here in the Bible is true. We have the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ, and with that truth, comes hope that we will one day be in His presence. When that day comes, there will be no more crying, no more pain, no more shame, no more sin holding us back. Today we are going to observe Lord’s Supper together. This passage serves as a reminder to us the truth we have in what Christ has done for us to bring us salvation, and the promise He made to come back for us. So I urge you all, don’t fall for spiritual deception, don’t drift from the truth, and don’t ignore God’s transforming work. Remain in Christ. Let’s pray.

The praise and worship team are going to come back up and we are going to have a time of invitation. If you are a believer in this room, I hope today’s passage encourages you to be firm in your faith while you continue to grow in your relationship with Christ. If you aren’t a believer, I pray that you soon have the same hope that we do, and if you want to make a confession of faith in Christ, or out of response from today’s passage you need prayer, I’ll be down front however you need to respond today.