Would you open your Bibles with
me to 1 John 2 this morning? Let me read a few verses here
out of 1 John 2 to establish the context of this message.
Back up in verse 21 of 1 John 2, the Apostle John writing to
these brethren, these believers, he says in verse 21, I have not
written unto you because you know not the truth, but because
you know it, and that no lie is of the truth." In other words,
you know what the truth is. You've heard it from the beginning.
You know the difference between a lie and the truth. Now, you
don't know that but by the Spirit of God. If you know the true
difference between a lie and the truth in these matters of
salvation, it's only by the Spirit of God that you can tell the
difference. brings it back to the doctrine of Christ. He says
in verse 22, who is a liar? He spoke of a lie here, but who
is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ. Speaking of Jesus, what does
the name Jesus mean? It means Jehovah saves. I heard a lot of preachers this
past week in television and in reading, when they go to the
name Jesus, they always say it means Savior. And it does. But you've got to understand,
it means more than just Savior. It means God saves. It means
Jehovah saves. Yeshua, the derivative of Joshua. The Lord saves. Now that's a
difference, isn't it? Just saying Savior. A person
can claim to be a Savior and not be able to save. But see,
we believe that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah. Jehovah saves. God saves. Salvation is of the Lord. Now
that's a different story, isn't it? That gives some comfort to
sinners who need salvation, who need mercy, who need grace. And
then he says, he is an antichrist that denieth the Father and the
Son. To deny Jesus is to deny both the Father and the Son.
You can't come unto the Father but through the Son. Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. So, that Antichrist, that which
opposes Christ, that's what that is, that spirit that is against
Christ, that spirit is that which denieth the Father and the Son.
Now, to deny the Son is to deny the Father. To deny the Father
is to deny the Son. Verse 23, Whosoever denieth the
Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the
Son, and that acknowledging there is in faith, trust, following
Him, loving Him by the power of God, acknowledges the Son
hath the Father also. Let that therefore, verse 24,
abide in you which you have heard from the beginning." He's talking
about the gospel. When you first heard the gospel
and you were brought by the power of the Spirit in the new birth
through a saving knowledge of Christ, that gospel of the glory
of His person, That gospel of the greatness and the power of
His finished work to save sinners. We pray this and we preach it
and we sing about it. How Christ paid all the debt
of His people. He died for His sheep in their
stead as their substitute. Having our sins charged to Him,
He drank damnation dry. And He put them away. He brought
about forgiveness and remission of sins. Pardon by His precious
blood. He established the only righteousness
by which a sinner can stand before God and be accepted eternally.
That's what he did. Now, that's what you heard from
the beginning. And he's saying, let that which
you heard from the beginning continue. It's not going to change.
Now, that message concerning the person and work of Christ
is not going to change. Now, you'll grow, hopefully,
will grow in grace and in knowledge. But really, the message of the
gospel stays the same. And when men come along and they
pervert that, or confuse that, or add to that, or take away
from that, what you've got there is the spirit of antichrist.
Understand that. Who Christ is will never change.
You think about Christ laying in the manger, the babe. He's still the Son of God incarnate,
right there. That's God in that manger. God-man. And it never changed. Now, his
humanity, sinless humanity, was created in the womb of the Virgin,
and he grew in wisdom and stature. And that's a mind-boggling thing
to me that I cannot explain to you, and no other person can.
And anybody who tries to, they're a fool. God who knows all, God
who determines all, omniscient God, yet in the manger, God incarnate. What does that word incarnate
mean? John 1.14, the Word was made flesh. That's what incarnate
means, made flesh. He had a human body created for
Him in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, born
without the aid of man. He's the seed of woman. He had
a sinless birth, a sinless life, and in Himself a sinless death.
Sin was charged to Him. He died for our sins, Scripture
says. That's not going to change. So
any light that you gain is not a new revelation, it's just new
illumination. And it's going to be consistent
with the doctrine of Christ, who He is, what He did, why He
did it, where He is now. So He says, let that abide in
you. Don't let anybody fool around with that. Don't let anybody
question that. Don't let anybody confuse that in your mind. It's there, it's planted in your
heart by the Holy Spirit. And he says in verse 24, if that
which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you,
you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. How do
I know I'm going to persevere in the faith, continue in the
faith? Well, that which I heard from
the beginning remains in me. I'll continue in him. Now, if
I be moved away from the gospel of God's salvation by grace in
Christ, If I be moved away from that, then it wasn't sewn into
my heart. I may have had a profession,
but I really didn't have a saving confession, as one writer said.
