Children of God: The Truth in an Age of Deception - James Murray

Hey guys, Pastor James Murray here and I want to welcome you to the Abide Sydney podcast. This whole podcast is designed to help you on the journey of discipleship and our mission is to make disciples of the people of Sydney, but maybe not from Sydney. We hope this blesses you, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this podcast. On John chapter 2 and verse 18, warning, warning, today is if you are new to church or recently new to faith, there's going to be some great stuff in here for you to grab. But we also are jumping into the deep end of the pool this morning. And so there is a lot to cover, pray for me as I deliver this because I have labored over this message this week, sorry, and how can I actually contain this in the time that I have, and it's going to be almost impossible, so I will do my best. But are you ready? Here we go. So this one John series is called Children of God. In fact, this is part 5 of the 13 part series through the letter of one John and we pick up in chapter 2 verse 18. Children, this is an affectionate term that John, an old man, the apostle, would actually call the church children. It was, again, like a fatherly figure, he would say this statement. And it is the last hour, everyone say the last hour. And as you have heard, that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that I might become plain, that they are all not of us. That sounds cryptic, but we'll explain that in a moment. But you have been anointed. Everyone say anointed. Yes, a good word. Anointed by the Holy One, and you have all knowledge. I write to you not because you don't know the truth, but because you know it and because no lies is of the truth. You is the liar, but he who denies that Christ, sorry, that Jesus is the Christ, that is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father, whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you've heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is from the promise that he made to us eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. Everyone say deceive, interesting word, but the anointing that you've received from him abides in you and you do not need that, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, but as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie. Just as I've taught you, abide in him. Pray for me. Not a lot, that's a lot this morning. But this, again, enormous portion of scripture, I'm going to do my best to unpack what John the Apostle is saying here. I want to speak to you part five of our Children of God series around the idea of this, the truth in an age of deception, the truth in an age of deception. And here's my big point I want to make this morning, big point that John would also talk to it in these few verses that we read, ready? The better you know the truth, the easier it is to recognize a lie. All right, you ready? Let's pray. Let's commit these moments to the Lord. It's a lot we thank you for your word. And as we come around this enormous scripture, God help me to deliver this in a way that honors you and edifies us, but also I pray that as we come around your word, let it expose some things. Let us see today maybe some of the lives we have been living. I pray that as your word goes out, accompanied by you, Holy Spirit, that you show us and reveal the things that maybe are hindering us from freedom in Christ. But I also thank you Lord that wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And so I pray for great liberty today, liberty today, freedom from lies or deception. Thank you for your word. Come Holy Spirit in Jesus' body name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn the person next to you. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. Stop it. Stop it. Okay. Okay. So please tell me that everyone in this room, if you, I'm hoping that everyone is on the same page with this one this morning, please tell me that you have seen this already. Let's just tuck this up on the screen. As anyone's seen this yet. No. Oh my gosh. But by show of hands, how many people have seen the Odyssey give me a little wave? By show of hands who have not seen the Odyssey? Okay. Straight up to the service. Cancel everything. Cancel it. Doesn't matter. Just go. It's brilliant, absolutely brilliant movie. If you know much about the Odyssey, you'll know that it's a story that is again, it's brick mythology, but it's amazing story. It's such an adventure. It is just this morning. It is like almost three hours long. It's very long and but again, if you're like me, you're like, this is easily entertained, but also you like adventure, it's a great film. So as I'm watching this movie, I went and watched it, this is very sad. My wife was away and my kids were at school on my day off, and so I went to the movies by myself, ticket for one please, and I sat there at the 10am showing with everyone who was over 80. So you're watching the Odyssey, what you know about the story that Christopher Nolan has captured in this new film, as it's based around this guy called Odysseus. He's kind of the figure, the focal point of the story, but the story begins with this whole idea of the Greek army invading the city of Troy. And that's where