1 John 2 vs 18-19 - Antichrist - Calvary Chapel Cherry Creek

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1 John 2 vs 18-19 - Antichrist

Calvary Chapel Cherry Creek

January 28, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 2:18–19

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1 John Chapter 2 Verse 18

In the Bible, there are many antichrist’s (little “a”) such as Nero, Antiochus Epiphanes, Pharoah, Judas and Sennacherib. There is the “spirit of antichrist” which is anything “instead” of Jesus Christ and the Word of God, and there is The Antichrist, the coming one world leader who will openly deny and blaspheme God, refer to himself as God, and in the time of the Great Tribulation that will make war with Israel, the saints and ultimately with Jesus Himself at the Battle of Armageddon.

Now, he goes by many titles in the Bible. The prince that shall come, the man of sin, the Beast, the son of perdition…, all refer to the one coming Antichrist. The question we will explore today is what can we actually know about this ominous apocalyptic figure in the Bible. So, let’s walk through the key passages on the Antichrist and explain exactly what the Bible says about what kind of person he will be and what he will do.

Now a study on the Antichrist is more complicated than just performing a word search. In fact, the word “Antichrist” is only used in First and Sec-ond John and though John writes this word five times, only two of those uses are specifically talking about THE Antichrist. 1 John 2:18 he writes, “Little children it is the last time and as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.” In chapter 4 verse 3 he speaks of the spirit of antichrist saying, “you have heard was coming and even now is already in the world.”

John tells us that even though the Antichrist will be coming in the future, his spirit is already here now meaning that today people are already living in a condition of “instead of Christ,” they are living with the spirit of an-tichrist, but where we find far more specific information on the man and his dealings is in the books of Daniel, 2 Thessalonians and The Book of Revelation.

Let's start with the Book of Daniel. In chapter 7 the prophet sees a vision of four beasts. The first one was like a lion with eagle’s wings which can be interpreted to be the kingdom of Babylon and their King Nebuchad-nezzar. The second was like a bear raised up on one side which can be in-terpreted as the Medo Persian Empire. The Medes and the Persians would conquer the Babylonians and their empire would be controlled mainly by the Persians represented by the one side of the Bear raised up. Then came a leopard with four wings. This can be interpreted to represent the Greek Empire which would eventually conquer the Medes and Persians and it would do so as a leopard with lightning speed. The leopard in Daniel's Vi-sion had four wings and four heads because after Alexander the Great es-tablished the Greek Empire he died (at 32 years old) and his Empire was split between four kings…

Then after these (and here is the important part) Daniel saw a fourth Beast that he says was “dreadful and terrible” and had iron teeth. This we can reasonably assume refers to the Roman Empire which was the final world Empire in history and was the nation that conquered the Greeks. This beast Daniel says had 10 horns but in verse 8 (of Daniel 7) he tells us that he watched until there came up among them another “little horn” before whom there were three of the first horns plucked out by the roots and be-hold in this horn where eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking pompous, self-centered words…

Beginning in verse 15 of chapter 7, he is given the interpretation of what he saw. (Daniel 7:15-25) The 10 horns represent 10 Kings and the little horn that spoke great things would subdue three kings and would speak against God and would persecute the elect of God. (Interestingly, Daniel 11:37 tells us that “He shall not regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women…,” which many speculate that the coming Antichrist will come from a predominantly religious culture such as Muslim, Jewish or even Catholic…, and that he will be a homosexual) Now, Rome never had 10 Kings at one time which has led many to speculate that this pas-sage predicts a future resurrection of the Roman Empire in some form which will be led by 10 different Kings until the Antichrist, that little horn, shows up and uproots three of those kings and rises to power in their place.

Then what's very interesting to note is that verse 25 of Daniel 7 tells us that this man represented by the little horn will persecute the Saints “for a time and times and half a time,” which equals one plus two plus a half or three and a half times. What’s that mean?

In Daniel chapter 9 verse 27 we read that this ruler will confirm a cove-nant with many for one week. Now because of the timeline that Daniel gives us of 69 of these weeks from the command to rebuild Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time until the Messiah will be cut off, we know that this prophecy refers not to a week of seven days but rather to a week of seven years.

