WEBVTT 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:08.700 Just as it has taught you, remain in Him. Amen. So, we're thinking this evening about the battle 00:00:08.700 --> 00:00:16.219 for truth that John presents to us. There are, of course, battles that shape history, 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:25.379 that shape the world as we know it. One such was the Battle of Britain in 1940. That was when 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:35.399 Churchill famously said, never has so much been owed by so many to so few, recognizing the efforts 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:42.379 of, in particular, the RAF pilots who stopped the German Luftwaffe, who stopped, prevented Germany 00:00:42.379 --> 00:00:48.620 invading Britain in 1940, being the time when the tide of war turned. And the fact that we have 00:00:48.619 --> 00:00:55.739 freedom and democracy today, in large part, we could trace back to that long summer of 1940. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:02.199 Well, as we think about the battle for truth, as the Apostle Paul, as the Apostle John, rather, 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:09.159 points out to us, this, of course, is not fought with bombs and guns, but it's a real battle all 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:19.560 the same. It's a battle for truth about true belief in and about Jesus. And so, John writes to this 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:25.239 church that's in the heat of the battle. It's a church that he loves. He calls them dear children. 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:33.560 And he's saying to them, you know, John's letter has a lot of you know language, you know the truth 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:41.700 about Jesus, because you know our gospel message, and because you know what is true, remain in the 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:51.400 truth. That battle for truth continues to rage on. Within the church throughout history, in every 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:59.079 society and ours is the same, Christians and churches can be tempted under pressure to give up on, 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:06.579 and perhaps we know churches where this has happened, key doctrines, doctrines about Scripture, as the 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:13.620 Word of God is unchanging truth. Tempted to give up the reality of Jesus, fully God and fully man, the 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:21.159 cross is the only way of salvation, the reality of people as fundamentally sinful, that sin is a serious 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:27.860 thing, an affront to God, and that we need mercy and grace if we are to be saved. It can be tempting 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:35.380 for Christians and churches to give up on those things. But if we were to do that, we would lose the 00:02:35.380 --> 00:02:43.980 battle. If we are to walk away from the truth, then we'd be in a place where the church would cease to be 00:02:43.980 --> 00:02:52.040 the church. We would have nothing to offer in a world that needs light and life. We would have nothing. The 00:02:52.039 --> 00:03:00.299 reality is the world needs, the world always needs, a church that passes the test of truth, that 00:03:00.299 --> 00:03:07.599 communicates truth to the world. And so John gives, he likes to give tests in his letter to assure us of 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:12.379 true faith. He gives the test of belief. So we're going to see it, and we're going to see why passing 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:19.419 the test matters. The first thing we need to think about is the Antichrist who is mentioned here, 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:27.500 and to recognize at a basic level the Antichrist tells lies. Verse 18 again, 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:32.939 Dear children, this is the last hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, 00:03:33.399 --> 00:03:37.539 even now many Antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.060 And in this little section, John's going to do a few different things for us. He's going to give us a 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:48.359 picture of this battle for the truth, and he's going to describe the behavior of those who are 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:54.180 recognized as being Antichrist, and he's going to talk to us about their beliefs, and each of them 00:03:54.180 --> 00:04:00.260 matters. So to get the sense that this is a battle that's being viewed, he uses the expression, 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:09.540 the last hour. So in the New Testament, we hear of the last days. Jesus will talk about the last days. 00:04:09.540 --> 00:04:13.380 The other apostles will do that. The time between the first and the second coming of Jesus, 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:19.240 just described as the last days. It's the last age of salvation. But here John talks about not the 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:26.240 last days, but the last hour. And that's designed to say to us, here is a time when spiritual battle 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:34.300 is really fierce. The last hour is a time when the forces of darkness conspire together against God's 00:04:34.300 --> 00:04:40.719 people. So we might want to think about a picture of a city under siege, of hostile enemies surrounding 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.920 and seeking destruction. And he says to the church, this is the time that you're living in. