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May 12, 2024

Last Day Assurance

Last Day Assurance

Passage: 1 John 2:18-23

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Blessed Assurance

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: heaven, church, prayer, faith, jesus, god, praise, sermon, christian, bible, christ, gospel, hope, theology, preaching, salvation, sermons, holy spirit, peace, jesus christ, the bible, christianity, saved, last days, eternal life, bible study, assurance of salvation, last day, study the bible, assurance of faith, bible teaching, blessed assurance, jesus is coming soon, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, experience jesus, assured of our salvation

We continue our sermon series through 1 John, Blessed Assurance, with a message today on instructions for last-day living. From the moment of Jesus's post-resurrection ascension into glory, it has been the last days. We know, as Christ's followers, that there is a real enemy that wants to rule, and we have to wholly lean into our anointing of the Holy Spirit to withstand the enemy. We must remain in the truth, through the word of God, in His Spirit, and with assurance in Jesus. Do you have assurance in these last days? How do you need to stand in the truth? Do you need to meet Jesus today to have blessed assurance of salvation? As always, we’d love to connect with you, take time to answer any questions, and pray with you – reach out today. You can take the next step in your faith journey and celebrate with us by visiting – burnthickory.com/next.

I was thinking this week just about kind of the season of ministry that we are in as a church right now. And there's a word that just kind of kept rolling in my mind. And it was really that we are in a little bit of a season of celebration. if you've been around over the last couple of months, you know that we have celebrated kind of what God has been doing in our special needs ministry here and shining a light on that. last week, we celebrated the class of 2024. Man, that is hard to say, isn't it? I know, it's hard to say for a 1995’er like me, much less for some of you. Amen. it is. It's just hard to say. We celebrated that last week with Chip Paul bringing an incredible message for us last week. And, then earlier, we celebrated the babies that were being dedicated, which was the best group of babies we have ever had at a dedication. I thought it was a little boring. to be honest with you, nobody's running or biting or hitting.

Anyway, we celebrated that, and today we are just celebrating Mother's Day. we're celebrating Mother's Day, which, for some of you, was just a shock. So get on Amazon and get it to your house. Right. before you get there today. But I can't think of another group of people that we need to celebrate more than our mothers, than our mothers. Number one, we wouldn't literally be here without them. Amen. that's a whole other talk for another day. But, number two, how many times have they literally saved our lives? and I mean that, like, for real? I can count on my two hands how many times I probably would not have been here if my mother had not saved me in some way. So this morning, we just want to celebrate them because they're incredible. In fact, I pulled together a couple of extraordinary feats of moms that I want to share because this will just kind of bring light to why they're so important.

Did you know that in the first two years of a baby's life, a mom will change 7300 diapers? 7300 diapers. Moms are like, yeah, we know. we know that, right? The time spent changing diapers equates to three 40-hour work weeks. in the course of those first two years. The secondl thing that kind of came up. Did you know that moms, in the first two years of their kid's lives, will do 192 loads of laundry? And you're like, yeah, I know. In fact, I have one right now, right? It’s what's happening. Did you know 43% of moms with kids say that they only sleep 5.5 hours a night? that was news to me. right. All right. Guys, guys. You all too. You're like, what are you talking about? You didn't sleep. I had a great night. You're like, yeah, you did right. Has everybody gotten that one before? I have, probably last night. there it is. Moving into later in life. This is why moms are so incredible. Did you know that the average four-year-old asks 437 questions a day? That's why they're so tired all the time, right? Not the kid, the mom. Right. That's why they're so tired. also, listen to this about moms. 62% of women under 50 years old who gave birth last year were also in the working world, and 25% of those who were not in the working world had some kind of side hustle at home. Some kind of side hustle at home. To which, listen, if it was us, dude, staying home most of the time, we'd be like, no, I'm good. I'm good. Right? But mamas, you're incredible. And here are my favorite things about moms. did you know that 1 in 5 moms think that their kid is ugly? did you know that? Did you know it? I don't know. Don't nod your head. Don't nod your head. Because that will give it away. right now, if you're one of those. So don't do that. To all moms, today, we just want to say thank you. we want to say thank you for who you are. We know today is a hard day for some of you.