According to Daniel, in the middle of that Covenant week, the Antichrist will do something within the temple in Jerusalem that will be an abomina-tion to the people of Israel making the temple desolate. So, we can gather from this that the Antichrist will make a seven-year peace treaty with Is-rael allowing them to worship in their rebuilt Temple again for the first time since 70AD when the last temple in Israel was destroyed. However, though he will promise them seven years of peace, after only three and a half years of that treaty, this man will do something in the temple that is so abominable that the sacrifices there will have to cease and the temple will be made empty.

Interestingly enough, in Daniel chapter 8 and 11 we see another prophecy of a Greek king who does something very similar to this abomination of desolation that chapter 9 says that the Antichrist will perform. Chapters 8 and 11 prophesy about a tyrant king of the Seleucid Greek Empire named Antiochus Epiphanies. This man considered himself to be God and in 168BC, he forced the Jewish people to eat pork which is forbidden for them, he sacrificed a pig (an unclean animal) on the altar, and he even set up an idol to Zeus inside the temple of God. This at that time caused the sacrifices to cease in the temple until the Maccabean Revolt at which time the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and cleansed the temple so that it could be used once again.

But we know that this was only a type, a shadow of what was and is yet to come and was not a fulfillment of the prophecies of the Antichrist in chap-ters 7 and 9. In Daniel 7, we are told that the Antichrist is connected to the Roman Empire but Antiochus Epiphanes was a Greek king. And Daniel 9 tells us that the abomination of the Antichrist will happen after making a seven-year peace treaty with Israel which Antiochus never did.

Also, Daniel 9 tells us that the final week of 7 years (that seven-year peace treaty) would come after 69 weeks of years and those 69 weeks of years were a countdown until the Messiah would be cut off. So, the Abomination spoken of in Daniel 9 had to come after Jesus the Messiah died on the cross for our sins. Jesus died on the cross more than 200 years after the abomination of Antiochus Epiphanies in 168 BC, so we know that Daniel 8 and 11 speak of an abomination in the temple by a wicked man who pictured the Antichrist but Daniel chapters 7 and 9 actually speak of the coming Antichrist himself.

We find support of this in Matthew 24:15-16 and 21 when Jesus spoke of the end times to his disciples. He told them when they see the abomina-tion of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the holy place then let them in Judea flee into the mountain for then shall be Great Tribu-lation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be.

So, even though Jesus was living 200 years after Antiochus Epiphanies had desecrated the temple, He said that the abomination spoken of by Daniel was still in the future and that it would be followed by a period of great persecution against the people of God and a Great Tribulation upon the world. This fits perfectly with what Daniel says in chapter 7 about the little horn who goes after the elect for three and a half times! Now in Mat-thew, Jesus is confirming that when this man commits this abomination of desolation in the middle of that seven-year peace treaty he will begin per-secuting the elect for the remaining time in that seven years which is three and a half years.

Jesus then continues specifically about the tribulation of those days using the phrase “those days” four different times in reference to Daniel's prophecy. Ok, lets run some numbers which might make your head spin…

Daniel chapter 12:11-12 tells us from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the Abomination takes place, there shall be one thou-sand two hundred and ninety days AND blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days… These two sets of days seem to mark out the exact (to the day) timeline from this abomination of the Antichrist until the Second Coming of Jesus.

Ok so seven years before Jesus returns to the Earth (Revelation 19 Second Coming), the Antichrist will make a peace treaty with Israel. Then in the middle of those seven years he will claim himself to be God and will des-ecrate the temple.

Based on Daniel 12 this desecration takes place after 1,290 days or three and a half years and then after another 1,335 days or roughly another 3 and a half years plus 45 days, a blessed event happens which we can as-sume is the coming of Christ! Make sense!?

