Let's turn to 1 John chapter
2. Tonight we're looking at the
difference. Who makes the difference in you
that hear and remain, worshiping the Lord, and you that, or those
that don't hear and depart under a spirit of antichrist? And it's not speaking of a specific
local church. This is speaking of the truth,
the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what we either love and
hear and rejoice in and worship God in that gospel or we don't. We don't because we're of antichrist. That's the only But we're looking
at the difference. Who makes the difference in you
that hear and believe versus you that don't hear and don't
believe the doctrine of Christ? So picking up in 1 John 2 verse
18, John writes, little children, this is you that believe, you
that have tasted that the Lord is gracious. You desire the sincere
milk of the word of the gospel. Little children, it is the last
time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we
know that it is the last time. So John here brings out the fact
that this is the last time. And he wrote this about 2,000
years ago now. How is it the last time then
if now is still the last time? What is John speaking about here? Well, for one thing, God's time,
God is not subject to time. We're creatures, and we're creatures
of time. We're subject to time. We have
an understanding of time, and it's very difficult for us to
even comprehend what it would be like to not have the constraints
of time, because it's what we know. It's what we're brought
up under. But the Lord is not subject to
time. Peter says it this way, beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. And so for him, he's doing what
pleases him according to his works. He's not subject to time
as we understand it. He's not subject to time at all.
Peter then goes on to describe that in God's eternal purpose. That's from 2 Peter chapter 3. But in God's eternal purpose,
which is to save and elect people by his darling son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to glorify him, to give us into the hands of
him to save us. Well, that's what's being accomplished
now here in this time. He is accomplishing the redeemed. of the Lord according to his
eternal purpose. And so the next verse that Peter
writes is 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise. He's not just wasting time. He's not forgotten. It's not
that he's being careless. He's not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward. He's writing to the church. And
he's saying he's long-suffering to us, the people who are purchased
with the blood of Christ. And you want to carry that us
word throughout. You want to carry that us throughout
the rest of the verse, not willing that any of us should perish,
but that all of us should come to repentance. The Lord is pleased
to bless the people for whom Christ shed his blood. This last time is going to be
extended, an extended time as long, I'm just trying to use
words that we know, an extended time as long as God is pleased
to have it go. As long as the Lord is pleased
to have the sun rise and the sun set, it's what he wills and
purposes. And he does it because all for
whom Christ died, it pleases him to bring them to a knowledge
of their redemption. to glory in Christ, to glorify
Christ, to confess Christ, and to believe in their heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, having accomplished our
redemption through his death on the cross. Now another thought
that some have is that John is referring to the last time of
the apostles. All right, that he's, in his
mind, he's speaking of the apostolic age. When John wrote this, it's
understood that he was the last living apostle and that that
age of the apostles was coming to an end where we had that strong
teaching, that clear teaching of the gospel from the hand,
from the mouth of the apostles that heard Christ, that saw Christ,
that walked with Christ, that were witnesses of these things.
And they were, by the power given to them and the authority given
to them, they were holding things in pretty good shape there in
the church. And so some think that that's
what he was talking about, is it's the last time of the apostolic
age. Paul, when he was on his way
to Jerusalem for the last time before he would be taken and
brought to Rome, He was meeting with the Ephesian elders, and
he said this in Acts 20, 29. I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. The things that they say, the
things they're going to teach, are going to scatter the flock.
