Turn in your Bibles to 1st John chapter 2. We've been studying the book of 1st John for the last weeks. 1st John chapter 2, we'll pick up in verse 18. The culture in America is moving away from biblical Christianity. Most people in America still call themselves Christians. Percentages dropping that would name themselves as Christians. It was 86% that claimed to be Christians in America in 1990. And in 2008, it had dropped 10 points to 76%. It's probably down from that a little bit now even. Those over 70% who still identify themselves as Christians, however, now have a very different perception of what Christianity is than what the Bible teaches. That was illustrated for us this week in our president's inaugural address. Our president took the oath of office on three different Bibles. He used the word God five different times in his speech, five different places, quoted the Constitution, which calls God our creator, and three other times referred to us as created. I almost think that he'd like our conference coming up. Yet while the president spoke of lifting our voices in defense, he said, in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals, The moral agenda that he's supporting is strongly opposed to the ancient values and enduring ideals that God revealed in that book that he swore upon. The president said, our journey is not complete until all our children know that they are cared for, cherished, and always safe from harm. But strongly advocates a woman's right to choose death for her own baby. The president spoke about the rights that we've been granted by our creator, but he didn't talk much about the design of that creator or the will of that creator for his creatures. He said, our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. The president's thinking it's characteristic of the majority of Americans in terms of how do we define Christianity? What's that look like? This last election was the first in which we had voters themselves approve gay marriage in their states, three different states, Washington, Maryland, Maine. And so we could give more examples of that. We probably didn't need to give any examples to know that our culture in America is moving away from biblical Christianity. More sadly than that, to me, the organized church in America is moving away from biblical Christianity. Our nation's largest Lutheran and Presbyterian denominations now both celebrate the ordination of homosexual ministers. So often, even in our own region, we'll go to funerals and come out and say, well, there was no gospel in that funeral. The place that we'd want to be saying, here's the hope of eternal life, it's just not there. Or there's something else in its place. Even closer to home, some who were once part of our own fellowship at Lamar's Bible Church have moved away from biblical Christianity. We probably don't have to think too hard if you've been at a church for long enough to think of examples of people who used to be part of the group, but now have left, not just left us to go to another Bible teaching church, but have left and turned their backs on the Lord. And so whether we look at a national level or whether we look around us, there's cause for concern. Majority of Americans are moving away from biblical Christianity. And so how do we respond as Bible believers, as those who believe the gospel? We might be tempted to doubt. Well, I wonder if we're right after all, you know, we're just a handful of people, us and other Bible believing churches. Are we the only ones who are right? And the masses, the majority of people out there are wrong. We might be tempted to despair, to look at the situation and say, well, what about the future? What about our children? What about our grandchildren? How can the church possibly go on if things continue the way that they are? And all of that doubt and despair can lead us to panic. Let me quote Martin Lloyd-Jones here. He preached in Great Britain at a time kind of similar there to what it's like in America now. He wrote, people become frantic and desperate and say, we must do something to save the Christian church. They look at the numbers. They emphasize statistics. They say, we must be up and doing. We must organize something to stop the rot. And so they rush into a busy activity. Some activity would be good. If we're out sharing the gospel with people, that's the kind of activity that would be wonderful for us to do. But the kind of busy activity that if we panic and think, oh no, everyone's turning away, what often happens is we start to, well, there must be something wrong with our methods and there must be something wrong with our message. And so to make it more appealing to all these people who are running away, we kind of change what God has told us to do in the panic to try to solve the situation. What would the Lord have us to do? Before we revamp our methods and tweak our message, does the Lord of the church have anything to say about all these departures? John is writing here to a group of churches who have just seen a significant group of people leave. What will John say to them? Will he say that they handle the situation wrong? Will he say that they need to change their strategy? They need to change the way that they deal with people? No, John has an entirely different perspective here. He says, do not despair, do not panic, remain in the truth. Please stand with me, we're going to read 1 John chapter 2, verses 18 through 27. 