Midweek Bible Study | 1 John 2:1-23 | Gary Hamrick

we're back into our study of first John if you need a Bible tonight the ushers are walking up and down the aisles they have Bibles in hand just wave in their direction they'll give you one if you take a Church Bible from an usher its page 11 95 the little tiny book of first John all the way in the back of your Bibles it's easier if you just go to the very last book revelation hang a left and then you'll you'll quickly come to first John and so two weeks ago we finished out chapter 1 we're gonna be looking at chapter 2 tonight and just by way of a really quick review John the Apostle is the one that the Lord uses that the Holy Spirit inspires to pen this letter and he tells us he helps those like me who just need something plainly said all right I can't read between the lines just tell me plainly anybody else like that okay good so John knowing people like me and you who raised your hands he tells us specifically for purposes for his writing of this letter he tells us in chapter 1 verse 4 to make our joy full or complete he tells us in chapter 2 1 to warn us about habitual sin another purpose is in chapter 2 26 to refute false teachers and then finally in chapter 5 verse 13 he says he writes this letter to assure us of our salvation now that's an important point because it's easy to read this letter and think to yourself if you're a Christian I'm not sure I'm even saved because some of the things he says here are so challenging that he holds this bar up really high that it's easy to look at these things that he says here and we'll see in a moment when we get into chapter 2 that you can even question man if if this is what a Christian looks like I'm not sure I am one well he wants to assure us listen I write this to actually assure you of your salvation so it's important for us to read it in light of that but there was a problem we mentioned a couple weeks ago that plagued the early church and it was called nasty it was a heresy that started basically in the first century it continued primarily into the second and third centuries and it was basically a false doctrine a heresy that taught that all physical matter is evil thus the Gnostics did not believe that Jesus appeared in physical form they thought it was just a phantom body but he was actually only spirit and and then they also taught that since it's only the spirit that matters and the spirit can't sin all issues related to you know the flesh and and since as Christians it's all about they would say it's it's only about the spirit not about the flesh therefore you could pretty much do whatever you want in your flesh because it doesn't matter and so with that backdrop John comes along the s2 refuge different things related to Gnosticism and we got through two of them last week one was they taught that we can have fellowship that you know as Christians believing Gnosticism in the first century that we can have fellowship with God regardless of our actions again it goes back to that idea that it's only the spirit that matters the flesh doesn't really matter so go ahead and do whatever you want with your body and and you can still have fellowship with God regardless and John comes along and he goes no not not exactly and and then also he talks in Chapter 1 where we left off at verses 8 through 10 that that they were teaching we're not even sinners we're not even capable of sinning because you know it's all about the spirit now we've got saved and and he and he wraps it up at the end of chapter 1 and verse 9 he goes no listen we all sin but here's the good news if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so he says don't deceive yourselves into thinking that you are sinless at this point you know one day when we get to be with the Lord and we no longer have this body of flesh we will be sinless but for the moment we still have to wrestle with our body of flesh and the desires of our fleshly nature which are constantly in conflict with our spirit our spirit wants to please God our flesh wants to please ourselves and and there's that constant battle but in his day he was having to refute this idea that you know it's all about the spirit doesn't really matter what I do with my body so I can't really sin anyhow and he goes no yes you can and yes we do we struggle to sin but the good news is we can continually be right with God if we have a short account with him that is to say if we are regularly confessing our sins he is just and he will forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness David would say in some 51:5 surely I was sinful at birth from the time that I was conceived in my mother's womb so we are all sinners and thus we will still sin but as he moves into chapter 2 here what he's going to tell us is that the Christian life is not about being sinless but it is about sinning less okay everybody understand that the Christian life is not about being sinless but the goal and the desire of every Christians heart should be to sin less so that's where we're gonna be here in chapter 2 but let's first pause and pray and then we'll dive into this chapter together tonight let's pray father we thank you that you have given us your word that we might be encouraged and challenged both so as we read through this chapter we pray that you would do those things in our own hearts where we need encouragement and courage is Lord where we need to be challenged challenge us that we might be stretched and molded to be more like Jesus we thank you that you are patient with us you're so patient with us Lord we thank you that you are