We want to recognize that, but we also just want to honor and give honor where it is due. In fact, if you're a mom, if you're a mom in here, and if you're a mom and you're pregnant enough that you've told everybody, you know what I'm saying in that because we don't want this to be the revealed day. There's way better ways to do that. If that is you today. Would you just do us a favor and stand really quickly, just for a minute? Just for a minute. If you're a mom in the room, would you just stand really quickly? Really quick? Can we just appreciate you guys real, real quick? Thank you. Thank you, thank you. You can sit down. You can sit down. I know, I know, I know every like church strategy says don't do that. But I mean, they're moms, right? They're moms. So we want to do that. we want to give that credit. Well, listen, let's jump into the word.

We're in this series that we're just calling blessed assurance. Blessed assurance where we're walking through this little bitty letter called First John, written by none other than the apostle John, written by the old statesman, the last disciple left. And he's writing this a couple of generations, like 50 years after the death of Christ. John is writing this letter to this group of churches, and this is a little bit of a problem. There's been a group that has split off from them that really is causing a lot of trouble, and they're causing a lot of trouble around this idea of salvation. And how do we know that we are really saved? And how do we really know that we have salvation? How do we really know that we know that we know that I am a believer in Jesus Christ, and one day I will spend eternity with him? So it's a great book to look at for us to kind of look over the left shoulder of these churches and what we would call modern-day Turkey to ask ourselves, how do I know? Now, look, John is not writing first John as a rebuke or as something that is a downer or to be harsh. He's writing this letter to this church to say, hey, listen, there is time for you to know that you are really a follower of Jesus. John is saying this out of a fatherly heart: if you're still hearing this, there is still time for you. So don't look at this as a rebuke. Look at this as an encouragement, as you need to know. In chapter one, we see that God really wants us to know. He wants us to be assured of our faith. We don't have a God in heaven who wants to keep us on the edge, kind of, who thinks that us not knowing is this obedience trick and that we will submit to him if we don't know. That's not the gospel.

The gospel is that God wants us to realize what he's done. So much for us that we live out of that overflow, and then we live for him in that overflow, and we have that full love, have that full fellowship with him. In chapter two. So far, we have seen that John makes this contrast between chasing the worldly things versus chasing the godly things, and he quite simply tells us that, look, you can chase all the worldly things you want to. And they do have a lot of glitz and glamor and power, but they're temporary, and they don't last. And if that is the theme of your life, John told us a couple weeks ago, two weeks ago, man, if that's the theme of your life, then you have a spiritual problem. Maybe it's a salvation problem. Maybe it's just the fact that you're not being obedient problem. But if that's where your life is, then you need to realize that it's the eternal things that are worth it.

Well, today, we're going to pick up right where we left off two weeks ago. In this quest for what we've said every week, is this idea or this quest to have the assurance that we know that we know that we know that we're His? So today, we're going to look into John's push for what I'm just calling the last-day assurance. All right. The last-day assurance. Now, I know some of you just perked up, and you're like, man, it's Mother's Day. what are we doing? I would say that is a fabulous point. All right, it is Mother's Day, but we're in the series. We're in the text. And here's what I know about mamas. There is nobody in our lives who can just punch us in the mouth and tell us the truth, like our mamas can, right? That is what John's going to do today. All right. That's what he's going to do today. And he's going to look at us and go, hey, do you want to know that you know that you know that you know, Jesus, even in the last day? Watch what happens here. Now, here's where we're going to start. We're going to start in chapter two. We're going to start right at verse 18. And John is going to point out today that we need assurance because we are living in the last days. And we can't be ignorant about that. In fact, if you are a believer in Jesus, you need to know that we're living in the last days. Why?

