1 John 2 vs 15-19

1 John Chapter 2 Verse 15

 As mentioned last week, I want you to see and I want to make very clear

that John makes no mention about and is not talking about loving,

caring for or serving other people. If we don’t care for and love others

then we are denying the faith and the love of the Father is not in us!

 Jesus said all of the law and the prophets, all of His will and

commandments, wrapped up into this that we should love others as

Jesus has loved us! Consider His crowd. Were any of His disciples

Christians? Not as we know that term today!

 It wasn’t until after His resurrection that Jesus came to them in John

Chapter 20 and it says in verse 22, “He breathed on them, and said to

them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That was the moment the disciples and

everyone with them became Christians because that is what it is to be a

Christian. Receiving the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit…

 And so, when Jesus said “love one another even as I have loved you,” at

that time, His audience was unsaved… So, are we to love the brethren

more than we love the unsaved? Agape doesn’t work like that and

that’s the point that I’m making! The unsaved of the world are not what

John is talking about in verse 15…

 Paul confirms this in Romans 5:8 saying that while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us… This love was put on display as Jesus essentially

allowed Himself to be destroyed for whom? The lost world! Saying

even from the cross, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re

doing…” And, for God so loved…, the WORLD, that He gave His only

Son that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have

everlasting life!

 So, who are we, as Christians today, who are we to love and serve and

care for? EVERYONE! Luke 6:32 even says, “But if you love those

who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those

who love them!” Fast-forwarding to verse 35, “But love your enemies,

do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be

great, and you will be sons of the Most-High. For He is kind to the

unthankful and evil!” WHOA! SOOOOO, all that to say and to make

very clear that John is not talking about people in this statement in verse

15.

 So, what is he talking about!? Having a god higher in your heart than the

Most-High… Look at the next two verses….

1 John Chapter 2 Verses 16 – 17

 This is what has become of this world in its fallen state. John says ALL

that is in the world, (the Kosmos in the Greek), the spiritual Babylon as

we have studied and talked about before, is the lust of the eyes, the lust

of the flesh and the pride of life. Lust of the eyes? But I am to walk by

faith and not by sight! The righteous, right with God, right in

alignment with heaven, this is what they do. I get it, I can see what is

right in front of me, but God told me to trust Him… and I know the

outcome of trusting God…

 So, with whatever I am seeing, facing, who gets the position of honor in

what I decide to do? My finite momentary immediate perception, my

eyes…, or the Word of God, the Word of the infinite eternal, perfect,

holy and all-knowing God!? But I want that instant gratification. That

instant momentary satisfaction of aligning my actions with my

emotions…, it’s like a drug fix! Lust of the flesh! Who gets the position

of honor in what I decide to do? My finite momentary immediate

emotions, my flesh…, or the Word of God, the Word of the infinite,

eternal, holy and all-knowing God!?

 But what will they say, and won’t I feel like a fool!? I’ll be missing out

if I don’t go for it now… The pride of Life! Who gets the position of

honor in what I decide to do? ME or JESUS? Am I really a Christian

filled with the love of the Father or am I just a believer set on serving

and protecting and providing for me, filled with the love of myself!?

You see you can’t be filled with two things… That doesn’t even make

sense… AND you’ll answer that question with what your life becomes!

 This and these are the singular strategy of the enemy to destroy your

soul and if he can’t do that, to destroy your life. These are his three

plays and every sin and element of darkness stems back to, originates

from and is one, two, or three of these things. And this is the Kosmos.

This is the fallen. Genesis 3:4, “Then the serpent said to the woman,

“You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it

your eyes will be opened (lust of the eyes), and you will be like God

(lust of the flesh), knowing good and evil (pride of life).” Then…, they

became their own gods… and ruined everything…

1 John Chapter 2 Verse 18

 This was written nearly two thousand years ago and John says that it is

the last hour, why? This could be a very long discussion but let me just

give you a few thoughts. First, upon the cross, according to John 19:30

we read, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is

finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” Jesus’ death on

the cross for the sins of the world effectively ended the time of the law

upon the earth. Fulfilled by His sinless life and ultimate sacrifice! Thus,

beginning something…, the time of grace, the time of the New

Covenant, all yes. AND, thus beginning the last days. From the time

Jesus ascended unto the Father until now, we are essentially in

overtime…, because the soteriological plan of the Father has been

fulfilled!