There’s more that we can learn about the Antichrist in the prophecy of the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. We’re told by Paul (2 Thes 2:3-4), “that before the day of the Lord there will be a falling away and the man of sin or the Son of Perdition will be revealed. This man Paul says will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God sits in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.” Paul goes on to say that something is currently holding back the Antichrist preventing him from being released upon the world but once it is the right time, that withholding thing will be removed (2 Thess 2:7-10) and Paul writes, “Then shall that the lawless one be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall de-stroy with the brightness of his coming even him who's coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not re-ceive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

According to 2 Thessalonians this man of sin will not only set up an idol in the temple but he will literally sit in the temple and declare himself to be God and he will do so with power and signs and wonders. Essentially demonic miracles to convince the world that he is god!

So, let's recap the key elements that we found in Daniel, Matthew and 2 Thessalonians. The man we call the Antichrist seems to rise to power by supplanting three other kings of an Empire that in some way is connected with the ancient Romans. He will gain his power with the skill of his mouth speaking great things and he will make a peace treaty with Israel for 7 years. In the middle of that treaty, he will sit in the temple declaring himself as god, and will be empowered by Satan to do lying miracles in an attempt to prove himself. At the end of the seven years, 1335 days after his abomination in the temple he will be destroyed in the brightness of the coming of the Lord!

With that in mind let's consider the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 11:3 we see two witnesses who John writes will prophesy on the earth for three and a half years. It seems now that this passage is describing the middle of that 7-year week. And John tells us in Revelation 11:7 that the beast ascends out of the bottomless pit, makes war with these witnesses, and kills them though they will rise from the dead three and a half days later and ascend into heaven.

Now this Beast sounds a lot like the prince who brings the abomination of desolation in Daniel's prophecy. According to Daniel 12, he commits the Abomination 1335 days before Jesus comes which could mean that he goes into the temple and claims to be God at the three-and-a-half-year mark which then prompts him to kill the two witnesses. The witnesses no doubt preach against this evil desecration of the temple and show that he is not the true God so he in turn makes war with them and kills them!

Then remember that Jesus said that believers should flee to the mountains if they're in Jerusalem when they see the abomination of desolation be-cause afterward there would be a great persecution, and remember that Daniel says that the little horn speaking of the Antichrist would drive out the elect.

Revelation 11 gives us what may be the catalyst for this great persecution. It may be a result of the two witnesses rising from the dead and putting the Antichrist to shame! Here he is claiming to be God yet when he kills his enemies, they rise from the dead and ascend into heaven! So, the Anti-christ in rage turns his anger against the rest of the believers who refuse to worship him as God. And this kicks off the second half of the Great Tribu-lation, the seventieth week of Daniel, or persecution that Jesus foretold!

This is described in Revelation 12 when a dragon which is the devil who is the power behind the Antichrist makes war with a woman who is Israel. In this passage the woman flees from the dragon and finds refuge in the wilderness for three and a half times exactly as Jesus described would take place after the Abomination. Then in Revelation 13, we see a detailed de-scription of what the Antichrist will do during this time after the abomina-tion of desolation.

Revelation 13:5 tells us that he will speak great things and blasphemies for 42 months or three and a half years this is exactly what we know from 2 Thessalonians 2 and Daniel 7. Then in verse 7 of Revelation 13, (after he receives some sort of mortal head wound but is miraculously healed, that’s verse 3) he is said to make war with the Saints just as we're told by Jesus in Matthew 24 and also by Daniel in chapter 7. And in Revelation 13:8 we read that all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship Him whose names are not written in the Book of Life. This again perfectly coincides with 2 Thessalonians…

But Revelation goes on giving us further information about what this will look like in detail. John writes that the Antichrist, the Beast will have a helper, described as a second beast and we know as the false prophet. This false prophet will do great wonders, make fire come down from heaven, and deceive them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those miracles. He works the Miracles that Paul spoke of and 2 Thessalonians 2 and calls men to worship the Antichrist.

Not only that but this false prophet actually has power to give life unto the image of the Beast that the image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed. So this begins to make the picture more clear when Daniel said that the abomination of desolation would be set up in the temple because it seems what was meant was that not only would the Antichrist himself sit in the temple at a certain moment and claim to be God as we're told in 2 Thessalonians, but also an image or an idol of the Antichrist will be placed in the temple and the false prophet will give that idol the demonic power to speak and he kills those that won't worship the Antichrist!