So that you can know that and live towards it. If you're not a believer in Jesus, if you haven't given your life to Jesus, if you haven't been saved, you need to know that there is going to come a moment when that decision is taken away from you to follow him. In fact, Jesus said it like this in John 14, verse three. In the gospel, John said, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back, and I will take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. So, look, I know most churches don't talk about this, and I know we never talk about it. No Mother's Day. All right, but here's the deal. Church, I just want you to hear today that Jesus can return, and he can return at any moment. In fact, Jesus could return even before I finish this message to what some of you are like. Well, Matt, that's been a long time, right? It took you a minute to get that right, but he can. Jesus can return at any moment. He could rapture the church from the world. He could begin the Great Tribulation. And all of this can happen right now. Now, look, I know there are a lot of views, all right? A lot of views on this. What I'll say is this. We can still be friends, no matter how wrong you are. All right? We really can. We can. All right? We can. I promise we can. But I want us to look at the text today through this idea of wherever your view is on that.

Here's where I want us to know. We need to be watching. We need to be ready. And we need to know where we stand with Jesus. All right, so let's jump into the text in First John chapter two, verse 18. Here's what he says. He says, dear children, and you can just feel his heart right. You can feel the love that he has for the people. Also, this is like John's master trick of changing subjects. All right, dear children. This, he says, is the last hour. And as you have heard, that the Antichrist is coming, even now, many Antichrists have come. This is how we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their going showed that none of them belong to us. Now I know that's a whole lot. What is that? Remember, the whole book is about this group that bounced out of the church. There wasn't with the church that's kind of gone and done their own little thing. And quite honestly, John is just looking at them, going man, listen, if they were really part of who we are, they would still be here. All right. Now, John's been a little heavy here. All right, I get that. But keep watching this next verse because this is those who know Jesus. Watch what he says.

It says, but you have an anointing from the Holy One. And all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the Antichrist denying the father and the son. No one who denies the son has the father, and whoever acknowledges the son has the father also. Now look, I know that's a lot. I know that that is a mouthful. But in this passage, John does something masterfully. In fact, he does it better than any other gospel writer to show us and to give us assurance that we have the knowledge to know that we belong to Christ and that we are living in the moments that we really need to understand. So here's what he does. He gives us really quick last-day living instructions. And here's the first one. It's going to make more sense as we walk through them.

Number one, John looks at you and looks at me and looks at these people and says, as number one, he says this. He says if you want to be sure you know Jesus, live like every day is the last day or is the last day. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, oh no, here comes the doom and gloom. Right here comes the turn or burn. Here comes the fire and brimstone message. No, that's not what John is doing. John is not talking to the people who have left the church. He's talking to the people who are still in the church. He wants to give them the assurance of knowing who Jesus is and falling in love with Jesus. So what does John say in verse 18? He says, dear children, this is the last hour. Notice he's not rebuking. He's not yelling at them. He's not screaming and giving them some rebuke. No, he's looking at them, and he's going, dear children, this is the last hour. You know what that means?

That means that, in fact, the last we are living in the last days and that we need to be awake. That's what that means. In fact, look at your neighbor right now and just say, wake up. No, I mean, some of you need to do that because they're asleep. Just look at him. I say, wake up because that's what John is saying. Here, John is saying trusting and following Jesus right now is massively important. Why? Because he gave his life for us. Because he is the Lord of all. He's saying that because we are living in the last days. The question is, how does all this work? Because that's what I asked for a lot of years. I mean, as John is writing this 2000 years ago, he's saying that we live and we are living in the last days. What happened? How do we know we're living in the last days? Well, write this principle down because it's going to help you read and apply the Bible.