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:53.800 And then he talks about their enemy, their adversary, as the Antichrist or Antichrists. 00:04:55.060 --> 00:05:01.180 It's only John in the New Testament who talks about the Antichrist. It's a theme in his letters and in 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:06.580 the book of Revelation. But we meet a similar figure in the Old Testament, the book of Daniel. 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:13.839 There is one who sets up in the temple this abomination that causes desolation. He is the 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:20.839 anti-God figure who has anticipated. But now he is described by John as the Antichrist. 00:05:21.919 --> 00:05:30.120 And we get this warning that even within the church, there are these figures who have been 00:05:30.120 --> 00:05:40.620 deliberately acting against Christ, actively denying Christ, they are now allied with the devil who is 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:49.740 the Antichrist. So the question is, how can they be identified? So John writes to this church in 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:54.920 Ephesus where this reality, this spiritual battle is going on. And so he writes to Satan, listen, 00:05:54.920 --> 00:06:03.160 here is how you can tell who are these Antichrist figures. Remember the idea of anti is against, 00:06:03.580 --> 00:06:10.180 if something is turned anti-clockwise, it was anti-gravity, it floats. Two things that he draws 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:20.780 attention to. First, their behavior. So look at verse 19, they went out from us, but they did not really 00:06:20.779 --> 00:06:27.279 belong to us. End of verse 19, their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 00:06:29.179 --> 00:06:34.679 So we can learn a little bit about these false teachers. We know what was going on in Ephesus at 00:06:34.679 --> 00:06:39.719 the time. There was these groups who were claiming, we have a secret knowledge that the Spirit has given 00:06:39.719 --> 00:06:46.639 to us. We have a higher knowledge. We are now above God's Word. We are above God's messengers. We 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:51.139 understand the real Jesus. This is what the false teachers were saying. And so they have made that 00:06:51.139 --> 00:06:54.899 decision because they think that they're above the church. They've broken away from the church, 00:06:54.899 --> 00:07:00.639 and they've set up this new sect, this new group with this new teaching, and they're trying to pull 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:07.459 others away. They are on the one hand attacking the church with their false beliefs, but at the same 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:16.159 time, they're trying to draw others into their net and into their network. John says you can tell by 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:22.380 their behavior that they never really belong to the church. So just to be clear, you know, when 00:07:22.380 --> 00:07:29.840 somebody leaves one Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church to go to another one, that's not what John 00:07:29.840 --> 00:07:35.680 is talking about. It's talking about people who deliberately are turning their back on Jesus, 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:42.180 and more than that, are openly attacking Jesus, deliberately trying to destroy the church of Jesus. 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:50.459 And so John says the fact that they have gone has really unmasked them. You know, they were existing 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:56.000 in the church for a time with that kind of hidden identity. We're getting to the season of Halloween. 00:07:56.220 --> 00:08:00.500 It's like they're wearing the Halloween mask, pretending that they are followers of Jesus. 00:08:01.540 --> 00:08:07.340 But John says they were never true Christians. Rather, they were wolves among sheep. 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:14.639 As Jesus would remind people in the Sermon on the Mount, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, 00:08:14.699 --> 00:08:20.759 is part of the kingdom. And there were those within the church in Ephesus who had no love for Jesus, 00:08:21.239 --> 00:08:28.319 and that became clear because they walked away from Jesus and were actively attacking Him. So behavior, 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:33.519 John says to the church in Ephesus, you can look at their behavior and you can see that they did not, 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:39.419 they do not belong to us. But the other strand of evidence that he points to is their beliefs. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:47.059 John, the apostle, he loves contrasts, light, darkness, those kind of things. But here the 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:54.439 contrast is between truth and lies. So in verse 20, he will say to those who remain the true believer, 00:08:54.439 --> 00:09:03.439 you know the truth. But immediately he will speak about the liar. Verse 22, who is the liar? 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:12.240 The liar. The liar. What's the ultimate lie? Well, the ultimate lie that's being peddled by these 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:19.720 false teachers is the denial that Jesus is the Christ. So they are going around teaching, 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:27.899 no, God did not take on human flesh. No, the Son of God, the eternal Son, He did not suffer and die. 