I'm just gonna let you guys know how these past three weeks went. A few weeks ago first, I went to Brother Rodney Spears' church in Roanoke, Virginia, and the Lord blessed me there. I did Sunday school and the morning service, and it all went very well, bless the Lord for, praise the Lord for blessing me. And then, you know, Roanoke, they showed me around Roanoke, beautiful city. And then the next weekend, after I went to Brother Keith Duncan's church in Girdler, Kentucky, I got to preach two services there. And it was another blessing. You know, the Lord provided well. And then after that, And Seth actually helped me song lead at that church. And I thought since he was going to be the song lead, I wouldn't screw up the singing, but I still managed to screw up the singing. So, but other than that, it went really well. And then this past weekend, I flew out to Idaho to Brother David Oldfield's church, and I preached the morning and the evening service. I got to be in fellowship with a lot of good brothers and sisters, and it was a blessing. And they said I did well. I had no tomatoes thrown at me, so that's always good. The Lord blessed me and I'm just very thankful that he provided me so well in ministry and look forward to serving him more. And I thank you guys for supporting me. I thank my pastor for teaching me a lot. And I'm just really appreciative of all of you guys. I appreciate it. And most importantly, thank the Lord for making everything possible. Without him, none of this would happen. So take your Bibles and turn to 1 John 2. I John chapter 2. We'll be starting in verse 18. We'll go through verse 23 please stand for the word. Little children, it is the last time And as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they may be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it. and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for bringing us to your house today to get the worship and praise your name above all else. Lord, please be with me as I get to preach your word. Give me your wisdom. Give me your fire that your wisdom and words may burn through me that I may give the truth to the people. Lord, be with the congregation that they may hear what you want them to hear out of this message, that we may take it home and be better servants for you. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. So the title of the message today is The False Spirit. So recently, we saw one of the greatest overturnings of a law in our nation's history, a law that has killed millions of human babies. a law that the world tried to make a natural right for each human. Thanks be to God that abortion is no longer a federal law. But when I heard this, I was excited because abortion is one of those subjects I get really fired up on and it should get us fired up because it's sin and we're supposed to hate sin. But I got on Facebook, see what fellow brothers are saying, and you know, it was great to see that other Christians had the same passion on this subject as I did. But then I came across a solid amount of people, a solid amount of people who proclaim Christ, yet stood up for this sin. They were making these pro-choice arguments, the standard ones, and all that, so I decided just to simply send them a post. Not of what I think, but what the Bible says, how the Bible lays it out. After all, they say they believe in God and what God stands for. Well, the next day, I see that not only have they read my post, but they ignored it and posted even more stuff about pro-choice. They ignored the word of God presented to them. They ignored God's law on the matter given. They ignored God himself. And they did this because they don't truly know God and what God stands for. They claim a God that they know nothing about. They claim a God that would condemn this wickedness. Folks, these people are truly bound to the world, because abortion is no doubt a worldly thing. And John, here in this book, gives us a warning about these types of people, these antichrists. Now we might say that's a little bit of a harsh word for these people, but it's true. An antichrist is anybody that opposes Christ. So these people oppose Christ. So as we go through today, think about as we get near to the end, because we're getting near and near every day, how will we stay faithful and true to God? Even when these antichrists come and they try to pollute the word, and then especially to know that we aren't one of these manipulated people, that we aren't an Antichrist, because that's what this book's about, knowing our salvation. So in verse 18 it says, little children, it is the last time, and as ye have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. So John first says, little children. He is addressing us as the audience. are the little children. We could go back to verse 12. It says, I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. We are the little children. We are the audience to John. We were the ones who had our sins forgiven for his name's sake. And after John addresses us as the audience, he makes it so very clear that we are in the last time. If we were in the last time when John wrote this, we're still in the last time now, right? Time is of the factor. The time is getting closer and closer each day. Christ's return is becoming more imminent. It can't be stopped. We say it all the time. We see the prophecy and revelation coming to pass. And I'm here to tell you today that as each day goes by, we are getting a step closer. And it's making clear in the scripture that we are in the last time. This is the time John really wants us to know we're in. Then he goes on to say, and ye, as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. We know it is the last hour because of all the Antichrist that has come and are here now. We see him talk about antichrist and majorly think about, he's talking about the antichrist, but he's making it plural. He's talking about numerous antichrists. There's many of them. These are the people who are against Christ. Those that oppose them. We see them all over today. We see it everywhere. And yes, it is unbelievers. It is the people who just flat out reject Christ, the ones who are just so caught up in the world. But we see