Open your Bibles for just a few
moments to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 2, I'm sorry, chapter
2. Let me read my text before I
speak from it. I'm going to begin with verse
21, 1 John 2, verse 21. And John says, I have not written
unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it. And
there's no liar that know lies of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He's anti-Christ. that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you
which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you
have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also
shall continue in the Son and in the Father." This is the promise
that He hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have
I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 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, and is 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, if you know
that He's righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness
is born of Him. Now, this message this evening
to me is so important, to me and to you, that I believe it
could be called required listening. Required listening. You see,
These few verses have to do with the very glory of God. His chief
glory. The chief glory of God. His very
character. The person and work of our God
in redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what these
verses have to do with. Redemption. Redemption in Christ. The very glory of God. Then secondly,
these verses have to do with our faith, saving faith. The
faith of God's children. The very heart and soul of the
faith that believes God and numbers us with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Saving faith. And these verses
have to do with continuing in that faith. Continuing in that
faith, regardless of the trial Regardless of the temptation,
regardless of the conflict, regardless of the powers that are brought
against our soul, we continue. Regardless, it does not matter
what takes place, who comes our way, we continue in that faith
of Christ Jesus. Continue. And then it has to
do with His glorious return. And the fulfillment of every
promise in Christ. The promise of eternal life. And verse 28 is really my text. Kind of sums it up. And now little
children. Little children. Little ones,
he calls them in Matthew 18. Little ones. My little ones.
Abide in Him. That when He shall appear, when
He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed
before Him at His coming." Now, you just try to suggest something
more important than that. The glory of our God, saving
faith of His children, continuing in that faith, and His glorious
return. Now let's look at it, back at
verse 21. And he says to these people, John writing to believers,
he says, I'm not written unto you because you don't know the
truth. You know, back in verse 18, he
warns about the spirit of Antichrist abroad in the land. Back in verse
18, he says, little children, it's the last time. It's the
last days. And as you have heard that Antichrist
shall come even now, there are many Antichrists, many of them. whereby you know it is the last
time, and these antichrists went out from us." That's what's tragic. They went out from us. They were
people who claimed to believe this. They once were numbered
with us, but they went out from us. But they were not of us. If they
had been of us, they wouldn't have been antichrists. 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, but not you. Not you. I've watched people come and
go for years, but not you. But not you. You have an unction. You have an unction from the
Holy One. What is an unction? It's a revelation. That's what it is. That's why
you didn't go out. That's why you didn't leave.
That's why you stayed. You have an option, a vision,
a sight of Christ in His glory. You have a revelation. You've
been taught of the Spirit of God. That's why you're still
around. That's why you're still around.
That's what he said. You have an auction. Turn back
to John 6. This is what took place. John
6, verse 44. This is what happened in our
case in John 6, verse 44. Our Lord, these Jews murmured.
And He said, don't murmur among yourself now. Tell, now verse
44, no man can come to Me. No man can come to me except
the Father which sent me. Draw him! And I'll raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
they shall be all taught of God. That's the unction. What makes
the difference? That unction of the Holy Ghost. That unction of the Holy Spirit.
That unction from God. You have a revelation. You've
been taught of God. Listen. You've been taught of
God. And every man therefore that
heard and learned of the Father, He comes to me. And not only
comes to me, He stays with me. He continues in the faith. That's
the difference. That's the difference. I don't...
Verse 21, so... He said, verse 20, you have an
unction, you have a revelation from the Holy One. You know all
things. We don't know everything, we
don't claim to know everything, but we know these all things
that the Father hath given to the Son. The Father loveth the
Son, and hath given all things into His hands. We know that.
You understand what he's saying? You know all things. So I've not written unto you
because you don't know the truth. I write unto you because you
do know it. You do know it. You know of Adam's
fall. You know of the nature of sin.
You know the consequences of our identification with Adam. You know that the Lord Jesus
Christ has come. We know, he wrote over in a few
more verses, we know that the Son of God has come and given
us an understanding, an option, that we may know Him that is
true, and we're in Him that is true. This is the true God. This
is eternal life. You know. You know He's the Christ,
Prophet, Priest, and King. You know that He who knew no
sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. You know that. I don't write
to you because you don't know the Gospel. I don't preach to
you tonight because you don't know the Gospel. You know it.