Here's the principle. From the moment of the post-resurrection ascension of Jesus, I know that sounds really, really strong. But from the moment of the post-resurrection ascension of Jesus into heaven. Look, we have been in the last days, okay? Does that help a little bit? We have been in the last days. What does that mean? That means from the moment that Jesus ascended back to the Father in glory, we, as the church, have been living in the last days. In the Old Testament, they looked for the first coming of Jesus. In the New Testament, what do we have? The birth, the life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus, and the ascension of Jesus. And right now, right after Jesus ascended to the Father. From that point on, if at any moment, church listen to me, Jesus can return. He can return at any moment. So what John is saying is to live like that. Live like it. And when I say any moment. The Bible uses the word imminent. It means it could come. It means you're a teenager, and your parents have been out of town for a week, and they decide to come back a day early, and they text you and say, I am coming, and what are you doing? You are now living in that moment. That's what John is saying.

He's saying, listen, from the moment Jesus ascended to the Father, he can come back at any moment. Now, let me clear something up. For a lot of us. We're not waiting for any signs of time for Jesus to come back. We're not. We're not waiting on any signs of the time. But, man, what are you talking about? What about the whole book of Revelation and all of these different signs? That is talking about the final return of Jesus along with the church. Let me walk it through you. This is not a prophecy conference, but let me give it to you real fast. Here's the difference. Jesus is going to come back to get us. To those of us who know Jesus, that is called the rapture. That word is not used. So don't tell me. No, no, there's no rapture in Scripture. I get it. There's no Holy Spirit either. But you still believe that, right? Jesus is going to come back.

He's going to rapture his church in the air. He's going to be called up to meet the Lord suddenly in the twinkling of an eye. And at that point, what the Bible calls what's going to happen is the tribulation will start at that point. The seven years of tribulation will start, and then after the tribulation, Jesus will return with the church, not for the church, with the church to rule and to reign, to rule and to reign. It's the millennial reign of Christ. After that reign, he will finally come back again. He will come back. He will destroy Satan for final, final. It'll be the decimation of Satan forever. So yes, there is signs and symbols for the return with the church, but not for the church or not for the church. Some of us are living our lives going out. There's going to be lots of moons, and there's going to be weird weather, and there's going to be weird rulers. There's going to be weird stuff. No, there's not until after the church is raptured. You say, Matt, I don't know. I don't get it. I don't get it. Well, Paul thought so. I mean, how many times did Paul warn the people that he was dealing with to be ready?

In fact, in First Thessalonians 1:10, Paul looks at them and says, hey, wait. He says, wait for the Son from heaven. He's looking at them, saying, man, be eagerly in anticipation. Philippians three verse 20 says, but our citizenship is from heaven. As we eagerly await for the Son. First Corinthians chapter one, verse seven, says, therefore, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await. What is Paul doing there? Paul is looking at the Thessalonians. He's looking at the Philippians. He's looking at the Corinthians. And Paul is saying that any moment Christ can return, he can return. He even tells Titus the same thing. Why? Because Paul is convinced through the Holy Spirit that Christ can return at any moment.

They weren't waiting for a sign and weren't waiting for the temple to be rebuilt or for Israel to do something and get back on track. That's not what they were waiting on. They were looking for Jesus to come suddenly. And so should we. So should we. In fact, in First Thessalonians, chapter four, verse 16, Watch what it says. It says that the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, we always miss this. Verse 18. Therefore, encourage each other with these words.

Now, I'm not saying this is a scare-you or a turn-or-burn tactic. No, I'm speaking this to believers. We need to live as this is the day because it could be the day. Paul says this is encouraging, and we should live every moment like it. But here's what hit me this week. If we really believe that Christ could return this afternoon, right now, would I be living how I'm living now? Would I? Would my priorities be the same, or do I feel like I've got time to get my junk right, all right, to get my stuff right? Am I looking for some weird lights in the air like last night? Right? Am I looking for some sign, some weirdness to know? Okay, then, I better get my stuff together. No, no, no. John's going. Hey, you want to live assured? Live like today could be the day. And then the rest of the stuff will take care of itself. For 2000 years, the saints have been living just saying, hey, come, Lord Jesus, because that's what you made me for.

