Enduring In Truth.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] way of starting I just want to make one announcement before we get rolling. [0:04] That announcement is that for the months of June and July we’re going to be going back [0:10] to one service. [0:12] So what that means is that for all of June and all of July show up at 10. [0:17] Show up at 9 I’ll pray with you but you’ll have to stick around until 10. [0:22] Show up at 11 you may miss it.

[0:24] The reason that we’re doing this is during those two months of the year attendance does [0:30] I’ll just be honest with you attendance drops a little and that’s because like all good [0:35] Americans you tend to go on vacation during the summer because the weather is better [0:38] around here. [0:40] So during those months usually around right now we run around 2.30 ish on a given Sunday [0:46] morning but when attendance drops towards 200 it begins to be really sparse in at least

[0:52] one of the services and when we do that we can fit everybody in here for one service. [0:57] So for June and July what we’re going to do is we’re going to scale it back we’re going [1:00] to go to one service and then August 4th we’re going to go back to two services at 9 and [1:05] 11. [1:06] The reason August 4th is going to be really important for you to remember is we’re starting [1:10] a new series called Cow Tipping on August the 4th.

[1:13] Now it’s a great name we actually have done a series with the same title and it’s going [1:20] to be the same type of series but the content is going to be completely dictated by you. [1:25] What I mean by that is next week when I come up I’m going to give you a website or a phone [1:30] number or something I’m not a techie so I have no idea how this works but you’re going [1:35] to be able to go to a website and anonymously send in questions that you have about the [1:41] Bible about God about church about really anything except for like our personal lives

[1:47] and the economy and stuff like that we tend to stick towards the Bible. [1:51] So that’s kind of the questions we’re going to pay attention to about lifestyle issues [1:54] about any question that you have that you’re concerned about that you really would like [1:59] to be answered maybe I’ve never addressed it before or maybe I did and you just weren’t [2:03] around here back then. [2:05] But so what we’re going to do is we’re going to look through all of those questions and

[2:08] we’re going to see which ones pop up the most and which ones I really like. [2:12] Just so you know one person asked one I really like then I’m going with that one. [2:15] All right. [2:16] It’s kind of the way it goes since I’m steering but on August the 4th we’re going to start [2:22] that series we’re going to send a mailer out we’re going to go back to two services now [2:25] when we first did this series we covered a whole array of topics and if I need to cover

[2:30] some of some very similar to those that’s fine but I’m hoping that you guys will really [2:35] be honest and that’s why we’re making it anonymous to way that way if you’re like embarrassed [2:39] to ask it it’s okay you can ask it and I’ll have no idea who you are and then we’ll do [2:44] our best to deal with that and then in light of that series I’m going to be able to hopefully [2:49] you can email me questions afterwards and I can maybe do some Q&A somehow I don’t know [2:54] exactly how I’m going to work that out but I want to do that so August the 4th we’re

[2:57] going back to two services June and July we’re going to be in one service as we finish out [3:02] first John and we cover a few other things now in way of starting this morning I want [3:08] something about Village Church Village Church sees the Bible as our ultimate authority okay [3:18] so in that light I want you to know something about my life I love the Bible all right [3:24] I was raised in the church and it caused a lot of problems that I really really like [3:29] the Bible because I was in a tradition where opinions really trump Bible sometimes and

[3:35] so when I was a teenager I became kind of the thorn in some people’s side because I [3:38] would kind of be like that little jerk in the back of the room that was like but the [3:42] Bible says and the teachers didn’t really like that very much but the reality is is [3:47] what I have come to understand through all the studying I’ve done and through just my [3:51] life is that the Bible can be trusted a lot more than I can okay and so when I have questions [3:59] really about anything in my life any decision that I’m making any idea that I have any

[4:06] question that I have the priority of authority as to where I get my answers to life’s questions [4:12] is the Bible and that’s great but it can also be really complicated because the Bible is [4:18] all true but it’s not all clear and there are some places in the Bible where the Bible [4:24] pushes me to gain wisdom so that I can myself make good decisions what I mean by that is [4:32] the Bible is going to lead me towards a life lived for the same mission that Jesus lived [4:37] and that is to seek and to save that which was lost that is to take the good news of

