1 John 2, and we begin with verse 18, and
John says, little children, little children. Back in verse 12, he
said, I write unto you little children. Verse 13, the last
line in verse 13, I write unto you little children. because
you've known the Father. This is what our Lord often called
his disciples, little children. John 21, when they were out fishing,
he stood on the bank and said, children, have you caught any
fish? In Matthew 18, when they were
debating about who should be greatest in the kingdom of God,
he rebuked them and he said, I say unto you, except you be
converted and become his little children, you're not going to
even enter the kingdom of God. So verse 18, little children,
John's talking to you and to me, the redeemed of the Lord. And he says it's the last time,
it's the last days. Since John wrote that, about
1900 years have passed, come and gone. Somebody might rise
up and say, his prophecy is not true. If he thought he was in
the last times, so much time has passed since he said that.
But we understand from the Scriptures that since the day the Lord Jesus
came into the world, lived on this earth in the flesh and died
on the cross. Since that time, we've been in
the last days. These are the last days, from
Calvary to this moment, the last times, the last days. And two
reasons why that is true. Number one, all things have been
fulfilled and accomplished by the redemption of his people.
The covenant of grace is complete. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness dwell, and you're complete in Him. Nothing
needs to be done. Nothing needs to be added. The
gospel is fulfilled. All that's to be done now is
to preach it. And since that time, since He
died on the cross, it's finished. The Old Testament prophecies
are finished. The Old Testament pictures are
finished. The Old Testament prophecies and promises and pictures and
types are finished. The sins of the believers are
finished. The covenant of grace is finished. It's finished. The
only thing now that remains is his return. You know, when he
appeared to the disciples and blessed them on the mountain
and was taken up from their presence, the angels came back to the earth
then, as they did as he You know, when they said to the
shepherds, we bring you good tidings of great joy and he is
born a Savior. Well, now they stood talking
to these disciples as Christ the Savior, the Redeemer, the
victorious conqueror ascended to heaven. They said to the disciples,
why are you standing here? Go preach the gospel. Do what
he told you. This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you, shall so come." And angels announced his return.
So, we've been in the last days since he went back to heaven.
The only thing remaining is his coming. Secondly, talk about
the last days, the last times, we talk about 1900 years, that's
not so long. If you take into consideration
the millions of years, the millions of years from that opening statement
in the Old Testament, in beginning, God. When was that? Who knows? In beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth. How many years ago? You think
about that, and then you think about the time from now through
the eons of the future, eternity. This 1900 years is like a blink
of the eye. God will make a short work on
this earth. We're in the short work days.
That's right. The long work days are behind
us. We're in the short work days. God will make a short work of
things of this earth, a few days. So, little children, whether
you think the Lord will come in your lifetime or not, that's
your lifetime and mine's not very long. Just, man is a few
days and full of trouble, but we're in the last days. He's
coming in somebody's lifetime, I'll tell you that, on this earth. And then he says, little children,
it's the last time, and as you have heard, You've been told
many times the Antichrist shall come. You've been warned about
false preachers. More false preachers than there
are true preachers. You've been warned about Antichrist
and you're mistaken to think that it's one person. Little children, it's the last
times and you've been You've been told, you've heard that
Antichrist shall come even now, right now, in my lifetime, John,
says there are many Antichrists. Many Antichrists. To be an Antichrist
is to oppose Christ, to oppose His... He's the only and sufficient
Savior. He's the one Savior, the only
Savior, the sufficient Savior. And to doubt that, To discredit
that is to be an Antichrist. Now, Satan is the chief Antichrist. Satan is the chief opponent and
adversary of Christ and the Church. But there are many Antichrists.
Many Antichrists. Those who oppose his glory, those
who oppose his deity, those who oppose his sufficient sacrifice,
they are Antichrists. Whereby you know it's the last
time. There's so many antichrists. People who oppose the Savior.
Now stay with me. And they went out from us. Who
went out from us? The antichrists. The people who oppose Christ
being the sole and sufficient Savior. The only Redeemer. Particular
redemption. Effectual election. Invincible
grace. Christ, our great high priest,
the one atonement, the mercy seat, the one sacrifice for sin,
our altar, everything in Christ, not depending on our will but
His, our work but His, they were among us for a while. False preachers and religionists,
they come into the church, they come into religion, and for a
time they keep up the masquerade. But sooner or later, they depart. Sooner or later, they fall away.