They're going to send the sheep flying. And they're going to
bring ruin and dark times into the church there. All right,
now, having said that, since the coming of our Lord, though,
we have been in the last days. Since His coming and His fulfillment,
we've been in the last days. The scriptures bear that out. We're in it right now in terms
of how the apostles speak describing our Lord's coming. All right,
so this is now from 1 Peter 1, verse 20 and 21. Peter, speaking of Christ Jesus,
said that he, Jesus Christ, verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. In these last times for you,
who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead
and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. And so, brethren, When our Lord
came and he went to the cross, willingly, faithfully, to accomplish
the Father's will for his people, on that cross, John 19, 30, he
cried, it is finished. All that had to be done, that
perfect righteousness fulfilled by him for his people was accomplished. He accomplished the redemption
of His people. He put away their sins forever. He accomplished it. It is finished. And so, now is the last time. In fact, it even says in Hebrews,
Hebrews 1, verses 1 and 2. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds." And so we're in these last days. And so understand
that all that the prophets were prophesying of concerning the
coming of Christ, and all that was typified in the pictures,
the types, and the shadows of the law, it's all been fulfilled
in Christ's coming. He accomplished that. He fulfilled
all that it was speaking of concerning him. And so nothing remains but
the calling out of Christ's sheep from darkness, calling them to
himself, bringing them into that one fold by his blood, by his
power, by his calling, and then the return of Christ to raise
his people up to forever be with the Lord in that resurrected
body. All right, so understand that
John is writing to us today just as he was writing then to stir
up our hearts, to give us, to put our minds on the Lord and
what he's speaking to us in these last times. Peter said it this
way in 1 Peter 1, verse 13, wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children,
not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance,
but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all
manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for
I am holy, which is the Lord revealing to us His will and
purpose, which it pleases Him to do for us in Christ, who by
His blood, by His death, has brought us into the Beloved,
that He has made us holy, separated us unto Himself, to not be conformed
to this world, but to be conformed to Christ. and his image, to
hear him, to learn of him, to put off that old man, to put
on the new by the teaching and instruction of the Holy Ghost,
ever looking to Christ, trusting him, believing his word which
says, I accomplish this in you, you're mine, you're mine, hear
me, follow me. Now John also speaks of antichrist
and antichrists with an S. Antichrists and antichrists.
Now, looking at the Apostle Paul for a moment, when reading Paul,
he never uses that term antichrist. He doesn't use that specific
term, but when you read his letter to the Thessalonians, and be
turning to 2 Thessalonians 2, you can tell that that idea of
antichrist, that which opposes Christ, is very much in his mind as he's
writing this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. In his letter there,
it seems to show that there will be a culmination of that spirit
of Antichrist. that there will be one man that
would be that final antichrist that will present itself just
before Christ's coming. That's how I see it, that there
will be that one final culmination of one that's there that Christ
will destroy. But just read what Paul says
in 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 1 through 10. Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, by our gathering together
unto him." That's the time now. We're being called and gathered
unto Christ through the preaching of the gospel. "...that ye be
not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor
by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ
is at hand." Or the day of Christ's return. And it's just It's amazing
to see how that same thing, which interests us, looking for the
coming of Christ, come Lord Jesus, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. We
look for his coming, we look for his return. And that same
desire we have, which was in our brethren before us, and all
the way back to the writing here of the apostles. They're addressing
that concern. You see that concern in the church. We're looking for the return
of Christ. And the only reason why he hasn't
come yet is because there are sheep yet that the Father is
yet pleased to call him. He's calling them in. let no
man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except
there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed
the son of perdition. So Paul seems to be describing
here a singular man as the Antichrist. Like John said, you've heard
that Antichrist shall come, who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that
he, there it is singular again, as God sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that
when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work. And that brings in that term
that speaks to what John said when he speaks of antichrists.
There's many antichrists. There's a mystery of iniquity.