so full of grace and mercy we are needy people we are thirsty and hungry for more of you I thank you for all those who are here tonight those who are watching online we just commit our Bible study to you Lord be glorified and use this time in your word to strengthen our hearts we praise you together in Jesus name and everybody said amen in chapter 2 verse 1 John starts out this chapter by addressing his readers as my little children by the way that is a phrase that he will use 9 times in this little epistle and he writes in an affectionate way like that because he is the oldest surviving of the original apostles it is believed that John was the youngest of the Twelve Apostles whom the Lord selected and that he was in his late teens or early 20s when he was first following the Lord now this is 85 to 90 AD when he's writing this so it is believed that John is somewhere around the age of 80 and so you know when you get to be about 80 everybody in relation to you is a little child you know what I'm saying to you and so kind of at in this paternal loving way as an older man now he refers to his readers 9 times here as my little children mood Technion in the Greek and he says these things I write to you so that you may not sin okay now again this is what we're referring to a moment ago it's not that we will be sinless he's saying I want you to deal with sin in your life as Christians to be vigilant and intentional about sin so he says I write these things to you so that you may not sin in other words habitual sin again we're all you know we're all flash we will fail from time to time that's not a license for liberty in in sinfulness that is just simply a statement of reality that until we shed this body of flesh there will be times that we will stumble and fall but the goal should be that we always want to please our Father and so that the older we get in Christ the more we should be sinning less so he says I write these things to you that you may not sin and if anyone sins okay so he's not denying the fact he says if anyone sins here's good news we have an advocate Circle that word advocate we have an advocate with the father and who is our advocate well he tells us Jesus Christ the righteous now we're advocate there is literally a term that that means defense lawyer an advocate is one who defends you in a court of law and actually this was an ancient term demosthenes the ancient Greek orator and statesman in the 4th century BC in his ancient literature demosthenes would write how this is a common term that was used among the Greeks advocates to describe those who would voluntarily step forward in a court of law to defend someone who was accused and appealed to a judge to rule in the favor of the accused so this is an ancient term and John's just using this in his own culture but you know even in our day we understand what an advocate is and John is saying to us that our true advocate is Jesus Christ he's the one that comes to our defense that stands before a righteous God who is a righteous judge and he appeals to the judge on our behalf that the judge might have mercy on us as the accused I read in this one commentary I thought this was kind of well set so I'm just gonna read it to you this kind of describes the idea of an advocate it is as if we stand as the accused in the heavenly Court before our righteous judge God the Father our advocate Jesus stands up to answer the charges quote he or she is completely guilty your honor in fact he has done worse than what he is accused of and now makes full and complete confession before you the gavel slams and the judge asks what should his sentence be our our advocate answers his sentence shall be death he deserves the full wrath of this righteous Court all along our accuser Satan is having great fun at all this we are guilty we admit our guilt we see our punishment but then our advocate asks to approach the bench as he draws close to the judge he simply says dad this one belongs to me I paid this price I took the wrath and punishment from this court that he deserves that gavel sounds again and the judge cries out guilty as charged penalty satisfied that's good because that describes what Christ has done for us you see in earthly terms an advocate a defense attorney tries to defend his or her client by making the case that he or she is innocent but in the heavenly Court Jesus already acknowledges our guilt because we are guilty before the righteous judge he doesn't try to defend our innocence he acknowledges our guilt but then he appeals to the court he enters his plea on our behalf that's our advocate that's Jesus who stands in our defense Jesus the righteous verse 2 and he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the whole world now in your Bibles there you can circle the word propitiation it's another fancy three dollar word if you have an NIV version just simply says atonement in ancient times religious pagan traditions even some religious traditions today had as the idea propitiation was the offering of some kind of a gift or sacrifice to appease an angry God small G is just in the context of ancient pagan religious tradition that's what perpetuation was it was the idea the concept that one must offer some kind of a sacrifice or a gift to appease an angry God in the New Testament though propitiation is the idea we can't do anything to satisfy the wrath of God now it's not that by the way God goes around as an angry god but it is simply a statement that where there is sin sin must be punished and thus our sin will naturally incur the wrath of God because if God were truly righteous