Revelation 13 goes on to tell us that this is why the mark of the beast comes as the false prophet (in order to force the worship of the Antichrist) makes this mark. This Mark must be displayed either on a person's head or hand to prove that they worship the Antichrist or else they are banned from buying and selling anything in the world economy.

This tyranny goes on for three and a half years, and many believe that it is in this time, just as Jesus descried in Matthew 24, the seven vial judg-ments are released as described in Revelation 16. Specifically, in the fifth vial judgment there is a miserable darkness on the entire Kingdom of the Antichrist and in chapter 18 we see more detail on the destruction of his capital city which is typified by the ancient city of Babylon. This probably cripples his persecution efforts against the people of God and he must re-group and gather his forces to make one final massive assault on God's people in what we know as the battle of Armageddon.

In vial judgment number 6, the river Euphrates is dried up to make way for the Kings to gather together to war against the Saints. Apparently after the destruction of this Capital City, the persecuted Believers on the earth have some respite and they need only wait as Daniel prophesies 45 more days until the 1335 days are completed and Jesus returns to set up his throne. And though the Antichrist will amass a giant force to attack the believers and wipe them off the face of the earth once and for all, Revela-tion 19 tells us that as they gather for war Jesus appears in the sky de-scends to the Earth and slaughters the armies of the evil one!

Revelation 19:15 says, “He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of all Mighty God,” and he comes to prove and declare that He is the only true King of kings and Lord of lords! Revelation 20 tells us that the Antichrist and the false prophet are taken and cast alive into a lake of burning fire and brimstone where they will be tormented day and night forever!

And that is everything we know about the Antichrist. He comes on the scene with deception and calls for peace! He seeks to claim the title of God and to be worshiped as God! He is empowered by Satan and makes war with the Saints! But his days are incredibly short and his defeat is imminent!

I want to end with what else is imminent. In light of all of that, all that we can know from the pages of scripture, we are not looking for or waiting for the Antichrist. We are looking for and waiting for Jesus! Why? Be-cause before the Antichrist even ever comes on to the scene and is re-vealed, before the Great Tribulation begins, the seventieth week of Daniel, the church is taken out of the way as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians Chap-ter 2 and put on clear display in Revelation Chapter 4.

Why? How can I be so sure!? Well, let alone the fact that the time of the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble, the seventieth week of Dan-iel, let alone that is a period of time described in the Bible as the time of God’s wrath and judgement upon the earth, which for the church, for the Christian was fully satisfied at the cross of Jesus Christ…, and therefore for any Christian to enter into the wrath of God and God’s judgement not only negates the work of the cross but also brings God’s integrity and jus-tice into question, leave that 500lb elephant alone for just a minute…, Paul says to the church in 2 Thessalonians that what he has told them ought to be used to comfort them, to encourage them…

Why? If a Christian sees the Antichrist, according to all of scripture, the clock has begun! Comfort from others? Not needed. I know the time is short, in fact I can count the days. Comfort is needed because what is be-ing said is troubling and the church would be comforted knowing that the gathering of believers in the rapture would save them out of this time of intense tribulation on earth! Being in the Great Tribulation would itself be a comfort for the church as we would know exactly what is ahead and when it all would end!

AND, there must be a rapture, a coming of the Lord in the clouds that Je-sus said of the day and of the hour no one knows except the Father Him-self. Why? Because from the day the Antichrist is revealed and from the day he commits the abomination that causes desolation, you can count to the day when Jesus returns in Revelation 19. So, Jesus could not have been talking about the Second Coming…, He was talking about the rap-ture!

SO, THAT is what we can know of the Antichrist in the pages of the Bible and anything more is interesting but simply just a bunch of talking. And what we know from scripture is not scary at all but exciting indeed!!