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:35.480 That He may have come upon the human Jesus for a while, but He left Him when He suffered. 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:45.139 So they're saying Jesus is not the Christ. Jesus is not the Son of God. And John says this is the lie 00:09:45.139 --> 00:09:53.980 of the Antichrist. It is deadly serious. It is a denial both of the Son and of the Father. 00:09:53.980 --> 00:10:03.360 That's what he says in verse 22. It runs counter to the truth that John the Apostle has been telling us 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:09.800 in his gospel, in his letter, about Jesus, the Word of God, the eternal Word who became flesh 00:10:09.800 --> 00:10:18.019 and made His dwelling to see Jesus is to see the glory of God. The Antichrists are denying that. 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:29.480 Now, what does John's message have to teach us today? Surely this reminds us that truth claims must be 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:37.439 tested. You may well have heard the idea that all religions basically are the same, 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:45.720 that all roads are leading up the same mountain. Or, you know, for anyone to claim that they have the 00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:57.019 truth is to be guilty of great arrogance. How do we respond to that? We have to recognize that it is 00:10:57.019 --> 00:11:07.920 simply untrue. As we focus on Jesus, the heart of our faith, we need to recognize that not all beliefs 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.419 say the same thing about Jesus say the same thing about Jesus at all. 00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:20.000 It's only Christianity that claims Jesus is truly and fully God, who became truly human, 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:24.579 who truly suffered and died as the answer to the real and true problem of sin, 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:31.120 that He truly did rise again in victory, that He will truly and certainly come back again as judge, 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:38.879 that He is the one who will establish the new creation, that we are saved by grace through faith 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:45.759 in Jesus and no other way. Christianity is unique in those claims. All religions are not the same. 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:53.320 And to claim that we have the truth is not arrogance, because Christianity requires us, 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:58.580 doesn't it, to be humble, to acknowledge that we are sinful and we cannot save ourselves. 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:07.280 We place all our hope upon another, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's also important to recognize that our 00:12:07.280 --> 00:12:17.240 claims are based on historical facts, a real person, eyewitnesses, a real death, a real resurrection. 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:27.680 Our Bible is God's revelation, not human invention. So John is giving us a vital test of truth. 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:37.639 Is Jesus the Christ? Is He the anointed one, the promised one? Is He God's King and Savior? 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:43.600 Is He Son of God? Is He God's answer to the human problem of sin? 00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:54.960 And if a group, an organization, an individual answers no, then that's a denial of God's truth about Jesus. 00:12:54.960 --> 00:13:05.300 And that's why we must humbly and consistently say that while people hold on to their truth claims very 00:13:05.300 --> 00:13:14.160 sincerely, it is possible to be sincerely wrong. And other religions, other sects are wrong, 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:22.940 because their view of Jesus is wrong. So truth claims must be tested. And related to that, 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:31.320 truths about Jesus Christ matter. And we must as Christians, and this is really hard today, 00:13:31.420 --> 00:13:41.940 we must appreciate that truth, God's truth, must trump tolerance. If we are to love people well, 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:49.900 it doesn't mean we say nothing. Rather, we must hold on to this truth, which is life. 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:56.639 Because as has been made clear by John in his letter and in his gospel, 00:13:58.079 --> 00:14:03.139 when it comes to the truth about Jesus, belief about Jesus, fellowship with God is at stake. 00:14:05.059 --> 00:14:11.360 John is really clear that to know Jesus as He truly is, is to enjoy fellowship with the Father and the Son. 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:17.360 If we love people and we want them to know God, then they must know the truth about Jesus. 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:29.300 And secondly, forgiveness of sin is at stake. Jesus must be fully God so that we can say that 00:14:29.300 --> 00:14:36.200 salvation comes from God. And we must also say that Jesus is fully human because we need Him as our 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:41.520 substitute, as our representative, as our great sacrifice. 00:14:43.920 --> 00:14:50.180 So that's the first thing that John wants us to recognize, that the Antichrist tells lies. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:57.940 Secondly, he wants to affirm and assure us that the Christian believers know the truth. 00:14:57.940 --> 00:15:06.800 I am a relative newcomer to the wonderful world of podcasting. I really only listen to history podcasts. 