2nd February 2024

2nd February 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read - (1 John 4:1-6 focus v4)


Message (Alan Burke)


On Wednesday we thought albeit briefly about the antichrist. How before Christ’s second coming there will be a completely evil man who will arise, the antichrist. He will be Satan’s tool, equipped with Satan’s power, Paul uses the term ‘man of lawlessness’ and he will proclaim himself as God (2 Thess 2:3-4,9). This will be the Antichrist, the one who will gather together anti-christian forces in opposition to Christ and his Church, some argue whether it is an individual or an all pervading ideology but it still awaits the church in our future. There are also antichrists who are those who have the spirit of the antichrist is that they are those who deny Christ and as a result they are antichrists.


Here as John continues he turns his attention to how even though there are antichrists we need not fear in what lies ahead for we are dear children, we are from God, we have overcome them speaking of the antichrists because the one who is in us is greater. There are other pastoral apostles where the writer is not seeking to encourage rather they are writing to to give the church a walk up call to the nonsense that they have bought into, whereas John writes to encourage them to keep going in the way that they have, for they have overcome them. 


The reason they have overcome is precisely the grounds for their assurances that they are from God, again this is something that Jesus taught, John John 10, as Jesus talked about his sheep, he says, that they can never be snatched out of his hand, that …the Father who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” Jn 10:28–30. The church had overcome, they had not bought into the lies we call this perseverance of the saints. 


Often when we talk about perseverance today the focus in on what we as individuals have done, what they can do, like the marathon runner, needing just to keep going, do a little bit more, to finish the race, or like the student studying through the night, working on that essay to get it handed in on time, or recovering from an operation and listening to all the advice of the health professionals, it could be many a thing but perseverance is depending on us crossing the finish line, meeting the deadline, achieving our goals. If at first you don’t succeed try, try and try again.


Perseverance so often in our own mind is dependant on us, but that is not what the teaching of scriptures is, rather the teaching of scripture is that it is God’s perseverance. A better way of putting it would be to be preservation, that we are preserved by God, that we are kept into the state of grace by God himself, not our actions, efforts or endeavours, because from start to finish the work of God. That he who has begun a good work in us as Paul says in Philippians 1, that he who has begun a good work will bring it to completion (Phil 1:6). What God has started in us he will finish, he will bring it to completion, those who are saved cannot loose their salvation. God had enabled the church to whom John wrote to, to persevere. 


All because he is greater than the one in this world, he is greater than the spirit of the antichrist, than the antichrists in this age, greater than the devil himself and he enables us to persevere as he gives us the indwelling holy Spirit which the church had and would bring them and us, all those whom have been given to Jesus to completion, it is because of his work we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, because of his work we are able to cry out Abba Father (Gal 4:6). 


We can take great comfort in this knowledge, how we are the children of God, the Spirit not only indwells in the believer but that indwelling is permanent, the Spirit will not depart from us. Our God is greater than the one who is in the world and who is in the world. Well John will deal with that clearly later in the letter but it’s important that we do not misunderstand, the one who is in the world is the evil one, Satan, the Devil. The World we live in is under control of the devil, this is a world that is ultimately hostile towards God and his people, that is opposed to the truth, for it is under the control of Satan, yet our God is greater, it is a truth that we must understand even when this world seems to be going from one thing to the next and we must know that Satan is a defeated foe. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q58 What is required in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself. (Deut. 5:12–14)
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