Sooner or later, their true colors are shown. Sooner or later, their
true purpose is revealed. They were never truly regenerated.
Listen to what he said. They went out from us. They were
there for a while, but they were not of us. They never did truly
love Christ. They were never in love with
Him and His glory. They were never resting fully
upon Him. They never ceased from their works and entered into
His rest. Christ never became their tribestone and chief cornerstone
and one refuge. No. They weren't of us. For I tell you this, if they
had been, they'd ever seen Him in His sufficiency, in His glory,
in His atonement. In his priesthood, in his intercession,
our forerunner entered into the very presence of God on our behalf,
satisfying the law and justice fully, our righteousness, our
sanctification. If they'd ever seen him that
way, they'd have never left him. They'd have never left the sufficiency
of Christ for Moses, for the law, for works. No. They went out from us, these
who oppose His glory and His sufficiency. They went out because
they were not of us. If they had ever been of us,
of grace, of faith, of God, there's no doubt in my mind, John said,
they'd still be with us. If you ever see Him, everybody
else fades into insignificance. If you ever see His salvation,
any other plan means nothing. He's sufficient. He's enough.
We're complete in Him. But they went out, listen, that
it might be made manifest that they were not of us. You know,
God permits these trials. God permits false preachers and
false prophets and anti-Christ And they make more clear and
evident the true message. A false message makes more clear
the true message. False professors make more clear
the true faith. Because when the chaff is blown
away by the wind, the wheat remains. You've got the chaff and the
wheat all together and you can't see the wheat for the chaff.
And the wind blows the chaff away. There's the wheat. There
it is. There's true faith. There's true
believers. Persevering in Christ. Love with Christ. Resting in
Christ. Giving Christ the glory. All
the froth and the foam is blown away. There's the true believers. Look at 1 Corinthians 11 and
see that's not what this says. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 19. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 19, For there must be also
heresies, apostasies, false believers, preachers among you, that they
which are approved may be made manifest among you, the true
believers. Those who persevere in the faith,
continue in the faith, never leave the gospel. They may manifest
when these other things appear. Someone said this, nothing more
clearly reveals to us that redemption, sanctification, righteousness,
salvation is the work of God in us. Nothing more clearly reveals
that than to observe the folly, the foolishness, and the final
fall of those who are trying to do it themselves. Think about that. Nothing more clearly reveals
that salvation is of the Lord than to watch somebody trying
to save themselves, groping, grasping, Trying to bring to
pass something he can't do. Trying to live a Christian life
without Christ. Trying to talk religion without
a knowledge of the gospel. It's pitiful. And that's what
these antichrists do. You listen to them and you say,
that's not the message. That's not how God saved Simon.
That's not true. That's not true. Verse 20, but
you. You. You little children, you have
an unction. You have the Holy Spirit. You
have an unction from the Holy One. You know the truth. You
know Christ. Isn't that a blessing? You think
about it. People come and go in religion. These preachers rise up and then
they fall. Talk about salvation being of
the will of man, and after a while they're gone down the road somewhere.
And this message of grace just stands true. Believers stand true in Christ. Why? They have the Holy Spirit.
They know the truth. They know the truth. Look back
here at chapter 2, verse 12. I write unto you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I write
unto you, fathers, because you know Him that's from the beginning.
I write unto you, young men, because you've overcome this
wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because you
know the Father. I write unto you, fathers, because you know
Him that's from the beginning. I write unto you, young men,
because you're strong. The Word of God abides in you.
You've overcome the wicked one. That's who I'm writing to. You
have the Holy Spirit. And I don't write to you. Look
at verse 21. I don't write to you because you don't know the
truth. I write to you because you do. And I write to warn you. And I write to remind you. And
I write to establish you. And I write to stir you up. Turn to 1 Peter. Peter says something
about this over in 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter 1
verse 12. 2 Peter 1 verse 12. Peter is saying the same thing.
John says, I don't write to you because you don't know the truth.
I write to you because you do know the truth. I write to you
because you have the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord Jesus said, I'll
send you another comforter, and He leads you into all truth.
