The Truth in You

I John 2:18-27 “The Truth in You”

They’re coming for you. They may knock on your door or ring your doorbell. They may air their programs or commercials on your TV. They may want you to visit their websites or join their email list. They could even live next door. They are false teachers. And they’re coming for you. They want you to believe their message. It might sound like Christianity, but listen a little longer, and they will deny core truths of the Christian life.

In our passage today, John warns his little children, his readers, of the danger of false teachers. But he also equips them with several layers of armor against the false teachers. I want you to be warned: this deception is real. People will try to lead you astray from the essential truths of the Christian faith. I also want you to know that you are protected. God gives his children impervious armor against false teaching, and I want you to know you are wearing that armor.

1. The reality of deception
2. Three layers of armor to protect us from deception

1. The reality of deception (18-19)
We live in the last hour. The last hour or the last days are simply the time between Christ’s ascension into heaven and his second coming. The last 2,000 years have been the last hour. This world is passing away, as we learned last week in I John. In the last hour antichrists will come and have come already.

The Antichrist will come right before the coming of Christ. The BIG ONE. Controlled by Satan and destroyed by Christ. Before the BIG ONE comes, there will be antichrists (small a). These are simply people who deny that Jesus is the Christ (we will see what that means soon). People throughout history have tried to identify the Antichrist. Some have said the Pope, some have said the POTUS. The Antichrist will come and it will be very scary. Our focus as Christians should be identifying antichrists (small a) and watching out for them. These are people who deny essential truths of the gospel. The Bible will also call them false teachers.

When people walk away from the true gospel, it shows that they are not of God. It shows they are not God’s children. See vs 19. We can clearly see if someone is not God’s child if they reject the truth about Jesus. People who look like Christians but end up denying Jesus are not Christians. We must have a category for false Christians…or a “professor.” Someone who says that they are a Christian, but by their beliefs and lifestyle deny it.

In John’s day and in our day, there are so-called Christians who are actively trying to persuade true Christians of false teaching. It is vital to be aware of this, because true Christians are set apart by a certain set of beliefs. Ditch these beliefs, and you show that you do not belong to God. How do we recognize and defend ourselves against false teaching?
God has given us impervious armor against these antichrists and their teaching. God has given us 3 layers of armor for our defense.

The United States has one kind of main battle tank. The M1 Abrams. It weighs 68 tons. It is also very dangerous. But most importantly, it has very good and very thick armor. Its armor is made out of layers of steel, ceramics, plastics, Kevlar, and depleted uranium. The various layers provide more protection against enemy fire than a single layer of one material would. In fact, the armor has survived direct hits from another M1 Abrams.

John gives us very strong, multi-layered armor for our defense against false teaching.

A. A truth that abides (21, 24-25)
The first layer of armor is the truth that abides in Christians. Vs 24. The truth they have heard from the beginning is the message about Jesus Christ. The message is simply “Jesus is the Christ.” This is the message that the false teachers deny. “Jesus is the Christ” is John’s abbreviation for his teaching on Jesus. Jesus is the Christ means that Jesus is the Savior promised in the OT. There are 3 powerful truths about Jesus that John focuses on in this letter:
1. Jesus is God (1:2)
2. Jesus came as a human (4:2)
3. Jesus died a bloody death for our sins (2:2)

That is the core of the amazing message about Jesus. This is the truth that abides in Christians. It must continue to abide in us.

When we moved into our last apartment, we thought we would only be there one year. Well…3 ½ years later we moved out. When we first moved in, we thought it was short-term, so we didn’t decorate much. We never got curtains for the living room. We weren’t allowed to put holes in the walls, so we didn’t hang up pictures. We didn’t really make it our home.

But when we moved into the parsonage, we wanted to make it our home. We put nail holes in the freshly-painted walls. We got curtains, and are trying to decorate. We still have more to do, but we are making it our home.

This word “abide” means to dwell or remain. The gospel remains in true Christians. It has made its home in our hearts. It has hung up curtains and is staying. John says it this way in John 8:31-32: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

He doesn’t say: if you feel like you have a connection with God, you are truly my disciples. If you believe in the existence of God, you are truly my disciples. If you walk a church aisle or prayed a prayer, you are truly my disciples. If you go to church or do good for others, you are truly my disciples. No. If you continue to believe that Jesus in the Christ, the Son of God…if you abide in His Word, you are truly his.

