Good News Monday

Yesterday's sermon "Deceivers in the Church" was based out of 1 John 2:18-27. Lucas used the following three points:

Deceivers leave the Christian fellowship.

At times God may call us to leave to another church but this is not what PL was referring to when he said that deceivers leave the Christian faith. The church is not a temple but it is the people who are part of the body of Christ. So whether you congregate at the local church down the street or the mega church, you are still part of the "church." What PL was actually referring to were those who turn away from God completely. They isolate themselves from the church and begin living in the world. 1 John 2:19 clearly states, "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. Those people were actually never believers. 1 John 2:17 says, "For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."

In Matthew 7:15-20 we are told, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that doe snot bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. In other words, someone may look, walk and talk like a Christian but we are not to take their word for it but measure their actions against their claims. Are they really bearing the good fruit?

Deceivers deny the Christian faith.

False teachers infiltrating into the church taught a doctrine that denied the humanity of Jesus Christ. These people were gnostics whom believed that the flesh and spirit were two distinct entities. The flesh being all bad and the spirit being all good. Therefore they denied Jesus. They refused to accept that Jesus came in the form of man because in their minds they could not fathom a good God possessing flesh which was all bad. Lucas's response to their thinking was simple. He said, "We have a big problem when God fits in our mind."

Deceivers mislead the Christian faithful.
Deceivers teach an unbiblical doctrine that amongst other things tells us that we can be our own god and have no need for the one true God. This is not so. We were all created to have an intimate relationship with our creator. However, many times it will mean that we will sacrifice certain things in our life in our pursuit of God. Perhaps we will have to give up some unhealthy relationships, give of our time, and even give away some of our money to those who may need it. However, in the end we will be able to say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." I couldn't imagine striving to say anything else at the end of my life. How about you?

¹⁸Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

-1 John 2:18-27