So, number one, the last living instruction is just to live like it is the last day. Number two gets a little heavier. I know it's hard to say. Yes. Little heavier. Just know that there is a real enemy that wants to rule you. Know that there's a real enemy. So? So, yes, we're living in the last days, but yes, we're also living in the realm of this enemy called Satan that wants to rule the world. And John, in this text, just told us that in doing that, he rules through this thing that John refers to as just the spirit of the Antichrist.

Now, I know this is a little complicated, but we're all smart people, so you're going to be able to get this. All right. Follow me here. The spirit of the Antichrist is here. The big A Antichrist is going to come during the tribulation. Now, if you're a believer in Jesus, you don't gotta worry about that. Why? Because Kirk Cameron and I are going to be with the Lord, right? That's how it is. All right, here it is first, John. That's probably when I said first John chapter two, verse 18. All right, here it is. Watch what he says to your children. This is the last hour. And as you have heard, that the Antichrist is coming. Even now, the Antichrists - plural, have come. All right. So look, there's going to be a ruler that comes. Thessalonians calls him the man of lawlessness. Then he calls him to his doom for destruction, the incarnation of wickedness. Revelation 13 calls him the beast. All right, the Antichrist will come. John is the only person that uses this language. Antichrist. All right, little English lesson. There are two words there. There's anti, and there's Christ. Anti has two meanings: against and instead of. And Christ, you get that. All right. We're at church. You know what that means. All right.

So, the Antichrist comes as the enemy and the replacement of Jesus in the time of the tribulation. But the spirit of the Antichrist is already here, and it's always been here since the time of Jesus. That's what he's saying here. The Antichrist is just like Satan, and he's gaining this following. Even before the proper noun big A Antichrist comes. This is what verse 19 says and it says they went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have been. They would have remained with us. But they're going out showed that none of them belong to us. Why didn't they belong? Because they followed after the spirit of the Prince of the world, the Antichrist of the world. You see, what made them leave is not that they got mad at the preacher. I wasn't getting anything out of the message. They just messed up on who Jesus is.

So listen closely. The Antichrist will come in the tribulation. The spirit of the Antichrist is here and wants to deceive you. And wants to deceive you and wants to deceive you really, all around this idea of who Jesus is. You've been following culture here lately. That's what he's doing, isn't it? Listen, the spirit of the Antichrist doesn't care what you believe. It doesn't care how good you are. It doesn't matter how much money you make. The spirit of the Antichrist wants you to be as good of a person as you can and wants you to be a significant lover of people. He wants you to be honorable and want you to be religious. But the spirit of the Antichrist just wants you, wants you to be deceived about who Jesus is because everything else comes after that. He wants to deceive you, wants to deceive you.

In fact, if you go to First John chapter two, verse 22, watch what he says about the spirit. He says, who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the Antichrist denying the father and the son. No one who denies the son has the father. Whoever acknowledges the son also has the father. So what is it saying? It’s saying that if you want to test the spirit that is in your life, ask yourself, who is Jesus to this spirit? In fact, if you go over to First John chapter four, we're going to get there one day, God willing, we might actually make it to First John four. Watch what he says. He says, dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God. Watch every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh is from God. Still, every spirit that does not acknowledge that Jesus Christ is not from God or that does not acknowledge Jesus Christ is not from God is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and now is already in the world. You know what that means?