 And so, John, the disciples, Paul, church fathers, all through the church

age, the time of the New Covenant, the time of grace, those that know

the Word of God know that the return of Jesus and the culmination of all

things is eminent. Survey the way even Jesus spoke to His disciples

and there was an urgency and expectancy that He was installing in them

of all things completing! So, I believe that every generation should live

expecting to see all things come to pass!

 And that does several things! It makes you ready! It makes you

serious! It makes you watchful! John will write later in the third

chapter, 1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has

not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is

revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And

everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure!”

AND, Jesus said in Matthew 24:48, “It is the wicked servant that says in

his heart, ‘My Master is delaying His coming.’” So, John was living in

the last days and WE are living in the last days!

 And he mentions the coming Antichrist but also speaks of many

antichrists having come which is one way we KNOW it is the last hour.

What does that mean? What is an antichrist? Ok we know THE

Antichrist, but what about an antichrist? Simple. The word broken down

in the Greek and really also in the English is simply “instead of Christ.”

 Check this out, this is almost intuitive. The Christian knows, the Bible

teaches and the reality is that Jesus is THE Way, The Truth, and The

life. SO, anything that is instead of Jesus, is the wrong way, not the truth

and doesn’t activate (lead to) life. Anything instead of Jesus or any

antichrist! Super simple, right!? Now, one more chip deeper into the

Pringles canister…, Jesus identifies Himself as the Logos…, the Word.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word

was God…, and the Word (Logos) became flesh…

 Check this out, the single way to identify an antichrist and to overcome

the enemy is the sword of the spirit, the Word of God. Anything

activated, trusted, followed, served instead of or in the place of the

Word of God is this idea of antichrist! Having the Word of God in your

heart is your greatest defense against sin! Jesus said in John 15:6-7,

“Abide in Me…, if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a

branch is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire,

and they are burned.” The world will overcome you, burn you up. “If

you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you

desire, and it shall be done for you!” Boom!

 David prayed, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I may not sin

against You!” Bruh, sin brings forth death, defeat, loss…, David’s

prayer is that He has hidden the Word of God in his heart so that he is

not overcome by this world! Jesus (and we are talking about how we not

only deal with antichrist’s but avoid the traps of them throughout our

lives) when tempted by the devil, the Bible tells us he had fasted for 40

days. After about 15 days of fasting, you lose your appetite. (Of that I

don’t know, HA). But then after another time of days, it will come back

as that is when you are essentially out of reserves and dying. This is

where Jesus was…

 And Satan said to Him, turn this rock into bread and have at it! And oh,

how Jesus wanted bread! You don’t have to take the path of the cross!

The plan of God is not the best plan for you! You can be delivered now!

In a way, all of that was true! But it was all antichrist! What would the

outcome, the result of Jesus’ life be if He had of taken that instead of?

 Jesus came to do the will of the Father. He said in the garden that night,

“Not by will be done but Your will!” He didn’t want the cross! He

despised the shame of it all…, but the spirit of Christ is to fulfill the

Word of God, the will of the Father, and the spirit of all antichrists

is to do anything but…

 Jesus said if anyone desires to come after Me let him deny Himself, take

up your cross, and follow Me…, but you don’t have to do that, and if

you don’t, that is the spirit of antichrist… the lust of the eyes, the lust of

the flesh and the pride of life, can never be satisfied and the more you

feed it the more formidable opponent it becomes. All you can do with

lust is starve it! But the temptation to give in to these things is the spirit

of antichrist, anything instead of Jesus and therefore anything other than

trusting and selecting the Word of God!!!

 How do you know? How do you know who has been overcome by the

spirit of antichrist or who has truly selected Jesus and been born again

by the Spirit of God… Time. Time will tell… And that’s it… Fruit can

be faked, but not forever…

1 John Chapter 2 Verse 19

 The authoritative direction on how to know who is or who is not truly

with the Lord… Over time, they will select the Word of God, thus

overcome the spirit of anti-instead of-Christ, and they will remain…

Not without bumps and bruises and not without failures for sure…, but

in the end, here they are…, still walking with Jesus… and that will yield

a certain result of the kind of life they have and person they are…