this in churches today, too. I gave you the example of the so-called Christians on Facebook. They claim to be for God, and they claim to know the word of God, yet they reject it and for sin. We see it in other denominations as well, where they proclaim God, but yet prioritize the world and what sin has to offer. And that's what John is pointing out. This is what he was pointing to. He's calling us to verify our salvation, to verify that we aren't one of these antichrists in the church, to make sure we are truly for God. These are the people that plague the church. They say they're for God, They're not. John has been building up to this point in his text. It's a picture that John has been painting for us. And he says there are many, they're in abundance. Not just a few, but many, and they're here today. Teaching many things that are contrary to the scripture. Seeing it more and more. They're the ones who are going against Christ in teaching for everything that he stands against. Yet they say they are for Him. The problem is that they know Him. They know of Him, is a better way to put it. But they don't know Him as their Lord. Because they have a different Lord of their life. Their Lord is of sin. They have a different Master. And we know from Scripture that you can't have two Masters. You're either for God or you're not. I know I've preached it a hundred times probably. I haven't preached that much, but it's a reference. But there's a lot of truth to it. These people aren't for God. Because even though they proclaim Him, they fight against Him. They fight for sin. They fight for the world. They fight for the wicked one without even knowing it. We're in a spiritual war. And they say they're on the same side of us. They say they're fighting alongside with us, but yet we're on the battlefield, we see them on the opposite side. Think about that. They're on the opposite side fighting against us. If someone did that today in modern war, that'd be considered treason. And that's exactly what they're doing. They're being treasonous to God. These are the Antichrists. These are the ones opposing the Messiah and his teachings. Then in verse 19, it says, They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. Listen, this is a way of telling if we have eternal life. Do we have a strong will to stay along with our fellow saints of God? Do we have a strong will to be in fellowship with one another? Do we have a perseverance for this? Do we have this long suffering in us to be together? Because this is a way you know if you're saved. This is a key indicator. If you aren't strong-willed on this, and you could care less, and you don't want to be around fellow Christians, and all you want to do is your own thing the way you want to do it, and leave your fellow Christians behind to be a pot-stirrer, to cause trouble, to teach the world's doctrine, to lead the church, if this is you, it's a red flag. Listen, you could care less. If you could care less about being in fellowship with one another, the verse lays it out clearly. For if they had been of us, they would have no doubt have continued with us. You're a child of God. You're strong-willed and wanting to be with fellow Christians, wanting to be with your family, wanting to be with one another, because that's what we're all, we're family, right? We call each other brothers and sisters. but we don't just say it to say it, right? We say it because it's true. We are true brothers and sisters, no different than blood siblings. In fact, I'd say we're closer than blood siblings because instead of being connected by blood, we're connected through Christ. We're all God's children. We have a godly connection to one another, stronger than any bond on this earth can give us. I love each and every one of you because you are my family. And think about this. I just flew all the way out to Idaho. People I've barely ever met before. And I walked into their houses. I walked into a church. People I never met. And I was able to get along with them like I've talked to them before. Like we're family because we're our family. It's amazing how strong that bond goes It's amazing. Let's think back to 1 John 1, verse seven, it says, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Fellowship is key to a Christian life. And if you are not feeling the need of fellowship, to see one another, to be around your godly family, if that desire is not in you, there's a good chance you're not saved. It's just how it is. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. I want to be clear that the people that John is targeting here are not backsliders. It's Christians backsliding. It's part. We're sinners. But rather, he's talking about the people that never really knew Christ as their Lord. It's easy to be confused. People like to lump them together, but there's a big difference between a backslider and a false professor. If you dig deep, if you dig deep in a backslider, you'll see a root, a root that you cannot pull out, a root no human can pull out. It's so strong. But if you go to a false professor and you dig deep in them, there's no root at all. Because it says, if you are saved, you cannot be plucked from his hand. But if you never had that root, there's nothing to pluck you from. Then to verse 20 it says, but ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. The word unction means anointing. So we have an anointing from the Holy One. And who were we anointed by? Who is the Holy One talked about here? We were anointed by Jesus Christ, by His blood, by His death, by His resurrection. Jesus Christ is the Holy One. He anointed us with the Holy Spirit. He promised it back in the book of John. And this anointment, it's a gift sent down from heaven. It convicts us of sin. It convicts us when we do bad and tells us when we're acting away from the interest of God. It helps us to tell the difference between an antichrist and a true believer. That's what this passage is telling us, that we are gonna be able to tell if someone is real or fake, whether they are for God or against God. It helps tell us where their loyalties lie. The anointment of the Holy Spirit from Christ gives us more power than ever imaginable. It helps us to remember