Verse 25, and this is the promise that he promised us, even eternal
life. This is life eternal, Christ
prayed in his high priestly prayer, that they might know thee, the
only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. He says
in verse 26, these things have I written unto you concerning
them that seduce you, that are trying to draw you away from
that which you heard from the beginning. Now, men will do that.
People will do it. Preachers will do it. They'll
come along and they'll try to draw you away some subtle way
now. And this is a seduction there.
And that's exactly what that word is. It's something that
looks good, but that is deadly and sinful. That's what it is. And they'll try to draw you away
from that which you heard from the beginning. And he says, verse
27, but the anointing which you have received of him abideth
in you. Now, that's the power of God
the Holy Spirit in the new birth. That's the unction that he mentioned
back here in verse 20. The power of God unto salvation
that brought you to faith in Christ, that brought you to repentance,
that sealed that truth of God in your heart, in your mind,
your affections, your will, your conscience. That's that power,
the anointing. Every believer has it. That's
not just something that certain believers have who've gone on
to great spiritual heights. Every believer, the babes in
Christ and the elders, they all have this anointing because they
received it from the Holy Spirit in the new birth. You've been
born again by the Spirit. You know the truth. That's why
John said, I'm not writing this because you don't know about
it. You know it. You've heard it. Now let that abide in you.
And he says, and you need not that any man teach you What he's
saying here in this passage is not that we don't need teaching.
We need teaching. We need to be taught all the
time. We need to grow. The Bible tells us to grow in
grace and knowledge. It tells us to go after the Word,
to seek after the Word, just like newborn babes in the milk
of the Word. But in this matter of salvation
and who Christ is, you don't need anybody convincing you of
that all the time because you've already been convinced. That's
what he's talking about. You need not let any man teach.
If somebody has to keep convincing you of that which you've heard
from the beginning, you've never heard it savingly. Did you know
that? If you're always wavering on
these truths of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. Now, there
may be many things that you don't know. You say, you know, I read
a verse of scripture and I don't know what it means. Well, that's
OK. Study. And look at the context, and
you may not know it today, you may not know it tomorrow, but
maybe a week from now, a year from now, you may see in a different
light something you've never seen before. But I'm going to
tell you something, whatever you see, if it's light from God,
it will never challenge, deny, confuse, or question that which
you heard from the beginning. That's always going to stay the
same. You don't have to have somebody come along and convincing
you of that and arguing about that and debating that. These
fellows that want to debate these things on the person and the
finished work of Christ, I'm telling you, it's not of God. It's not of God. So he goes on. Look at verse 27. He says, but
as the same anointing, verse 27, teacheth you of all things,
all things in Christ, and is truth and is no lie, and even
as it hath taught you, you shall abide in him." You abide in Christ. Verse 28, "...and now, little
children, abide in him." Continue in Christ. "...that when he shall
appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him
at his coming." Now, the title of this message is, When Christ
Shall Appear. From verse 28 there. And that
speaks of his second coming, 1 John 2.28, when he shall appear,
when he comes a second time, that we, we who know him, we
who trust him, we who rest in him, we who are washed in his
blood, we who are clothed in his righteousness, will have
confidence, will have the liberty and freedom of being accepted
and not be ashamed. before Him at His coming. Now, how's that possible? Because
He is our hope. He who is coming the second time
is our hope. You see, I don't have to be ashamed
when He comes a second time because He who is coming is my confidence. He's my hope. You say, well,
what about your sins? Well, He who is coming, I've
been washed in His blood from all my sins. He took care of
that at the cross. Who did? The one who's coming.
So I can have confidence that my sins will not be charged to
me, have not been charged to me. He died for my sins. He was
condemned for my sins. So he who is coming already took
my place and already settled that matter. He who is coming,
somebody said, well, have you done good enough? Good enough
for what? He who is coming is my righteousness before God.