and just at holy and he looked the other way when we sinned he wouldn't be righteous just in holy as a righteous Justin holy God has to mete out the punishment consistent with the crime if God did not then he would not truly be just and righteous so his wrath must be satisfied because our sin deserves it so propitiating is the idea that we can't do anything to offer enough gifts to appease the wrath of God so what God did on our behalf was to send His Son Jesus is what John is writing here Jesus is the propitiation for our sins Jesus is the one who offers his life he becomes the sacrifice he becomes what we cannot offer who has offered himself and on our behalf so that he can satisfy the wrath of God and reconcile us to God at the same time that's the idea behind propitiation it is a satisfaction of the wrath of God and it is a reconciliation of two parties that's what the word means satisfaction of the wrath of God and a reconciliation of two parties we needed to be reconciled to God the relationship with God was broken in the Garden of Eden the relationship with God was reconciled at the cross and by faith we put our trust in Jesus who is our propitiating he's our atoning sacrifice he pays the price he satisfies that appeases the wrath of God reconciles us to God at the same time and John adds there and not for us only but also for the whole world that is to say that Jesus did not die exclusively for only believers he died for anyone who would call upon the name of the Lord and be saved that the invitation is open to all Jesus died for the whole world God so loved the world God didn't just so love a select few God so loved the world now how many among the world will respond to his love well that's up to an individual and that's up to God but this is an invitation to all who might believe Jesus died for the sins of the whole world not just for a small select group of people he is our propitiation he is our atoning sacrifice verse 3 now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commands he who says verse 4 now notice here's going to be another claim that John is going to refute here and it often begins with that phrase he who says he who says I were if let back up in verse 8 if we say verse 10 if we say and now down here in chapter 2 verse 4 he who says I know him and does not keep his Commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him but whoever keeps his word God's Word scripture truly the love of God is perfected in him by this we know that we are in him so it's number three on our list here he refutes this claim that we can know God without having to do what he says and John's like know if you really know God you're gonna obey God if you really love God you're gonna do what he says Jesus said the very same thing in John 14 verse 15 he said if you love me keep my Commandments if you love me keep my Commandments the love of God is inextricably linked to obeying God we cannot say we love God and then disobey Him that is that's hypocrisy it's inconsistent again one of the things that John is trying to in Fort reinforce here among Christians is belief must match behavior and if it doesn't then there's an inconsistency there there's hypocrisy of some kind if you say that you believe God if you say that you love Jesus if you say that you're follower of Christ then you're going to do what he says again from time to time we we'll stumble but then confess your sins and he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sins cleanse you from all unrighteousness that you might be in right relationship with them it's not denying the sinful propensity of the human heart but it is to say that if we really love God we're gonna do all we can to always obey Him John will write further if you just jump over to chapter 5 first John chapter 5 he writes something similarly in verse 3 chapter 5 verse 3 he says for this is the love of God that we keep his Commandments and then I love what he adds and His commandments are not burdensome because you know basically people who don't understand a relationship with the Lord you know skeptics or non-believers who look at your life as a Christian what one of their assumptions it's a wrong assumption but one of their assumptions is you know if you have to start obeying everything the Bible says what a killjoy you're never gonna have fun again in a day in your life you have to pay all these Commandments and my goodness you know you're never gonna we're never going to see you again where you're gonna be stuck inside your house and and just never able to go anywhere because you got to always obey God and and and God's a killjoy that's the way a lot of people think but I love the way that John adds there hey this is the love of God to obey His commandments is the love of God and by the way His commandments are not burdensome because when you come into a relationship with the Lord and you realize that by obeying him it goes better for you the world has no idea the fun that we have because the new kind of fun that we have in Christ far outweighs the temporal kind of stuff we used to enjoy when we lived in the world and if you don't understand that it's because you're not really walking with Jesus because when you walk with Jesus there is a freedom there is a delight there is a joy unspeakable so His commandments are not burdensome they are a joy too many people have wrecked their lives because they have been walking in disobedience to God the people who are most fulfilled the people who have less guilt less shame are able to look at themselves in the mirror and actually like themselves I don't