1 John chapter 2, I'll start reading in verse 18. Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father also. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which he himself made to us eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you received from him abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie. And just as it has taught you, you abide in him. Please be seated. We're going to arrange our study tonight around two commands. The first one is, beware of antichrists. Beware of antichrists. There's four truths that John gives us at the beginning of the passage that prepare us for this attack. And John's going to say, the attack is inevitable. Antichrists are coming for us, and we need to be prepared against their onslaught. How do we prepare? Well, here's four truths. First one is, letter A on your sheets, antichrists are a present enemy, not merely a future one. Antichrists are a present enemy, not merely a future one. Look at verse 18. Children, it is the last hour. And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. John says, you heard that Antichrist is coming. They heard probably because he taught them or others did. There is a man who, according to biblical prophecy, will come to power in the future. You can read of him in Revelation, many other places. By the time Antichrist gets here, if we understand scripture correctly, we believers will already be taken up to heaven, praise the Lord, by the time that he is in power. But this man, the Antichrist, will be empowered by Satan himself. Anti can mean in the place of and it can mean in opposition to and in terms of this man called the Antichrist It works for both the Antichrist will try to take the place of Christ the place that rightfully belongs to him And he is going to do everything that he can against Christ in the future And he'll lead the world Everyone's going to follow him everything that he does will be opposed to the true Christ Much detail in Scripture about him this coming man after seven years of his influence the true Christ will appear Easily dispatched of the Antichrist and his forces and set up his kingdom here on earth. That's what's yet to come Now this Antichrist has not yet risen to power though. He may be waiting in the wings We don't know when the Lord is going to come Christians throughout history have tried to identify him with various people in their own days. The Reformers often refer to the Catholic Pope as the Antichrist. Every major leader, as you go back through history, someone has said, well, he's the Antichrist. It's not really necessary for us to speculate as to the identity of the coming Antichrist, but it is necessary for us to realize that there are many today, in our own day, who are operating in the spirit of the Antichrist. He will be empowered by Satan then they are now as He will be opposed to Christ and his people. So these people are today opposed to Christ and his people By the way, John points out that by the presence of these little antichrists, we know that the end is near. Twice in that first verse, he said, it's the last hour. Now it's a long hour, because John's readers were in the last hour and we are in the last hour. It goes all the way from the coming of the Holy Spirit, the beginning of the church, until Christ returns for his church, this last hour. But we know we're in it by the presence of these antichrists. So, we need to be prepared, because there's Antichrists around us. Second truth to prepare us for their attack is this. You are not safe among Christians. You are not safe among Christians, because Antichrists come from within. Look at verse 19. They went out from us, but they were not really of us, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. Notice with me where these Antichrists, these false teachers came from. He says they went out from us. So here's these men that he's calling Antichrist. They're false teachers. They're teaching things that go against Christ and his true teaching. They at one time belonged to the true Church of God, even in John's day, and have just left the church. They, like Judas, once were accepted in the inner circle, they were considered by all to be fellow believers, but then at some point they pulled out and they've left. And this may be part of why John is writing this letter, just to encourage these folks, because they're shaken by the fact that these people have gone. And they've left the true church, they're out on their own. Why did they leave? John doesn't give us a lot of detail, but he does explain it this way. He says, well, they went out from us because they were not really of us. Another translation says they did not really belong to us. What's he saying? These people apparently were part of the group, but they never knew Christ. They could talk like Christians. They could have conversations from a Christian point of view. But the thing that makes a Christian a Christian is a personal relationship with Christ where we have trusted in him as our Savior or we've submitted to him as our Lord. And these people who are in the church and accepted as part of the church never had that relationship with the Lord. And now they're gone. When