He's not coming to look at mine. He's not coming to weigh me in
the balance. He's coming to save me. He's coming to glorify me. And
He who is coming is my wisdom, my righteousness, my holiness,
my redemption. That's why I can have confidence,
because my confidence is in Him. So this is speaking of His second
coming. Now, when we speak of the appearances of Christ, there
are many appearances we could talk about. He didn't first appear
on earth on that given day whenever it was He was born. He had appeared
in the Old Testament in many ways. We call them the pre-incarnate
appearances of Christ. And I could go through the Old
Testament and give you many examples of it. For example, He appeared
in the burning bush when He spoke to Moses. It was Christ who gave
the law to Moses. He appeared in the fiery furnace
with the Hebrew children. He appeared many times, these
pre-incarnate appearances of Christ. You see, He is the eternal
Son of God. That babe who laid in the manger
is the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity
who has no beginning and no end. That's who He is. He is God.
And then He did appear at His birth. How did He appear? He
became incarnate. The Bible says the Word which
was in the beginning, from the beginning, the Word which was
with God and the Word which was God and is God, who is none other
than God the Son, that same Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 26
speaks of it. It says, for then must He often
have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in
the end of the world He hath appeared. Well, what did he do? He became incarnate. That's how
he appeared. But why did he appear? So that
we could have one day a year that we get off work and put
up a tree and give everybody presents? No, it says in Hebrews
9, verse 26, at the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's why he had to
be made flesh. That's why he had to become incarnate. That's why he had to be born
of a virgin. That's why back in Genesis chapter
3 and verse 15, he was identified and prophesied and preached as
the seed of woman, not the seed of man. For you see, he was not
born as we are. He was not conceived as we are
by the aid of man. He was conceived in the womb
by the Holy Spirit. The angel called him and identified
him in Luke chapter 1 as that holy thing. Now that's not a
term of derision or ridicule, that is just a term of uniqueness. There was no one like him before,
there's been no one like him since, and there never will be.
He is the unique son of God incarnate. Why did he have to do that? Well,
in order to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, he had
to have a human body. Look over at Hebrews chapter
10 with me. This is a portion I'm going to
read in tonight's message too, but it's pertinent for today's
message. He says in verse 4 of Hebrews
chapter 10, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sin. That's referring to the sacrifices
of the old covenant. Those animals were just types
and pictures. They weren't really putting away
sin. That was a picture and a type of how sin is put away by the
shedding of blood. And they typified and pictured
one who was to come, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called the
Lamb of God. And it says in verse 5, Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering
thou wouldest not, that is, these animal sacrifices, but a body
hast thou prepared me. That's a human body that was
prepared for him, conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
He had to be made flesh without sin so that he could die on the
cross. Why was Jesus born? He was born
to die. He was born to be a sacrifice.
He was born to be a substitute. And the reason is, it says in
verse 6, in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou hast
no pleasure. Has had no pleasure. In other
words, all the animal blood that was shed during the 1500 year
period of the Old Covenant did nothing to put away sin. God
was not satisfied in an eternal spiritual way with animal blood. So he says in verse 7, Then said
I, Lo, I come, and in parenthesis it says in the volume of the
book it is written of me, that is in the eternal counsels of
God, he says, I come to do thy will, O God. What is God's will? That he die for his people. And
Christ told His disciples that in His public ministry over and
over again. He said, the Good Shepherd giveth His life for
the sheep. That's why He appeared. Now He
shall appear again. Look back at 1 John 2. He shall
appear again. Hebrews 9, verse 28. Let me just
read it to you. It says, So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many. That's why He died on the cross.
And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation." When he comes again, he will
not be bearing the sins of his people. He already bore them
and put them away. But when he comes again, he'll
appear in glory. Now, here's a question for me and for you. Has he appeared to me in salvation? Has he appeared to you in salvation? Go back to Matthew chapter 2.
Now over there in 1 John, John speaks
a lot about Antichrist, the spirit of Antichrist. All through the Scriptures, even
back into the Old Testament, you can see that spirit of opposition
to Christ, that spirit of Antichrist you might say, anti- against
Christ. The first recorded episode or
example of an anti-Christ spirit is in Cain, Cain and Abel. Here Abel brings the blood of
a lamb, signifying that he believed in the future promise of God
to send the Messiah, the Lamb of God, to put away his sins.