[4:41] what he did on the cross to all people for all time and so when I’m gauging my decisions [4:47] I have to realize his mission trumps my preferences and so sometimes it’s going to be really [4:53] tough for me to make those decisions in my life and to really trust that the Bible is [4:57] authoritative and in obeying its authority I’m going to go a better direction I’m going [5:01] to find more joy I’m going to find a better life than if I just kind of did my own thing [5:07] and so the reason that we go through entire books of the Bible at a time here at Village

[5:12] Church a lot of the time is because as a church I want to study the Bible with you I don’t [5:19] want you to come in and get my thoughts get my opinions you’re going to find out today [5:22] through the scripture why what I’m saying right there is important what I want you [5:26] to do is I want you to come in here and be able to go out there and read the Bible for [5:29] yourself and know what you’re reading and so when you come in to our church services [5:33] what we do a lot of times is we just study the Bible together that’s why we went through

[5:37] Genesis that’s why we’ve been through multiple books of the Bible that’s why we’re going [5:40] through 1st John right now is that we believe as the elders of this church that when we [5:48] build our life on truth we’re building our life on the person and work of Jesus Christ [5:55] and that Jesus wrote this Bible and that this Bible serves as a kindling to build a fire [6:02] of passion for God and it’s a hard task sometimes because we don’t always get what we’re looking [6:11] for when we go in there we don’t always walk away feeling like oh man I just really got

[6:16] strength for today when I read the chronology of that family but the reality is that when [6:23] we go to God’s word what we build is an overarching look as to God’s work throughout history [6:29] and the ins and outs of how he did it to redeem us through Jesus I trust the Bible and my [6:37] life is dependent on it because the Bible always leads to Jesus what I want you to [6:43] understand this morning is that whenever anyone comes to you with something from the [6:48] Bible and claims that it’s going to lead you anywhere but Jesus and takes you to an

[6:52] ultimate hope other than Jesus they’re not teaching you the truth of God’s word you [7:00] can build a life with wisdom that has nothing to do with Jesus but when you appeal to the [7:08] Bible to get that type of wisdom what you’re doing is you’re taking people into falsehood [7:13] you’re taking people into life of lies the Bible is the story of Jesus and it is never [7:19] less than that okay so join me this morning in 1 John chapter 2 we’re going to start [7:26] reading in verse 18 this morning and really today what we’re going to deal with is a couple

[7:31] of different ones this section of scripture from verse 18 through the end of chapter 2 [7:36] verse 29 is jam full of truth we’re going to deal with antichrists today we’re going [7:44] to deal with false teachers today we’re going to deal with the truth in Jesus and your [7:48] power in Jesus and we’re going to deal with what it means to endure to the end of your [7:53] life of faith in Jesus and what it means when someone doesn’t endure to the end of their [7:57] life of faith in Jesus so there’s a lot in there so let’s get started 1 John chapter

[8:02] 2 verse 18 children it is the last hour and as you have heard that antichrist is coming [8:10] so now many antichrists have come therefore we know that it is the last hour they went [8:18] out from us but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would have continued [8:25] with us but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us first thing [8:34] that we need to understand from this passage is do not be deceived by teaching that leads [8:40] away from Jesus if you notice in that text he begins by saying that this is the last

[8:46] hour and so what he’s saying there is that from the moment that Jesus died on the cross [8:53] from the moment that he rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit came to all who trusted [8:57] in and who are following Jesus we have then from then on out begun the last stage of the [9:03] history of this world going towards God’s kingdom the reality is that God has not told [9:09] us exactly when it is the scripture uses all types of analogies that you know a day is [9:15] a thousand years and a thousand years is a day to God in other words God doesn’t exist

[9:19] inside of the same realm of time but rather he’s authoritative over time so time is really [9:24] not something that binds God so when we’re looking through history we see God’s plan [9:29] and we know that all of history before Jesus was leading to Jesus and all of history after [9:35] Jesus is leading towards the installment of his ultimate kingdom that last week we saw [9:40] that we are citizens of and that is why we are not to live our lives just seeking value [9:46] in this world but rather we are to seek value in God because this world will pass away