they left the church, they showed their true colors that they were hiding before. Interesting in this verse God has a plan even in this even in these people leaving the church God desires to make a distinction between those who truly belong to him and those who are pretending and Even these people's abandoning the church was furthering his plan because the Lord wants his church to be pure and to be rid of pretenders so you see the Lord's design even in this that we grieve over because we don't want anyone to leave the church and But it's he says they went out so that it would be shown that they all are not of us God wanted it to be clear that these folks are not my children and so they've left and now it's clear Listen to the warning in this verse Brothers and sisters the spirit of Antichrist is alive and well within the church of Jesus Christ you cannot assume that something is true simply because it comes from a Christian source and If you find a book at a Christian bookstore, you cannot automatically trust it. If you hear something said on Christian radio, you cannot automatically trust it. If you hear something taught at Lamar's Bible Church, you cannot automatically trust it because Satan has his messengers inside the church teaching false doctrine. One of the greatest needs, I believe, for members of the church today, one of the greatest needs that we have as Christians is discernment. The threat is real from these false teachers. They've been leading people away from the true teaching ever since John's day. It hasn't slowed in our day. But do not think for a moment that God has left you defenseless. On the contrary, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ as your sin bearer, if you surrender to him as your Lord, you have sure defenses against these false teachers. You have sure defenses. And John's going to say in verses 19 through 21, he's going to point out three things that are true of you. If you've trusted in Jesus Christ, you will be safe against these false teachers. First thing he says, if you belong to God, you will not abandon his true church. If you belong to God, you're not going to abandon his church. It's clearly spelled out in verse 19. At the end of the verse, it said, if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. This is teaching the truth theologians refer to as the perseverance of the Saints that if someone is genuinely saved They're not going to depart from their faith in Jesus Christ. God is going to keep them This verse actually says even more than that that they're not going to depart from their faith It says that they're not going to depart from the true people of God. God is going to keep them in his church So what are we saying here we're not saying that that if someone leaves LBC and goes to another Bible-believing church, that now they never were truly a believer, obviously by the fact that they've lost us, the true church of God. That's not what we're saying at all, right? There are many families of God where the gospel is preached, where the word is held up high, and people move from one to the other, and that's not what we're talking about, those kinds of people. What we're talking about here are people who have left a true Bible-believing church and have gone to a cult, they've gone to another religion, they've gone away from the church entirely, they've stopped being in contact with the church of God. He's saying if they've left the church, if they've left God's people, then they're showing their true colors that they never were part of God's people. But if you belong to God, John is saying in verse 19, that won't happen to you. If you really do belong to him, you're going to stay true to his people. Well, how is that? How is it that I can be sure if I've believed in Jesus that I'm gonna stay with God's people? Well, look in verse 20, John explains it by saying that you all as believers have an anointing. Look at verse 20. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. As I study this, I think the Holy One in this verse is referring to Jesus Christ. It's either Jesus Christ or the Father there. I think Jesus Christ is probably the best explanation. You have an anointing from Jesus. The anointing is referring to the Holy Spirit. What he's saying is that Jesus Christ has given the Holy Spirit to every believer. Jesus is given an anointing. In the Old Testament, a king would be anointed with oil. And this was signifying something very important. As they came to this one who was going to be king, they would anoint him and that would set him apart. This man is now going to be king. He's set apart from everyone else. And in some sense, it was enabling him for the task that was at hand for him. And we have had something like that happen to us. The moment that you came and believed in Jesus Christ, God anointed you by giving the Holy Spirit. You've now been set apart for Him, for the task that He has for you in this world. In fact, because of the Holy Spirit, you're enabled to do what He has for you. We all have this anointing. And John is saying, because you have the Holy Spirit, you're not going to leave God. The Holy Spirit is going to work in your life so that you stay. You just stay with the people of God. Now, what effect does the Holy Spirit have in our lives? There's lots of things we could look