You know it. Why do you write to us? I write
to establish you in that gospel. To establish you. That you might
be established, that you might be strengthened, that you might
be encouraged in the faith. I need encouragement, don't you?
I need encouragement. I write to
encourage you and to exhort you and to warn you. of deceivers
who preach half-truths." Listen, this is what he's talking about
in this last line of verse 21. I've not written unto you because
you don't know the truth. Because you know it. You have
an unction of the Holy One. He's taught you all things pertaining
to redemption and life everlasting in Christ. He's taught you those
things and you know them. And you know that no lie is of
the truth. No lie is of the truth. What
does that mean? Sometimes a lie is so mixed with
an element of truth that it's hard to discern. It's
difficult to discern. He said that they'll come along
preaching, and if it's possible, they'll deceive the very elect.
There's so much truth mixed up with the lie. But you know that
no lie is of the truth, no deception, nothing false can be mixed with
the gospel. It's got to be the pure gospel. No deception. No part gospel. The pure gospel. And here's what
it involves, verse 22. Here's what that gospel involves,
the person. It's the person. I heard my son
Paul say on a tape this week that generally, generally this
is found to be true. If a preacher begins to go astray
on the gospel or from the Word of God, where he'll go astray
is regarding the person and work of Christ. The effectual redemption. That's usually where he starts.
He starts questioning substitution. The efficacy of the cross. The
efficacy of the blood. He'll start putting a little
question mark on that. And when you begin to question
effectual substitution, you leave the door open for any kind of
error. And that's the reason he says
here, listen to me, who's a liar? But he that denieth it, Jesus
of Nazareth, is the Christ. He's the Christ. He's the eternal
Son of God. Listen. Listen. Whoso denieth the Son, verse
22 says, he's an antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
Whoso denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. There cannot
be a father without a son. Our heavenly Father, our Father
which art in heaven, cannot be a father without a son. Nobody here in this congregation
is a father unless he's got a son or a daughter. And there can't be a son without
a father. That's right. So when you start
questioning the Son, you're putting a question mark on the Father.
You can't be a father without a son. You can't be a son without
a father. You can't know the Father if
you don't know the Son. You can't know the Son if you
don't know the Father. That's right. Jesus of Nazareth
is the Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth was with God,
was God, equal with God from all eternity. Jesus of Nazareth
is the God-man. He's the Messiah promised in
the Old Testament. He's the Christ looked for by
the saints. He's the prophet, priest, and
king typified. He's the sin offering of the
tabernacle, the propitiation of the tabernacle, the mercy
seat of the tabernacle, the atonement of the tabernacle, the priest
of the tabernacle. He's the sovereign Lord who quickens
whom He will, who has the keys of life and death, who is exalted
head of the church and ruler of the world and the only mediator.
He's the Christ. He's the Christ. And all that is implied concerning
the Christ is fulfilled in Him. All that's promised is fulfilled
in Him. And anyone that denies this,
no matter what else he may say good about Jesus of Nazareth,
he's an antichrist. Is that what he's saying? You
see, back in verse 21, he says, "...no lie is of the truth."
And this lie, no matter how much accuracy and truth is mixed with
it, if a man denies that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is God,
Jesus is the God-man, Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, and all that
is promised according to the Scriptures regarding the Redeemer,
he's an antichrist. He's an antichrist. Oh, they
said some good things about Him back here when He was walking
this earth. He asked the disciples, He said,
whom do they say that I am? And they said, well, some say
you're John the Baptist, some say Elijah, some say you're one
of the prophets. But whom do you say that I am?
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Son of
the living God. All right, verse 24. You let that therefore abide
in you, which you heard from the beginning." Which you heard from the beginning.