There's a spirit of antichrist in the world even now. only he
who now letteth will live until he be taken out of the way." And he can't, because God, the
Holy Spirit, keeps him at bay. And you see it come up, and then
it comes down. Because you know throughout history,
all the brethren thought, this is it. Times don't look good. This is the end days here. They
all saw it. They all saw these things coming
together. They looked at the scriptures
and could see what looked like patterns, and types, and shadows
of it. But it kept getting put down again. put down again, put
down again, because God is pleased to be calling in his sheep, and
bringing in his sheep, and glorifying Christ. And so it keeps getting
put down again, but it's always there. He's not willing that
any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to
repentance. And once that purpose is accomplished,
then shall that wicked be revealed, verse 8, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that
perish because they received not the love of the truth that
they might be saved." All right, so Returning now to John, go
back to 1st John there, these many Antichrists are all filled
with that spirit of Antichrist. They have a foul, false, lying
spirit in them and they speak according to the flesh. They
speak according to the course of this world, the natural things
of this flesh glorifying man and not God. glorifying wicked
things and not God, not Christ, not what he has done. They're false teachers who oppose
Christ and the doctrine of Christ. Look at 1 John 4, 3. We'll see
more as we get to these verses here in 1 John 4, 3, but I'll
just show you a couple of them. He says, every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And when you just look at it
on the surface, you think, well, I Everybody believes that Jesus
Christ came in the flesh today. Like hardly anybody would deny
that, although there was some that did deny that he was even
ever in the flesh. But it means a whole lot more
than that. And I'll show you a few scriptures,
but it means, as the church, we confess that the Son of God
that He came in the flesh, that He is very man and very God. He came in the flesh. He had
to come in the flesh because we are ruined in sin and cannot
save ourselves. All men don't confess that. Many
think that they can save themselves by their works. that Christ is
just a signpost, that he's just a good man, or just a prophet,
or just one of many, and that he's just a helper for us. No, he came to redeem his people. He came to save his people. He
is God, eternal God, manifest in the flesh for the redemption
and the salvation of his people. And while he was here, he accomplished
our redemption by the death of himself was buried and raised
again by the power of God unto our justification, for our justification. He accomplished that. So it's
all of those things. Look at 1 John 1, 22. 1 John
2, 22. First John 2.22, who is a liar
but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. So this is in
further interpreting or further understanding what it means by
Christ came in the flesh. Who is he that is a liar, but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. All that Christ,
all that Jesus as Christ accomplished is our understanding. What we
teach and preach and proclaim and where our hope rests is fixed
in Him, that He is the Christ. That one who denies that is an
antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. All right, and then
let me show you one more. It's in 2 John. Go to the second
epistle of John, that one chapter, verse nine, and here he calls
it the doctrine of Christ. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. And so you see that same language
there. He that denieth Christ is Antichrist. He's denying the
doctrine of Christ. That doctrine of Christ is that
whole understanding that He is the Son of God, come in the flesh
to accomplish our redemption. That apart from Him, we cannot
be saved. He is our very acceptance with
the Father. And He's all our hope, all our
confidence. All our joy. He is our salvation,
brethren. So that's what it's talking about
there when it says that we believe Christ came in the flesh, that
we believe Jesus is the Christ and accomplished everything that
the Christ was purposed to do. And so we'll see that more as
we get to those verses. And back there, so 1 John 4,
3, that he's not, anyone that says he did not come in the flesh
is not of God. And this, the denial of those truths is that
spirit of antichrist, what Paul called the mystery of iniquity,
or what John wrote in Revelation, calling it the mystery Babylon.
That wicked, that spirit of just every foul, wicked, evil doctrine
of devils and men and traditions of men and just death. Whereof
ye have heard that it should come and even now already is
it in the world. And so those filled with that
spirit of rebellion, they can only remain in the truth for
so long. They can only hear it for so long before they rebel
and flee from it, and run from the truth because it's glorifying
Christ. It gives Him all the glory and
the praise, and they don't want to hear it. They want to go start
their own churches, their own doctrines, their own sects. And
so that's what he means in verse 19. They went out from us, but
they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us."
So whatever brought them in, the gospel of Jesus Christ drove
them out. We just wait on the Lord and
trust Him to manifest, to reveal His Spirit in His people. And
Christ, the Word of God, He knows the heart. He knows our heart.