this, again, the story is fascinating. Many films have been made about this story before. In fact, at anyone see Troy, Brad Pitt, another great film. So this story is based on this mythology, this myth about the Greeks, in order to invade Troy, which they could not do. In fact, it was a 10 year siege, they could not penetrate the walls of Troy, so they're like, how are we going to get in? And then Odysseus says, I know a way we can get in, let's trick them, let's deceive them by creating a horse and say this big huge wooden horse and tell them that is actually a gift to their God, and it's really them retreating saying, sorry for all the hassle, we're going to go take our gift and we're going to flee the battlefield or flee the battle. And so we know this spoiler alert, if you don't know the story, it's 2,000 years old or more, so where are you being? But spoiler alert, the city of Troy, they say, okay, we'll receive the gift, and they take this horse, this wooden horse into the city, little did they know that inside of the horse were actually Greek soldiers, and while everyone was sleeping, they actually come out of this horse, they ransacked the town, they opened the gates, and the whole of Troy is ultimately destroyed. So that is the story, that is the Trojan horse analogy, we heard that story in that idea before, Trojan horse. Now, the reason why the Trojans, this whole thing happened, they didn't lose the city because the enemy broke through the gates, they lost it because they opened their gates to a deception, and if you didn't break in, no, they opened their gates to what, a deception, what looked like, was harmless, was actually carrying destruction. So catch this, this is how deception works, very similar to the Trojan horse story. Deception rarely arrives looking dangerous, it usually comes disguised as truth, wisdom, or even something good. This is how it comes into our lives, deception. The tricky thing about deception is you often don't know when you are deceived. I didn't see that, I didn't know that, I thought it was a good thing, I thought it was a great thing, sometimes I thought it was even a God thing, but yet we welcome these things in because they're so well disguised, and many of us because of deception end up welcoming things in that ultimately destroy us, sometimes not even like all of a sudden, but just subtly, this deception, this lie I have welcomed in is actually doing more damage to me than I even realized. In fact, there's a guy by the name of David Benner, he's a Christian psychologist, he says this, it's not so much that we tell lies as that we live them, it's not so much that we're telling lies, it's that we're living lies. One of the greatest dangers to your life isn't always the deception you recognize, it's the lies you are knowingly embraced and lived by. Can I say that again? One of the greatest dangers to your life isn't always the deception you recognize, or the dangers you recognize. No, no, it's the lies you are knowingly embraced and you live by them. This is huge. Already in a time and a culture of relative truth, we must become vigilant in filtering out the lies that so easily disguise themselves as truth. So catch this, lies and deception have only one outcome. Here's the outcome of lies and deception, ready? To deform the beauty of God's intended way of life and lead humanity into ruin. So catch this, if spirit and truth, which we read in Scripture, and we see in the person, the Holy Spirit, the spirit and truth transforms the human condition, guess what lies and deception do, deform. So we know now that Jesus came to what, give life and life and abundance, and what is He trying to do with this life, the life giving word of God, the life giving spirit of God, to bring about transformation. How many people realize they need for change? Anyone else know that? Okay, but here's the thing, if we're not careful, we can actually unknowingly welcome in lies and deception, and they do the opposite of spirit and truth. What they do is what, they deform. They take away the beautiful thing that God is trying to do, and it is only through God's spirit and truth that we can discern deception and ultimately become transformed into God's original design. Like we need spirit and truth, which is so important, coming back to my big point, the better you know the truth. The easier it is to, that was horrible, that response. Anyway, the better you know the truth, the easier it is to know a lie or recognize a lie. Okay, I lay all that up to say this. This is where we come to one John chapter two, verse eight into 27. John is basically saying this, guys, wake up, be mindful. What is happening in the church that John is speaking to now, again, this is in a time where church existed under persecution, so they're not meeting in halls or cathedrals or temples, like we are today, they're most likely meeting in homes and they're scattered. Most likely, he's writing to little small groups of believers around Ephesus and when he's writing this, what had happened is that someone had come into the church, someone or a group of people had infiltrated the church and they started spreading deception. So when John writes one John, guess what he's writing to? He's writing to a church split. A