[9:53] and so in that light John is saying we must live with an urgency understanding that God’s [10:00] will is coming to a culmination and it’s heading towards his kingdom where he will rule and [10:06] reign physically but then he notes something that we’ve heard that the Antichrist is coming [10:14] but then he says so now many Antichrists have come then just as now a lot of speculation [10:24] was going on as to when the end would come and who this figure that is Antichrist will [10:30] come and John is saying your focus is off base because you need to be preserving what’s

[10:34] happening right now you need to live in light of what’s going on in the world here and now [10:39] it is not for us to know when the end will come John is telling us but rather we are [10:46] to focus on the here and the now and what he says is very applicable to our lives and [10:50] that is the reality that many Antichrists have come and what he says there is even some [10:57] of them have been in the church he said but they’ve gone out they didn’t continue with [11:06] us is because they were not of us because if they’d been of us they would have continued

[11:12] with us and you’re like so if I leave a church I’m not safe no that’s not what he’s saying [11:15] because back then there was one all right so if you left that one there wasn’t another [11:19] one to go to and so it’s pretty hard to be in the church when there’s only one and you’ve [11:24] gone out of that one live in a little bit of a different culture but what is he talking [11:29] about here and the reality is that anything that leads away from the truth of Jesus is [11:34] Antichrist anything that takes away from Jesus what is rightly his is Antichrist we started

[11:44] this series I told you that John is writing this letter to people about 50 to 60 years [11:49] after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead and so many of the people that are [11:54] in the church at this time are too young to have been alive when Jesus was on the earth [11:59] so they’re living their lives after Jesus and some false teaching has come into the [12:04] church so John is writing this to write the ship to bring these false teachers into the [12:09] light and make them understand what truth in Jesus is and one of the false teachings

[12:15] that came in at this time is the teaching called Docetism and what Docetism is is that [12:20] it is teaching that Jesus was not fully human that Jesus was fully God but he never became [12:27] fully human in this world and the reason that’s important is because if he wasn’t fully human [12:33] then we can mix some of the teachings of other religions and paganism into Christianity and [12:43] that’s what they were attempting to do if you read first Corinthians that was taking [12:46] place a lot in Corinth at that time that people were attempting to mix cultic religion with

[12:53] the truth of Jesus Christ because if Jesus wasn’t fully human then he couldn’t have [13:03] been real so what they’re saying is when Jesus came he was this mythic God like being [13:10] that just kind of floated through this life and what they would then do and be like much [13:14] like Egyptian religion much like Coptic religions and what he’s saying there is these men are [13:24] liars and they’re trying to take you away from what is true and mix it with a great [13:29] deal of error false teachers will attempt to place your hope somewhere other than Jesus

[13:38] they appear helpful and may even use the name of Jesus but they are not talking about [13:44] the Jesus of the Bible and that is why doctrine and the scriptures are so vitally important [13:53] in your life so that you will not be led astray by false teachers so that you will [14:02] not be led to find your hope anywhere but in the future kingdom of God that he has [14:09] promised to deliver at the return of Jesus notice Matthew chapter 7 verse 15 beware [14:17] of false prophets Jesus says who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are

[14:23] ravenous wolves then in Matthew chapter 24 I’m going to read verse 4 and 5 but I think [14:29] only 5 is going to be on the screen and Jesus answered them see that no one leads you astray [14:34] for many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and they will lead many astray [14:40] and then down in verse 24 he writes Jesus says for false Christs and false prophets [14:45] will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray if possible even the [14:54] elect Jesus is warning us there and he did so in multiple other passages but what he

[15:01] is saying is that there will come people that are so shrewd in their speech so smart in [15:07] the way that they will talk to you that it may even begin to deceive real followers of [15:12] Jesus because they are going to seem so legit and what he is saying is that some of them [15:16] may even be able to produce miracles if you remember the story of Moses when he came [15:23] before Pharaoh he was doing miracles to prove that he was from God some of his magicians [15:28] were performing miracles as well but what was their power from their power was from