00:15:07.400 --> 00:15:14.240 Dan Snow had a podcast on the Battle of Britain. It gave me lots of facts that I didn't know before. 00:15:14.860 --> 00:15:19.760 So just to think about the Battle of Britain a little bit more, while Hitler was super confident, 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:25.340 Hitler and Göring were super confident that the Luftwaffe would win the battle for the skies over Britain, 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:34.000 and that that would then lead to this land invasion, Operation Seal. There's a wonderful podcast episode 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:42.980 where Dan Snow tells story after story of the bravery of RAF crew on the ground, and also those men who 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:51.620 flew the hurricanes and the Spitfires. While the enemy was circling multiple times a day, when the threat was 00:15:51.620 --> 00:16:00.720 real, these brave men and women held on fighting with courage and skill, and Britain was saved. 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:13.659 That kind of picture kind of can help us enter into, in some measure, what life as a Christian in Ephesus was like. 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:17.060 To be a Christian in Ephesus was hard. 00:16:17.059 --> 00:16:26.139 Even before this point, if you remember back in Acts chapter 20, Paul had established the church, 00:16:26.199 --> 00:16:32.719 and he met with the elders, and he warned them that there was a time coming when wolves would come 00:16:32.719 --> 00:16:41.559 among them to seek to tear apart and to destroy the church. And now John makes clear to the people he 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:48.799 writes to, you are living in that time. They have arrived. They are attacking. And so Pastor John, 00:16:48.839 --> 00:16:51.059 who loves this church, he writes to encourage them. 00:16:53.319 --> 00:16:58.979 As you are faced with an enemy that is real, as you find yourself in the heat of the battle for truth, 00:16:59.259 --> 00:17:10.619 stand firm in what you know. He uses that language. He encourages them first about their behavior. 00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:17.819 So one thing that becomes evident from verse 19, that while the Antichrist people, they show themselves 00:17:17.819 --> 00:17:26.779 by the fact that they left, the true believers remained. John says, second part of verse 19, 00:17:26.899 --> 00:17:34.199 if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. He's writing to the church that has remained, 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:42.759 therefore they belong. They share the same faith as the apostles. Christians abide. Christians remain 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:53.360 in Christ and in His church. We read just one section from that farewell discourse that Jesus 00:17:53.360 --> 00:18:00.559 delivered to His disciples in the upper room. If we'd have gone to John 15, we would have heard Jesus use 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:05.799 the analogy of the vine and the branches. I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:14.119 in you, you will bear much fruit. There is this necessity for the believer to abide, to remain. 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:26.639 And the fact that they have remained speaks to the promise of God's grace. That God is so good 00:18:26.639 --> 00:18:36.519 and so powerful that His salvation is so sure that Christian believers will persevere to the end. 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:43.279 Whether that's in North Korea, whether that's Eritrea, whether that's Ephesus, whether that's Edinburgh, 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:50.480 held by God. Remember Paul's words in Philippians 1 verse 6, being confident of this, 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:57.639 that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:02.139 The difference between those holding on to truth and those believing a lie 00:19:02.140 --> 00:19:11.240 is that those who hold to the truth remain. He reminds them secondly about their beliefs. 00:19:12.520 --> 00:19:20.000 Verse 20 into verse 21, but you, drawing a contrast between those with the false beliefs, 00:19:20.080 --> 00:19:26.740 the false teachers, but you, true believer, have an anointing from the Holy One and all of you 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:30.620 know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:38.000 but because you do know it. Okay, so he's talking about an anointing from the Holy One. It's unclear 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:43.619 whether that's from the Father or whether that's from Christ. But what's clear is when he talks about 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:50.500 this anointing, he's talking about the Holy Spirit, that same anointing that the believers had at 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:55.379 Pentecost, as Jesus had promised that He would send the Spirit, that He would be with them, that the 00:19:55.380 --> 00:20:02.060 Spirit would teach and guide and comfort. And the true believer has this anointing 00:20:02.060 --> 00:20:11.840 so that now we are united to the Lord Jesus. When we read God's Word, the Spirit helps to open our eyes 00:20:11.840 --> 00:20:19.480 so that we can understand that we can see Jesus. The Holy Spirit is at work in us, revealing the glory 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:27.099 of Jesus to us and helping us to become more like Jesus. And another effect of this anointing 00:20:27.099 --> 00:20:35.559 is that from the Spirit comes the supply of grace from God so that true believers remain. 