And that's what any believer back then was testifying of when
they brought animals. Any true believer, when they
shed the blood of animals, they were testifying their faith in
a promise that God had made for the future, to send one God-man,
God Himself, in human flesh, to die for their sins. And that's
how they believed the gospel. That lamb that was slain, the
blood that was shed on the altar was the gospel in illustration,
right there, the grace of God. It was an admission that I'm
a sinner and I deserve death. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no forgiveness of sins. And that God is going to have
one who will stand in my place and take my debt, take my punishment
and put my sin away and give me his righteousness. And that's
what they were testifying. And that's what Abel did when
he brought the lamb. But Cain refused. Cain said, I've got
a better way or a way that's just as good. I've worked hard
out here in the field. I've got some good crops. I'm
going to give God the best that I can offer. And so he brought
the best of his crops, probably the first fruits, and he offered
them unto God, but God wouldn't accept it. Why? Because that's
anti-Christ. That's against Christ. That's
a denial that I'm a sinner and need salvation by grace. That's
man rising up in his self-righteousness and pride and coming and presenting
the best that he can offer. But God has always said that
the best we can offer is not good enough. So any sinner who
comes to God seeking salvation, acceptance, blessing, reward,
salvation, anything based upon his best, that's the spirit of
Antichrist. That's been around for years. That's been around
since the beginning, hasn't it? John speaks of it. Here in Matthew
chapter 2, we read about King Herod. Verse 1, Now when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
And here's what they said. Now these wise men, we don't
know their names. I know there's a lot of legend and a lot of
myth that grows up around this, but the Bible just doesn't give
us those details because they're not necessary and they're not
important. But three wise men, some say three kings, And it
says in verse 2, saying, where is he that is born king of the
Jews? Well, now, here's Herod sitting on the throne. To him,
he was king of the Jews. So he says, for we've seen his
star in the east and are come to worship him. What was their
purpose in seeking the babe that was born? They wanted to worship.
What's your purpose? What's my purpose in seeking
him? You say, well, he's a good example. You know, we need to
follow His example. Well, He is a good example. He
is the only real example. But is that your purpose? Or
is it to worship Him? We've seen that, of course. We've
come into this house and gathered in His name to what? To worship
Him. He's to be worshipped. Now, I
want you to notice there, now, I used to say I hate to burst
your bubble about the stories that you, but I really don't
hate to do that. So, I'm going to do it anyway.
But you see these nativity scenes, and you'll see the shepherds
and the wise men. The wise men weren't there. By this time,
the Christ child was probably two or three years old, when
the wise men actually came to Herod. Because you notice there,
it said that Herod, when he killed the children of Israel, he went
to everybody who was two years old and under. So, the wise men
actually weren't there at the Nativity scene as you see depicted
here. They came later. But now, that
just destroys your idea of whatever, you know. Just get over it, alright? But here it is. Well, here's
the thing. They've come to worship Him,
see? And it says in verse 3, it says, "...when Herod the king
had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with
him." Not just Herod now, but all Jerusalem with him. the people. Now, word spread about these
wise men, and they may have been kings, I don't know, that's okay.
But whatever they were, they were wise men, they had some
reputation, and word spread, so Herod became trouble. And
you know Herod, you've read about him, he was an Edomite, he wasn't
even a real Jew, he was mixed blood. But he had usurped the
throne by the power of Rome. And so he saw himself as being
threatened. Now, what threatens me? What
threatens you when we hear of the glory of Christ? Here's people
coming to worship Him. They're not coming to worship
me or to honor me or to give me accolades. They're coming
to worship Him. Does that trouble me? Or does
that trouble you? If it does, that's the spirit
of Antichrist, isn't it? Huh? He says here in verse 4,
it says, "...and when he had gathered all the chief priests
and the scribes of the people." Now, here's the religious faction
now. Herod wasn't necessarily a religious man, but there was,
you know, here's the religious faction coming. He says, "...he
demanded of them where Christ should be born." Now, Christ
means Messiah. So Herod automatically equated what the wise men were
looking for. They weren't just looking for an earthly king,
they were looking for the Messiah. So he wanted to know where was
Christ going to be born. Well, that shows Herod's ignorance
of the Scripture, but the chief priests and the scribes, they
knew. It says in verse 5, and they said, "...in him in Bethlehem
of Judea, where thus it is written by the prophet." And they quote
from the book of Micah, chapter 5. Now, all through the Old Testament,
down through the ages, you have a progressive revelation of the
details of the life of the Messiah. It begins in Genesis chapter
3 and verse 15 with the open revelation of it, talking about
who he is and what he would do, the gospel issues of grace, how
God saves sinners. That was from the beginning.
