And I want to welcome you today to our current teaching series entitled Birthmarks of a Confident Believer. And also in your program is a study guide of our message for today. Please, please, please pull out that study guide and use it because honestly you're going to get a lot less out of the message if you don't use the study guide. I use it as I teach and you need to use it as you follow along. So please, please take advantage of that learning tool. Well, I'm so glad you're here today as we continue our study of the book of 1 John. And we're doing a verse-by-verse study of this incredible book of the Bible. And it was John who actually wrote five books of the Bible. John wrote the Gospel of John. He wrote the book of Revelation. And then he wrote these three books, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. And in this study, we're looking at 1 John, and we're actually going through it word by word, line by line, verse by verse, trying to dig out of here what John tells us about the birthmarks of a confident believer. And John describes for us what it is to be a confident believer. He describes the birthmarks. He describes what a confident believer is all about and what a confident believer looks like. And he describes the fact that we've been born of God. And when you're born of God, you're going to have these birthmarks in your life. And that's true in a physical sense. If you met our three children, our young adult children, Crystal, Sarah, and Jeremiah, you would see some birthmarks that resemble Debbie and I. And that's true because they're our children. We're their parents. But that's not just true in the physical realm, it's also true in the spiritual realm. If you've been born of God, if God is your Savior and your Lord, you're going to have some birthmarks in your life that indicate that to be true. And John wrote this book for that purpose. Let's look on the front page of our study guide under A, the passage there, 1 John 5, 13-14. John tells us what this book is about. He says, these things have I written. Circle the word written. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know. Circle the word know. that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe, circle the word believe, believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence, circle the word confidence, that we have in Him. John here lays out and clearly defines for us the reason for this book. He tells us, this is why I have written this book to you. Notice the word written. If you're going to understand the birthmarks of a confident believer, you've got to look at what is written. You've got to look at what John tells you. He describes for us what are the birthmarks. We're looking at what is written. You see, you can't base your assurance of salvation, listen to this, on past experience. Why? Because you can have a counterfeit experience. We're to base the assurance of our salvation on present evidence. And it's wonderful and necessary for you to have a past experience if you're saved. For example, I was saved August 16, 1968. It was an experience, meaning it was the day of my spiritual birth. It was the day that I was born of God. But it's not enough just to look back on your life and say, you know what, I have had this past experience. John says you have to look at what is written. John says there needs to be some present evidence in your life to make sure you are the real deal, to make sure you are the real authentic thing as a believer in Jesus Christ. Look at what is written. Look at what is written. Pay close attention to these birthmarks. Number two, know. Know. John says, I want you to know that you have eternal life. Our goal during this series is, listen, to banish, to remove any doubt whatsoever whether you are a Christian. I had the honor this week of sitting down with a long-term member of our church. who came to me, just really wondering, you know, am I the real deal? See, you can be on the role of Capital Baptist Church, but not be on the big role. The big role is not Capital Baptist Church. The big role is the Book of Life. And when the role is called a yonder, I'll be there, okay? Will you be there? Is your name in the Book of Life? That took a lot of courage for that person to come to me and admit they were struggling. It's a whole lot better to do that than go to hell, okay? You know, maybe you're on the roll of the church, but maybe you're not really a believer. The goal, John says, is that you may know. I want you to know that you have eternal life. And then the third word I had in your circle is the word believe. John says, I want you to really, really believe. I want you to believe, really believe on the name of the Son of God so that last word is confidence. I want you to have confidence confidence that we have in Him. I want you to leave this series when we're finished. with so much confidence. When you look at your life and you see these birthmarks in your life, when you see the joy, which we've already talked about, when you see the obedience, which we've already talked about, and now today the third birthmark is truth, when you see that you're a person of truth, I mean, these things are going to cause you to erupt with confidence in your life. So that is the reason for this book, and this is what we're trying to discover in this series. Now today we're going to talk about the birthmark of truth. The word truth is found in the book of 1 John ten times. The word truth is found in the book of 1 John ten times. So as you can see, it's only five chapters, so for something to be mentioned ten times, that would be considered a major theme of the book. Now, Four out of the ten are mentioned in this passage. So four out of the ten times the word truth is mentioned in 1 John, four of those times are right here in the passage we're going to read today. So as we read this passage, look for those four mentions of truth, because that is what John is describing here. He's describing that a believer has the birthmark of truth in their life. 1 John 2, beginning in verse 18, says, little children, Now let me just pause there. He says little children in verse 18, and then in verse 28, and now little children. I stop there just again to help you understand this idea of birthmarks. See, when I was thinking about this, I came up with, you know, characteristics, attributes. I mean, there's lots of different words I was trying to come up with, but as I studied this, what I saw was this ongoing emphasis on being born of God. being a little child of God. And that's where I get this idea of birthmarks. See, he's saying little children. Little children, you're going to have truth, he says. Little children, if you're a child of God, if you're a little child of God, you're going to have truth in your life, he says. 