[15:34] Satan do not be deceived by even the miraculous if they are able to do miracles and perform [15:42] the miraculous would serve to lead you to a hope other than the hope of Jesus he is [15:50] telling us that false hopes will come false Christs will come and they will try to lead [15:57] your hope to things that he just warned them about what does he just say do not love the [16:01] world or the things of the world so what are false teachers going to do especially in our [16:04] day and age I do not believe they will come under the banner of I am a dosatist no I believe

[16:08] they will come under the banner of find your hope in this world pastors work hard to keep [16:16] this kind of teaching out of the local church and that is what John is talking about in [16:20] our culture though it is harder because it is on TV and it is in the book stores the [16:26] most prevalent in our culture is the health and wealth gospel which seeks to put our hope [16:29] in being rich and physically healthy as a sign of God’s blessing the problem is that [16:34] this is anti-Christ Jesus said we will suffer Jesus noted more so that it is a fruit of

[16:45] salvation rather than a fruit of sin in your life the apostles suffered and were killed [16:50] for the sake of Jesus so according to much of the health and wealth teaching that you [16:53] hear nowadays the apostles did not have a great deal of faith that is problematic according [17:00] to scripture when the apostle Paul writes to live as Christ and to die well that is [17:06] even gain a man who suffered imprisonment half brother of Jesus thrown off the top [17:15] of the temple and then stabbed through for his faith in Jesus the apostle Peter history

[17:21] tells us was crucified upside down John himself the man who wrote this was exiled to the [17:30] world alive and on and on many have suffered for the sake of the gospel Paul even writes [17:39] of a thorn in the side that some believe that was a sickness that was besetting him [17:42] through his entire life but he said my weakness serves to show the strength of God in me

[17:49] see the scripture would not lead us to find luxury in this life the scripture will not [18:00] lead us to find our joy in risking everything even our comfort for the gospel of Jesus [18:07] Christ beware of false teachers one even this past week has said the church needs to pay [18:15] my millions of dollars in debt and if you will give towards that debt well God that [18:19] sowing a seed of blessing friends he is a false teacher beware of false teachers who [18:27] put your hope in money and health they are not saved Jesus must be number two this morning

[18:40] the standard by which truth is measured verse twenty but you have been anointed by the [18:57] because you do not know the truth but because you know it and because no lie is of the [19:05] truth who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ this is the anti-Christ [19:11] he who denies the father and the son he brings us to an understanding in this section that [19:21] we have the truth there is no lie in truth so we are constantly coming back to Jesus [19:28] as God the son to Jesus as the Messiah to Jesus as the one who redeems us from the

[19:35] sin of this world then we know that the truth in us and there is no lie in that but notice [19:45] that scripture in this text must be our ultimate authority why because scripture points us [19:51] to Jesus and that is why you can weigh everything by scripture I trust by faith that this is [19:59] God’s word because Jesus rose from the dead because Jesus died from my sin if it was [20:05] not for that I would have no point and even looking to this book for any wisdom because [20:09] if Jesus is still dead then our hope is dead and there is no point in that but because

[20:13] this points to Jesus we know that it is true but outside of that there are things that [20:20] scripture does not tell us that we know are true scripture never rightly tells me that [20:26] two plus two equals four but I know that two plus two equals four because when I was a [20:31] child I had four oranges if I took two away I had two if I added them back I had four [20:37] that is true do you understand that is the way God designed it still I want to tell you [20:42] something and then kind of spell it out for you all truth is God’s truth okay all of

[20:49] its God’s truth but it is only useful if it leads you to Jesus John writes to those [20:56] who are waiting for a large powerful version of the antichrist to come and be against Jesus [21:01] John’s point is that the world is full of antichrist is it pro-christ or is it antichrist [21:08] is it compelling me towards Jesus or pulling me away from Jesus is it trusting in him [21:13] or is it distrusting him is it believing him or is it disbelieving him this is intensely [21:19] practical because many of us our first inclination is when we have a hard time we have questions