mean love themselves just actually you know like themselves or people who understand what Christ has done in their hearts and and and when they're right with God when someone is right with God there's no better place of joy than being right with God and there's no worse place of agony than to not be right with God and you know what I'm talking about if you've ever been there I'm sure yeah we all have when we're not right with God it is miserable the Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard it's miserable Oh temporarily on the outside we might be having a lot of fun but at the end of the day you lay your head on your pillow at night and you realize when you're not right with God it's miserable so you can put on the plastic face all you want and pretend with your friends that you're living that you know you're living the life but if you're not right with God at the end of the day if you have any amount of self-awareness you'll realize you're not happy because the greatest joy and contentment come in knowing the Lord and walking in his commandment so John is refuting this the idea that we can know God without having to do what he says no he adds in verse six here's here's another thing he's gonna refute he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked and so number four on the list is we don't have to live like Jesus you know that that was one of the things they were basically saying to we don't have to live like Jesus you know just because he you know lived a certain way that doesn't necessarily apply to us and he's refuting this he says no no we need to live like Jesus that's the idea here of walking he who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked the idea of walking there is to live to behave to conduct ourselves verse 7 he says brethren I write no new commandment to you he's going to shift here now to the idea of love brethren I write no new commandment to you but an old commandment which you have from the beginning the old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning again a new commandment I write to you which which thing is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining and here in verse nine he who says okay now he's going to refute another one he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now he who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes okay so in this next section here he's talking about old commandment versus new commandment and he's talking here about loving your brother loving your sister and so the old commandment is referring to as Leviticus 19:18 and he says you've had this from the beginning now Leviticus 19:18 says love your neighbor as yourself until Christ comes along the highest form of love was basically self-love alright love your neighbor as yourself so if you you know most people love themselves and too much so you ought to be loving your neighbor just like you love yourself okay that was the highest standard Leviticus 19:18 now Jesus comes along in John 13:34 and he says the new commandment I give you all right now he's going to take Leviticus 19:18 and he's going to shed new light on a higher form of love because now that Christ has entered the scene we have a higher standard of love and so John is basically referring to this when he's quoting this because there's an old commandment Leviticus 19:18 and there's a new commandment I give you and he's basically quoting Jesus and Jesus in John 13:34 says a new commandment I give you love one another as I have loved you love one another as I have loved you okay not love one another as you love yourself love one another as I have loved you and then he adds if you love one another in doing this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another so he says now the highest form of love is not self-love the highest form of love is my love and I want you to love one another as I have loved you as I have loved you so you must love one another and by the way by this will everybody who watches you know that you're one of my disciples if you love one another now by the way as I mentioned two weeks ago John uses the word love more than any other book in the entire Bible and he's only what do we have here five chapters and so you know and the Book of Psalms in terms of the number of times the word love is used has it more times but there's 150 chapters in the Book of Psalms so even proportionally John surpasses the Book of Psalms so every other book of the Bible John surpasses in terms of the mention of the word love it every time the word love is used forty five times in the book of John and first John alone forty five times it is that word agape the highest supreme kind of love and Jesus says I want you to love one another as I have loved you John 13:34 and by this with everybody know that you're my disciples if you demonstrate genuine love one to another people will know that you belong to Jesus and so John is refuting here number five on our list we don't have to love our brothers or sisters he says no yes you do he says he says if he who said he who was in that verse nine he who says he's in the light if you've come into the light you know Jesus you've stepped in the light you've come out of the darkness but you hate your brother he says you're still in darkness he said he who loves his brother abides in the light and there's no cause for stumbling in him but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes he says you're blind if you think that you can say you love Jesus and have animosity towards other people that is inconsistent in the Christian life we have to love one