1 John 5 vs 1-5

May 5, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 5:1–5

1 John Chapter 5 Verse 1 · John somewhat levels the playing field here after talking so much about love being the physical, observable consequence of salvation by saying that simply loving each other doesn’t save anyone. What saves someone is being born of God and being born of God is believing in Jesus. The Bible is very clear… · Everyone is born. Raise your hand if you were born! HA! Right!? And, in order to be forgiven of all sin and inherit eternal life, everyone must be born again. Born of water, born of the Spirit or as John puts it here, born of God. · There’s no room for argument here as some who claim to be of God even today mock the term born-again. That’s simply nonsensical as Jesus was very clear in John Chapter 3 verses 5 – 7, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” So, this church and every other protestant church…, we aren’t born-agains…, we are Jesus believing, Jesus obeying, Bible reading…, CHRISTIANS! · Are you born again? Simple process John lays out for us in verse one. Check the pattern…, believe, born, love… BOOM! Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came and paid for the sins of the world? Yes? You are born of God! · Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16 verses 15 – 17, “Peter, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” Born of God! Then…, agape/love. It’s agape time!! Believe, born, love! That’s the simple pattern of all heaven humans! 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 2 – 3 · What are the commandments of God? Yes, there are 10 big ones! That’s true. AND Paul told us in Galatians 5 that when love is in the mix, law mutes. It rests. Its overly satisfied! Precisely why Jesus said hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:40) on these two commandments, love God and love others. · And there’s this revelation that leads us into the next verse set that God’s commandments aren’t burdensome. Legalistic religious living, that’s burdensome. Love God, put Him first, and serve others…, I am my brother’s keeper…, not burdensome at all…, IF IF IF IF IF the Spirit of God is the Captain of your corazon (heart)! · Remember, God IS love. And so, if you are FILLED with the Holy Spirit and you walk in criticality of others, disdain of others, dislike of others…, there’s a war going on inside of you! You will be peaceless! Burdened! BUT, if you are a Christian, isn’t it hard for you to kick against the goads!? Yes, they’re incessantly stupid but my calling is not to remind them of that but to relieve them of that! Relieve folks of their stupidity! HA! Now there’s a definition of love!!! · SO, you decide to get in line with the heart of Jesus. You decide to get in line with the heart of God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…, and in so doing, the peace of God that surpasses understanding enters in and the Bible says (Philippians 4:7) guards your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus! That word for guard means “military protection!” Yes, the moment you love someone that is not being lovable, it will sting… but that one moment will be followed by multiplied moments of merriment in your heart of hearts! · And maybe, just maybe, you begin to learn that overcoming the world isn’t necessarily having heavenly seconds but rather heavenly minutes, hours and days! Sacrificing the seconds for the seasons…, playing the long game…, precisely what Jesus did on the cross. 1 John Chapter 5 Verses 4 – 5 · Overcoming and being victorious is not a feeling. So many feel like the world is kicking their ever-loving keister and in that they are stumbling and suffering. Brother, the world is going to kick your ever-loving keister. We overcome and are overcomers because we keep getting back up like we never got kicked! That’s the victory! · John 15:18-20, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” · Folks, I hear this all the time, my marriage is so hard, my job is so hard, my kids are so lame, my car is so squeaky, my flesh is so filled with temptations, when will I overcome!? What has any of that to do with overcoming! Jesus was destroyed by this world…, then He got up! Overcoming is being slammed over and over and over again and yet YOU KEEP COMING. YOU ARE OVERCOMING!!!! · So, what is it that overcomers display, flex, have and activate? It’s not worldy success or the perfect job, or the perfect marriage or the perfect mature this or that or I’m finally free of this temptation…, not at all! It’s faith! Trusting God through the thing. If you aren’t tempted then you have no shot at being faithful! And now we have the complete picture from John. Believe, born, love, FAITH…., rinse and repeat until Goliath FALLS, until Jericho FALLS, until Pharoah FALLS! And here’s the encouragement. Its not when they are defeated that they fall. That’s Jesus’ job when He does His thing on the last day. Its when you never stop coming…, that’s when every weapon formed against you does not prosper!! · Check this out. Proverbs 24:16, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.” That word calamity means overcome by grief! So, where’s the victory? Faith! Over and over but you still keep coming! Believe, born, love, faith > rinse and repeat!