The test is always Jesus. You don't know if it's God. The test is always Jesus. Listen, the test of any good church is, what do they do with Jesus? The test of any person that knocks on your door with any kind of literature? Amen is always who is Jesus? The test of any morality is not what I feel about it, but what is Jesus to it? Don't look at the outer coating. Don't look at the temporal gain that it gives you. Where is Jesus in the decision and doesn't worship Jesus? The spirit of the Antichrist is the Christ of the cults. That's what he's saying. And he's saying that if you want to make sure that you know that you know that you know that you're walking in assurance, know that you're walking with Jesus. Now I get it. Those two are really heavy. Thank goodness John is the master of contrast. Right? Light, dark, evil, darkness, all that. Right. So what does John do next? John shows us that while there is the spirit of the Antichrist, there is an even better spirit, and it's called the Holy Spirit. It's called the Holy Spirit. So here's the third instruction that John gives us.

Number one, live like it's the last day. Number two, know there's a ruler that wants to rule over you, but number three, he says, fully lean into your Holy Spirit anointing. Fully lean in. Now, this was short, and I know just hearing those words, some of you are like, oh man, now we've gone from doom and gloom to charismatic, right? That's not what he's talking about when he says Holy Spirit anointing. All right. So now what? He says it all. What John is doing is he's saying, look, the end is coming. There's an enemy that wants to get you, but there is an even better Spirit that will cover you, guide you, and instruct you. In fact, look at verse 20. Watch what he says. 1 John 2:20 says, but you have an anointing. That word anointing just means covering. It doesn't mean you grab a tambourine and you're heading around the building. That's not what it means, okay? It means you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. It seems super scary that there's this force out there against us. But let me just encourage you Christians and say this: there's an even greater source of power available to you. And it is the Holy Spirit in your life. It's the Holy Spirit in your life, and the Holy Spirit leads you, and it guides you, and it covers you, and it seals you in the anointing of the Holy Spirit is when you open your heart up to the guidance and the leading of this spirit. But I can feel the question, Matt, how do I do that? Which is the fourth instruction.

Number four, write this down. Remain in the truth. Just remain in the truth. There's an enemy. We're in the last days. The Holy Spirit is available to you. But how do you follow the spirit? Simple. Remain in the truth. This word “remain” to the Apostle John is incredibly important. He uses it all through his gospel and all through here. Maybe you learned it as abide. It means to remain attached to yourself and not leave. And what John does right here is he says, hey, do you want to know how you can live with assurance? Remain in the truth. But how do we remain in the truth? John gives us three closing ways that we can attach ourselves to the truth. Number one, you remain in the Word of God. In the Word of God. We say it every single week here. The Word of God is God's primary voice to all of us. That's what verse 24 tells us. As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. What did they do? What do they hear from the beginning? They heard the teachings of the apostle. They heard the Old Testament for us. It is the Word of God. If you want to know you're remaining in God, remain in His Word. Why?

There's divine power in it, there's divine presence in it, and he meets us right in the words in his book. So remain in the Word of God. But number two, remain in the Spirit of God, remain in the Spirit of God. We just talked a whole lot about how to remain in the covering of God. What does that mean? That means that we just walk in the power of the spirit. Not my power, not your power, thank goodness, but his power. In fact, look at verse 27. It says, as for you, the anointing you receive from him remains in you. Then, watch what he says, and you do not need anyone to teach you. Now, that's a scary verse for people like me, right? You don't need that. But as for you, his anointing teaches you about all things and that anointing is real, not counterfeit. Just as it taught you to remain in him, do you know what this means?

This means that my role in this church is to present truth to you. That's all I can do. The Holy Spirit's role is to open your heart up to that truth. Now, look, this took me a long time to get it because I, I mean, I, I spent a lot of sleepless nights here, and people go. I just am not getting anything from that church. I just need some more debt from that church. I don't have this from that church. They're not giving it. Listen, it is not my role to pierce your heart. My role is to present the truth of God. Your role is to have a spirit that can hear the Word of God. That's what this means. It doesn't mean that you fire everybody like me. And we just sit around and go, give it to me. God, no, that's not what it means. But it does mean that the Spirit of God attaching ourselves to the Spirit of God is what gives us the confidence to live in the covering of the Holy Spirit.

