Sunday Re-Cap 22 November 2009

Confidence in the Last Days (1 John 2:18-29)
by Ps. Abel Phillips

We believe that, according to Scripture, we are living in the last days.
The Bible says that perilous times are coming, and we need to be prepared.
We need to be ready because of:
i. The intercession factor – we need to be praying for people.
ii. The soul-winning factor – we need to be telling folks about Jesus Christ.
iii. The family preparation factor – as parents and grandparents, we need to be teaching and training our children in the ways and truth of God.
iv. The comfort factor – when we know what the Bible says about coming events, then we don’t have to worry; we understand that Jesus is coming again.

I) THE TIME IS THE LAST DAYS – BE AWAKE (1 John 2:18)
- Be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. After the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus, we entered into a period of time called the last time.
- The rapture of the church is imminent; we’re not waiting for the fulfillment of a sign or prophecy. The rapture may occur at any moment.
- We are to be expecting the coming of the Lord Jesus at any moment: Thessalonians 1:10 ; Philippians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 1:7; Hebrews 9:28 & Titus 2:13
- We are not to look for a sign; we’re to be looking for our Lord Jesus.

II) THE TYRANNT IS THE COMING ANTICHRIST – BE AWARE (1 John 2:18-26)
A. The antichrist has many aliases, including the son of perdition, the man of sin, the wicked one, the man of lawlessness, and the beast, 2 Thessalonians 2:3 & Revelation 13:1.
The prefix “anti” has two meanings: “against” and “instead of”. The antichrist will come against Christ by substituting himself for Christ (instead of Christ).

B. Attributes of the antichrist:
1. Devilish - 2 Thessalonians 2:4
2. Divisive –
1 John 2:19 – speaks of other antichrists that have entered the world, many of whom were once a part of the church. This Scripture says that “they were not all of us,” meaning that they were never saved.
1 Timothy 4:1
3. Deceptive
His primary objective is to deceive men about who Jesus is.
1 John 2:20-23; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 4:1-3 & 2 John 7-11
4. Destructive
His objective in deceiving men about Jesus has an ultimate goal of condemning the souls of men.
1 John 2:24-25

III) THE TRUIMPH IS THAT JESUS IS COMING – BE ABIDING (1 John 2:24-29)
We need to abide in the Word of God.
-1 John 2:24
We need to abide in the Spirit of God.
- 1 John 2:20;1 John 2:27;Ephesians 4:11-12;2 Timothy 2:15;John 14:26
We need to abide in the Son of God.
- 1 John 2:28-29

So be abiding that when He appears you will have the confidence and will not be ashamed or alarmed before Him at His coming.