1 John 4 vs 17-21

April 28, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 4:17–21

1 John Chapter 4 Verse 17 · So as He is, so are we in the eyes of the Father. Completely true, isn’t it? That because of what Jesus has done for me, stood in my place and paid the price for my sin, I now stand in his place, I am now a son of God, made perfect in the eyes of God, forgiven of my sin. Entirely true. And I think that’s just great! As thankful as I am for that today, when I meet my Maker, I will be far more thankful!! And, that’s interestingly not what John said here. He said, so as He is, so are we (supposed to be) in this world. Check this out, I want to be like Jesus before the Father, but I don’t want to be like Jesus before my brother? I am a hypocrite! Doesn’t make sense…. Sort of a wake-up call! · This whole verse is an incredibly important verse! Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” For the one that has rejected Jesus Christ, that judgment is unto condemnation, that is the consequence, the outcome, of presenting sin to God when it is your time. It wasn’t dealt with, the sin, my debt of righteousness remains, and so there remains no other option but to repay the debt yourself… · For the one that has received the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the payment for their own debt of sin, there is a judgment that awaits that person as well however that is a judgment unto eternal rewards and eternal identity. Who you will be and what will be your role in the coming Kingdom of God. Your sin was dealt with 2,000 years ago, no sin to present in the presence of God… · We see this in John 5:24, 28-29, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” · So, for you, (this question for you has nothing to do with me, and this question for me has nothing to do with you), for you, when the day comes as it will come for all, Jesus accepters and Jesus rejecters alike, when the day comes for you to stand in judgment face to face with God, what will be your confidence? · John uses the word boldness. It means wide-openness. Complete voluntary and comfortable transparency. Free and fearless and full of assurance… You arrive at the moment where you are to be judged by God and you are like YESSSSS! I’ve been waiting for this!!!! · To be quite clear, that is the highest goal. Forget the money you made in life, the position you achieved, the successful business, the solid marriage, the faithful ministry, the fruitful investments…, this is the most important goal and its one that so few are living for… Isn’t that nutso!?!? · And oh my my my my MY! John, tell me, Lord show me, God teach me, what is it, what’s the strategy, what’s the vision, mission, goals, and values, what is the method, procedure, policy and program for having this greatest day of excitement, this most important day in all my existence, this boldness and confidence when I stand in my own eternal judgment? · Perfect attendance at church? Memorization of the Bible? Strict legalistic living in accordance with the Word of God? A life of serving in the church? Should I be sure to drink my Ovaltine!? HA! NO! Revelation! The mission, vision, strategy, values to achieve the highest goal… Its. All. Love… Agape. The one thing this world lacks the most, needs the most, understands the least! To love and to serve those that are living, doing, saying and thinking not how I want them to! Deploying care and light and love into the world, one way, because as He is, so are we in this world… · When you are loving and caring for someone who is living and doing and saying things you yourself would never say! In fact, what they are doing is horrific to you personally and yet you are willing to lay down your life for them…, your rights, your emotions, your own convictions, to love them…, at that moment you are more like Jesus than you could be in any other scenario! · And when I show up face to face with Jesus, we won’t first talk about all the things, we will talk about love. And honestly, I’m saying this for me and this has nothing to do with you, honestly, I cannot wait for that moment! I am SO excited for that moment! Emotions aside, affections aside, to love through being used or rejected or hated or misunderstood or taken for granted, I fortunately and unfortunately am well acquainted… And I will be more acquainted the more God allows me to live because I am living for that goal. · Not saying I’ve been perfect in this… Certainly haven’t. But this is between Him and I…, and God sees it all, and nothing is lost, He knows… And because He knows, I cannot wait for the day when the accounting is called due and I have what I have to offer Him! Boldness!!!!! · Jesus, you forgave my sin and so I approach you without fear… That’s the next verse…, AND the more I was able to learn agape, the more I applied it and it was horrible….! HA! But it was for You. And it was because of the horrible you endured for Me…. That’s how its going to go and I can’t wait for that moment!! How about you? 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 18 – 19 · Receiving and registering what has been done for you in Jesus Christ erases the fear of standing face to face with God the Father. In other places in scripture, we are told to fear God but that is an entirely different fear. That is reverence, respect, dignification toward God that He is God and I am not! And we know that because John describes this fear in 1 John 4 as involving torment. This is fear that invites and incites hopelessness… · So, because of what Jesus has done, accepting that, understanding that, grasping that, I know that I am going to stand in front of God justified by the blood of Jesus. Just as if I’d never sinned… AND, this is also a present fear of understanding that God loves me…, so I can rest in hope about tomorrow, even when the season is rough. · Check this out, God corrects, chastens, disciplines those that are His children. And that discipline isn’t pleasant (you’ll find all of this in the book of Hebrews), but knowing that His love for me is perfect, fear fails… God, I trust you because You love me! And His integrity and promises comfort me… · And the completing, John uses the word perfecting, of that love in us, this boldness in us is when we do stop and realize that we love the Lord for all that He is and all that He is done and what He has done for us and yet there’s an epiphany that rolls in…, the only reason I even love Him is because He initiated it all… What manner of amazing grace, stunning love is this!? And a settling takes place… Because God’s love for me predates my faithfulness, my obedience, my religion! 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 20 – 21 · It certainly isn’t what we say, is it? Its what I do that expresses the reality of my experience. In Luke 18 the rich young ruler (everything going for him) came to Jesus and yet he went away sorrowful and he himself was lacking in his heart of hearts, why? Because it came down to he didn’t love others… Or maybe that’s not fair, maybe he did love others, he just loved what he had more… · And so, this thing about love isn’t just a commandment for religious purposes…, to please and appease God…, all of the commandments of God (of which this one is primary) is truly to set us free, to complete us and to prepare us for the most important day in all of our lives…, when we pass from this very very very temporary very difficult very unfair very fallen ridiculous version of reality into life that is eternally what it will be…