church split has taken place. People are leaving the church because of what? A deception or they're leaving to follow a deception. And so this group of people that he's largely speaking to is these guys called the Gnostics, this thing called Gnosticism. Even this idea of Gnosis is where you get the word Gnosticism from, means knowledge. Gnosis means knowledge and there was this group of people that infiltrated the church community saying, you know what, yeah, Jesus is good, but you also need this special secret knowledge that we've also got and so come and follow us and be a part of this secret knowledge 'cause Jesus isn't enough, you also need this. And so John is like, no, no, no, not in my church and what I love about this is John, he's far more important. He's far more interested in truth than he is in growth. Catch that. Guys, I need to say this, even it means that some of you go out 'cause I need to tell you the truth. Why? Because the better you know the truth, the easier it is to recognize a liar. So here we go, you ready? Brace yourselves, get ready. 'Cause this is where we unpack these verses and there is so much in it. Point number one, what we must recognize is the reality of deception. The reality of deception. Sun Zhu, who wrote the art of war, said this, if you know your enemy and yourself, you did not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gain, you'll also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy, nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Again, this military tactician, professional sun Zhu wrote this. He's not a believer, but I feel like it's a really, really good understanding we should have. He says, basically saying this, know your enemy. Know your enemy. To which this is where we need to understand our enemy. Who are your enemies? Like who actually are? Some people are like, well, it's that person at work. It's the left, it's the right. It's this type of religion, it's my mother-in-law. Like whenever it might be, right? Everyone has these understandings of an enemy. But scripture would say this, that yours and my greatest enemies are these three things. Ready? The world, the flesh, and the devil. Again, that's actually comes from John's verses earlier on. Don't succumb to the deception of the eyes, or the desire of the eyes, et cetera. And he's saying this, the world is an enemy. What do you mean by world is this anti-god system? He says it's an enemy. We live in this anti-god system that's always trying to tell us to trust in ourselves, not in God, or in other things, rather than God. Then also we have this enemy called the flesh. Pour it right about this in Galatians. It's what, the sin-desiring aspect of your being. Isn't it interesting? Have you ever done things that you didn't want to do? [INAUDIBLE] Anyone? And then after it, you're like, what did I do that? [INAUDIBLE] Yeah, there's a part of us that are still being sanctified, being redeemed, being changed. And so Paul would say there is this war of the worlds on the inside of us all the time. And there's part of us that's like, you know what? Yeah, just do that. That's going to feel really good, especially right now. So succumb to that, give into that. But then there's another side of us called the spirit, or the Holy Spirit within us saying, no, that's not going to really do that for you. Trust me, trust me. Don't go for instant gratification, trust what I'm doing. But we have this flesh battle all the time. Because we have good intentions, don't we? We also have to recognize that good intentions aren't enough. We have to recognize the enemy of our own flesh sometimes. The next thing is the devil, which we're going to focus on for a couple of moments now. Ready? And what is the devil, a real spiritual being who opposes God and seeks to destroy people? This is an enemy that often, in our time, we do not give enough attention to in the sense of men. No, he is really trying to destroy you. And he's trying to destroy the church, and he's trying to destroy humanity. So you're new here to church today, like, is he talking about the devil? 100%. We need to talk about this. Few truths about the devil that you need to know or the enemy, known as the devil. Number one, the devil is a real and intelligent enemy who stands opposed to God and his people. He's real. He's intelligent. And he stands opposed to you and I and to God. The second thing you need to know about the enemy is his aim is to distort the truth, divide God's people, and destroy lives. That's what he's trying to do. Distort truth, divide God's people, and destroy lives, and then last but not least, he is a really big point I want to focus on. He's preferred weapon, isn't power. It's deception. Some people think, oh, the dark force of the devil, it's like this, no, no, no, he's greatest weapon. It's deception. It's interesting from the beginning, the Genesis account. What, he doesn't come to Eve with a sword. He comes to Eve with an idea. Hey, why don't you just take the fruit? You won't die. You won't shoot. And what he was trying to do is he was trying to deceive. And the interesting thing about deception is it always has truth in it, doesn't it? How you aren't going to die, which he wasn't going to physically die, but he deceived her