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:45.120 The Spirit is at work to protect and to give power, to enable the believer to stand firm. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:52.559 And because the Spirit has truly worked in their hearts, John says, you know the truth. 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:59.179 That truth is the truth that He delivered. He is an apostle, an eyewitness of Jesus. He's delivered 00:20:59.179 --> 00:21:04.719 the truth to them. We thought about some of that truth at the beginning. Wonderful words at the 00:21:04.719 --> 00:21:12.019 beginning of His letter. They know the true message of Jesus, that He is the Word of life, 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:18.720 that He is the eternal life, that He was with the Father and has now appeared in this world. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:24.839 That to know Jesus is to enter into fellowship with the Father and with the Son, that Jesus is 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:32.559 the key to complete joy. Or to think about those words that He opens chapter 2 with. 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:41.619 Jesus is our righteous advocate. He is the one whom God has sent and appointed to make atonement, 00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:48.599 to cover and cleanse our sin. Jesus is given to us as good news for anyone who will confess sin and 00:21:48.599 --> 00:21:56.839 trust in Him. And John can write to these believers in the midst of spiritual battle and can say, 00:21:56.959 --> 00:22:04.159 you know the truth. And you've been anointed by the Spirit and He's with you. And we're being reminded 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:12.860 that the church of Jesus Christ is built on truth. And that's just to restate that reality that as 00:22:12.860 --> 00:22:25.500 a local church, we cannot afford ever to neglect God's Word. We cannot afford a mindset that we try and 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:33.200 blend in to the city around us to make our beliefs somehow seem more palatable. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:43.079 Rather, we're called out. We're called to be holy people, to be distinctly different. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:49.740 We're called to be a light in the darkness. We're called to live as citizens, not ultimately of this 00:22:49.740 --> 00:23:02.380 world, but to live as citizens of heaven. And so again, our city needs God's truth from us and God's 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:10.359 love from us. And one of the wonderful things about being members of a local church, whichever church 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:19.119 we're part of, we are tasked with helping one another to stand firm in these truths that we know, 00:23:19.899 --> 00:23:28.559 to speak the truth in love to one another, to walk with one another on this journey of faith, 00:23:28.859 --> 00:23:33.679 to encourage one another to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:43.580 One last thing for us to think about, and it's this, and it's huge. It's the reality that Jesus 00:23:43.580 --> 00:23:52.519 Christ protects His church. Before we get to our text, once more to go back to 1940 to the Battle of 00:23:52.519 --> 00:24:01.000 Britain. As historians kind of analyze, what was it that allowed the much smaller RAF to have a victory 00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:07.460 over the much larger Luftwaffe? Two things that Britain came to depend on for security and protection. 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:15.299 One, the development of radar. So this was a brand new thing, which meant that rather than pilots just 00:24:15.299 --> 00:24:20.819 kind of aimlessly flying around, hoping to meet the enemy, radar would detect German formations from 00:24:20.819 --> 00:24:26.559 some 50 or so miles out. So they were ready. So there's the development of radar, but also, 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:33.500 and obviously, the skill and courage of those RAF pilots. But the people of Britain, whether they 00:24:33.500 --> 00:24:38.819 knew it or not, they depended on those realities for their protection and their victory. As the Bible 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:45.419 teaches us, and it does throughout its pages, that the Christian life is a battle. What are we to depend 00:24:45.420 --> 00:24:55.840 on? Who are we to depend on for victory and for freedom? And wonderfully, John makes clear that 00:24:55.840 --> 00:25:05.840 ultimately, Jesus protects His church. And He does that in what He has provided. There are two things that 00:25:05.840 --> 00:25:14.100 must remain in verses 24 to 27. Those two things that must remain are God's Word and God's Spirit. 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:21.900 And we have the truth that when we abide in God's Word and when God's Spirit abides in us, 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:31.460 we will remain, that we will have victory in and through Christ. So we must, verses 24 and 25, 00:25:31.600 --> 00:25:38.980 remain in God's Word and recognizing, trusting in the true message about Jesus. As for you, 00:25:38.980 --> 00:25:44.920 see that what you have heard from the beginning, from the first time you heard the good news of Jesus, 00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:53.220 see that it remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this 00:25:53.220 --> 00:26:01.120 is what He promised us eternally. So there's His encouragement to the church. Keep hold of the 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:10.639 gospel, don't change it. Trust the authority of God's Word. Guard your doctrine, your truth closely. 