The gospel living in our hearts is a sure defense against false teachers because when the gospel dwells in our hearts, we abide with the Son and the Father (vs 24). And with that, eternal life. We are safe in Jesus by the power of the indwelling Word.

B. A test that verifies (19, 22-23)
The second layer of our armor is simply a truth check. We defined what John means by Jesus is the Christ: Jesus is God, he is human, and he died for our sins. Vs 22 makes it clear. Deny this, and you don’t know God.

Often when you set up passwords for online accounts, you have to pick a questions that you will answer to verify your account or reset your password—if you happen to forget it. Questions like: your mother’s maiden name or your first pet’s name. Apparently, the questions are too easy to find out, so they have made them harder, such as, what was the name of your 2nd girlfriend’s dog’s birth mother?

The questions here is simple and quite public. This questions exposes the false teachers. Do you believe some very basic truths about Jesus Christ? If you don’t, you are an antichrist…a false teacher. There are certainly some doctrines that Christians disagree about. But all Christians agree that Jesus Christ is fully God, fully human, and died on the cross to pay for our sins. If you deny these, you do not belong to God.

C. A Spirit who testifies (20, 26-27)
The third layer of armor is this anointing that John mentions. Vs 20 and 27. I understand this anointing to refer to the Holy Spirit. In the NT, anointing is connected with the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:18: Jesus says- “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.” Also, the anointing gives us knowledge and teaches us, just as Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would do. John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

The text says that this anointing gives us all knowledge and teaches us about everything. Then, why do we have SS teachers? Why do we have a guy teaching you from the Bible in this pulpit? In the context, the anointing teaches us about the core truths of the gospel…the message about Jesus. The Holy Spirit lives in us and confirms to us the fundamental truths about Jesus Christ. In other words, the Spirit helps us abide in the message we have heard from the beginning.

We have friends that have a poster on their wall for their kids. It has their address, their mom and dad’s names and cell phone numbers. Their small children use this poster to memorize this very important information about who they are and where they live. If they are ever lost, they have the information that will help them get home. They know who they are, and where they belong. In the same way, the Holy Spirit seals in our hearts the basic information of the gospel to keep us abiding in the truth.
One Bible teacher puts it this way: “For while faith ought to look to God, he alone can be a witness to himself, so as to convince our hearts that what our ears receive has come from him.” –Calvin

That’s what the anointing of the Holy Spirit does for us.

Application

1. The way to the Father is through the Son
We as Christians don’t worship a generic “God.” We don’t worship the “man upstairs” or the “big guy,” as if God is some sort of heavenly Santa Claus. There are many people that claim to believe in God. But belief in God does not make someone a Christian. If your belief in God can summarized by any number of country songs that reference God, please open your Bible and see what it says. No one knows the Father, unless they know and believe in His Son Jesus Christ (vs 23). And saying “Jesus take the wheel” does not constitute belief in Jesus. Belief in Jesus means we cling to some very specific and sometimes offensive truths about Jesus Christ. And we keep it up.

If you don’t have Jesus Christ as your Savior, God is not your best buddy. You should be terrified of God apart from Jesus Christ. John 3:36 says this: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Apart from Christ, God’s anger remains on you. If you have Christ, you have God’s salvation remaining in you. Without Christ, God is your Judge. With Christ, God is your loving heavenly Father and 100% for you.

When someone says they believe in God, don’t automatically assume they are a Christian. Do they believe that Jesus is the Son of God, come in human flesh, who paid for our sins by his death? Do they believe that message and has it made its home in their hearts? Has that message changed them?

2. God keeps his children in the truth
All this talk about God’s wrath, false teachers, and antichrists sounds a bit scary. It should scare us. But Christians should also have confidence because God has given us 3 layers of armor to protect us from false teachers. We have the test of truth. We have the truth living in us. We have the Holy Spirit living in our hearts, confirming to us God’s truth, the gospel. God has not left his children alone in the wild, wild west of this world, where false teaching rolls around like tumble weed, and false teachers run around like outlaws. He has given us his truth and his Spirit to live in us and protect us.

I John 4:4- Little children, you are from God and have overcome them [antichrists], for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Dear Christian, God is fighting for you to believe in Christ and abide in him. And he will win.