He leads you into all truth. 2 Peter 1 verse 12. Wherefore,
I will not be negligent. negligent to put you always in
remembrance of these things. Though you know them, though
you know them, and that you be established in the present truth,
I think it's meat, I think it ought to be, as long as I'm in
this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.
That's what John's saying. I'm not writing to you and warning
you because you don't know the truth. I'm writing because you
do. You have the Holy Spirit. You
know the truth. You know the gospel. And Peter
said to remind you, to establish you, to stir you up, and make
you conscious of the dangers about you. False Christ. Antichrist. False prophets. And listen to
verse 21. I've not written to you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it. The truth is Christ. And there's no lie in the truth.
No lie is of the truth. Now sometimes a lie is so mixed
with an element of truth that it's difficult to discern.
Now this is true. When I played this This interview
between Shula and Graham a few Sundays ago. There's a lot of truth. These
men say a lot of things that are true. But they mix lies in
with it. And there's no lie in the truth.
The truth is the truth. There's no lie in the truth.
But sometimes a lie is mixed with an element of truth that's
hard to discern. For example, let me show you
what our Lord said in Matthew 24. Now listen to this. The Lord's warning His disciples.
This is what John said. I'm not writing to you because
you don't know the truth. I'm not concerned that you don't
know the gospel. You do know Christ and the gospel. But I'm
writing to warn you, to stir you up, to establish you, to
remind you of the error that's about you. In Matthew 24 verse
24, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, false
preachers. And there shall great signs and
wonders, mighty empires. In so much, if it were possible,
they deceive the very elect. Mixing lies with truth. Now take for example, Mr. Shuler said this, When Billy Graham said to him
that he believed there were people in the body of Christ who came
from the Muslim world, and the Buddhist world, and the non-Christian world, and
even some in the body of Christ who never heard the name of Christ,
and never saw a Bible, never heard the gospel. And Sheila
said, I'm glad to hear you say that because there's a wideness
in God's love. That's the truth. There's a wideness
in God's love. His love is higher than the heavens.
His love is deeper than the grave. His love is broader than the
sea. Who can understand it? There's a wideness in His love,
but never outside of Christ. You understand that? That's the
truth. And if you're saying there's
a wideness in God's love that encompasses people outside of
Christ, that's a lie. You see, that's not true. And
so we're taken in by antichrists who use beautiful language like
there's a wideness in God's love. But not beyond Christ, not outside
of Christ. The Scripture says nothing can
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. And then Graham said this, God
has visited the Gentiles to take out of them, visited the whole
world. The Gentiles to take out of them are people for His name.
That's right. But when He takes them out, He
takes them out of Buddhism into the kingdom of His Son. He takes
them out of the Muslim world into the faith of Christ. He
takes them out of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.
He doesn't leave them there. They hear of Christ. See, there's no lie in the truth.
The truth is the truth. There's no compromise. There's
no deception. There's no part gospel. It's
Christ and Christ alone. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not on the
Son will never see life. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not on the
Son of God, the wrath of God abideth on him. Not the love
of God. There's no love outside of Christ. There's no mercy outside
of Christ. There's no grace outside of Christ.
That's why we preach the gospel. Whosoever shall confess with
his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in his heart, God
raised him from the dead, he shall be saved. There's no lie
in the truth. There's no path to God except
Christ. There's no way to God except
Christ. There's no entrance to God or
Heaven except Christ. He said, I am the door, not a
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. Go in and out and find pasture.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the bread of life. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath everlasting life. I write unto you, because you
have the Holy Spirit, the unction of the Holy One, and you know
all things. You don't know everything, but you know Christ, and He has
all things in Him. That's right. All things are in Christ. You
know Him. And I don't write to you because
you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and I
write to warn you, to caution you, to remind you, to stir you
up. But there's no lie in the truth. No compromise. No deception. Can't be both. Can't be Christ and someone or
something else. It's Christ. Don't leave this
message. Don't... I tell you verse 22. Watch this. Let me give you this.
Listen. Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. What are we saying? He's the
Christ promised, prophesied, pictured in the Old Testament.
He's the Christ, the only Messiah, the one Abraham, whose day Abraham
saw, of whom Moses wrote, for whom Israel looked. He is the
Christ. He is the only Christ. He is
the only Redeemer. He is the God-Man. He is the
Prophet, Priest, and King. Only One. He is the High Priest.