another and we don't always get along necessarily maybe people rub you the wrong way just personality differences you know maybe there's some challenges you don't really get along with somebody okay but you don't surely have to you know have lunch with them and send him a Christmas card but you still need to love them love them as Christ has loved you so we must love one another by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another so love people prejudice is a terrible thing it's a sin love people who are different love people who are strangers love people because God so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus to die for all and so we must also love one another well he goes on here in verses 12 to 14 to address basically it is believed he's not talking literally about stages in life but he's talking more figuratively about stages in the Christian life like maturity so he starts out in verse 12 I write to you little children so he's first addressing like the baby Christians he says I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake you know sometimes just brand-new Christians just need to know you're forgiven sometimes it's just hard for new Christians to wrap their minds around that you mean you mean I can pray a prayer and invite Christ in my heart and have my sins forgiven yeah what else do I need to do that's it you need to believe by faith well then well how do I know you it you just have to accept it yeah but you don't know all the stuff I've done I don't need to know all the stuff you've done frankly I don't want to know all the stuff you've done I'm so glad I'm not a priest I really am I'm telling you what I don't want to know what you've done we have a high priest take it to Jesus Jesus died for it all vital across for all our sins but sometimes new believers have a hard time understanding my sins have been forgiven yes he just reinforces us your sins are forgiven for his namesake I write to you fathers now he's talking about spiritual moms and dads those who are more mature in the faith because you have known him who is from the beginning they had this exponential role they ship this knowledge I write to you young man so now these are the ones in between the baby Christians and the more seasoned Christians I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one and then he repeats I write to you little children it goes back to little children the the baby Christians because you have known the father I have written to you fathers because you have known him who was from the beginning he repeats the same thing to those who are mature he says and I have written to you young men because you were strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one verse 15 he says do not love the world were the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him this is this is strong stuff here for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world and the world is passing away and the lust of it but he who does the will of God abides forever it's a very strong challenge that he brings up here in the middle of his letter and he speaks about the reality of the pull of the world in our lives there are three things that are constantly working in concert against you your flesh the devil and the world those three things are constantly working against you we have to be on our guard against our own flesh we have to be on our guard against the devil and we have to be on our guard against the ways of this world there is a culture that wants to absorb you there is a culture that wants you to think like it to act like it to talk like it to behave like it the world is constantly trying whether it is intentional or unintentional to rob you of God's best is everybody hearing me we must be we're of this there's a balance you know I Terry and I love to go up to Amish country but the Amish that that's kind of an extreme you know like we're gonna pull ourselves away and we're gonna completely isolate ourselves and there's a there's a culture that I respect it I just think it has gone to an extreme of not wanting to you know rub shoulders too much with the English if you will but they're but they're wonderful people I'm not disparaging them in any way and so when we talk like this we there's a balance to everything right you know the monastic movement was a was a wonderful thing in the sense that it kind of saved Western culture but the monastic movement what had the mindset that we got to pull ourselves within the full of the four walls of a monastery and we cannot rub shoulders with the world because they're gonna pull us down there's truth to that but the answer is not we got to retreat you know we got to like crawl up in an art into our treehouse and then pull up the ladder you know and make sure nobody gets near us we have to be salt and light we have to function in the world we have to relate to people you know we have to be able to influence people for Christ but we had better be guarded about the way the world is trying to suck us into its system and I see too many Christians who become fond of the world who start to like the world get enamored with the world and before you know it they're talking just like the world they're living just like the world and you wouldn't know that they're a Christian at all and he warns us here do not love the world or the things in the world we have to live in the world but we must not love the world does everybody get the difference because he adds here if you love the world the love of the father is not in you you cannot do both you cannot love the world and love God at the