to believe that death was simply just about the body. But really, what he meant was, yeah, what he was trying to get at a partake in is the death that sin brings. Cutting off from God. And his deception is the thing that God has, in fact, deception means what? The deliberate act of misleading someone to make them believe something is not true. So the greatest way that he does this is he deceives through what? Counterfeits. This is the greatest way in which the devil brings about deception. He counterfeits things. Counterfeit means what? To make, you know, means fake, forged, or to make it look like the exact copy of something real in order to trick people. That's what counterfeit means. Come on, anyone being like Barley, Thailand? You got that Gucci bag somewhere? We know it's not real, right? It's, call some people out here this morning, OK? But this is important because this is exactly what the enemy does. Catch this. I'm going to put this on the screen. It's important. God creates the devil counterfeits. God creates the devil can't create. All he can do is what? Counterfeit. So the devil is constantly trying to deceive people into taking counterfeit versions of the good things that God has created. Just take the counterfeit version. And here's the thing about counterfeits. Have you noticed this about counterfeits? They're cheaper and easier to get a hold of. And he loers people in through this deception to say, take this version of what God is offering you. It looks exactly the same, but it is a deception. Ready? A few ideas here around creation versus counterfeit. This is what the enemy does, what the devil loves to do. He loves to take love and turn it into lust. He counterfeits and put it into lust. He counterfeits God's self-giving love and offers selfish desire and said, intimacy. He provides pornography. He counterfeits true intimacy and offers false connection that produces isolation. That's what that is doing. Identity. He says, don't, no, no, don't take identity in God. take performance, he can't affit your identity in Christ until you're to earn your worth? Rest, God offers rest. What does the devil offer? He's going to take this escapism. He can't if it's God's Sabbath rest and offers endless distraction that leaves you restless. Joy? God says, "I want to give you joy." He says, "No." The devil's like, "Let me give you pleasure." He can't if it's lasting joy and offers temporary gratification that never satisfies. Keep going, Shallow. Peace, God says, "I want to give you peace." The enemy can't if it's no-no, take control. He can't if it's God's peace and tells you that control will bring security. Community. God's like, "I'm going to put you in this great community." The enemy can't if it's that says, "No, no, take popularity." He can't if it's genuine belonging and offers the empty approval of the crowd. Worship. The devil says, "No, no. Idolatry is better." He can't if it's wholehearted worship by turning good gifts into ultimate things. Freedom? God's like, "I'm going to give you freedom." What does the devil say? "No, no, don't take freedom. Choose independence." He can't if it's true freedom in Christ and offers autonomy that separates you from God. So this is what the enemy is constantly doing. Question. How many people have ever fallen for the counterfeits? Yeah. Because often, again, it's cheaper, it's easier, it's instant. And the devil is constantly trying to deceive you and deceive you and I because he does not want you to experience the created goodness that God has for you. And he wants to counterfeit it and give you the lesser version. Now you're asking why? Why would he do that? Well, from the very beginning, from the garden of the lease, we know that he is in the art of deception. We know that when Jesus speaks of him, guess what he says of the devil. He is the father of lies. When he speaks, he speaks his native language. So deception is in him, but John also adds, watch this in verse 18, he says, "Children, it's the last hour." And as you've heard, that Antichrist is coming and many Antichrist have already come. So when he says the last hour, here's the reason why the devil is so intent, even more now than ever on deception. Why? It's the last hour. Now you think, oh my gosh, James has lost it. He's counting down literally minutes until the Lord will return. No, no. When John says the last hour, just so you know, John wrote this in around about 70 AD. So many people think, like, John, you know, hours are not that long. So when you say the last hour, what do you mean? Well, this is what it meant. The last is actually this Greek word, eschatos, which means last or final stages. He's saying, this is the last and the final stages. Hey church, this is the last and the final stages. You're thinking, James, last and final stages. What do you mean? I'll go, in context, ready? The last time in context means this, the closing period of the age of sin and death and the dawning of a new age of reconciliation and renewal. What did Jesus say when he started, when he put on flesh and he came, what do you say? I'm coming to bring the kingdom. It's a new age. It's a new era. I am ushering in. And so John is saying, just remember when Christ came, it was the end or the beginning of the end for