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 might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. I am 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 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 that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which you have received of him abideth in you. and you need not that any man teach you but at the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you you shall abide listen in him and now little children you little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming." John says a little child will bear the birthmark of truth. Now Jesus in John chapter 18 verse 37 said this. He was standing before Pilate. He was standing before this governmental authority who held within his grasp the very life of Jesus. And as Jesus stood there, Pilate asked Him a question. He says, Are you a king? Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. Jesus says, I came into the world that I should bear witness unto what? The truth. Jesus said, I came into the world, I came into this world to bear witness of the truth, and listen to what he says, that I should listen, bear witness of the truth, and the Bible says here that indeed everyone, everyone, everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Everyone that's of the truth heareth my voice. Now what did Jesus say? Jesus told us this. Jesus came to give us a standard of absolute truth. He came to bear witness of the truth. Now today's topic is so important because we are living in a culture that is standing against absolute truth. It's a culture that does not believe in absolute truth. Let me share with you a couple of statistics that are staggering. And the first statistic, both of these come from Barter Research Group, the first statistic was this statistic. When asked the question, is there absolute truth? Is there absolute truth? 66% of adults responded that they believe there is no such thing as absolute truth. We are living in a culture made up of adults, some of them sitting in this room, right here, okay, right here in this church today. 66% of people in our culture today totally disagree with everything I'm preaching on today. they do not believe in absolute truth. Therefore, is there any wonder we got a culture full of lives? Is there any wonder we got a culture full of fornicators? Is there any wonder we got a culture full of thieves? I mean, we shouldn't be surprised. When you get a world that has a tipping point, I would call that a tipping point, where you have 66% of a culture. I mean, everybody you're going to deal with tomorrow, 66% of them, okay, do not believe in absolute truth. They believe that truth, you know, changes and moves from situation to situation, situation ethics, and things like this. Now, let's go a step further. Listen to this. This ought to just frighten you to death. 72% of those 18 to 25 said there's no absolute truth. Three-fourths of young adults today do not believe in absolute truth. Three-fourths of people do not believe in absolute truth. This is incredible. But yet this is the world we live in today. John says, if you are a believer, you are going to believe in absolute truth. You're going to believe what Jesus said. Jesus said, I came to bear witness of the truth. He didn't just say, I came to be witness of one truth or a possible truth. He says, I came, me, me by myself, came to bear witness of the truth. And he says this, everyone Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. See, if you are of the truth, you're going to hear his voice. You're going to believe in absolute truth. And this is what John talks about here. John talks about this whole idea of absolute truth. Now let's go to page 2 and let's talk about how to have truth. How can you have truth in your life? This is a really important topic we're dealing with today. You want to listen very, very closely, okay? And probably a few of you will be very mad at me when we're done, okay? Maybe some of you, I might have somebody walk out of the service today. You never know. It's going to get a lot of fun around here. We're going to have a good time, amen? Okay? Probably get some nasty connection cards today. I'm excited about today, okay? I am thrilled about today, okay? We're going to dig in here and we're going to really understand this topic here today, okay? How to have truth. Now let's begin in verse 18 where it says, little children. He's describing what little children of God are like. He says it is the last time. Now look at the backdrop here. He says this is the last time. Now what does last time mean in the Bible? The last time in the Bible is the time between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus. The last time is the period of history between the first coming of Jesus and the second coming of Jesus. Now God in His sovereignty had us to be born during what we call this dispensation. We believe in dispensationalism, and we're in this dispensation here. God has put us in. We could have been born during the time of Moses. We could have been born during the time of Isaiah. We could have been born a lot of different times, but God in His sovereignty placed our lives in what is described here as the last time. As the last time. You are living in the last time. Now the Bible says