He is the Sin Offering. He is the Atonement. He is the Christ. He is the only
Eternal, only Begotten Son of the Father. He is the Everlasting Father. He is the Mighty God. God was
manifest in the flesh. God was in Jesus Christ. You
can't separate the Father and the Son. They are one. There cannot be a Father without
the Son, nor a Son without the Eternal Father. He is the only
Savior. Other salvation, other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid. There is none other
name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
A man cannot be saved without hearing of Christ, receiving
Christ, believing Christ, loving Christ, trusting Christ. That's
so. Now if he's not the Christ, if
he's not the Messiah, if he's not the Almighty God, if he's
not the only Redeemer, he's an imposter. If he is not the Christ, if he
is not God in human flesh, if he is not the only federal head,
representative, savior of sinners, the only way to glory, he said,
I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, no man, no woman
cometh to God but by me. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will not cast
out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is
the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He had given
me, I'll lose nothing, but raise Him up at the last day. This
is the will of Him that sent me. Everyone who sees the Son
in the gospel and believes on Him may have everlasting life,
and I'll raise Him up and nobody else at the last day." Now, he's
not that. He's an imposter. Whoa, hold
on. But if that's who he is, and
what he is, and what he did, and where he is, and I don't
preach it, I'm an imposter. Now there you have it. I'm an
antichrist. If he's the Christ, then all
who are given him, redeemed by him, in him, whom he represents,
are saved. But all who deny that he's the
only Redeemer, all who compromise his message, all who take away
from his deity even one aspect of it, from his humanity, from
his office, from his work, from his glory, or diminish in any
way the necessity of believing on him and a union with him,
any man does that, he's an imposter. And Paul said, even if he's an
angel from heaven. That's serious. If any man preach any other gospel,
and the gospel that I preach, let him be damned, accursed. Paul said that. Even if it's
an angel from heaven. Even if it's your greatest American
evangelist. And the most popular preachers
of your day. If they could talk about people
being in heaven who have not on the wedding garment his righteousness.
If they can talk about people being in heaven who've never
heard of Christ, do not know Christ, and therefore cannot
say unto him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, who cannot give all the glory to the Lamb that sitteth
on the throne. If a man preaches that, he's
an antichrist. He's an antichrist. Listen, he's
a liar. Verse 22. Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ. He's an antichrist, and he's
denied Father and Son. Whosoever denieth the Son is
glory. He can't be any less than he
is now. Jesus Christ, the Christ we preach, must be the Christ
who is. He cannot be any less than he
is. He can't have any less power, any less glory, any less authority,
any less holiness. He's God. For me to diminish it in any
way, I wish I could exalt Him like I should. I wish I could,
don't you? I will someday. I'm going to
see Him as He is. I'm going to be like Him. But
until that day, I'm going to give Him every smidgen, that's
what we say as kids, every smidgen of the glory. Who so denies the Son hath not
the Father. He that acknowledgeth the Son
hath the Father also. I kind of believe we have the
Father. I kind of believe we do. Because we honor the Son. And
he said, he that honoreth my Son, I'll honor him. Now then, let me give you this.
Let that therefore abide in you which you heard from the beginning. What does that mean? Well, what
we hear from the beginning. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. What did God say in the beginning?
He said, the seed of woman will bruise a serpent's head. That's
Christ. What did He say in the beginning
of Abraham when He called him out? He said, I'm going to raise
up a seed from you, and in him shall all nations be blessed.
That's Christ. In the beginning. What did He say to Moses? Pass
over lamb. I see the blood. I'll pass over
you. What did He say to the shepherds? I bring you great tithing, good
tithing of great joy, and to you is born a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. What did He say to the cross?
It's finished. What did He say to the apostles? God hath made
this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. What did
He say to you the first time you heard the gospel? You're a hopeless sinner, a helpless
sinner, without God, without help, without hope in this world.
Salvations of the Lord in Christ. You stay right there. You stay right there. What you
heard in the beginning. Don't come along and meet somebody
that's more charismatic and more intellectual and more informed
and more anything. There's nothing better than the
Savior. Nothing better than a crucified Christ. Everything's in Him. You stay right where you started.