the enemy's rule and reign on this planet, used to with me. And he's saying, this is like the last stage. And if you're an enemy in the last stage, the enemy is always trying to do as much as he can to cause destruction, especially even, he knows he's not going to win. He knows. If you like World War II documentaries, there was this documentary called World War II in colour, or the events of World War II in colour, it's quite tragic, but it's amazing too. But they actually came to one of the wars. It was called the Tragedy of Saipan. And the Imperial Japanese army at the time, they knew they were about to get defeated. And so they spread propaganda to the people of the islands saying, do not give yourself over as prisoners. Do not surrender, because the Americans are evil, they will rape, they will pillage, they will destroy, they'll kill your children in horrific ways. They spread these lies. And what happened tragically, this is around July in 1944, as the American forces started to now take over that island, villages were literally taking their lives, jumping off cliffs, because they were so scared of what the Americans would do to them, because they believed a lie. And this is exactly what the enemy is doing to humanity. His age is coming to an end. He's rule and reign. Come on, it's coming to an end. This is the last hour, and the devil is using deception to lure humanity away from the abundant life of God. He would rather you die believing in a liar than live in the truth. Heavy, right? Weighty stuff. But John is saying, guys, be mindful of deception. The second thing, point number two, the strategy of deception. He says, children, it's the last hour, and if you heard the antichrist is coming, and he says this, watch this. And so now, many antichrist have come. Interesting, it's not just one figure, it's many. Watch this, first 19. They went out from us, because they were not of us. This is interesting. I came across this guy this week. I actually was like, this guy is fascinating. Picture of him is, this is Barry Bremen. Barry Bremen in between 1987, the 1980s. He actually got the nickname, the great imposter. The great imposter. The reason why he got the nickname, the great imposter is because he would go into sporting events, dress to someone from the sport, and people were like, oh, he must be with us. But he ever was, so watch this. He's a picture of all of it. He actually dressed up as an NFL, so that's ice hockey referee, and actually started to referee a game. He actually dressed up as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and somehow got onto the field. Not very convincing, but anyway, he dressed up as a Yankee baseball player, and went onto the field. Last but not least, this one was fascinating. He dressed up as an NBA All-Star, and he actually warmed up with a 1981 NBA All-Star team before security realised he wasn't a player. This guy was the great imposter. He had what? There's a thing. He was famous because he looked the part, but he wasn't actually the part. And this is the same way that deception works. This is his strategy. Doesn't announce itself as a lie. It wears the uniform of truth. Say that again. Deception doesn't announce itself as a lie. Hey, I'm a lie. Welcome me in. No, it wears the uniform of truth. This is interesting. He says this, so many antichrist have come. They went out from us. Okay, huge. Ready? Antio. This word, Antio. Antichristos. Antio means against, or in place of, or to replace. Christos means Christ anointed one. So in other words, antichrist is someone or something that stands against the true Christ, or who offers a countervert version of Christ, a counterfeit version. So John is saying this. Ready? Let me hear me. Some of the most dangerous antichrist, like anti-god things, can actually come from it inside the church. Catch that. Some of the most destructive things that are actually not Christ or the antichrist come from within the church. Some people are like, "James, this is the worst PR for church I've ever heard." No, but we need to recognize that sometimes wolves rest up and sheep's clothing. They came out from us. They were in our church community. We did, we did connect with them. They taught at this class. They did all of these great things. They looked just like someone who could be trusted, but really as I started to listen to what they were saying, "I realized they were not of us." It was something different. In fact, watch this Warren Worsby who does a great commentary on this. He says this. Satan is not an originator. He's a counterfeitor coming back to that last point. Emitates the work of God. Satan's chief stratagem during this age is to plant the counterfeit wherever Christ plants the truth. It is important that you be able to detect the counterfeit and separate the teachings of Christ from the false teachings of anti-Christ. He's actually saying, "Guys, it's not just enough just to sharpen a church and listen to someone preach. That's good. Well done for doing that this morning." He says, "You should know this." Do you know what I'm saying? Is it true? Is it true? But James, you're so charismatic. You sound so convincing. Well, that's what many people have said before, of people that were not of Christ at all, but men were