Now he's been talking about these folks who went out, who put a
question mark on the son, on his personal word. You hold to
that which you heard from the beginning, what you hear from
the beginning. Well, these people here from the beginning, they
heard John the Baptist say, Behold the Lamb of God. Take it away,
the sin of the world. They heard the Lord Jesus say
from the very beginning, I and my Father are one. They heard
the Apostle John say, in the beginning was the Word, the Word
was with God, the Word was God, and all things were made by Him,
and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. That's what you heard from the
beginning. Now listen, that's what you heard from the beginning. Let us abide in it. that therefore
abide in you which you heard from the beginning." What did
you hear? I know this, from the beginning
of God's mercy in revealing to me the
gospel. I heard these things 44 years
ago. I heard who Christ is. I heard
who Christ is in all of His glorious eternality, covenant mercies,
incarnation, sacrifice, substitution, burial, resurrection, exalted
glory above all exaltation. I heard that. Now, I've learned
more about His eternality, but I haven't heard any different
message about His eternality. I've learned more about this
Christ, but everything I've learned just is built upon that foundation
where I started. That's right. That's exactly
right. That's what he's saying here.
That's what he's saying. Let that, therefore, abide in
you which you heard from the beginning. Don't you go off. They say they'll come preaching
another Jesus and another gospel by another spirit. Be careful.
These antichrists, they'll mix air up, deception, they'll seduce
you. That's what he said down here
in verse 26, these things I've written unto you concerning them
that seduce you. Watch out. What do you hear from
the beginning? From the beginning, when God
strips you, God strips you and lets you see the nakedness of
your soul. God brought you into the dust,
let you see you were nothing and revealed to you His Son.
In His righteousness and holiness and redemption, let you see His
Son. Oh, Jesus of Nazareth, God in
the flesh, have mercy on me. You saw Him. Fell at His feet,
worshipped Him. Stay right there. And you'll see more and more
of this nakedness. But you'll see more and more of His glory.
You'll see more and more of His righteousness. You'll see more
and more of His effectual redemption. You'll see more and more of the
preciousness of His blood and the preciousness of His promises.
But it won't change. It's the same message. You see, when that little baby
comes out of the womb, he'll never have anything. If he lives
to be a hundred years old, he'll never have any more than he's
got right now. That's exactly right. Don't bring
me any new message, any new revelations. I don't want them. I want that
which I heard from the beginning. That little baby will grow. That
finger will grow longer. That arm will grow stronger.
Those legs will grow more stable and sturdy and that mind will
develop. But it's the same thing he always
had. And when God saved you, He gave
you everything to make you sufficient to inherit what the saints in
life. What he's saying, now hear me, is always a new voice coming
up, a new breeze blowing, a new wind blowing. Let that therefore
abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which
you've heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you shall
continue in the Son and in the Father, and this is the promise." He's promised us eternal life. Oh, I tell you, that's what I
want. Lay hold on eternal life. If you lay hold on Christ, you
lay hold on eternal life. Let me show you a verse of Scripture.
2 Peter, chapter 1. 2 Peter, chapter 1. You know this verse, all the
promises of God in him are yes and amen, all of them in Christ.
But look at this one. 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 2. Grace and peace, be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our
Lord, according as His divine power has given unto us all things
that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him
that has called you to glory and virtue." Everything, every
blessed iota atom that pertains to life and godliness, is in
Christ. He's given it to you, everything.
You have everything that pertains to life and godliness. Everything. All of God's promise is in Him.
All right, verse, and this is the promise, verse 25, eternal
life. Now verse 26, these things are
written to you concerning them that would seduce you. You see,
these religious hucksters, They try to seduce people. They lie
in wait. They deceive. They recruit others. They fill the world with their
philosophies. They don't want you to know God.
They want you to know them and their program. They don't depend
on the Holy Spirit to reveal truth. They depend on pressure,
persuasion. They don't seek the glory of
God, but they seek their own glory and the glory in your flesh.
