1John 2:18-19
Big Idea: Beloved it is the last hour, an age marked by opposition toward God and deception concerning His Beloved Son. How are we to discern the true from the fake? By knowing the Word of God.
The _____________________ Hour
1 John 2:18 (ESV) — 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
2 Timothy 3:1–8 (ESV) — 1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
2Thes. 2:1-12
This age is full of many antichrists therefore, we should not feel safe.
1 Peter 5:8 (ESV) — 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
The spirit of antichrist is any who down plays the significance of who Jesus is, or what He came to do.
We are inundated with propositions and positions on who Jesus Christ is and what the essence of his mission is, and therefore we must be all the more diligent in our understanding of Jesus’ essential person and work so that we might be able to discern the truth from the lie.
The ________________________ Witness
1 John 2:19 (ESV) — 19 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Galatians 1:6–9 (ESV) — 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
The church is built upon the Word of God, that is the message of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus himself being the Cornerstone, and if we want to be faithful ministers of the gospel, if we do not want to stray from the good news of Christ and therefore be against Christ ourselves, then we must be faithful to what is proclaimed in God’s Holy Word. God has given us a lasting witness to the truth of Christ in the Scriptures. (Eph. 2:20)
Questions to Consider
Should we feel safe in “this world”? Why or why not?
What is the biggest threat to our safety?
How might you grow in your understanding of the true message of Jesus Christ?
John says, “…they went out from us…” In what ways and in what places has God given us safety? How does the church serve as a means to reassuring our hearts with the gospel of Christ? What are some tangible ways that we as a church can grow in our discernment of false teaching?