they convincing. Men, did they look the part? John says, "Be mindful of that strategy." In fact, John was speaking again to this idea of narcissism, which again, the Nostics believed that again, they didn't believe Jesus was actually a physical person. They believed he was literally like a phantom. He looked like the person, but if you were touching him, you put your hand through him. They believed that battle was evil and spirit was good, so no way could God have become a human being. So, in other words, they were belittling Christ. We don't really have that as a problem today, do we? I've never met someone in the foyer who's struggling with narcissism. I don't know if Jesus was actually a real plague. This is not the battle that we face, but I felt really impressed to do this today, eight deceptive doctrines that you need to guard against right now. You ready? I told you it was going to be deep today. I told you I warned you. Eight deceptive doctrines you need to guard against. Number one, universalism. The belief, what is that belief? Everyone will will ultimately be saved regardless of faith in Christ. Everyone, there's no repentance needed. In fact, why is this deceptive? Because it magnifies God's love while diminishing His holiness, justice, and necessity of repentance and faith in Jesus. It's out there. Next one, shall I keep going? The prosperity gospel. The belief that what? God's primarily will for your life is actually health, wealth, and success, and faith guarantees material blessings. Why is that deceptive? Because it makes Jesus a means to a personal prosperity rather than the Lord who calls us to deny ourselves, carry our cross and follow Him. Next, progressive Christianity. This is out there, ready? Biblical teaching should be reshaped to fit the modern cultural values and ethics. That's out there. No, no, no, let's get this book to shape what we think now. That's the belief of progressive Christianity. Why it's deceptive, it often elevates cultural opinion above biblical authority, redefining sin, salvation, and the uniqueness of Christ. Number four, hypergrace, or I could put in brackets, cheap grace, which is what? It's a belief that God forgives repentance, holiness, and obedience are optional or unnecessary. 'Cause He's forgives, doesn't matter. You don't need to worry about repenting ever. Why it's deceiving? It separates God's grace from His transforming power, ignoring the New Testament, repeated call to holy living. Number five, we're almost done. Destruction without reconstruction. Or deconstruction without reconstruction. That's out there right now, ready? And it's a belief that all traditional Christian beliefs should be questioned without returning to the biblical truth. Why it's deceptive? Because honest questions are healthy. The perpetual skepticism without submitting to Christ can leave people without any foundation. Last but not least, number six, syncretism. It's out there. The belief that Christianity can be blended with other spiritual practices, philosophies, or belief systems, EEG, astrology, crystals, new age, spirituality, and mix them with Christian language. That's out there. Why it's deceptive? It offers a spiritual experience by subtly replacing dependence on Christ with alternative sources of guidance and power. Whoa, you're still with me. Hey friends, that's out there. It would be wrong of me as your pastor not to say, be where? The people who look like me, dress like me, sound like me, and church is like ours, will sometimes teach this. And it's not true. It's a deception. It has this idea of a truth in there somewhere but really is deceiving you and taking away from what? Biblical authority and the person of Christ. See, the strategy of deception, watch this. This is huge. It's to get you to redefine Jesus so much that you move away from the real one and follow a count of it one. The devil's okay with you. Oh, I'm a Jesus follower, but what type of Jesus? And deceptions trying to get you to redefine Christ. No, no, just change this, change that. Like Jesus is like some type of accessory you take along in your life and just do whatever you need to do to make it more like your comfort and your ways and your truth. And this strategy is what deception does. Now, here's the thing. When I preach things like this, when we preach things like this, guess what it does? What happens when the truth exposes lies? Verse 9 says this. They went out from us because they're not from us. People leave. People leave. The more committed we are to preaching the truth, some people will leave the church because they actually don't want the truth. They want their truth. So if some of you today might be like, "This guy, I'm out." Twitch John would say, "Well, truth is more important than growth." If that rubs you the wrong way, I'm sorry. Well, not sorry, it's the Bible. And you need to embrace that truth because again, any other type of truth is not bringing liberty, it's deforming, not transforming. Watch this, Charles Spurgeon says it this way, "There is a separating process always going on "in the professing church. "And the most effectual, winnowing fan "of all is a faithful ministry." After a while, some of our hearers do not like what we say. It is too personal, too cutting, too