[21:25] we have needs and we immediately default to antichrist for hope maybe it is something [21:33] as simple as you are having marital problems and rather than trusting in God to see the [21:38] picture of marriage through the gospel you immediately run to someone who does not know [21:43] God or will not quote any verses to you scripture must be your ultimate authority because scripture [21:49] will lead you to Jesus and your ultimate hope is in Jesus I will be very honest with you [21:54] this morning if you are having marital problems Dr. Phil can probably help you with it that

[21:58] is a sharp dude he has read some books with a lot of great wisdom in it I am not going [22:03] to say it is not it is practical wisdom there are psychiatrists there are psychologists [22:07] there are counselors that can help you be a better husband can help you be a better [22:12] wife can help you be a better mother there is a plethora of wisdom outside of the gospel [22:19] for it but that wisdom will ultimately only make you a better father with no hope of making [22:25] you more than a better father which is what God calls us to be he calls us to teach our

[22:30] families how to follow Jesus why am I to be a good husband because Jesus is the better [22:36] husband why is my wife to be a good wife because the church serves as the bride of Jesus Christ [22:42] so our marriage functions as a united front to show the world the marriage between Jesus [22:49] and his church and if I have anything less than that in my marriage it will become an [22:56] anti-Christ that is what we are dealing with in our society it is that subtle it is not [23:04] going to come with 666 written across its forehead with a guillotine to chop the head

[23:08] of Christians on it no it is just going to come in the episode of Oprah that leads you [23:12] to think that you have hope outside of Jesus that is anti-Christ and that frankly is the [23:19] thing that many of you are buying into for hope in your lives and it is my duty to tell [23:31] you to repent of that anything that leads you away from Jesus is an anti-Christ in your

[23:39] life true wisdom always leads to Jesus Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 says see to it that no one [23:47] takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition according [23:53] to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ he is not just speaking [24:00] of some existential teacher of a cult somewhere in Montana he is speaking of any way of thinking [24:09] that will get your affections off of Jesus and onto something else do not buy into the [24:16] empty deceit of money do not buy into the empty deceit of any philosophy that will

[24:25] lead you away from faith in Jesus Christ no matter how simple or profound that is

[24:39] Jesus is the life that you need verses 20-22 show that they are not in need of anything [24:47] new but to go further into learning what has already been revealed this is what we do [24:54] often times life is not going the direction that we want it to go in or we are not feeling [25:01] as excited as we feel like we should about Jesus or even about our lives in general [25:07] so rather than digging harder into the life of Jesus and into the truth of the gospel [25:12] we say I need something new in my life I once talked to an old friend from high school who

[25:21] told me I need to just get out of Richmond to get a better life I am going to move to [25:26] Fredricksburg I have been to Fredricksburg it is not better but he says I need to move [25:30] up there because it is better and here is the reality the reason his life in Fredricksburg [25:34] will be the same is because if he looks in the mirror the problem is right in front of [25:37] him the entire time it is him no matter where you go there you are and you have to deal [25:47] with that and so what we do is I need something new is that sets us up to fall under false

[25:54] teaching the book of Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun so the reality [26:01] is you do not need anything new you need something that has always existed something that has [26:05] been around from eternity past and that is the life of God that is only found in his [26:11] son Jesus Christ that is the only legitimate life that you have and you may say Steve you [26:17] are over simplifying it surely it is more complicated than that not according to God

[26:23] look at the text I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you [26:29] know it and because no lies of the truth who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus [26:32] is the Christ this is the antichrist he who denies the father and the son no one who denies [26:38] the father excuse me the son has the father whoever confesses the son has the father also [26:43] let what you heard from the beginning abide in you if what you heard from the beginning [26:49] abides in you then you too will abide in the son and in the father and this is the

[26:54] promise that he made to us eternal life so what is he saying from the moment that you [27:03] came to faith in Jesus Christ you have had the answer you do not need anything new that [27:10] which was in you from the beginning is the answer ultimately that you need for your life