1 John 4 vs 12-16

April 21, 2024 • Pastor Matt Korniotes • 1 John 4:12–16

 The entire reason for human creation is to deploy love into the world. This is why you and I are here… to do this one thing. To love God and to love others. When you step into that/your purpose, your heart of hearts illuminates with life. Galatians 5:22-25, “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” And from love, deploying this love of God into the world through your life, your choice, not an emotion but an action, a disciplined decision, through love comes, “joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is not law.” Why? Because this is actually the eternal purpose of life! “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires,” so lust has taken a back- seat to love, “If we live in the Spirit,” revelation that is where life is…, living in the Spirit, “let us also walk in the Spirit…”  Verse 9 of 1 John 4, defines love for us. Every heart on every chocolate wrapper, movie label, fashion article, none of those things are love…, they are all something else… We use the word lust as lust is desire for someone or something else and in the terms of relationship, it is entirely reciprocal. I love you because you love me. I serve you because you make me happy. Make me feel a certain way. I want you, I need you, I yearn for you…, all of that the world calls love and its not. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, its just self-centered…, its not love.  Love was painted for us that while we were yet against God, Christ died for us. Verse 10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and (action) sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation is a big word but it essentially means that while we were without, Jesus went and gained us favor in the righteousness and holiness of God. Propitiation explains that I did not win the heart of God, but the Jesus won the heart of God for man!  Another big word used in some scholarly circles is expiation. Same thought, that while we were yet terrible (not you, not me specifically, creation as a whole), God Himself made atonement for all of the wrongs ever committed… It means literally that Jesus has “robbed all sin of their validities and significance!”  So, love was painted. It was defined. Love is not to demand that you affirm me. Love is not to take something from you so that I can have something. Love is not to reciprocate affection. Love is to care for another when they care nothing about you… The world knows nothing of this love, and that is why Jesus has filled you with His Spirit so that you and I can deploy this kind of love into this dark and tortured world. And remember, when you decide to do this, this is when you take all of the control back of and over yourself from the world, the enemy and the flesh (exiting the law of reciprocal affection – because with the life in the spirit, there is no law, only freedom)! 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 12  Is that right? What about Moses who saw God face to face? Exodus 33:11 says, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” What about Jacob who saw God? Genesis 32 tells us that Jacob wrestled with God, like physical wrestling match, all night until the breaking of day. What about Job who said in Job 42:5, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You?” There are others as well including Elijah, Gideon, Manoah and his wife (the parents of Samson). So, what’s going on here…? Because it is clear in 1 John and in Exodus 33:20 God says Himself, “No man shall see Me, and live.”  First of all, why? I could preach for the next 5 hours and not be able to do anything more than this next statement in terms of explanation. God is infinite. The human eyeball is flesh and it is finite. God, Yahweh, is spirit and He is infinite. My eye could no more contain the vision of God than a thimble could contain the oceans… God’s glory is so beyond all things that simply looking upon Him would melt me in my moccasins! And, all these folks in the Bible saw God…, what’s going on?  