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:17.679 Pay no attention to people claiming we've got new insights, we've got new revelations, 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:27.200 if they don't match up and line up to what the apostle has brought. For us as a church, it's a reminder, 00:26:27.360 --> 00:26:38.340 our beliefs rest on God's revelation to us in His Word, within the Bible, God's acts within history. 00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:45.539 And in the context of the New Testament, we are also resting on the apostles, 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:55.519 as eyewitnesses who saw the person and work of Jesus, and they interpret for us the mission of Jesus. 00:26:55.639 --> 00:27:01.240 What's the significance of Jesus dying and then rising? We understand it from the apostles. 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:10.980 And so we are to remain in the message of the New Testament about Jesus. And when we remain, 00:27:11.140 --> 00:27:17.480 John gives us this wonderful encouragement, we will remain in the Son and in the Father. We enjoy 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:24.740 this fellowship with God, and we remain in what He promised us, which is nothing less than eternal life. 00:27:24.740 --> 00:27:33.900 That's both a quality of life where we know God right now, and a quantity of life forever in heaven 00:27:33.900 --> 00:27:40.539 and the new creation. If we remain in the truth, we remain in Jesus. We remain in fellowship with God. 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:48.620 So the Word of God must remain. And the Spirit remains, verse 26 and 27, in those who truly believe. 00:27:48.619 --> 00:27:53.759 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, 00:27:53.919 --> 00:28:00.399 contrast again, the anointing you receive from Him remains in you. You do not need anyone to teach 00:28:00.399 --> 00:28:06.459 you, but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit, 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:15.979 just as it has taught you, remain in Him. For those who are anointed with the Holy Spirit, 00:28:15.980 --> 00:28:20.839 John writes and says, the Holy Spirit speaks through His Word. He speaks through the message 00:28:20.839 --> 00:28:26.460 of the apostles. You have no need to be taught by these false teachers claiming higher truth and 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:35.559 special knowledge. For us, all we need is found in God's Word, and so we are free, and we must reject 00:28:35.559 --> 00:28:41.740 the false claims of people who bring a different message about Jesus, who claim a different gospel. 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:50.779 And what is it that the Holy Spirit who remains in us wants to teach us? Look at the end of this 00:28:50.779 --> 00:29:00.140 section. Just as that message has taught you, remain in Him. That's the key. The Spirit acts to bind us to 00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:07.620 Christ, that we remain in Him. It's the Spirit that enables us to see and to hold on to Jesus Christ, 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:15.119 our hope in life and in death, to place all our hope for salvation now and for eternity in Jesus, 00:29:15.239 --> 00:29:24.359 the one who is fully God, fully human, and fully able to save us. We stand firm on Christ, the solid rock, 00:29:25.699 --> 00:29:33.539 because John says, when the Spirit remains in us, we remain in Christ. And so, in the battle for 00:29:33.539 --> 00:29:42.019 truth, sometimes a fierce battle, we look to Christ, we trust in Christ for victory. 00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:52.079 Jesus, the one who came as the Word of life, Jesus, the one who was anointed and filled by the Spirit, 00:29:52.460 --> 00:29:58.240 is the one who saves, who defends, who causes His church to persevere from beginning to end. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:05.200 And that same Jesus is the one who gives us His Word, the truth of the Bible, the promises of the 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:10.400 Gospel, and He gives us His Spirit, the strength, the comfort, the presence we need. And so, we need 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:19.140 both realities. We need this personal experience of Jesus in His Word and through His Spirit. 00:30:19.140 --> 00:30:26.980 And when we have Christ as our Savior, as our protector, as our King, 00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:34.520 we have the guarantee that we will overcome in the battle for truth. 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:43.620 To encourage us as we close, I like to read the Heidelberg Catechism every now and again. This 00:30:43.619 --> 00:30:55.919 morning, I was reading Catechism number 54, which is just so apt for this text. So, as we leave this text, 00:30:56.339 --> 00:31:06.179 we do so confessing what it proclaims to us. So, let me read the question, and then we can all 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:17.080 read the answer together. What do you believe concerning the Holy Catholic Church? Answer, 00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:25.700 I believe that the Son of God, through His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, 00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:33.160 from the beginning of the world to the end, gathers, protects, and preserves for Himself 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:43.060 a fellowship chosen for eternal life and united in true faith. And I believe that of this church, 00:31:43.300 --> 00:31:52.460 I am and always will remain a living member. Great summary of what John has been teaching.