That's not a progressive revelation, you see. That was put forth from
the beginning. God revealed that He was going
to send a Messiah, the seed of woman, the God-man who would
take away the sins of His people, and then God set up a system
of worship that illustrated that in type and picture. Over there
in Genesis chapter 3, it says He slew animals. Remember Adam
and Eve put on their fig leaf aprons to hide their nakedness? That's a good example of man
trying to shield himself. in his own sin, by his own works.
But God slew animals. He shed blood and made coats
of skin. That's a picture of how God is
just to justify sinners. Death without the shedding of
blood, no forgiveness. So Christ would come, shed his
own blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and he would give
us his robe of righteousness for our right standing before
God. It's his works, not ours, you see. It's God's grace, it's
God's mercy. Now, that's illustrated from
the beginning. It's taught from then, that doesn't change. But down
through the Old Testament, there were progressive details that
God gave concerning who the Messiah would be. It was later on revealed
that he would be of the seed of Abraham. Later on, that he
would be from the tribe of Judah. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah until Shiloh comes. Later on, that he would be from
the lineage of David, the house of David. He was born of the
seed of David and all these. So they put these things together.
Matthew does a great job. The Holy Spirit, through Matthew,
gives us details of the Old Testament prophecy. So here they say in
verse six, this is about Bethlehem in the land of Judah are not
the least among the princes of Judah. For out of these shall
come a governor. I believe that's a direct reference
to Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 and 7. The government shall be laid
upon his shoulder. That's Christ. In other words,
all the responsibility of the kingdom of God and salvation
was placed upon his shoulder. So that when he appeared, he
appeared with a great, great responsibility and a burden upon
his shoulder. And what was that? To save his
people from their sins. That's indicated in his name.
Matthew chapter 1, for he shall be called Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin. Well, is he able? His name shall
be called Immanuel, which being interpreted as God with us. What
I'm going to preach on tonight from Isaiah 7, Immanuel. And he says, that shall rule
my people in Israel. So they reach back there. Well,
verse 7, look at Matthew 2 and verse 7. He says, Then Herod,
when he had privileged, called the wise men, inquired of them
diligently, What time the star appeared, the star that guided
them. That was a physical miracle, I believe, that God gave those
wise men to guide them to where Christ was. Verse 8, He sent
them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently for the
young child, and when we have found him, bring me word again
that I may come and worship him also. What a hypocrite. What a spirit of antichrist. What a seduction. See what John's
talking about? Illustrated right here and here.
He didn't want to worship Him. He was there for other reasons.
Why are you here this morning? Why am I here? Is it to worship
the Son of God? Is it to worship your Savior,
your Redeemer? Or is it some other reason? Well, he says in verse 9, you
say, well, I'm not as bad as Herod. I guess that counts for
something, but not in God's kingdom. He says in verse 9, when they
heard the king, they departed and lo, the star which they saw
in the east went before them till it came and stood over where
the young child was. And when they saw the star, they
rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Now, the implication is
when they saw Christ, they rejoiced. What do I do when I see Christ,
when I hear him preached in his truth? You see that? There's two different responses
here of the appearance of Christ. Herod's response, the spirit
of antichrist, and hypocrisy, and seduction, and then the wise
men who came to worship Him, and when they saw Him, they rejoiced.