John tells us the answer… John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time,” written after Moses, Gideon, Elijah…, “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” That word means “interpreted.” Colossians 1:15 says of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God.” And so, who did Moses speak with? God? Yes… the preincarnate Person of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune God. You see, the Bible, if you can’t perceive the triune fact of the Almighty God, the Bible really itself falls apart. To be a biblical Christian you must be a trinitarian because no one can see God and live and yet we see Jesus who was from the beginning, was God AND was with God, and interpreted all things, revealed all things about God when He stepped into His own creation.  AND, there’s a dig here from John. This in context is a defense against false teachers. Yea the bible says this, yea Paul says that, but I HAVE SEEN God…, and so I have the real story. Wolf. That person is trying to make you follow them…, where as someone pointing you to the Word of God is pointing you to Jesus. 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 12 (Again)  In context, these two sentences together, this is what we just read. The world is to see God in and through how we love one another. The single purpose for my life at its simplest signification is to deploy love into this fallen and loveless world. Love is our greatest commandment and also it is each of ours and everyone’s greatest need. And ALL sin is a result of me not loving God or me not knowing that I am loved by God. 1 John Chapter 4 Verse 13  A couple of things here. John uses the phrase “we know” over and over again in his letters. We are to know that we have eternal life. Settled, secured, absolute. Many groups and religions out there and even Christians, ask them if they are going to heaven, and the response you get is, “I hope so.” Stop hoping. Read your Bible. Know…  And one of the ways to know that you are truly saved is that you have a heart, a desire and hopefully mature into actions this act of loving one another. Fulfilling your purpose in life. What you were created to do…  John says that loving one another, he links it to being filled with the Holy Spirit…, which is having God Himself abiding in you… 1 John Chapter 4 Verses 14 – 16  Just for a moment, lets talk about the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit a He or is He an it? A force or a Person? As you study and learn and observe what we can know from the Bible about the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to conclude anything other than the Holy Spirit is not a force but must be a He. Why? Because He exhibits the characteristics of a Person.  The Holy Spirit Himself speaks. 1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Hebrews 3:7, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice…” The Holy Spirit can be lied to. Acts 5:3, Peter says to Ananias, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit experiences personal grief as we read in Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” He speaks, He acts, He works, He reveals, He teaches, He convicts, He helps, He gives, none of those things describe a force or an it… AND, countless scriptures cast Him equal in all ways to the Father and to the Son….  Just one example, back to Acts 5:3-4, “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.””  So, is the Holy Spirit a Person? Absolutely. And John says that God has given us of His Spirit and that Spirit is love and he who abides in love abides in God. Abide means mixed, we are both on the title to the house, it’s a done deal. So, as we close, one more thought? Can a Christian be possessed? Absolutely! Possessed by the Spirit of God! In fact, that’s what the Bible says being Christian even IS! And just think what a demon possessed person, how they act…, how much more a Christian possessed by the Spirit of God Himself!? John’s entire point!  So, look at your heart. Survey your life. Check your attitude. Are you possessed!? HA! This is the only real proof of being born again, saved, a citizen of heaven. Are you deploying love straight from God, through you, into the world. Satan knows the bible better than any educated human ever. He has spoken to God, been in the presence of God, believes in Jesus and even must obey Him. And yet hell is where he belongs. Love is to care for another when they care nothing for you… That is to be possessed by God, filled with the Holy Spirit, both of y’all on the title…