that in the last time you have heard that Antichrist shall come. And even now are there many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. One of the great trademarks One of the great characteristics of the last time is this whole idea of Antichrist. Now, most people, when they see the word Antichrist, think about THE Antichrist. See, the Bible says that after this period we're in now, there's going to come what's called the Rapture. And the church is going to be raptured out, believers are going to be raptured out, and then there's going to be a seven-year period called the Tribulation Period. And in the midst of that tribulation, after the church is raptured out, there's going to be this tremendous chaos on the earth, and there's going to arise this person called the Antichrist. And the Antichrist is going to take leadership of the world, take control of the world, and basically stand in opposition to God, and lead those on this planet against God. But this passage isn't describing just the Antichrist, it's talking about the fact that there are many Antichrists. Meaning this, Antichrist means, listen, in opposition to or against Christ. In opposition to or against Christ. It says in the last time there are going to be many antichrists. There are going to be many that will be in opposition to Christ. There are going to be many that are against Christ. Now listen, it's clearly easy to see in the world today that we're in this time. I mean, for example, in the culture today, pretty much any and every group is out of bounds for in any way attacking except one group, and that's Christians. It's pretty much politically incorrect in our culture today to do anything against anybody else except for one group, and that is Christians. I mean, when was the last time they ever made up a movie that ever portrayed a preacher in a positive light? I mean, when was there ever a time when, like today, when anything and everything could be said about Christians? Now, always remember that it's not you. Don't ever take that personal, because you know what? It's not about you. It's about Jesus Christ. You're not being attacked. Don't take it personal. It's Jesus. It's opposition to Jesus. It's Antichrist. It's the spirit of Antichrist in the world. And indeed, it is in the world. And the Bible tells us here, when this happened, we know that we're in the last time. We know we're in the last time. Now, what John begins to describe, then, is how to have the truth. And the first thing he says is this. You've got to recognize false teachers. You have to recognize false teachers. If you are going to have truth, you've got to be able to know what is a false teacher. Now, John deals with this whole thing in this book, in and out. In fact, in a few weeks, we're going to get to chapter 4, and we're going to talk about discernment. How that a person who's born of God will have discernment. And we're going to look more at this whole idea of false teachers when we get to 1 John 4 verses 1-6. But here he begins to talk about false teachers. And he begins to introduce us to false teachers. And he describes what false teachers are all about. Now the first thing he says about false teachers as a characteristic is they depart from the fellowship. They depart from the fellowship. He says that false teachers will depart from the fellowship. It says in verse 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For they had been of us, they would no doubt, no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. You see, what he says here is that false teachers are going to depart. That they are going to depart. And what they're going to depart from is they're going to depart from the truth. And how many people involved in false teachers and being false teachers and listening to false teachers, I mean, how many of the false teachers, how many of the people that follow false teachers started in a good church? Many. In fact, I'd say the majority. But yet the Bible tells us here that they, hey, they were with us, but the problem was they weren't of us. Because if they would have been of us, no doubt about it, they would have continued with us. But they went out. Why did they go out? Because they manifested that they were not all of us. You see, God says in his word, 1st Sympathy 3, 14 and 15, that the church has a huge responsibility in the culture. And that huge responsibility, listen to verse 15, he says, but if I tear along the thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. And listen to how he describes the house of God, the church. It's the church of the living God. Listen to this. Underline this, the pillar and the ground of the truth. Do you see that? You say, what is the responsibility of Capital Baptist Church? The responsibility of Capital Baptist Church and any good church is to stand for the truth. The culture may move. Thirty-four, I mean, sixty-six percent of people, thirty-four percent believe in absolute truth. Sixty-six percent of people may move away from the truth. What is the church supposed to do? Are we supposed to follow right along? No, we have a responsibility to be the pillar. We're to be the standard-bearer. We're to be the pillar. We're to be the ground of the truth. And it doesn't matter if 99.9% of the people reject absolute truth. The church is to not change. The church is to remain the standard-bearer of the truth. We're to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. And listen, those that are saved will be attracted to that type of church. And those that aren't the real deal will leave that kind of church. They'll leave that kind of church. They'll do what 2 Timothy 4 describes in verse number 3, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They will not want to hear sound doctrine. They won't endure sound doctrine. But rather, after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." See, the problem is the truth. The truth. The truth is what they depart from. They depart from the fellowship. They leave the fellowship. I mean, just think about that