Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Prayer
Last week we saw a clear warning from Scripture what the antichrist will be like.
He will be one who is a deceiver and manipulator, and will seek to replace Christ.
But more than just one singular figure, we saw that there are many antichrists.
Many who seek to stand in the place of Jesus.
He is a figure which seeks to take the place of Christ.
And his is known by his slogan which is…
We talked about discernment, and very basically the need for truth being acknowledging the Son.
The two points from last week were...
Discernment thrives where truth reigns.
Deception thrives where lies reign.
But John gives us more to be able to grow in discernment.
Another question we should be asking then is: how can the Christian guard against the deception of the antichrists?
SO this sermon will be divided into two sections, and really answering, two questions.
So the first question is: how does truth begin to reign in our lives?
Truth Reigns when we Abide in Christ
What does this truth, once it is reigning, produce within us?
Abiding in Christ produces in us Confidence at His Coming
Walking in Discernment
1 John 2:24 (NKJV)
Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.
When John encourages them to abide in the message that they have “heard from the beginning”
He is not encouraging them to stay within the message because it is old.
This is a fallacy of so many within our own day.
They remain in their “faith tradition” because it is what has always practiced.
They remain in the their church because it is really old and has a tradition.
John’s argument is not because it is old, but because it is TRUE.
The message of the gospel, is to be abided in because it is true and right, not because they have had it from the beginning.
The antidote to the heresy of these false teachers is to return to the teaching given by the apostles.
Abiding in Christ
What does John mean by abiding?
I would argue that John has the same thing in mind here as Jesus did.
When Jesus was preparing to depart from this world, he told his disciples in John 15...
So Jesus gives this potent picture of a vineyard.
With Himself being the true vine.
In the Old Testament, Israel was said to be the vine.
But Jesus is saying here that He is the vine.
And His Father is the One who tends to and grafts in certain branches.
He goes on to say..
Jesus Himself gives a clear word picture of Him being the vine and us being the branches.
And Jesus has so associated His Word with the Word that He can say in John 15:4
“Christ is Christianity itself; He stands not outside of it but in its centre; without His name, person and work, there is no Christianity left.
In a word, Christ does not point out the way to salvation; He is the Way itself”
Connected to the Vine
So the question initially was, how does truth begin to reign in our lives?
Truth reigns when we remain in Christ.
Jesus says that life itself is found in Him.
Also notice that Jesus says, that apart from Him we can do nothing.
He is the source and the substance of life.
And the only hope for the Christian is to stay connected to Him.
The only source and substance from the Christian comes from Christ.
How does someone go about abiding in the truth of Christ?
These words from Jesus come just after many have said to believed in Him.
Remaining in the Truth
Truth Reigns when we Abide in Christ!
Or again in John 15:7-10
For Jesus, the life of the Christian is the life of one who abides or remains in His words.
Which means that we cling and hold fast to the words which He has spoken.
But Jesus now lays down exactly what it is that separates spurious faith from true faith, fickle disciples from genuine disciples: If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.
I love what Carson says here because it is the dividing line of a Christian and an antichrist.
An antichrist will use and abuse Jesus’ words, only seeking to use his words when he can twist them.
An antichrist will seek to undermine people’s faith and trust in Christ’s words.
But a Christian, they are ones who…
such a person obeys it, seeks to understand it better, and finds it more precious, more controlling, precisely when other forces flatly oppose it.
It is the one who continues in the teaching who has both the Father and the Son
The Christian is one who continues to grow and love and appreciate the words of Christ.
The Christian is one who sees the great love with which God has loved him, and seeks to bring his life into greater conformity to.
The Example of Paul to Timothy
Near the end of his life, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and encouraged him in the face of raging opposition.
So Paul is painting a horrendous picture.
This is what the world will look like,
The encouragement from Paul to Timothy is the same thing as John is telling his disciples.
Remain in the teaching in which you have heard and read before.
Truth Reigns when we Abide in Christ!
What is the promise for those who abide?
Truth has dominion when we remain in Christ!
Eternal Life
For Jesus, eternal life, is that we know God.
Eternal life can be best summarized as our experiencing, understanding, and knowing God in the face of Jesus Christ more and more.
It’s not only the beginning of our Christian lives that we need Christ, but it’s actually through this abiding in Christ that we will one day be perfected.
The Christian life doesn’t simply begin with Christ, it is the beginning, it is the middle, and it is the end of the Christian life.
I wonder what you think about Christ being the beginning, middle, and end of the Christian life?
Does that excite you?
Does that bring you comfort?
Does that encourage you?
If you’re a Christian, to hear that Jesus is the beginning of our life in God and the middle and the end is exciting.
Because it means that we don’t earn our favor with God, but He has bought it completely.
It’s exciting because we don’t have to strive to earn God’s favor.
So if you’re NOT a Christian, it probably sounds pretty dull.
It probably sounds boring.
It probably sounds miserable.
Truth reigns when we abide in Christ.
I think we know this truth, but the question is, why don’t we do this?
There could be many answers to that question, but one I want to focus is on is we have too “small of a Christ” in our minds…
At times, I wonder if some perspective would help give greater awe and wonder at Christ.
1 John 2:28 (NKJV)
abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
It is helpful to get a snapshot of the end to determine what is important in the present.
What confidence can a person have in this?
What confidence can we have before this great Savior?
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