at in Scripture. There's one that's emphasized here that the Holy Spirit does for us. All believers, at the moment I believe in Jesus, I'm anointed with the Spirit. I have the Spirit living within me, keeping me. What is He doing? Well, one of the things He does is He makes sure that I understand the truth. That's the third point there. You understand the truth. We'll go back to verse 20. We'll read it with verse 21 this time. But you have, all of you true believers, you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. John will circle back to this again. We'll discuss it some more before we get to the end of the passage. But if you are a believer, the Holy Spirit will enable you to distinguish between God's truth and anti-Christian lies. This is what the Spirit has promised to do for believers. He's going to help you to distinguish between that which is truly from God and that which is a lie. Now, this is not promising that we're all going to have the same understanding on every passage of Scripture. This isn't guaranteeing that you as a believer can never be fooled or caught up into any kind of false teaching. But what he's talking about here is the things that you have to know to be saved. The gospel, the truth about Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, this verse is saying, you have this Holy Spirit who teaches you, who's going to keep you from being led astray from that which saves you. The Holy Spirit is going to keep you in the truth. You don't have to fear these false teachers as a believer because of this Spirit who teaches us. We'll come back to that a little bit more later on. Beware of antichrists, John says. Four truths that prepare us for their inevitable attack. These false teachers are around us. They might be within us in terms of the church. And we need to know that they're going to be trying to deceive us. They're going to be attacking us. How do we be prepared? The fourth thing he says is know their target. Their target will be the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Antichrists like to target the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 22 and 23. Who is the liar? But the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Father has the Father also. It helps any kind of defense if we know where the enemy is going to attack, right? Be true in football. If you know that they're going to throw it to a certain part of the field, you can send more defenders over there. It's true in war. You can set up your strongest defenses where you think they're going to attack. John is saying, look, here's what we need to protect. This is where the Antichrist is going to try to attack. He's going to attack the doctrine of Jesus Christ. John seems to quote those who have left the church here. It seems that they were saying Jesus is not the Christ. And John says, if you say Jesus isn't the Christ, he's not the Messiah, the one that was promised in the Old Testament, then you're denying the Son, you're denying the Father, you have no relationship with God. In the centuries that followed John's writing of this letter, there was a heresy that arose. It was known as Gnosticism. Wasn't fully developed in John's time, but it seems like there may have been The seeds of that already and here's what Gnosticism ended up teaching They had as people were thinking about God's truth, which Is dangerous to do if we lose ourselves from the Bible when thinking about his truth. They thought well It just doesn't seem right that God would die on a cross and It just doesn't seem that that would be possible. And so what they said is, well, here's what happens. There was a divine Christ spirit that came and indwelt the human Jesus. And so throughout Jesus's earthly life, you've got the human Jesus going along and he's indwelt by this divine Christ spirit. But since God can't die, they reasoned, what happened right before Jesus got to the cross, the Christ spirit left. And so it was really only just man, it was just the man Jesus dying on the cross, not the divine Christ. This is what the Gnostics were teaching. Essentially, it was a heresy. They're messing with the true teaching of scripture, right that that Jesus Christ It's God the second person of the Trinity who's lived forever taking on human flesh Who did as the God-man die for us on the cross and then defeat death by rising from the dead three days later That's the true teaching. Well, they didn't they didn't felt like that made a lot of sense So they changed it a little bit John is saying these people don't know God you can't tweak the doctrine of Christ. I Verse 23, this is a very sobering verse for us to consider as we look around us. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. If I don't teach, if I don't believe what is true about Jesus Christ, then I do not have a relationship with God. No one who rejects the truth about Jesus will be in heaven. So, if you're a member of the Jewish religion, you would deny that Jesus is the Christ. And then you don't know God. If you were a Hindu, well, there's many sons of God. Jesus is simply one son of God among many. Well, they're denying Christ's uniqueness, and they don't know God. Buddhists and Muslims, two religions that started about 600 years after Jesus, so they knew of Jesus. They say in their writings that they respect him as a teacher, but they deny his claims to be God. And so Buddhists and Muslims, all of these people, millions of them out there, denying the son, don't know God. There's multiple American religions whose histories read just like 1 John 2, 19. Charles Russell, the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormons, both were members of Christian churches 150 years ago or so, but then they went out from us because they were not really of us. And what did they start teaching? False teaching about Jesus. Exactly what John is saying will happen here and So those who have been caught in their false teaching Satan inspired false teaching Jehovah's Witnesses Mormons, they're denying the Sun so they don't know the father The spirit of our age today is one of tolerance and People will say, well, what's the big deal? Right? Because we might disagree about the details like the exact nature of Christ and Jesus, but we all worship the same God. Maybe you call him Jesus and my friend over here calls him Allah. And it's not, why are we trying to cut hairs? It's weird. Let's just all accept one another and get along because we all, we all worship one true God. But John says here clearly, whoever denies the son does not have the father. So we can't just say, well, boy, if anybody believes in God, they must be on their way to heaven. That's just not what scripture teaches. The pastor of the largest Christian church in America was interviewed during the election. He was asked about Mitt Romney, because Mitt Romney was running for president. You probably haven't forgotten that by now, have you? So he said, well, is Mitt Romney a Christian? is Mitt Romney a Christian? He's asking the largest, well, the pastor, not the largest pastor in America, but he pastors the largest church in America. Here's his response. He says, when I hear Mitt Romney say that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God, that he's the Christ, that he rose from the dead, that he's the Savior, that's good enough for me. But the question isn't whether it's good enough for you, right? The question is, is it good enough for the Father? Mormons clearly do not see Jesus Christ as the Son of God that he claimed to be. They deny that and it's not good enough for the Father. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. We have to reach out to these people with the Gospel and with the message of Jesus Christ so that they can know the Father. Have to be extra careful with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. If someone does not teach the truth about Jesus Christ, the God-man who died for us and rose again, then they don't know the Father is what John is teaching. So, many are leaving. Many in our culture, many in the organized church in America, even some that have been part of our own fellowship have left. What do we do? What do we do in times like this? Broke this up into two commands. There's really only one in the text It comes in verse 24 the command that John gives you're looking for John's advice. What should we do when people are leaving? His advice is in verse 24. It's more than advice. It's spirit inspired instruction. He says this as for you Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning if what you heard from the beginning abides in you you also will abide in the Son and in the Father and Martin Light Jones comments on this passage. Whatever the feeling may be, whatever the departure from the church, the one thing we should be concerned about is the purity of the doctrine. We must realize that the church is quite as much the church if she is a handful of people as if she is a great crowd. The thing that matters in the church is not numbers, not organization. It is the purity of the doctrine. John says there's people leaving. You remain in the truth. The Greek text in verse 24 reads like this, You, that which you have heard from the beginning, in you let it be abiding. John is just saying, well, the message of Jesus Christ that you heard when you first became a Christian, this is the truth of how to know God. Remain in that truth. Let that message constantly abide in you, and you will abide, your relationship with God will continue. This, it runs counter to our instincts. when we feel that everyone is running away from the truth. We see dwindling numbers. We see all these forces coming against truth. And our instinct says, well, boy, there's only one thing to do. We all have to get together. We can't be arguing about what people believe. If they believe in God, they call themselves Christian. That's good enough. Let's band together against our common enemies. But we can't so quickly do that. John says, if you see people leaving, remain in the truth. Um, if someone doesn't accept Jesus as he's revealed in scripture, there's really nothing for us to unite over. If they deny the son, then we don't have a basis for Christian unity with these folks. We have, we have a call to go and share Christ with him. John's gonna Expand upon this command that he's given in verse 24 to remain in the truth three attitudes We'll see that will enable us to remain which is what we're to do We're supposed to stay in this truth. Let this truth that we heard from the beginning abide in us even while people go away and The first attitude that he gives is this be encouraged