And then number three. He just says this. He closes it with just: Hey, remain in the Son of God. Remain in the Son. Why? Because it's all about the Son of God. It's all about Jesus, man. I hear people every now think, oh man, oh yeah, I'll talk about it. That church is Jesus. Amen. Yeah. That's all we're going to talk about. Watch how he closes this out. And this is the closing verse. He says and now dear children, continue in him. That word continues the same as remain. It's all over scripture. And now, dear children, continue in him so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. Now look, church, I know that this is the weirdest Mother's Day message ever. I can admit to it. It is just how it is. But how do we remain in the Son of God? We trust, and we obey, and we submit our lives to the Son so that when we do that when we're walking in the Spirit, when we're walking in the word, and when we're remaining in his love, here's what happens to us. Even if the Lord Jesus decides to come. Here's the posture. The posture is like just one of these little kids that we put up here earlier.

The posture is, yes, Lord, here I am. The posture is not to hide. The posture is not to say, “Hey, give me a month to get my life together.” The posture is not “I can't get there”. The posture is Lord, I'm not perfect, Lord, I'm a sinner. But Lord, I know that I am yours, and you are mine. And now we will spend eternity together. So look, church, this is not doom and gloom. This is not turn or burn. This is not any of those weird sayings that maybe you grew up with. This is come, Lord Jesus, and deliver me because I'm yours. But here's my question today: are you? Are you his? Have you come to a point in your life where you have surrendered your life to King Jesus and said, here I am? I'm not talking about going to church. I'm not talking about whether you went to a class as a kid or if your parents dragged you up here in a really cute outfit.

I'm saying, has there been a point where you have stepped into a relationship with Jesus? For the covering of the Holy Spirit has given you life? Because if there has been welcome to the kingdom of God. If there hasn't been man, what's holding you back? What's holding you back? Do you want to know that you'll be okay when your life ends? Do you want to know that you'll be okay when that day hits? Surrender to the assurance of what Christ has done for you. And you know what that does for us? It takes the pressure off of me, and it puts it on him, who has already died for my sins. Would you pray with me before we move in a time of decision?

Lord Jesus, today. God, my question today is if today the trumpet sounded, would I stand before you ashamed? Or would I stand before you saying, Abba Father, here I am. Lord, I just pray during this next little bit of worship that you just solidify that in our minds, Lord Jesus. God, if there are people who need to give their hearts to you today, I'm going to be standing by the Next Steps banner over here, and I would just love to pray with them and pray over them. God, if there are people that just need to say kind of, hey Lord, I've been trying to do this on my own for a long time, but I can't do it anymore. God, I'd love to pray over and with them. Lord, maybe there's somebody here who has been way away from Jesus. Today, Lord, you're drawing them back to you. God. I just pray they stand before you today and ask you to forgive them so you can give them your power. Jesus Lord, we love you today, and we thank you for this chance to deal with you for just a minute, Lord. In your name,

Amen. Amen.

Let's stand together and sing. I'm going to be standing right over here about the next steps banner. This is your time.

 

Follow Along with the Message

Last Day Assurance

May 12, 2024

John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
1 John 2:18–23
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist — denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Last Day Living Instructions

1. Live every day like it is the days.

1 John 2:18
Dear children, this is the last hour…

PRINCIPLE: From the moment of the post-resurrection ascension of Jesus into glory, it has been the days.

1 Thessalonians 1:10
…and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:7
Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
1 Thessalonians 4:16–18
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

2. Know that there is a real that wants to rule.

1 John 2:18
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.
1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Matthew 24:24
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
1 John 2:22–23
22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist — denying the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
1 John 4:1–3
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

3. Fully lean into your Holy Spirit .

1 John 2:20–21
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
1 John 2:26–27
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him.

4. Remain in the .

Remain In…

1. The of God

1 John 2:24
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

2. The of God

1 John 2:27
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him.
John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

3. The of God

1 John 2:28
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
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