searching. They want to listen to the kind of preaching that will allow them to go uncomfortably in their sins and to have the reputation of living even while they are dead. How constantly our Lord's teaching kept on sifting His disciples. It is always so and so must it be under the faithful preaching of the Word. You must not be astonished or grieve when it is so. So John is saying, "There is a strategy "to try and take Scripture within the church "and to see people to following another version of Christ." And he's saying, "Guys, be mindful. "Wake up to that." Now, I need a pastoral side note here. I don't want you to weaponize this Scripture. That's why they left a bide. They're an antichrist. That makes sense now. Like, don't do that. That's what I'm trying to do here, okay? I don't weaponize this Scripture for anyone who leaves our church, or maybe they went over us because they weren't really. So don't do that. John wasn't doing that, we're not doing that. What John was doing is John is not defending institutional loyalty to a particular church or leader. He's defending faithfulness to apostolic, to the apostolic gospel and to the true identity of Jesus. That's what he's defending. You're still with me. Last but not least, and I had to kind of shorten this up because there's too much in these last few verses from 20 to 27, but point number three is the power against and the victory over deception. So there is a power to live this. It's not like, "Hey, guys, just be more aware "of what is truth and what is lies." We actually have been given a power. This is really beautiful. So catch this. He says in verse 20, "But you have been anointed by the Holy One "and you have all knowledge." Don't be down to verse 24. It says, "Let what you've heard from the beginning abide in you, "if what you heard from the beginning abides in you, "then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." Jumping down to verse 27, and but his anointing teaches you about everything and it's true and it's no lie just as he taught you abide in him. So what John is saying here, it's not like, "Hey, guys, just be more mindful." He's like, "You and I, once we receive Christ, "guess what we've received." It's not a trick question. Anyone wanna have a crack at it? Liz Wei, who's on stuff, you should have said that. That's great. The Holy Spirit. He says, "You've got this what?" And you've been anointed by the Holy One. Anointed. Now we're getting there in a moment, but here's the point I wanna make. I was in the city a couple of years ago, I think it was Rand Christmas, and I went to the big Christmas tree in Martin play. I think in Martin play, so yeah. So I went to the Christmas tree and I'm there. And then from a distance, I see this building. I'm like, "Wow, that's pretty impressive. "That's a cool building." But from a distance, it looked like that. As I got closer, I'm like, "What? "Hold on a sec. "That's not even real. "Here's the picture." It was actually, while they were renovating this part of the building, they literally just got a printed version of what it looks like and put it around the scaffold to make it look real. Okay, it wasn't until I got closer that I realized it was a deception. That's not real. That's not right. Okay, this is what John is saying that the Holy Spirit does to you and I, the Holy Spirit brings you closer to the truth. What's the truth? Christ. I am the way the truth, the life. And the Holy Spirit is constantly saying, "Hey, let me bring you closer." 'Cause from a distance, that looks real. That teaching looks pretty impressive. That type of doctrine, wow, that is. And there's so many people that are at a distance from Christ, making decisions about what they believe, but they have actually allowed the Holy Spirit to bring them close to the truth, to recognize that is not true. That is not the Jesus I know. In fact, this is where spirit and truth comes in. This is why it's so important that he says, "You recognize you've been anointed." Now that word anointed, if you grew up around like 90s, early 2000s, Pentecostal church, you'd be like, "That guy's got the anointing," all right? Whatever it was, and really what, that's not what you think that is. Do you realize that everyone, upon receiving Christ as their Savior, you have the anointing? What is the anointing? It's this, again, this Greek word, charisma, or charisma, or caros. It is a spirit, is a power, is an energizing force, not a force, but a person who enters into your life upon salvation. You are all anointed. How cool is that? And guess what? The Holy Spirit, man, running out of time, but let's go there for a second, ready? Three things the Holy Spirit will never do. Will never do. The Holy Spirit never lies. He is the Spirit of truth. Never contradict God's Word or deceive God's people. Never. Second thing the Holy Spirit never does. Holy Spirit never draws attention to Himself. His role is to glorify Jesus. Wherever the Holy Spirit is genuinely at work, people's attention is ultimately drawn to Christ, not to a spiritual experience or personalities. Third thing the Holy Spirit will never do. He will never lead us away from Scripture. The Spirit in spied scriptures, right? That's what they are, so he will never contradict them. He may