[27:21] it takes great faith to believe that the answer that I am searching for is always [27:30] found in Jesus I do not say that lightly because there is going to be periods of dryness [27:37] in the relationship that we have with Jesus periods where we feel like he is so out of [27:43] reach periods where it feels like he is not really working in my life periods where I [27:49] hear all these songs I go to the word I pray and I am just not feeling anything and what [27:56] God is giving us is the reality those moments are not moments to look for a new philosophy

[28:01] to look for some kind of new thought process on him those are the moments where you dig [28:06] in and say this is where real faith happens when I am not feeling it I have got to still [28:13] have faith that he is there when I am not seeing what he is doing in my life I have [28:18] got to really trust that the spirit is in me when I am not seeing him do anything in [28:24] anyone around me that is where I have got to say God I am just going to choose to trust [28:29] you and I am not going to move on without you I am going to stay right in the gospel

[28:33] I am going to stay right here trusting it and I am just going to keep trusting the gospel [28:40] that friends is faith faith is believing what you have not yet seen and God says keep [28:54] trusting keep following I promise I am there the problem is never him I am so tempted [29:04] to leave him because I am so sinful in verse 26 I write these things to you about those [29:16] who are trying to deceive you but the anointing that you received from him abides in you [29:23] and you have no need that anyone should teach you but as his anointing teaches you about

[29:32] everything and is true and is no lie just as it has taught you abide in him and he [29:41] finishes in verse 28 and 29 and he says and now little children abide in him so that [29:46] when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming [29:52] if you know that he is righteous you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness [29:58] has been born of him so if Jesus is the standard by which truth is measured then the life [30:10] that will be found in him in eternity because he says that promise of eternal life is what

[30:16] we are banking everything on and if you have got Jesus you will endure in your faith to [30:28] shows true faith in Jesus don’t over complicate simple obedience and trust in God’s plan [30:37] for mission in your life don’t over complicate it because that is what we do and when we [30:43] over complicate it the reason that we are over complicate it is because there is some [30:46] kind of false Christ over here that we really want to put our treasure in so we will make [30:52] all ways of making the will of God super duper complicated so that we can just pour into

[30:57] our false hopes and God has made it pretty simple trust him follow him love God love [31:04] others make disciples that is his will and if you are making yourself about anything [31:12] else well you are out of God’s will those who trust in Jesus always will alright that [31:22] is final point this morning here is what I want to get into with that because John [31:27] makes a really provocative statement there at the beginning he says there were people [31:32] that were with us they are no longer with us they left because they were not of us

[31:38] they had been of us they would still be with us so my question is is John saying you can [31:45] lose your salvation is John saying you can lose your salvation and my thesis on that [31:52] is no he is not what he is saying is that if someone has really trusted in Jesus they [32:00] always will he is saying those people never trusted in Jesus look in Hebrews chapter [32:05] 3 verse 14 for we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence [32:15] firm to the end this is kind of an if then statement if you hold your confidence firm

[32:22] to the end you have come to know Jesus but so wait a second so I can lose my confidence [32:27] in him and stop enduring in Jesus the very important two word phrase in there have come [32:37] what he is saying is if you don’t endure in Jesus you didn’t come in the first place [32:43] if you don’t endure you never knew him in the first place and he is telling us a really [32:50] scary thing in here he is saying to the church that he is writing to he is saying there [32:56] are some in the church who don’t know Jesus so that is sobering so that means is that

[33:08] you may possibly be in here right now and not have real legitimate faith in Jesus and [33:16] what he is saying is the only way you will know if someone really has faith in Jesus [33:21] is in the end because they have endured in the faith I have been preaching for over [33:28] a decade I look good for that don’t I you are like no oh okay I once told my wife I [33:36] don’t know why I am saying this I once told my wife I said man you know I think I look [33:41] about the same as I did when I was 18 she said oh no honey you don’t I guess I am not

[33:49] aging that gracefully many people think my older siblings are younger than me they are [33:55] not I am the youngest just to make that clear the reality this morning is that often times [34:04] we don’t know whether faith is legitimate until we have had to exercise faith throughout [34:09] an entire life and here is what I mean by that I have seen even preachers and pastors [34:15] through the last decade of my life who no longer claim Jesus as their Messiah so we [34:26] must continuously be engaging the fruit of life to ensure that we are really trusting

