Persevering in the Truth

It is important that we as a people – the people of God - proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord and King, prove our salvation and life in Christ, persevere in the truth of God’s Word and raise the standard of righteousness and His Kingdom.

Revival is hindered and the Kingdom cannot be established fully unless we come into alignment with these declarations.

Today, many are giving up and throwing in the towel out of frustration over life.  They feel as if God has abandoned them and left them high and dry, so they walk away and depart from the truth.  We are in great need of a dose of reality, spirituality and finality concerning our faith.  Our faith needs to be real, divine and certain.  We need to step in deeper without expectations instead of stepping out because of disappointments.

When we find ourselves in such a place, the enemy is waiting to seize upon our mind and heart.  He is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour or intimidate.  But remember, he uses as his ammunition what is existent in our lives.  If you have pride, greed, disappointment, frustration, disillusionment or any other weakness, he will work to empower it in your life to defeat you from within.  He will put deceivers in your pathway to lead you astray. 

This is what was happening to those in John’s day.  They were revealing their lost condition by their response to deception.  The Word was not in them to combat the work of the enemy and they turned away from the truth.  I John 2:18-29 says:

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

It’s heart-breaking to know that many will turn their backs on the Lord within a short period of time.  Some will falter and wander away from the Lord and the House of God.  They will blame others for their choices.  They will find fault somewhere and use it as an excuse to do something else.  They will grow cold toward the Lord because other things in life have become more important.  Some who are in that category will say ‘not me, I will never forsake the Lord or His house and people’.  Even Peter, the beloved of the Lord, stated that he would never deny Christ, yet he did just as Jesus predicted.

Hopefully this will not be the case, but it does happen all the time.  The earth is in great need of resilience, faithfulness and perseverance by real believers, real disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Will you persevere in the truth?  Come war, famine, disease, sickness, financial disaster, family crisis or the end of the age.

John was asking the same questions in I John 2 to those who were transitioning from one era of time to another.  In verse 18 we see that it was the end of an Age:

“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.”

The Word is not about the End of the world in the sense of apocalypse.  People have made millions of dollars with scare tactics that they attribute to the Bible by writing their own books concerning the end of the world or destruction of the earth. The Scriptures teach that God is about renewal.  While He will judge the systems and philosophies of this world, the earth will be renewed and made new when all is said and done.

John was not talking about the end of the world to the hearers but the end of an age.  For the Jewish believers, all they had ever known was about to change and the world would never be the same.  The age of humanistic law, animal sacrifices, and religious zeal was about to give way to divine grace, the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice, and the Kingdom of God operating by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.  This was truly about the end of an age that John was bringing to the church’s attention.  John affirmed the end of the age by the appearance of anti-Christ’s in verses 19, 22 & 23:

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

 At the end of any age, there is the intensified work of the enemy.  The spirit of antichrist becomes the pervasive spirit when the earth is in transition from age to age.  It was true of John’s day and it will be true at the end of the age we are living in.  But we must understand the spirit of antichrist.  The church is filled with posers and imposters.  The tragedy is the deception they are under as the spirit of antichrist is working in their lives.  John said there were those who went out from us but were not of us.  The term “antichrist” gives us indication of what it is. It is anti-Christ.

The work of Christ in the life of a true believer is to live His life as the Anointed One within the believer.  The spirit of antichrist is a false representation of Christ, according to Matthew 24:24. It is a claim to be anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and claim to be qualified to do the work of God yet without the anointing and the Spirit of God.  But as John has said, ‘he that claims to know Christ but keeps not His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.’  These claims then become false and the spirit of antichrist has affected the individual.  How many in the House of God are affected by the antichrist spirit?  “By their fruits they shall be known!”  The antichrist spirit is a spirit of opposition.

Just as anti-venom is given to counteract the venom of a snake and antiseptic is used against infection, so Antichrist is against, is opposed to, Jesus Christ. This tells us the essence of what Antichrist is: it is opposition to God's Christ manifested in one’s life. 

It is critical that we understand our opposition to the manifestation of Jesus Christ in and through our lives is the result of being affected by this spirit.  That may be harsh to say and some may even believe it is a stretch to make such a claim, but John was warning the believers to be careful not to be affected by the antichrist spirit that would become rampant at the close of the age.  Persevere in the truth!