When you hear Christ preach, when you hear Him lifted up,
do you rejoice? Look at Luke chapter 2. Turn
over there with me. Luke chapter 2. Here's a man
named Simeon. He was in the temple. Some say
Simeon was a priest. He may have been. And it was
revealed to this man Simeon that he would not leave this world
until he had seen the Christ child. And it says here in Luke
chapter 2, look at verse 28. Or verse 27, rather. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. He was led there by the Spirit. And when the parents,
that is, Joseph and Mary, brought in the child Jesus to do for
him after the custom of the law, then Simeon took him up in his
arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation." When you see Christ, when he appears in
the preaching of the gospel, do you see God's salvation? He is my salvation. He is my
all in all. You see, that's the issue. Has
He appeared to me? Has He appeared to you? And Simeon
went on, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
to lighten the Gentiles, a light to lighten the Gentiles in the
glory of thy people, Israel, when He appears. Look back over
at 1 John 2. This is what John is speaking
of. Christ has appeared. He's been born. And we celebrate
that. Oh, thank God He appeared in
that miraculous birth. I know there's a lot of junk
that's revolved around in tradition and religion that goes with it.
But forget about that. And just thank God that the Word
was made flesh and tabernacled among us. For if he had not come,
if he had not appeared in that birth, there would be no salvation
for sinners like us. Isn't that right? Well, this
spirit of Antichrist has been around for a long time, we've
seen. Reaching back to the Old Testament, reaching back to King
Herod. So what is John saying to us
in light of that? Well, he's saying, first of all,
there is an imminent danger. Now, listen to me very well here.
We are in the last hours of deception. I don't know when Christ is going
to come again. I'm not even going to try to figure it out. If I
spent time figuring it out, that would just take your minds away
and my mind away from that which we've heard from the beginning.
I'm really not that much concerned with the time. I know He is coming.
I believe it's soon. Maybe every generation has, but
I do believe it's soon. It may not be in my lifetime,
but I know this. according to God's revealed word. We don't have to argue and debate
and seek around for this because it's right here in his Word.
We're in the last hour of deception. Now, it may not be as obvious
as King Herod. King Herod said he wanted to
worship him, and then later on he said he wanted to kill him.
That was obvious. You can look at a man like King
Herod and you can say, well, I can easily see he's an unbeliever.
I can easily see he's anti-Christ. But I'll tell you what, there
are many who claim to know Christ, who claim to believe in Him,
but who deny Him. John spoke of it in 1 John 4,
verse 3. He says, Every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of antichrist. They denied the humanity of Christ.
That's what he's talking about. They said they believed in Christ,
but they denied his humanity. Spirit of Antichrist. If you
deny His humanity, you deny His Saviorhood. If you deny His humanity,
you deny His redemptive work. There are others who deny His
deity. They say He is not God or He is a lesser God. You know,
a lot of people believe that and don't even know it. They
say, well, a fellow asked a man one time, he said, do you believe
that Christ is God? He said, well, He's the Son of
God. Meaning, he is a lesser God. No, he is equally God. He is every way God. He is co-equal
in his nature with the Father and the Spirit. For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He is God, without reservation. But if you deny his deity, you
deny his power. John wrote in 2 John verse 7,
there are many deceivers are entered into the world who confess
not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver
and antichrist. Our Lord himself in Matthew chapter
24 and verse 24, he said, for there shall rise false Christ
and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders
in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the elect.
Paul wrote of it in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, of those who would
come along and seduce the church of God, seek to seduce the church
of God in a subtle way, just like Satan seduced Eve, and draw
them away from the simplicity that's in Christ. These were looking for an appearance
of Christ. John is very concerned that the
church be alert to what he calls liars or deceivers. Many have
gone out into the world. I'll tell you, we live in a time
period where God in His sovereignty allows deception to spread. What
is He doing? He's bringing judgment upon this
world for rejecting His Son. Here's the second thing. There
is a means of safety. You say, well, if that deception
is so widespread and if it's so subtle and so deceptive, which
it is, how can I be assured? that I'm not deceived? That's
a good question. These wise men who went to see
the Christ child, they had the star that guided them to where
Christ was. That's how they were not deceived.
It was a sign from God. Well, how can I know that I'm
not deceived? Well, here's what John says in
1 John 2, only the Spirit of God, now listen to it, only the
Spirit of God, by the Word of God, can protect us from deception
and lead us to eternal life in Christ. Look back at verse 24. Here's what he says now. Let
that therefore abide in you which you heard from the beginning.