same time it's one or the other you will either love the world go the way of the world I pray not or you will love God and you will go the way of God but but you you can't have it both ways well I you know I love the world I want to do the things of the world but I love God and I want to serve God it just it's incompatible and he warns us here and what he tells us what he exposes us in regards to the world and the world system and the world constantly trying to rob us of God's best and suck us into its mold and he basically tells us that there are three primary gates for sin to enter our hearts the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life that's what he says here so the these are gonna be the three pulls of the world system the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life all sin basically falls into one of those three categories and so this is where he's going as he defines the potential for the world to pull us into its mold and to rob us of God's best we have to be aware of the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life now this has been the three entry points since the beginning of time it is exactly what Satan used in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the one tree from which God said don't eat of that tree for the day you eat of it you shall surely die literally the dying process will begin because when Satan comes to Eve and Templer and deceives her and she buys the lie what we see happening is that these three things appealed to her the lust of the eyes lust of the flesh the pride of life I'm going to put up on the screens for you Genesis 3:6 and then I just put in yellow in parentheses each of those three entry points this is what Genesis 3:6 says so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that's lust for of the flesh it's something to satisfy physical appetite not that physical appetite by itself is wrong God gave us a physical appetite but I'll clarify it in a moment and that it was pleasant to the eyes it looked pretty the lust of the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise oh the pride of life I could be wise I could be really smart I could be like God if I eat this she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave to her husband with her and he ate by the way that's a statement that Adam was very passive because if you want to know where was Adam why did he step in and intervene and say Eve don't know you're gonna wreck the human race no that would've been wonderful if Adam we wouldn't even be here today having a Bible study about sin if Adam had stepped up and said even uh well what we come to find out she gave to her husband who was standing right there he's just passive as the whole thing goes down oh well that's an interesting point Eve while Satan what do you have to say about that okay honey well yeah well sure I'll eat if it - anyway these three entry points lust of the flesh lust of the eyes pride of life now again there's nothing wrong with physical appetite God's given us physical appetite he's given us appetites for different things okay within its proper expression not necessarily sin God gave us eyes to see to appreciate beauty and God has given us a desire to be successful you know so these things by themselves are not wrong but what John is reminding us is that God never reveals himself through these three particular areas it is not in God's nature to influence us through the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes or the pride of life when we misuse or express the things that God has given us in a wrong way then we're guilty of the lust of the eyes left of the flesh pride of life and the world will use one of those three as an entry point into your life something about the world will either appeal to your flash oh this is pretty satisfying oh I'm gonna do this because this is this satisfies you know this appeals to search appetites that I have there might be physical it might be sexual it might be mental or the lust of the eyes this looks beautiful you know lust itself typically begins with the eyes it's what you see it captures your attention it captivates your heart what was it that was the first entry point for David the whole affair with Bathsheba he goes up on the roof of his palace and he sees Bathsheba bathing and it was the lust of his eyes and it was the entry point and then it became something that he acted upon and then the pride of life you know when when we when we get full of ourselves and and we're very self-serving and it's all about me and it's all about my promotion my ambition my success and to the disregard of God and other people then the pride of life creeps in and those three areas are very destructive to us and he adds here in verse 17 and the world is passing away and the lust of it but he who does the will of God abides forever sin other words why would you want to put your confidence why would you want to surrender your life to something that in the long run is just going to pass away what he says here basically in these few verses is that the world is tempting and temporal so we got to be aware of it the world is tempting wants to always pull us into its system away from God through the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life and its temporal it's passing away the world is passing away and the lust of it but he who does the will of God abides forever verse let's see we can get through the next section verse 18 little children it is the last hour and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming even now many antichrists have come by which we