statistic there that three out of four young adults do not believe in absolute truth. One of the things that we talk about a lot among the pastors is just the younger generation and reaching the younger generation and things like that. And we want to be sensitive to the culture and we believe that methods can change. That's fine, different methods. God gives lots of different methods. And we're open to that. We're open to that. What we're not open to is changing the truth. changing the truth. We're not open to that, okay? We're not open to that. And, you know, a lot of times people's kids will grow up in the church, they'll leave or whatever. It's fine if they go off to another good church or whatever. We prefer them to be here, but that's okay. It's all right, okay? But a lot of them, we say, graduate from their faith. You know what? I don't think they graduate from their faith. I don't think they ever had a faith, okay? If 75% of young adults say there's no absolute truth, they were never of us. Do you see that? They were never of us, because if they would have been of us, they wouldn't have left the truth. OK? Yeah, they grew up in church. They grew up around the truth, but they never embraced that truth for themselves. They never personalized it for themselves. And this is what John is talking about here. They depart from the fellowship. And then secondly, they deny the faith. False teachers deny the faith. And primarily the faith that we hold to stands upon the most important doctrine, perhaps in the world, and that is the doctrine of Christ. The litmus test of truth is what we believe about Jesus Christ. That is the very litmus test of all truth, what we believe about Jesus Christ. And false teachers are in error when it comes to the person of Christ and the work of Christ. They're in error when it comes to the person of Christ, who was Jesus, and the work of Christ, what Jesus came to do. And John describes here false teachers this way when he talks about them. And let's get down, if we could, to verse 22. Who is a liar? Who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is 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. What's he talking about? He's talking about what you believe about Jesus Christ. What do you believe about the person of Christ? See, the person of Christ is so important because Jesus Christ wasn't just a great teacher. Jesus Christ wasn't just a spiritual leader. Jesus Christ wasn't just a prophet. Jesus Christ wasn't just a person of history. Jesus Christ was God. God, very God. He said, John chapter 10 verse 30, I and my Father are one. And John says, you deny the Son, you deny the Father. And if you've got the Son, you've got the Father, okay? You can't separate the two because of what we call the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the three in one. You say, do you understand the Trinity? I don't understand it at all, okay? Do you believe the Trinity? I believe the Trinity, okay? I believe the Word of God. I kind of like having a God I can't totally understand, you know? I prefer to have a God I can't understand over a God I could understand, whatever, you know? See, false teachers deny the Trinity. They deny the Trinity. They deny the work of Christ, what Christ came to do. Christ came to provide salvation. Christ came to be the Messiah. The Bible says in 2 John 7-11, what do you do if somebody comes to you and they deny the faith? What do you do when somebody comes to you and they do not believe in the truth of the person of Christ and the work of Christ? How do you handle that? What do you do when a Mormon comes to your door, okay? What do you do when a Jehovah's Witness comes to your door, okay? Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says many deceivers are entering into the world. Many are out there, okay? They don't confess that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Now, what do you better do? You better look to yourself, it says. That we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. You gotta be careful. You gotta look to yourself. Because whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. You say, Pastor, but they're so nice. You say, Pastor, they smell so good. You say, Pastor, you know, they ride nice bicycles. Pastor, they have this great literature and they just want a little small donation and they'll give you their pretty literature. They don't have God. They don't have God. Can you read here? It says, if they do not abide in the doctrine of Christ, they do not have God. Because he that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. Now, if they come unto you and they bring not this doctrine, number one, you don't let them in your house. says, receive him not into your house and number you. You don't say God bless you. OK, you say here's a track. My password's got the truth in it. I know for sure you're going to heaven. OK. Goodbye. Because if you bid him Godspeed, you're a partaker of his evil deeds. Pretty blunt, isn't it? Do you understand the seriousness of absolute truth? Do you comprehend the significance of this stuff here? See, the page 3 says Colossians 2, 8, 9, Beware, you better beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him, that is Jesus, dwelleth all, A-L-L, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus Christ is God just as much as God the Father. In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, Bobby. Number one, you've got to recognize false teachings. If you're going to have truth, you've got to recognize false teachers and false teachings. They depart from the fellowship and they deny the faith. Number two, remember the sources. If you're going to have truth in your life, you've got to understand the two sources for truth. And these two sources of truth have got to flow heavily into your life. And the more heavily these two sources flow into your life, the more you're going to be a person of truth. Now, these are also the two, listen, these also are the two arsenals, weapons that we have in our arsenal to deal with false