He knows our mind. He's able to pierce through. His word, because it's him, pierces
the heart and divides the heart and reveals the heart and reveals
the thoughts and intents of the heart. In Hebrews 4, verse 12
and 13, it says, for the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." And
that's speaking of Christ, the Word of God. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And here it is, verse 13, neither is there any creature that is
not manifest in his sight. All right, it's talking about
the Word of God, and it says, There's none that are not manifest,
laid bare in His sight. But all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." And so,
a child that is born of the Spirit of God, that is tasted, that
the Lord is gracious to me, the sinner, that we come to Him confessing
our sin, we come to Him Believing the Word, that He is the Savior,
that He saves us to the uttermost, that He's able to deliver us
from death and darkness and bondage and wickedness, that He fills
us with His Spirit, that we continue in that truth. That one who hears
Christ and what He's done and tasted that Word, loves Him. That one who is saved and delivered
from their bondage and from their disease and from their sickness
loves Christ and follows Christ and worships him. Remember what
we saw a couple weeks ago in Ephesians 4 where it says there's
one body, right? So people dividing off and going
off to other gospels. I'm not talking about leaving
a local, one local assembly, but I'm talking going out from
that gospel into other gospels, because they hate the truth of
Christ, the doctrine of Christ. That doesn't happen, because
there's one body, there's one body, one spirit, even as you're
called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all
and in you all. And so the departure of the antichrists
from us, John's saying there, they're denying all that. They're
denying that one hope, because the apostolic church was still
there. I mean, John was right there. They knew the truth. They
knew the truth. And they wanted to go off and
do things their way, and their traditions, and their focus,
and gave rise to all manner of wickedness. of it. So the carnal man, yet dead in
trespasses and sins, wants the glory in man. He's looking to
man because there's no power. He has not heard Christ. He hasn't heard and been dealt
with by the Spirit of Christ to know that he is salvation,
that he needs a Savior. He is the sinner, and he needs
a savior to be delivered from death and to be justified before
God. And so they deny Christ by that
spirit of antichrist, and they go out. But the children of God, they
won't, right? When many were leaving, when Christ spoke of
spiritual things to them and declared the truth to the Jews,
There were many disciples that departed and walked no more with
Christ. And our Lord turned to them and
said, will ye also go away? And Peter answered, Lord, to
whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the Son of God. God revealed that to
them. And that was the difference.
what is God revealed versus what is revealed by the flesh, what
is revealed by the light of men, the Lord Jesus Christ in our
hearts versus what is revealed by tradition or dead letter religion
or the world and all that stuff with it. But the Lord's children,
they're preserved. He says in Jeremiah 32 verse
40, I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will
not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my
fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. The Lord keeps his people. So
heresies come. Paul worded it something like
they must come because it reveals them that are approved. It reveals
them whom the Lord has chosen and called to hear his word,
to believe him. It manifests. It shows them that
are approved. The children of God learn through
those difficulties, through those heresies, through seeing some
go away and see how their hearts are kept, they learn the truth
of God's promises, that the Lord will not leave them. And they
learn through them, through those hard times, to draw near to the
Lord and to come to him with their concerns and their worries
about their own heart. and their own fear and their
own doubts. Lord, save me, don't let me depart. And so the children
of God, we see those things and the Lord uses those things to
draw us near to himself. Now this brings us to the gracious
work of our Lord and his people, that work which makes all the
difference between us and those that just go away to a different
gospel. 1 John 2 verse 20, but ye, here's
the difference maker, ye have an unction from the Holy One,
and ye know all things. Now this unction, this is the
anointing, is the measure of Christ's Spirit given unto us. He had the Spirit without measure.
We have the Spirit by measure, from Him. We have it in measure. according as it pleases Him as
He's put us into the body. He gives us that spirit by measure. And what He's showing us here
is that grace makes the difference. What is that in Ephesians 2,
4? The first three verses show how
we were dead in trespasses and sins, how we walked according
to the course of the world, and how we were in ourselves, but
God, verse four, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great
love wherewith he loved us, for by grace you're saved, right?
He saved us in Christ by grace for his great love. And so this
is the work, not of man, but of God in you, him making the
difference. Him keeping you, Him saving you.
This is the work of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost,
to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness and to translate
us into the kingdom of His dear Son, the kingdom of light, a
grace that's testified to us. We could see that in John 3. I want you to turn there, John
3, verse 18. He that believeth on him, on
Christ, is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. He's saying they already show
that they are condemned because they hear and they hear And they
hear declared what Christ has done and accomplished for his
people. The witness is born to them, and yet they refuse Christ. They don't believe Christ. They
don't rest in Christ. They don't hear Christ or trust
him. And so that's the evidence, because
the opposite is the evidence of faith, that God is manifesting
his grace in your heart, and why you believe Christ and rejoice
in him, as opposed to finding some other way that makes you
happy. That's a manifestation that you're condemned. Whereas
faith is a manifestation that you're the Lord's, that Christ
shed his blood for you. Because faith is not of the flesh,
but of his spirit. It's of his, it's his grace.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen. And this is the condemnation,
verse 19, that light is coming to the world and men love darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. For everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deed should be reproved. And that's all of us by nature. We're all going that course of
the world. We're all in darkness. And some of us even think we're
doing good and try to do good in religion. And then they won't come to the
light, to Christ, because all that religion, all that we've
built up, gets torn down by Christ. I think that's in 2 Corinthians
10, that the weapons of our warfare are not of this world, but are
strong and mighty by God to tear down those strongholds that we
build up in our flesh, in our minds, in our confidences, trusting
our works rather than trusting Christ. Well, the gospel destroys
that. That's what takes that down.