You know what he's saying here, Bob? He said, Let that therefore
abide in you which you heard from the beginning. When God
opened your eyes and you saw Him. When God opened your ears
and you heard Him. God opened your heart and you believed Him.
What's happened to so many preachers is they've gotten smart. They've gotten smarter than the
gospel. They've gone to school, and the school has improved their
gospel. The school can't improve your
gospel. It can improve you and teach you to shine your shoes.
It teaches you not to say ain't. It can teach you to write a sentence
without putting something where it ought not be. But the school
better not mess with your gospel, because that's what you've got
in the beginning. That's what happened to our preachers.
They went to school. And they read Barth and somebody
else and somebody else, and they got to doubting this and questioning
that, tried to put a question mark on God's Word, and they
left where they started. And they've gone downhill ever
since. That's the reason I warn everybody who wants to be a preacher,
stay out of school. Go over here to the university
and learn how to study. Learn how to write an outline,
learn how to act like you ought to act, and so forth, and how
to deal with people, and get your gospel in the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to a preacher who knows
the gospel. Don't sit at the feet of any professor who puts
a question mark on Christ. He's an antichrist. That's right. Let that abide in you which you
heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from
the beginning, God didn't preach anything but the gospel to you
when He saved you, you couldn't be saved without the gospel. The gospel. I heard everything
I needed to hear when I heard the gospel. That's exactly right. And that's where you continue.
And if that remains in you, you'll remain in the Son and in the
Father. Because God doesn't save a man
under a false gospel. He saves him under the true gospel.
Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. Christ incarnate, Christ
crucified, Christ risen, Christ enthroned, Christ come in. If you are saved, you are saved
under the gospel. Don't ever leave it. And I'll tell you, if you started
with Him, continue with Him, verse 25, you wind up with Him. This is the promise He promised
us eternal life. I'll see you there, if you stay
in the Gospel in Christ. These things have I written unto
you concerning them that seduce you. They'll keep coming around.
They won't quit. They prey on God's people. They
pray on God's people. They're always wanting to dishonor
Christ, and discredit Christ, and take you away from Christ.
He said, look over there at 2 Corinthians 11, listen to Paul. I'm just
fearful, he said, fearful, scared to death, that somebody's going
to come along and take you away from Christ. In verse 3, I fear,
2 Corinthians 11, lest by any means as a serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtlety, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity
that's in Christ. The gospel. Simplicity that's in Christ.
Don't get smart. Stay poor and needy. Don't get
wise in this world. Stay a little child. Stay like
Mary at the feet of the Lord Jesus. Looking up into His face
and adoring Him and loving Him and trusting Him. Believing on
Him. Don't get up and leave. Don't
get the high seats. Verse 27, The anointing which
you have received of Him abideth in you. You need not any man
teach you. You need pastors and teachers.
You know that. I know that. But they don't need
to teach you Christ. You know Christ. The Holy Spirit teaches you all
things. The same anointing, he said,
but it's the same anointing that teaches you all things, and it's
true. There's no lie. The Spirit will
take the things of Christ and He'll lead you into all truth.
It's no lie, even as it happens. Even as the Holy Spirit has taught
you, you abide in Him. And now little children, I'll
sum this up. Abide in Him. Who He is, what He did, why He
did it, where He is now, all things in Christ. And when He
shall appear, You'll have confidence and not
be ashamed. There's some fellas going to
be mighty ashamed. Yes, sir. They've compromised
for whatever reason. Fame, popularity, money, position,
big congregation. Abide in Christ. So when He comes,
you'll not be ashamed. You know this, He's righteous
and everyone that doeth righteousness is of Him. That's talking about
those who preach the truth. He's righteous. He's the King
of righteousness. He's the Lord our righteousness.
And everyone that preaches that message and walks that way is
of Him. The rest of them are antichrists.
And I'm sorry. I preach it with tears. I wish
it were not so. But people all over this country
have no place this morning, like you have, where they can go and
listen to the gospel. It's another gospel and another
Jesus and another Spirit. Because it seems right to the
preacher. But you say, brother man, you're
preaching the same things you preached 40 some odd years ago.
That's exactly what John said. Where you started, you wound
up. Christ.