teaching, okay? They're very, very important. What are the two things you say? I say, I really want to be more of a person of truth. What do I need to do? Well, you let these two sources flow in your life. Number one is God's Word. God's Word. He says in verse number 24, let there therefore abide in you which you've heard from the beginning. Now, thankfully, we live in a time, when John was writing this, it was basically what they were hearing. The Bible was being put together. But we live in a time when the canon of Scripture is complete and closed. We have the Word of God. We have the Bible. And we need to realize that we need to remember what God has said to us, okay? We need to abide in what God has given to us in his word. Because John 17, 17 says, Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is what? Truth. See, the Bible is the book of truth. The Bible is the word of God. And the reason I don't want to lie is because the truth tells me that God hates lying. And the reason I don't want to be a fornicator is because the Bible tells me God hates fornication. And the reason I don't want to be a thief is because the Bible says God hates stealing. It's the absolute truth. You say, well, pastor, you know, you don't understand. You got to get more help, man. You know, the culture is shifting and changing. And, you know, it's it's kind of OK to lie. Yeah. Sixty six percent of people do that and they'll ball place lie to you tomorrow. OK, because that's the culture. That's the culture. See, if you're going to be a person of truth, you've got to understand the word is what? Truth. You've got to realize 2 Timothy chapter 3 tells us that the holy scriptures, verse 16, have been given by inspiration of God. breathed out by God. All of the scripture, not just part of the scripture, Genesis to Revelation, all of the scripture has been inspired. That means breathed out by God. Therefore, it doesn't matter what the Bible talks about. It can talk about history, it can talk about math, it can talk about archaeology. I don't care what you name your topic, it's right. It's right, because it's God's truth. Secondly, God's Spirit. You need to let the Word of God flow in your life. You need to let the Spirit of God take control of your life. Verse 27, he says, the anointing. What is the anointing? The anointing is when God's Spirit comes into your life. Now, according to 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22, that happened at the moment of your salvation. And in John 14, the Bible tells us the Spirit of God comes into our life. Verse 17 says it's the Spirit of truth. And this is one of the unique things about being a believer, is you have the spirit of truth. The Bible says the world cannot receive it. That's why, you know, the world has no standard of truth. And they don't understand the truth. And you expect them to be that way. Because that's how it is. It says they don't have the spirit of truth in them. They don't know it. But He dwells in you, Jesus said in John 14, and shall be in you. And in John 16, 13, it tells us the Spirit of truth is going to come, underlying this, He will guide you into all truth. See, the Holy Spirit is going to be the one to guide you into all truth. That's why it's so important when you're in the Word that you're praying and you're asking the Holy Spirit to guide you, to lead you in the truth of the Word of God. Remember the sources, God's Word and God's And then on the back page of our notes, as we wrap it up, remain close to God. Remain close to God. One of my favorite verses in 1 John is 1 John 2.28. I memorized this verse when I was in college, and it's really served me well. I would really challenge you to actually commit this next verse to memory. It's a powerful verse. It can have a big impact in your life. And now, little children, he's wrapping this discussion up about truth, and he says, now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Three words that encourage us to remain close to God. Number one, the word abide. Abide actually means to remain. That's what the word means. And notice, I didn't count them up, maybe I'll do that later, maybe you can do it and tell me. The word abide is in here like four times I believe, okay? Like verse 27, it says, you shall abide in him. And then he says, now little children abide in him. What does that mean? Remain in him, abide in him, remain in him. John 15, three through seven describes it like, you know, a vine and a branch. Stay plugged into him, stay close to him. And then secondly, the word appear. Remain close to God, because you know what? We shall appear. He's going to appear. He shall appear. And when he appears, you want to have confidence. You want to have confidence. Second Corinthians 5.10 says you're going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. I mean, you know, I'm not perfect, but I'm telling you, it would be just fine with me if Jesus came right now. I mean, honestly, if I just dropped dead right this second, You know, it happens. I had a pastor and I died right in the pulpit. Maybe you guys get to witness that. Who knows, okay? Wouldn't that be cool? You'll never forget it, okay? You remember that day, pastor died. And they wound him up and took him out and took up the offering. Anyway, but we, you know, you know, I'm not saying, I'm just telling you, I'm okay. I'm not ashamed to meet him right now. Now, I'll be honest with you, that hasn't always been the case. There was times in my life, I'm glad he didn't show up that day, OK? Yeah, he wants us to stay close to him so that we are never ashamed, so that we can meet him with confidence. Do you have that confidence there? And then lastly, ashamed, he says, you don't want to be ashamed before him at his coming, remain close to God, abide, knowing that he's going to appear and you don't want to be ashamed. Remain close to God. Do you have truth? Jesus said, you shall know the truth. Do you know it? And that truth shall make you free. Do you know the truth? This is a birthmark of a believer. Let's pray.