know that it is the last hour they went out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have continued with us but they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were obvious in other words to prove they were they didn't really belong to us but you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things I have not written to you because you do not know the truth but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth who was a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ he is Antichrist who denies the father and the son whoever denies the son does not have the father either he who acknowledges the son has the father also came so we only have like three minutes I'm gonna save my main points for next week there are five main points I'm going to share with you about the Antichrist but I want you to notice this section here he speaks about Antichrist and in verse 18 he says the Antichrist capital a the direct article Antichrist capital a is coming even now many antichrists small a plural have come by which we know that it is the last hour so he he reminds us hey and as we get closer to the return of Christ Antichrist is going to come and and Antichrist is a real person capital a in fact I'll put up just this one slide the Antichrist is a future charismatic political world leader who will be empowered by Satan to rule the world for a time until the Lord returns and overthrows him and casts him into the lake of fire so John see you know he has a vision of this the Lord shows him prophetically there's going to come a day when the Antichrist a real person possessed by Satan comes onto the world scene will be a world dictator and by the way as much as we talk about the Antichrist John is the only one who uses that word three times in the book of first John and once in the book of second John is the word Antichrist in the Bible otherwise the Antichrist is referred to by other terms like the son of perdition or the man of lawlessness Daniel refers to him as the prince but the only time that this individual is referred to as the Antichrist is right here yeah in in first John and once in second John so there is a little Antichrist capital AV integration but he says but listen there are a lot of people have been opposed to Christ over the years and still are they are Anti Christ small a they're just not the capital a Antichrist who is coming under the world scene there's always going to be people who are antagonistic towards towards Christ and towards Christianity that's the spirit of Antichrist small a so you have to be aware of that but there is coming onto the world scene capital a Antichrist and we'll talk about it more next week and and rather than go out tonight on the Antichrist we'll pick it up there tomorrow next week and start with the Antichrist but um he has some to say about him and we're gonna compare what he says with what Paul says in fact 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 so if you want to read ahead you can also read 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 we'll talk a little bit about the Antichrist next Wednesday night Lord willing but let's pray for tonight father thank you for this time in your word and we we do pray that you would help us to fight the battle against the world that is constantly trying to seduce us the world is intoxicating and it is easy to get swept up into all the things that the world does help us Lord to resist the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life that we would not be taken captive by the things of this world you tell us Lord in your word to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness you tell us in your word in Romans 12:2 to be not conformed any longer to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might be able to test and approve what your will is your good pleasing and perfect will transform our minds Lord through the power of Jesus Christ that we would no longer think the way the world thinks have a desire to do the things that the world desires to do that we would not live like the world lives or behave like the world behaves challenge us right now or maybe there's somebody here tonight right now that you're speaking to and you're pointing out right now certain things they're doing that is just simply the way of the world and you know Lord that they're gonna be robbed of your best if they continue down that path so lord thank you for just the gentle work of your spirit right now to challenge us where we need it if that's you tonight we're just gonna pause in my prayer just just confess that to the Lord just say Lord I I know that this this area this is just worldly and I'm sorry and I want to be free of it just tell him that say I see it a sin I know Lord it's just pleasing to you I don't want to go the way of the world so Lord free me from this thing and forgive me for indulging in it and together Lord we just pray for the strength of your Holy Spirit to live lives where we sin less and honor you more in Jesus name we pray and everybody said amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

Views: 15,592

Rating: 4.8125 out of 5

Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel Leesburg Va, Bible, Sermons, Teaching, Faith, Christian, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit, Gary, Hamrick, Calvary, Chapel, Biblical sermons, knowing God, salvation, evangelism, Leesburg, Pastor Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Connection, radio, hamrick gary

Id: Aa7lWF2vYGo

Length: 46min 24sec (2784 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 05 2019