Don't ever be moved away from Christ and Him crucified. Don't
ever rise above that knowledge of Christ and Him crucified.
Paul said, O that I may know Him and be found in Him not having
mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God, which
is by his faithfulness." Don't ever get above that. Somebody
comes along and says, well, I've seen something that I haven't
seen before. Well, let's test it. Let's test
it with the Scriptures. Let's test it with what we've
heard from the beginning. Let that, therefore, abide in
you which you've heard from the beginning, if that which you've
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, and you shall
continue in the Son and in the Father. When they come along
and they say, well, I've seen something I haven't seen before,
test it. Does it honor the Lord? Does
it glorify His glorious person? Does it honor and glorify His
powerful finished work on the cross, or does it confuse it,
deny it, ignore it, muddle it up? Let that therefore which
is in you from the beginning abide in you which is from the
beginning. The Holy Spirit, somebody says, well, how do I know if
it's of the Holy Spirit? Well, the Holy Spirit works in us by
the Word of God to guard us from deception. This Word right here.
That was back in the Old Testament. Isaiah said that. He said, if
they speak not according to this word, it's because there's no
light in them. That which you have heard. How does the Holy
Spirit enable us to know the truth and not be deceived? By
always going back to that benchmark. Growing up, my father was a land
surveyor. And I'd go out and I'd help him.
And the first thing we'd always look for when we were going to
survey some land and measure that property and section it
off, is we'd always try to find a benchmark that was set and
never changed. So then we'd always go back to
that benchmark. Because if you ever got away
from that benchmark, one degree on that transit, you know, you're
looking down through that transit, one degree, and by the time you
get three or four miles down the road, how many feet off were
you, you see? And that's the way it is with
this gospel. That which we heard from the beginning is our benchmark.
Never get away from it. You vary from it one degree,
you get down the road a few years, see how far away you are from
it. See what I'm saying? That benchmark is the gospel
of Christ and Him crucified. Who He is and what He did, why
He did it, where He is now. That's why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
2 and verse 2, he said, I strive not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ. and Him crucified. The Spirit
will always lead you to the Word and He'll always lead you to
Christ and Him crucified. Christ said it Himself in John
16, He will not speak of Himself, He will glorify Me and show the
things of Me unto you. He will always exalt Christ.
And then thirdly, there's a way of safety. Look at verse 27 again. He says, we should let the word
abide in us, and we should abide in the Spirit. He says, but the
anointing which you have received of him abideth in you, and you
need not that any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things in his truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, you shall abide in him. And now, little children,
abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence
and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Now, God is sovereign
in our salvation. And we cannot persevere unless
He preserves us unto the end, but He uses means. And we cannot
be totally passive here. The Bible does not tell us just
to lay back and let things happen. We must make a concerted effort
to stay in the Word. Each individual now, not just
me. I mean, I know I have to do it
as a pastor, as a leader in a public ministry, but you do too. You
have to. And it's only by the power of
the Spirit that you or me, that we'll do it. But believers, the
Bible says, can grieve the Holy Spirit and walk after the flesh.
The only way we know that we're not deceived, that Christ has
appeared unto us savingly, just like He did those wise men who
wanted to worship Him and rejoiced when they saw Him. The only way
that we can know that for sure is by the power of the Spirit
as He leads us to the Word. Right here. What does this Word
say? Not what some man says, not what some preacher says,
but what does the Word of God say? And that's what he means. You need not that any man teach
you. You're already settled on Christ. That's what he's saying.
Your heart is already established with grace. Don't be tossed to
and fro. All things pertaining to him
has the Holy Spirit given us eyes to see the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, if he's appeared to me now,
then I can have confidence, John says, that when he appears the
second time, I will not be ashamed. I can have boldness and confidence
in Christ. And I'll tell you what the issue
here is. The issue is right now keeping our eyes fixed upon him
as the author and finisher of our faith. Keep your eyes upon
him and his finished work for your salvation, for your security,
for your reward, and don't be moved away. Oh God, keep me in
Him. Keep me in His Word when He shall
appear.