And they seduce you. Avoid them. Shun them. Seek the fellowship of those
who love and preach His Word. And stay with the gospel. You
see, God's elect may be staggered, they may be stunned, they may
be tossed to and fro, they may be subject to fears and falls,
but they can never, ever, totally, finally be deceived. You can't
deceive one of God's sheep. You can't shake him off Christ,
off the rock. You can't do it. Verse 27, "...but
the anointing, This takes you back to that verse 20. You have
an anointing. That unction is an anointing,
a revelation. You have an anointing. See that? You have an unction, an anointing
from the Holy One. You know all things. Verse 27,
And the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you. The Spirit of God is in you. The Spirit of God that brought
you the Gospel is in you. The Spirit of God that revealed
Christ to you is in you. You have that anointing. And
you need not... Now watch this. What he's warning
us about, verse 26, are people who would seduce you, manipulate
you, control you. A true preacher of God does not
want to control you. He doesn't want to manipulate
you. He wants you to know God. He wants you to know Christ.
He wants you to be weaned from dependence on Him. He wants you
to depend on the Spirit of God. He doesn't want to control your
thinking or your lives or anything. He wants you to walk with God. But these people seduce you.
And he said, this anointing, you people here, this anointing,
this unction, this revelation that God gave you of Christ abides
in you, and you don't need a man to teach you. Now, John's not denying pastors
and teachers. He was himself a teacher. But
what he's saying is this, no man is an authority. The Holy
Spirit's the authority. And don't you follow a man. You
don't need anybody to come along and teach you. The Holy Spirit
taught you. You see what he's saying? John
himself was a teacher, and God gave us pastors and teachers,
and what I'm doing tonight is showing you what the Scriptures
say. But I want you to do like the noble Bereans. You listen
to what I say, then go home and search the Scriptures to see
if these things be so. God is your teacher. Well, I heard a man on television
the other day that he said there was a sense in which God loves
everybody and there's a sense in which Christ died for everybody.
Don't you listen to a man? That's what he's saying. You
don't need anybody to tell you that sort of stuff. Verse 27,
listen to the rest of it, "...but as the same anointing teacheth
you all things, and is the truth, and is no lie, and even as it
has taught you, you abide in Him, in the Holy Spirit." This
is talking about the Holy Spirit here. You abide in the Spirit.
And you abide in that Word, and abide in that faith and that
doctrine. See that? I wish I could make that plain.
But you here, John says, I'm not writing to you because you
don't know the truth. You know the truth. But I'm writing to
you to avoid these lies mixed with the truth, these half-truths,
these things that come in and manipulate you and disturb you
and trouble you. Don't listen. If anybody puts
a question mark on Christ, his personal work, he's an anti-Christ. You have an unction, you have
an anointing of the Holy Spirit in you. God has taught you who
He is, and what He did, and why He did it, and where He is now. And don't you let anybody come
along claiming to be an official, or claiming to be a teacher,
or claiming to have some special revelation from heaven, and take
you away from that anointing and that unction. Because you
know Christ. You know Christ. You know Christ. Another shepherd they won't follow.
That's right. Another voice they won't hear.
Not His sheep. They're not going to follow someone
off into trouble. They're not going to do it. You abide in Him. Rest in Him. Now, verse 28, now little children,
abide in Him. Believe in Him. hope in Him,
look to Him, walk in Him, love Him, rest in Him, that when He shall appear, He
shall appear. And I'll tell you this, no noble martyr is going to attract
our attention when He shall appear. When He shall appear, we shall
see Him as He is. When He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him
that is coming. Our affection has never been
taken away from Him. Never been taken away. Never been taken away. Alright,
verse 29. If you know that He's righteous,
He's our righteousness, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness,
loves righteousness, has righteousness, rests in His righteousness, finds
all in Him, he's born of God. He's born of God. I hope you
are blessed by that. I hope that you understand, too,
what I'm not... John's not questioning for a
moment the importance of teaching the Word, learning from our teachers,
our elders, our preachers, and others who preach and teach here.
Listen to them. Listen to them. But don't... You're the disciples of Christ.
You're the sons of God. And you need not any man Come
along and disturb your confidence in Christ. Trouble your soul
in regards to your rest in Christ. Don't do it. John can't do that,
can he? That'd be Christ. Christ. Christ. Christ alone. All right. I hope that's a blessing
to you.