[34:34] in Jesus as our Savior and he gives us a few ways in order to make sure that we are [34:43] saved the first one is that the local church aids in our endurance notice that he says [34:50] very important phrases at the very beginning he says if they had been of us they would [34:56] have endured with us so what he is saying there is a very important key the context [35:02] of what John is writing to is the church therefore the message here is to repent of [35:07] your sins and trust Jesus but the other subtext that he is saying there is that the church

[35:12] plays a role in enduring in faith you cannot follow Jesus and not be active in the community [35:20] of the church it is a clear mark towards following Jesus to be in the local church [35:25] as it is his plan of redemption in the world it is about being a part of building God’s [35:32] church to follow Jesus is to build his church the book of Ephesians lays that out completely [35:38] for us that the church will aid you in living this life of enduring in your faith you cannot [35:49] do it on your own because God did not design it that way therefore to have faith in God

[35:56] is to obey God secondly the power of God secures our grace driven effort the emphasis [36:06] on endurance that places responsibility on followers of Jesus to actually follow Jesus [36:12] and to make sure they are being saved is also mixed with his sovereignty of keeping us [36:19] saved note three times in this passage he uses the term anointed he says you have to [36:26] have been anointed by God so what he is saying is that God has placed his power inside of [36:35] you note that the first time he uses that word is in verse 20 but you have been anointed

[36:41] by the holy one and you have all knowledge he then tells us in verse 21 I write to you [36:56] not because you do not know the truth but because you know it and because no lie is [36:59] of the truth who is the liar but he who denies Jesus is the Christ therefore he has anointed [37:04] us with the knowledge that Jesus is Christ so if you have that knowledge if you have [37:08] that belief God placed that belief in you then he writes this is the anti-Christ he [37:15] who denies the father and the son no one who denies the son has the father whoever confesses

[37:20] the son has the father also it is all about Jesus let what you heard from the beginning [37:26] abide in you if what you heard from the beginning aids in you then you too will abide in the [37:32] son and in the father and this is the promise that he made us eternal life and then skip [37:38] down to verse 27 but the anointing that you received from him abides in you and you have [37:46] no need that anyone should teach you but as his anointing teaches you about everything [37:52] John 14 26 states that the role of the Holy Spirit in your life is to teach you everything

[38:00] that Jesus is about and everything that Jesus said so what is the anointing in your life [38:07] the anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit in your life therefore God is the power that [38:17] keeps you saved he is the one that gives you the knowledge of who Jesus is he is the [38:26] one that gives you endurance to the end but note also his anointing teaches you about [38:33] everything and is true and is no lie just as it has taught you abide in him the term [38:42] abide is in this section five times so what he is saying is God will keep you saved this

[38:50] may be similar to the thought of eternal security that you have always been taught [38:55] but what he is saying is that if you are being kept saved by God you will have a response [39:03] to his power by continuing to abide in him so he is saying as God abides in you you [39:12] will respond by abiding in him so what does that look like and now little children abide [39:22] in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame [39:26] at his coming if you know that he is righteous you may be sure that everyone who practices

[39:32] righteousness has been born of him the other side of abide in verses 26 says that the Holy [39:42] Spirit 27 28 and 29 is placed on our responsibility and as he gives us the power we must abide [39:51] he abides in us but we must also in turn abide in him that means that he changes us and [39:56] as he does we seek to follow him with our all friends you made a choice to follow Jesus

[40:07] it was a choice empowered by God but it was a choice none the less I remember the day [40:12] that I chose to follow Jesus and on that day he gave me the full abiding power of his [40:18] Holy Spirit to endure me to the end but here is the reality the sign that he gives me [40:23] that power is that I continue to make more choices of how I continue to follow him see [40:31] that one choice to follow Jesus is followed by a thousand other choices after to continue [40:39] and following Jesus to continue and making sacrifices for him we must choose to live

