We Need To Be Reminded. I Jn. 2:18-27
INTRO.: I was traveling with another preacher to a meeting. Our group met in a restaurant in a large mall in Chicago. After the meeting, we left the mall and could not locate our car. We split up and searched the lot row by row. No car. We decided to call the police and report the car stolen. "First," I suggested, "Let’s go back into the mall and retrace our steps."
As we reentered the mall, we both immediately recognized the flight of stairs we had come down earlier. We had parked on the upper level of the lot and had exited on the lower level. Our car was found! We knew where the car was. We only needed to be reminded.
John tells his readers they are living in the last hour and false teaching is everywhere. He acknowledges they already know this and informs them of his desire to remind them of truth they already know.
What does John mean by the last hour? Note, John says the last hour is characterized by false teachers leading God’s people astray. This was a concern in John’s day and it still is. It will always be. There have always been false teachers. Therefore, in this case, the last days refer to the final dispensation; the time between the death of Jesus and the end of time. Otherwise, we must accept the notion John was mistaken, and he was not.
False teaching is to be expected. It was predicted. But, we can maintain the faith and prevail over trials if "what you have heard from the beginning remains in you." verse 24. It’s important we remind ourselves of certain things:
I. We already know the Truth. We need to remind ourselves frequently. The Truth is Christ.
A. Christians at Rome were in the same boat. Rom. 15:14, 15
1. Most Christians know the basics of their faith and know where to find the answers to deeper issues. They know God’s Word.
2. No one has exclusive knowledge of Truth. It is available to all.
3. My goal as a Preacher is not to deliver new truth, but to remind you of The Truth.
B. Confessing the Truth (Christ) brings us into fellowship with the Father. 23b
1. Jesus will acknowledge us before the Father. Mt. 10:32.
2. No one time thing, we acknowledge (confess) Christ with life and lips day by. day.
3. The time will come when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Will it be too late for some of us. Will we confess Him with joy or fear.
C. There are certain Christian practices in which we confess Christ, The Truth:
1. Christian baptism: a witness to His death and resurrection.
2. The Lord’s Supper: We proclaim His death until He returns.
3. Verbally, we confess Him through witnessing, preaching, teaching, inviting, etc.
II. We know the liar, the antichrist, is here also:
A. Who is an antichrist?
1. Prefix "anti" may mean "opposed to" or "taking the place of."Antichrist may be either or both. There are many antichrists.
2. Nero, the Pope, Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, Hussein have all been called antichrist. They all are (or were).
3. Antichrist is an evil principle actively hostile to God. It lives in every generation. Antichrist may appear as a person in Revelation, but not here. Here, there are "many antichrists."
B. The antichrist spirit drives false teachers who deny the deity of Jesus.
1. Scripture warns of these false teachers many times; i.e: I Tim. 4:1, 2
2. Think of anyone who teaches Jesus is not the unique Son of God as the antichrist.
C. Today a great battle rages for the minds of men:
1. Some claim Jesus is not the Son of God in any unique way. He is a child of God just like we are.
2. Some "came out" of the Church, others have infiltrated from outside. They seek to lead God’s people astray with false teaching.
3. "No one who denies the Son has the Father." v. 23 Cannot claim to know God except through Jesus.
III. We know we have an anointing: v. 27
A. What does anointing mean?
1. In Old Testament times, prophets, priests, and kings were anointed. Oil was applied to their heads to symbolize the conferring of an office or a responsibility.
2. ."Christ" means anointed One. Jesus is our prophet, priest, king.
3. Christians are anointed when they are identified with Christ. He is anointed and we live in Him, so we are anointed with Him.
B. What is this anointing and when does it occur?
1. One writer has suggested it may be the one rite all Christians pass through: Christian baptism.
2. Anointing is one way of referring to the giving of the Holy Spirit. We needn’t choose between the two. The Holy Spirit is given at baptism.
3. Comparing verses 24 and 27, it may refer to instructions given when one became a Christian. Also a product of the Holy Spirit.
4. The point is if we are Christians trusting God and His Word, we already have all we need to know to overcome sin or we have access to it in His Word. II Pet. 1:3
C. Reminding ourselves of things we know and believe will prevent us falling into error and sin.
1. "So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have." II Peter 1:12
2. The times demand we remind ourselves continually of what we have believed. If not, this world will crowd them out.
CONC.: "We have to be continually reminded of what we believe. Neither the belief in Christ nor any other will automatically remain alive in the mind. It must be fed, and as a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by an honest argument. Do not most people simply drift away?" C. S. Lewis on Faith.
We need to be faithful in the things which remind us of what we already know.