And all that baggage we come with by nature, by family, by
religion, all that baggage that we carry around, burdened ourselves
down with, His gospel takes that away and strips you from it and
frees you from that. And He corrects us and teaches
us and turns us through chastenings, through trials, through afflictions,
through hardships, through fiery trials, to strip us and burn
those things up, that that which remains is the gold and the silver
and the precious stones of Christ, built by Him as living stones,
by the living stone, the Lord Jesus Christ. For everyone that doeth evil,
hateth..." Oh, I already read that. But coming to that light,
we're confessing, I'm the sinner. Lord, save me. That's what you're
confessing. By coming to Christ, you're confessing,
I can't save myself. I've tried. I've tried. I've
done this. I've done that. I even did it
in your name. But I fail. Lord, save me. Save
me. That's the confession of the
sinner. I'm coming to you because I can't
save myself. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are
wrought in God. So that when you confess Christ
and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the
dead, It's a manifestation that God has wrought that, that he
made that difference in you, that the other person who heard
the same thing grew up under the same message their whole
life didn't hear and didn't believe. Well, what was the difference?
Are you smarter, more able? No, no. In fact, many of us are
less smart and less able and more base and more nothingness,
more unknown, more cast off, more rejected by the world. And
yet it pleased God to reveal Christ to us. And so we give
him the thanks and the praise. So it's wrought in God. And I think what Paul said is
a relevant verse when he said, for in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new
creature. And again, that brings us back
to, it's not you and me tinkering with things to get ourselves
saved, We are made new creatures. You have an unction. You have
been given the spirit by the grace of God and the Lord Jesus
Christ that came in and just turned your heart from dead things
in this world to the living God, to Christ, to hear that he sent
the Savior, that he delivered us, that he loves us, Christ
and what he accomplished for us that that it's finished in
him and so then we're turned from that death to Christ. As Paul said to the Thessalonians
a little further in that chapter 2nd Thessalonians 2 13 and 14
we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you brethren
beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation and through sanctification of the Spirit,
setting you apart, and belief of the truth, that doctrine of
Christ, whereunto He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that Holy One
is Christ, and because of His blessed work, we hear the gospel,
we're brought under it, he'll move mountains, he'll move whole
nations to bring his child to hear that gospel, and to hear
the call, and reveal faith in them, and he reveals that it's
his work, that he's wrought this in us, and made us to hear his
glorious good news, his glorious gospel, to know all things. What are all things? It boils
down to Christ. It's Christ. All the things that
Christ is and has done. for us. Colossians 3, 10 and
11 says, and we have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him. We're the creation of Christ. We're new creatures of Christ.
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in
all. He's our knowledge. You that
have Christ have everything. You that have Christ have the
Father. You that are in Christ, you are
the Father's. You are received of Him. You
are in the family of God, the beloved family of God, in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Walk in that light. Believe Him. Walk in that light and trust
Him and seek to walk in it more and more. And so you cannot deny
Him. You that are His will not deny
Him. You will not apostatize because you cannot. Because that
seed which is in you, that incorruptible seed cannot not believe. because
it's not of the flesh, it's of Christ. That's what he means
when he gets into it later. You cannot sin because that new
man, that new creation of Christ can't sin. It is enabled to not
believe. It can only keep believing Christ
and only keep trusting him to do it, to save us to the uttermost
as he promises. Because you're born again, not
of corruptible seed, 1 Peter 1.23, but of incorruptible by
the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So I pray
that word comforts and encourages you that trust Christ. And you
that hear, believe Him. Believe Him. He's able to save
us to the uttermost. All that come unto the Father
by Him. Amen.