Be encouraged you have the promise of eternal life and Verse 25, this is the promise which he himself made to us, eternal life. And God will follow through on that promise to you, believer. Keep on believing. Satan's onslaught, the false doctrine that he's throwing at you from every angle, Satan's onslaught will not be able to overwhelm the promise of God. God has promised you eternal life if you have come and believed in Jesus Christ. Satan is not going to be able to snatch you out of the Father's hand. Jesus is not going to let go. John's saying God's promised eternal life to you. Don't fret. Don't be distressed. Hold to the truth. You've been promised eternal life. Second attitude that'll enable you to remain is to be alert. Be alert because they are trying to deceive you. Be alert. They are trying to deceive you. Look at verse 26. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. So we see here that the proper attitude in the face of false teaching, it's almost a mixture of attitudes. There's confidence, as I hear false teaching, I see false teaching all around me, I need to have confidence in God's keeping power for me. But at the same time, I need to be alert to the schemes of the father of lies. I'm keeping my eyes open to the false teaching that's there and all the while I'm trusting in God to keep me safe as he's promised to do There's a third attitude that's listed here that will allow us to remain Be sensitive to the Spirit Be sensitive to the Spirit who enables you to approve what is true and reject what is false Look at verse 27 Verse 27, as for you, see there's this contrast between those who have left and those who have stayed. He's talking to those who are still here who believe. As for you, the anointing which you received from him, the spirit, abides in you. And you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in him. This verse, verse 27, is a verse that's often been misused in church history. One group that loved this verse was known as the Quakers. They claimed that the Holy Spirit within them provided them with all the knowledge that they needed. They called it the inner light. They had the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's teaching them truth. We have inner light. And so they said, we don't need other people to teach us the word of God. Some of them even went so far as to question whether they needed the written Word of God. Why would I need the written Word of God if I have God speaking within? I have God giving me all the truth that I need, they said, looking at this verse. And this kind of thinking is common in our day as well. People often speak of what the Lord has told them to do, but they're not talking about something they found in Scripture, but something that they sense that the Lord has instructed them within. D.A. Carson pointed out, many Christians now rely far more on inward promptings than they do on their Bible knowledge to decide what they're going to do in a situation. So what is this verse saying? As he's talking about the Holy Spirit and how he teaches us about all things, we don't need a teacher. Is John saying that Christians don't need teachers, but that the Spirit will directly and immediately speak to our hearts? No. Really if we think about it in context that wouldn't make sense for John here to be saying that they don't need teachers John was the one who taught them the gospel in the very beginning when they believed it was because John brought them the message or the Whoever it was that brought them the message of the gospel He started off his book that way. Here's the truth about Jesus that we have proclaimed and they had believed. Oh To say you don't need teaching when you got saved because of teaching would be kind of a problem. Also, what is John doing here? What is 1 John? He's teaching them. And so, why would John be writing them a letter to instruct them in these things if there's no need for teachers, but they can just know these things in their heart without teaching? That's not what John is saying. It would contradict what he's doing to say, well, you don't need anybody to teach you. You already know everything you need to know. What's he saying then? We did verse 27 the anointing which you have received from him as a spirit He abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things Here's what he's saying believers Because you have God's Holy Spirit in you. You do not need to rely on any person to tell you what is true. I using the biblical teaching that you have already received and the Bible that you have, the Holy Spirit can take the truth that He's given to you and help you to know what is true and what is false. There is an affirming work of the Holy Spirit within us, so that as I'm reading Scripture, as someone is teaching, He affirms to me the truth of the Word of God. The Spirit of God and the Word of God are working together. I don't need somebody to come along and teach me something else. I don't really even need a person to tell me, well, this is true, because I've got the Spirit within me saying, yes, this is true, this is my word. This stands in contrast to Roman Catholic teaching. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the individual Christian does not have the ability to interpret the scriptures correctly. And so if you are going to read the Bible, And you're a Roman Catholic, you need to read the Bible through the interpretive lens of the church. And without the church, it's impossible for you to understand this. Well, that goes against what John is saying. He's saying, look, we believers have the Spirit who will tell us what is true. We don't need somebody to come along and teach us. We've got the Word and we've got the Spirit. One of the things that the Reformers did in the Reformation is they translated the Bible into the language of the common people. because they believed that the people with the help of the Spirit could read and understand and be saved and know what God's will was for them. So if you're listening to teaching and a red flag goes up in your mind, pay attention to the red flag. If you're listening to teaching and you feel like, boy, I don't know if that's right, it could very well be the Holy Spirit indicating to you, wait a minute, wait a minute, this might not be true. Now, to make your final determination, you're going to have to go home and study, right? I'm not saying that you just automatically, because I have the sense, I know what's right, the Spirit's going to work through His Word. And it could be that you feel like, well, I don't know if this is true, and you go home and you study, and you're like, oh, it is true. And you could thank God for teaching you that. This is saying that the Spirit helps us to know what is true and what is false as we hear the teaching of the Word of God. He's going to work in our hearts. He's going to keep us from, if I'm a believer, He's going to keep me from losing my faith because of some false teaching. He's going to keep me, I'm going to remain. Years ago, Dr. Henry Ironside was on the streets of Los Angeles. He came across a street preacher vigorously preaching to a considerable audience around him. As Ironside listened to this message, he soon recognized that the speaker was expounding the views of a well-known cult. And so, Ironside was looking across the audience, and he saw a black man on the other side of the crowd, attentively following the preaching. Occasionally, the trace of a smile would come across this man's face as he listened and Dr. Ironside watched him. Dr. Ironside felt sorry for the man being misled by the cult preacher. So when the preacher had finished, Dr. Ironside made his way around to the man that he had watched and struck up a conversation with him. He asked him, and what did you think of what the preacher said? The man's reply was, well, he sure did tell us, didn't he? Yes, he surely did, Dr. Ironside agreed. But what did you think of what he preached? With a smile, the man looked at him and replied, I sure couldn't answer him. But all the while he was preaching, there was something inside me saying, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. This is what the Spirit does. He protects us from false teaching by reminding us of the truth that we've been taught, by reminding us of the truth that we've held on to that's in the Word of God. So America is turning away from biblical Christianity. False teaching is rampant. It's around us. It's everywhere. It's in the bookstores People are trading in biblical Christianity for something less So what do we do? What's what should be our response to that? Well, don't doubt Don't despair certainly don't panic and start Editing the message so that people will listen better What should we do just know that this is part of God's plan and False teachers will come and people will follow them. But the Lord knows those who are his. He will keep you. He will continue to call out those who are his own from every nation and tribe and tongue until his church is built. He will continue to build his church. We really shouldn't expect ever as Christians to be in the majority as we look at scripture. What should we do when false teaching abounds, when everyone seems to be running after it? We should remain in the truth. And know that as you remain in the truth, the Lord will remain in you. He's going to stay with you. He is enough for us, even now. Even now, while we're increasingly outnumbered and despised, He will be enough for your children and for your grandchildren, as He has always been enough for His people throughout history. And he will be more than enough for you when he returns in glory and sets up his eternal kingdom. Let's pray. Lord, you've called us here to hold to your truth. And you haven't called us to something you didn't empower us for. You've given us the spirit to hold us in that truth. We thank you for that. There's again here a mystery where we are to stay. We're to be alert. We're to be examining the scripture to see if these things are true. And your spirit is keeping us from walking away. We thank you that you hold us in your hand. Lord help us to be active in sharing the gospel with people around us We have such a great message of Jesus Christ all who come to you find forgiveness and life freely given That's our message help us to proclaim that boldly but when people go away from it Help us not to be discouraged, but to hang on to the truth that you've revealed to us, and you've confirmed by your spirit within our hearts. We look forward to your return to your kingdom when all will be set right. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.