bring fresh application, conviction, or guidance, but he will never give a new revelation that opposes God's revealed Word. Never. That's what the Holy Spirit never does. Three things the Holy Spirit will do. You ready? He will lead you to truth. The Holy Spirit's primary ministry is not to reveal Himself, but to reveal Jesus. He opens out eyes to who Christ is and what He is accomplished and what it means to follow Him. He illuminates Scripture, exposes deception, convicts us of sin and continually points us back to the gospel. Three, second thing he does, he leads you to togetherness. The Holy Spirit brings us into communion with the Father and into community with these people, He assures us that we are His children, we are the children of God and at the same time He baptizes us into one body, the church. He tears down walls of division, creates unity and empowers us to love, forgive, serve and bear one another. The last but not least, the Holy Spirit leads you to transformation. The Holy Spirit is committed to our formation, not just our forgiveness. He patiently reshapes our desires, renews our minds, forms Christ-like character within us and empowers us to overcome sin. As we walk with Him, His fruit becomes increasingly evident in our lives. Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. This is the power to overcome, the victory, it's God's Word and the Holy Spirit. So catch this, kind of closing now, but I want to throw this last point within this last point, ready? You don't need to make it your goal to become an expert on deception, just make it your goal to become an expert at abiding in Jesus. Some of you panicking like, oh my gosh, no, you don't need to become an expert in deception, just make it your goal to become an expert at abiding in Jesus because the closer you get you realize that's not Him, that's not true, that's not what the Scriptures say. That wasn't revealed in the person of Christ. That's what the Spirit is doing as you abide in Christ. Spirit and truth transform lies in deception, de-form, we know that right, but the close you get to truth, the easier it is to recognize a lie. Amen. Why don't you stand your feet as we finish? A lot to take in, but I did warn you and we locked the doors after I said that too, so you couldn't leave. That's a joke, but I know there's a lot to take in this morning and sometimes sitting in Scripture and in teaching, there's so much to take in. And what I do know is if we just keep ourselves open to what God is saying to us that He will put His finger on some things, be like, hey, hey, that's a lie you've been living. That's a deception. Yeah, you need to abide in me a bit more. You need to draw closer. So a couple of questions I want to give you practically as we close. Here's the questions. Are there any lies you are currently believing or living by? Now, you're like, James, I don't know. Well, that's where you bring in the Holy Spirit. Some of you are. You're living a lie. Someone has said something to you. You believe something and really it is de-forming you, not transforming you. Next one, are you settling for counterfeit versions of what God has created? So when we talked about the two differences, you know, love and lust and all these other things, joy and pleasure, are you settling for counterfeits? Can I encourage you? Don't. I know it's instant gratification society, but that stuff does not ultimately bring about fulfillment and joy. Next thing, do you test teaching by charisma and popularity or by its confession of Jesus? I thought it was a really good question to put in there because everyone's on social media and that was cool. That was a kind of cool little sound by it. They love that, but be careful because charisma and popularity doesn't necessarily mean it's the Scriptures. It doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Last but not least, are you growing closer to Jesus so you can discern the difference between truth and lies? And that's more of a call to action. Come on, let us be a church that abides. Amen. Amen. We're going to finish with a prayer and this prayer is, we always do this at the end of our messages because we love to pray together because sometimes, well, not sometimes, there is always power and prayer together. We're two more gathered in agreement and we're agreeing. We're saying yes to what God's Word has said, but also we're like, God, let it be so in my life. So here's our prayer for today. Father, I thank you that your truth leads me into freedom. Holy Spirit, help me identify any lies I have been believing. Leave me closer to Jesus so that I may discern the difference between deception and true life and Christ. Help me to abide in you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Can you pray this? Let's pray out loud, say it with me. Ready? Lead me closer to Jesus so that I might discern the difference between deception and true life and Christ. Well, we hope this podcast has inspired you on your journey of discipleship to Jesus. If you want to know more about our church, just go to abide.sitney. We'd love to get to know you. If not, you're from another place. Hey, why don't you share this with someone else and hopefully it helps them as they continue to follow Jesus. Have a great week.