[40:49] lives building on truth he ends by telling us that our confidence of our salvation is [40:55] built through our effort towards abiding in him and that will lead to lives of righteousness [41:01] of following Jesus as he goes on mission we must intentionally build our lives towards [41:07] following him here is what I mean by that you must saturate yourself with the truth [41:13] of God you must continually seek to abide in what he has stated but the reality is [41:21] that many of us are not doing that because many of us are not saturating our lives in

[41:26] his word therefore any new hope any false prophet that comes into our lives we are going [41:31] to be really quick to say well that sounds really good friends just because it sounds [41:37] good doesn’t mean it’s good does it equate with what God has said are you under the power [41:43] of the Holy Spirit he says in John 15 7 that if we trust in him his words will abide in [41:50] him and he is specifically talking about what he has said do you know God’s word it’s important [42:00] that we have good elders in our lives who know the word to teach us the word but do

[42:06] not fully depend on me I find great joy in the reality that I serve as a supplement [42:17] for what God is teaching you through the power of his Holy Spirit himself do not depend on [42:23] me depend on the Holy Spirit to teach you the word John chapter 10 verse 27 through [42:30] verse 29 says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me I give them [42:36] eternal life and they will never perish the promise of God to keep us saved and no one [42:41] will snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all

[42:46] and no one is able to snatch them out of the fathers hand do you see the glorious promise [42:53] that Jesus himself gives us there do you see it he’s saying if I save you you can’t [42:59] save yourself because I saved you he’s saying I’ve got the power here to keep you saved [43:08] no one will take you out of my hand and then he backs it up and he says and I know they [43:12] can’t take you out of my hand because my father is greater than me and surely they can’t [43:16] take you out of the fathers hand but notice what he prefaces that with look in verse 27

[43:28] my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me do not only look to his promises [43:40] before you look to his warnings he’s saying I keep you saved but those who I’m keeping [43:50] know me they hear my voice and they follow me are you enduring the faith of Jesus Christ [44:08] for the hope that’s in Jesus Christ under the power of the Holy Spirit that will lead [44:16] you to build a life around Jesus follow him because he’s good as the band comes up this [44:26] morning I want you to know I love you it’s a hard hard saying to go over this morning

[44:39] that’s also one of the reasons I like to go through a whole book of the Bible at a time [44:41] because I can’t skip over the stuff that makes me uncomfortable friends we are a forgetful [44:48] people and sometimes it’s very tempting to put our hope in a life other than Jesus and [44:54] in those moments when we’re tempted the truth of God is seen in us by the repentance that [45:02] he puts in us when sometimes we do get off the track and we start going a little bit [45:06] too far to the right we start going a little too far to the left towards a false hope that’s

[45:10] not real and then the Holy Spirit engages us and shows us the truth so John has to [45:16] write to us like he did he writes the ship and we say God I’m sorry I confess my sins [45:21] first John 1 9 and he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins Jesus is our advocate [45:27] Jesus is our propitiation and so here’s what I want you to understand this morning is we’re [45:35] all tempted to build our lives in the empty deceit of this world but the warnings of [45:43] God serve as a reminder that he has taken the stupidity of us and Jesus died for it

[45:52] Jesus took the penalty Jesus paid the price we can always come back to Jesus we always [46:00] need to lean into Jesus and I think that’s why communion is so important because it [46:06] reminds me of what he did for me it reminds me of his broken body it reminds me of his [46:10] shed blood and I’m confronted with the reality of who I am and light of who he is maybe you’re [46:21] in here this morning and you’re saying I’ve got nothing but false hope I’ve got nothing [46:26] but antichrists in my life friends today the cross of Jesus Christ stands as the only

[46:34] hope you really have come to Jesus because he loves you he gave himself for you maybe [46:43] you’re in here and you know Jesus but you’re tempted like me friends when you come up this [46:48] morning I want you to bring those antichrists bring those false hopes even the false teaching [46:55] maybe you’ve kind of bought into bring it and let this be a metaphor for the life of [47:02] Christ entering into your life and the false hopes going into his life as he will pay the [47:08] penalty over and over for you I’ll be right over here I’d love to pray with you I’d love

[47:15] to talk to you when you’re ready come.