the word of God at times that we need it, especially when we need it the most. The word of God, it's the most powerful weapon. It's stronger than any sword, stronger than any weapon. It provides us so much strength. And listen, as we are in a spiritual war, The anointment from Christ is so comforting to us because our leader is on the battlefield with us. The spirit of God is right in the thickness of it. He is supplying us and giving us what we need. He is helping us to tell who our enemies are and who our allies are. There's nothing more encouraging to see your leader on a battlefield, to know that God is fighting with us and for us. That's an anointment from Christ. He's not like a modern day leader that sits back in a mansion and just barks orders. That's not a good leader. He's with us. He's on the battlefield with us. He's leading the charge. He's fighting with us. Our God is a true leader. Listen, this anointment is a gift from God. It helps us to understand scripture and what God wants us to take out of scripture. We know that scripture can be a bit confusing at times. It's like a puzzle. But to the believer, the Holy Spirit helps us solve that puzzle. He helps us put the pieces together so you can see what the puzzle is, so you can see what the scripture means. The anointment provides us with many special gifts, the fruit of the Spirit. Many gifts were given to us through this anointment from the Holy One. It gives us as Christians a leg up. Be grateful for it. Then to verse 21 it says, I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth. but because you know it. And that no lie is of the truth. The next way we're told from Scripture that we know we have eternal life is that if you know the truth. And where do we get the truth from? It's from the Scripture. It's from the Word of God. That you know the Scripture. You know what God, who God is, and what He says, and where His beliefs are. that you know that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sin. A true believer knows the Word. In fact, the true believer loves the Word of God. It gives us hope. It gives us encouragement. In fact, I don't think we ever get tired hearing the Word of God. I don't. Because each time we hear it, we get something new out of it every time. I don't think you'll ever hear a single Christian say, I'm tired of hearing John 3.16. That beautiful promise given to us by God. Every time we hear the truth, it's comforting to us. It tells us that we have a Savior that we could lean upon if we confess Him with our mouth and repent. Well, we're unworthy. But this extends from just a knowledge of this. A lot of people know this, but you have to adhere to this truth. There are many false believers with this knowledge. They know the words, they know what the paper says, but they don't ever adhere to the truth. They don't ever submit to it. They don't change their lifestyle. It doesn't convict nor concern them. They just want the comfort from it. They don't practice any of the truth given. They don't take the warning of repentance in. And they don't truly take in Jesus as their Lord. They know what the word says. But that's as far as it goes. They don't understand the meeting. They don't truly know the truth. Because if you know the truth, you're gonna be a doer of that truth. Listen, I see many denominations fall short right here. They say they know the truth of God, yet once it comes time to practice the truth, they step away. They stop dead in their tracks. You saw in the example I gave you with the so-called Christians on abortion. They stop dead in their tracks, just keep supporting their worldly thing. Seen in non-denominational churches, support of homosexuality, They won't step up, they won't do what the Bible says on how to address it. Listen, when we practice truth, when we know it, we are knowers of it, when we practice it. Doesn't mean you won't slip up. We all slip up. Doesn't mean you won't trip. But as knowers of truth, with the Holy One's anointment, The Holy Spirit, we are convicted when we trip and we get right back up and we go back to following the truth. That's the act of repentance, right? When we trip, we repent to God, we get back up and be doers of the truth. If you don't abide in the truth, then you probably don't know it at all. Because it's a must for a Christian. He says, I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. John is hammering home the perfection of God's Word, the purity of it, how it is unplagged and non-corrupted, and that there are no contradictions in the truth, that there's no lies infested within it. We know what's true is true. Why? Because lies can't intermingle with truth. Lies can't be incorporated in. We see people try and manipulate and put their own spins on scripture. They try to put their own truths in the truth of God. But as believers and being anointed by the Holy One, we can discern the lies that people try to put upon us. We could tell where the lies are at. We could pick them out. We could throw them away. We know when someone puts falsity on the word of God, a lie can hide in it for others. In fact, it hides so well that they stop seeking it. They can hide and seek, and that one person's really good, and you just sit down and say, he'll come out eventually. But for believers, we don't even need to look. We're already given the x-ray goggles. We can see straight through it. We can tell right away because we get convictions from God himself. He dwells within us and shows us that no lies can be in the truth. And then we take this truth and we use it more effectively. We use it as our weapon in the spiritual war. Then to verse 22 he says, Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Jesus is Christ. He is the Son of God. He is the only one that could take the burden of our sins. He was the one who was tortured for us. He is the one who bled for us. He is the one who came down from heaven for us. He took the form of man for us and he died on the cross for us. He rose from the dead for us, for us, for our sake. Jesus is the Son of God. That's what's to exemplify here. He is the anointed one. The verse says, who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. This shows us the