The term antichrist also indicates substitution. Antichrist opposes Jesus in order to supplant Him, to take His place as Christ or Lord.

Our flesh is in league with the antichrist.  This is why it is so important to put to death the flesh.  In so doing, we deny the antichrist spirit as well and it has no partner to counter the life of Christ within us.

Although the English language does not often use the prefix "anti" to mean substitution, it is a common use of the preposition in the Greek language. When Scripture says that Jesus died "for His people," one of the prepositions used is anti indicating that He died as a substitute for His people. This is the secondary meaning of the preposition anti. Antichrist purposes to be "in the place of," or "a substitute for" Jesus the Christ.

When we submit our lives to our flesh, we are substituting Christ with flesh.  We elevate our wants and desires, our passions and dreams that counter the purposes of God in Christ Jesus for us.

May we remain faithful to the truth of God working in us by denying our flesh thus denying the spirit of antichrist!  This is only possible through the efficiency of the anointing!

20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

 Do you recognize the anointing of God in your life?  In other words, are you certain and sure of the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the Word of God and the nature of Christ into fullness in your life on a daily basis?  Or, is flesh dominant and you lack power for righteousness?  Listen, these are significant questions that may provoke anxiety in you even controversy.  What do you see everyday when you look into the mirror?

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh - for if you are living according to the flesh you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may indeed be glorified with Him." (Romans 8:12-17)

There are several related ideas expressed in this Scripture. We read about personal responsibility and bearing the consequences of living according to the flesh (vs. 12-13). We see the identifying mark of the sons of God that are being led by the Spirit (vs. 14). We read that there is a witness, or testimony given by the Holy Spirit to our spirit that we are children of God (vs. 16).

What does this mean? It means that we can know if we are God's children by listening to the Holy Spirit's testimony that He bears with our spirit.  Also, the Spirit reveals truth and righteousness to us.  Sin as a result of ignorance is no excuse.  Ignorance is an indication of no anointing, no Holy Spirit!

“For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." (1 Corinthians 2:10)

The knowledge of God and His righteousness in Christ Jesus revealed to us by the Holy Spirit enables us to Abide in Him – persevere in the truth!

24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

Abide in the truth. There is a clear indication here that it is possible to depart from the truth.  However, this is possible only if the Word and the Spirit are absent from the beginning.  In other words, if the Word abides in you and you in it, then it is the result of the keeping power of the present Holy Spirit within you.  His presence is only as a result of your initial faith and trust in Jesus Christ from your heart.

 Abide means to live continuously in, to remain, to dwell, to stay, to last, to endure, to persevere.  Abiding in the truth by the power of the Spirit until the end is a clear indication of one’s conversion.  The result is eternal life.

 Some would say that it sounds like eternal life requires that we work our way toward it by the effort of abiding.  It is by works – but it is the work of Christ on the Cross and the delivery of that work through the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives.  Abiding is a conscious decision on our part to rest in the work of Christ that has impact on our everyday lives.  If a person’s life has not been impacted by the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross then it indicates no repentance and heart surrender as well as a lack of abiding in the truth of His work.  However, the reward of abiding in Him is eternal Life that provides an amazing encounter with His ultimate appearing as seen in verses 26-29:

“I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

The leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit has the power to keep us.  John was warning the hearers about the deceivers all around.  He was also encouraging them that if they believed, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is within them to guide them away from the deceivers – an antichrist spirit.  Therefore abide in Him so that when He comes, you will not be ashamed.

Persevering and dwelling in the Truth gives confidence to face Him.  John was closing things out in this chapter by making sure the hearer understood that he who dwells or perseveres in the truth will practice righteousness because we have come to know that He is righteous by the anointing that is within us.  By this we know that we are born of God!

If Jesus were to return right now, if the sky cracked and the earth shook and there He stood with each foot on the rim of the earth – east and west, would you be received into His arms ready to rule this world with Him in power and righteousness?  Or, would you be caught out with the tares to be cast into outer darkness because you have been operating under the influence of an antichrist spirit? 

 Have you been deceived into thinking you are right with God because of your Bible knowledge or your pride in doing certain things right or your faith in good deeds rather than a pure faith in Christ and Him only?

Let’s not just think about His coming one day, what about His daily appearance – His presence.  What about daily encounters with God – how are you handling that in your life?  Are you prepared to encounter Jesus right now and throughout the remainder of your life?