Peter Barnes | 1 John 2:20-27
SERMON NOTES
THE TESTIMONY AGAINST THE ANTICHRISTS
Psalm 2; 1 John 2:20-27
– ‘anti’ means ‘instead of’
1. We are to believe that Jesus is the Christ.
– 2:22-23; note Matt.11:27; John 1:18; 14:9
– Cicero: ‘the question of the nature of the gods is the darkest and most difficult of all.’ Hence only through Christ can we know God.
2. Our teacher is the Holy Spirit.
– 2:20-21; the Holy One in the Old Testament is God (e.g. Habakkuk 1:12; 3:3). In 1 John it is surely Christ who anoints with the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17; 2 Cor.1:21-22)
– 2:27 does not abolish human teachers (Eph.4:11; 1 Tim.3:2), but says that the Holy Spirit is the true teacher (cf. 1 Cor.2:14).
3. We are to abide in the apostles’ teaching.
– 2:24-26; 2 Tim.1:13; Acts 17:11
– Mark 13:22-23