significance of proclaiming Jesus is Lord, to profess it with your mouth, to truly believe this. Because this verse supports, as I was saying earlier, that anyone who doesn't is an Antichrist. They're the ones who oppose Christ. They're liars. We talked about how much of a term that is, how bad it is to be labeled a liar. You can't trust people. Kroger's, when I worked at Kroger's, I had two or three older guys, and they would always tell me these very far-fetched stories. And eventually, you would catch on. And you'd even catch contradictions in between their stories. And after that, I didn't believe a word they said. I tread lightly with what they said. And that's what we should do as Christians. When we're talking to people who deny Christ, they're liars. We should tread lightly to what they say. Because we know they're liars. They rejected Christ and what he did at the cross. Be ever so diligent. We have helped to be diligent through the anointment from the Holy One and the Holy Spirit. he helps us to be able to discern the lies given to us. Then in verse 23 he says, Again, this stresses even more, profess Jesus Christ, as Lord, to profess it with a deep meaning to yourself, not just repeat the words, knowing what it means to accept them as your Lord and Savior, to know what He did for you, to understand the lengths of love He went through for you. And when you do this profession, make it verbally. Let the world know. Be proud of it. Embrace it fully. Confess verbally that Jesus is divinity. and that he died on a cross for you. And if you don't verbally confess it, then you're putting the light that God gave you under a rug. You're taking your salvation and you're hiding it under a rug. And you're not sharing its beauty, the beauty that God gave you, the fact that he chose you. You're hiding it, that shows something, right? We hide things that we're embarrassed about, that we don't want others to find. But as true Christians, we know there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We received the greatest gift. A great gift from God. There's nothing to be ashamed about, but everything to be happy about. Because God chose you. Absolutely beautiful. I'm going to profess it today. Jesus is Lord. If Christ is your Savior, confess it. And if you're not willing to confess it, the good sign you truly don't have eternal life. The whole purpose of this book. It says, whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. I remember when I first came to Christ, as a Catholic you're told all the time, you have the same God as Muslims and all these other things. And I remember talking to our pastor about it a lot. But this verse right here is a deal-sealer to many religions. We hear it all the time. Muslims, we have the same God as you. Other denominations, we have the same God as you. And they just say there's a little different stance on Jesus. But this verse, John makes it so clear that if you reject Jesus Christ as the Son of God and your Savior, you do not know the Father that He serves. There's no in between, there's no being a little bit different. It's plain and simple. It's as simple as two plus two equals four. If Jesus Christ is not your savior, then we do not have the same God. If Jesus Christ is not your savior, then you're lost and on your way to hell. It's laid out clear cut here by John. And it's simple as this. And it's hard for these religions to hear. They want our God, but they refuse to change. They're anti-Christ. It's hard for them to hear because they know they're on their way to hell. It's what the Bible says. But let's look at the positive outlook that the end of this verse provides. It says, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. This right here is the true beauty of the gospel. When Christ is accepted into your life, you now have a connection to God the Father, which was previously unattainable before Christ. A connection that so many truly long for. And it's great that our Lord brings us from places that we never thought we could be. Our Lord brought us out of the deepest trench of sin and brings us higher than ever imaginable. Our Lord did that for us. That's the beauty of the gospel. The beauty of the cross. The beauty of the love of God. It's so hard to even fathom sometimes why he would do it. Let's just soak in the beauty of it. So as we close out today, take John's test of salvation. Ask ourselves, do we know the truth of God? Do we know the truth of God? The answer is no, then seek him. Going another step, if the answer is yes, do you practice that truth? Do you practice the truth that God gives us? Or do you just acknowledge that it's there? You just know the words on the paper. And let's ask yourself today, are we able to discern the lies brought forth to us? Are we able to discern the things of God versus the things not of God? Can we see the Antichrist? Not only the ones that just reject Christ all out, but can you see them in the church? Can you pick them out? Hope you can. Listen, we are in the last times, as John said, and the world is getting progressively worse. In fact, it's been getting worse and worse ever since Jesus died. But we have to be able to tell right from wrong, especially biblically, because the devil is trying to trick us. He's trying to trip us. He's trying to make us fall. So let's be diligent. Let's be ready for any crisis when they come. when they try to push their things on us, when they try to make us fall to sin, let's be faithful to God and know that Jesus is Lord and profess it with our mouths because it's through him that we have access to God the Father, something we are very unworthy of. It's a beautiful thing. But as we go home, we need to be ready to discern. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing me here, Lord. Thank you for a successful few weeks, and thank you for blessing me, Lord, as I could not have done anything of it without you. Lord, thank you for bringing me up here, Lord. Allow them to take something from this message that you want them to provide. Lord, be with us as we travel home. Help us to be safe. Help us to get through this work week and be successful servants for you, Lord. Strengthen our faith. We ask this in Jesus' name.