Maple Gardens Worship Service
January 26, 2025
“Abiding”

Deceit – Antichrists

1 John 2:18-25
“18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which 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 they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 24 Therefore 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. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.” – NKJV

What is an antichrist? What does that mean? Well, we get the definition in verse 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.”
So, where do these antichrists come from? Who are they? What do they profess? Well, the verse says that they are liars. They deny that Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who denies Jesus Christ is an antichrist. That means that he or she is against Christ. They do not believe in Him nor do they want to even have anything to do with Him. They are liars. Jesus tells us in

John 8:44
“You [Pharisees] are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.” – NKJV

So, anyone who is an antichrist is a follower of the evil one. They deny that Jesus exists, and instead they spew the lies of the devil. John tells us in his gospel that this person is of their father the devil. Anyone who follows the devil will lie. Because their father is the father of lies. The devil lied to Eve and got her to sin. And that is what he is still up to. He lies to people. And he tells them that if they have this or that, or are wealthy or famous, or religious, that they will be happy. But non-spiritual things do not bring happiness. They just bring bitterness, and guilt, and jealousy. Most of the world today is in the devil’s hold, and he is lying to people every day. If he can get them to deny Jesus, he has accomplished his goal. That person will now be with him in Hell, forever.

The devil is subtle. He instills doubts and fear in our minds. He finds ways to get us to doubt God, to make us think that God is not for us. That is what he did to Eve in the garden. He got her to doubt God. To think that God was holding something back from her. We read about this in

Genesis 3:1b-7 “And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” – NKJV

In verse one the devil subtly got Eve to reason to herself. He said to her; “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” He wants her to begin to think if God actually did say that. He wants her to begin to question God. And then in verse 4, the devil says “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So, the devil wanted Eve to consider that God may be holding something back from her. And he plants in her mind the thought that she could be like God, knowing good and evil. She didn’t know anything about good and evil yet, all she knew was good. But he had planted the seed. And he said she could be “like God”. Wow! What could be better?

I warn you. The devil can plant seeds in your mind. He can get to you to fear. He may whisper things like “What if this would happen, what would you do?” and now we begin to fear if that would happen. And if we do not take this fear to God in prayer, then we begin to lose sight of God’s closeness and care, and that He is with us and that He is always watching over us, and we lose sight of Him. And the devil has accomplished what he wanted.

Well, not only is the devil an antichrist, but then there are many people who are antichrists. They follow the devil. He is the one they live for. They live for themselves and what they can get for themselves. And they will prod you and give you things to think about that are contrary to God’s word. And they might make their friendship with you conditional, that if you do what they want you to do, they will be your friends. But if you don’t do what they want you to do, they will not be your friend. They may go to the bad places, or do something you know is not right, and they want you to do that as well. Because if you don’t, then they will not be your friend. Don’t let them sway you. Run from them. They are not your friends. So just be aware of antichrists in the world today.

As Paul said in Ephesians 4:27 “nor give place to the devil.” – NKJV Just be aware of falsehood when you meet people. They will try to get you to follow them. However, we still need to love them. They do not know Christ and we can witness to them.

Well, we see there are people today who are against Christ, and they will be against you. Just be aware of these concerns. These people are not for you, they are for the devil. And the other truth I want to present from this chapter is that John wants us to

Abide in Him

“26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” – NKJV

What do you think of when you think of the word abide? What is it trying to tell us? Different Bibles translate the word just a little differently, giving us other views of the word. The

The Wycliff Bible says to “dwell ye in him” – WYC

The Christian Standard Bible says to “remain in him” – CSB

The God’s Word Translation says to “live in Christ” – GW

So, the word abide means to dwell in, to remain in, to live in. When we think of an abode, we think a place to dwell, a place to live. So, when we abide, we live in Jesus, we remain in His care, we live with Him. And usually, not always, when we live with someone, we become closer to them. They live with us and we begin to know them. And as we abide in Jesus, we get closer to Him. Jesus says He wants to abide in you. He says in
John 15:4-5 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. – NKJV

So, Jesus compares our abiding in Him with the fruitfulness we will provide with Him. If we do not abide in Him, we will not bear much fruit. One of the translations of abide was to live in. So, we are to live in Christ. That can be a difficult concept, to live in Christ. What does that mean? Well, to me, it is to be in His presence all day long, everyday. That when we get up, we go to Him and pray and ask him to be with us, to lead us and to use us. At noon, we ask Him to bless our food and the fellowship we have with Him. And at evening time, we spend time with Him in His word and prayer. We keep Him in our thoughts all day long. And we need to pray. We have so much to pray for. Here are some thoughts for prayer.

• First of all, pray for yourself. Ask God to be in you, to lead you, and to keep you. He is your best friend. Always be with him. You know, I have a good friend in myself. I can talk to myself a lot. I doubt if you do that, but I do. But, maybe I need to make Jesus my best friend, and instead of talking to myself, talk to Him. Maybe that could work for you. In any case, be with Him. Abide in Him.
• We can pray for each other. Pray for God’s protection over each of us. Pray that He will always be close to us.
• We can pray for our family if we have a family and ask God to keep them in His care and free of the evil one’s influence.
• We can pray for a revival across the USA. We need that today.
• We can pray to protect our leaders and to give them wisdom as they govern from day to day. We also need that today.
• We can pray to protect our nation and its people. Include in this prayers for our armed service members serving us in the armed forces.
• And we can pray for the people in this facility, that He would begin to work in their hearts and encourage them to accept Him. To ask Him to give them a desire to come to the service. Ask God to work in their lives.

So, as you begin to pray, He will come near you. As you continue to focus on Him, and that you expect Him to answer your prayers, you will be closer to Him. Take time this week to pray each morning, noon, and night. And, I would encourage you to set aside a particular time each day when you can be alone with Him and just pray. Turn off the TV, and turn the phone ringer off and put your phone in the other room, and go pray. Allow Him to speak to you through your time with Him.

To finish,

John’s final thought on this
“28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” – NKJV

So, John begs us to abide in Him. To make Him first in our lives. To not make our home, or our possessions, first, but to make Him first, We can love our homes, our cars, our jobs, whatever it may be, but if that love comes before Jesus, then you are a target for the evil one.

In summary, remember, the evil one is a roaring lion, going around seeking who he can deceive. He is at you constantly, trying to get you to denounce Jesus. Flee from these thoughts. Remember, God is always with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

And we are to abide in Jesus. He loves you and cares for you. If you do not love Jesus, then I urge you to come to Him today. Ask Him to forgive your sins and to save your soul from death and give you eternal life. He is your friend.

And these truths apply no matter how old you are. If you are in grade school, just remember, God loves you and is with you. He is on your side. Sometimes, kids will say mean things to you, but just remember, God still loves you no matter what they say. Don’t let them make you feel bad. God is with you and is for you.

And for you in high school or college kids or young people just getting started. Put Jesus first in your life. Make Him your focal point to live for. He will guide you and direct your steps. Pray that He will lead you and guide you. Keep Him in the forefront of your mind and thoughts. He will always be with you.

And for the adults. God knows you! And for all of us, He knows how many hairs are on our heads, and He knows all about us. And He is on your side! Love Jesus. Ask Him to lead you and guide you. He will!

So, I urge you, take time this week to seek Him and to pray. He will come close to you. May God richly bless you this week.

NKJV “Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

GW “All Scripture marked with the designation “GW” is taken from GOD’S WORD®. © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. Used by permission.”

WYC “Wycliffe Bible (WYC) 2001 by Terence P. Noble”

CSB “The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.”