Please turn in your Bibles to 1st John chapter 2, 1st John chapter 2, as we once again turn to the portion that we considered last week, Sunday evening, in connection with the believer's confession that Jesus is the Christ, which of course we said is a true confession, it's a challenged confession, and it is a glorious confession. Now tonight we return to this passage along with Lord's Day 12, page 19 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, as in some respects we now apply it more personally to you and me as Christians. 1 John chapter 2, as we will read verses 18 through 27 once again. And before we do so, we confess together what we believe with regard to question and answer 32 of Lord's Day 12, at the bottom of page 19. And that question asks, But why are you called a Christian? Because by faith I am a member of Christ, so I share in His anointing. I am anointed to confess His name, to present myself to him as a living sacrifice of thanks, to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity. We turn now to God's holy word, 1 John 2, verse 18. Hear now the word of God. 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 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 belonged to us 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 the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the Antichrist. He denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 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. And this is what He promised us, even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you receive 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. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, you call yourself a Christian. So what? So what? What does that mean? Because there are many who claim that name. But why are you called a Christian? A fitting question from the catechism, having considered what it means that Jesus is the Christ. But why are you called a Christian? Are you humbled to be given that name? Are you proud to wear that name? Are you proud to be known by it? Do you readily and willingly identify yourself as so-and-so, the Christian? You see, sometimes we're very proud to identify ourselves as so-and-so, the athlete, or so-and-so, the musician, or so-and-so from this school, or so-and-so who is associated with this, that, or the other thing. We're proud of those things. But are you also proud to identify yourself as so-and-so, the Christian? and do you offer that information to those with whom you have contact? Or are you embarrassed by it? It is no secret, I trust, to any one of us that the Christian is meant to be identified with his or her namesake. And that namesake is Christ. And boys and girls, I trust you, remember, at least many of you, that Christ simply means anointed. It means anointed one. And Jesus was anointed to be the Savior. And He has accomplished full and complete and unfailing salvation by perfectly fulfilling His office as our chief prophet and teacher who shows and teaches of the way of salvation. As our only high priest who opened the way, earned the way for you and me to be saved. And also as our eternal King who then protects and defends that way of salvation. And all of this for His chosen people who are made one with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit who gives us new life. John says in verse 20 again, but you have an anointing from the Holy One and all of you know the truth. You know the truth because of the anointing. And he picks up that idea of anointing also again in verse 27. As for you, the anointing you receive 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. Christians have an anointing. The Catechism puts it this way, starting to answer that question, but why are you a Christian? Because by faith I am a member of Christ, and so I share in His anointing. By faith I am grafted into, I am made one with Jesus Christ, just as the branch is one with a vine, drawing life-giving nourishment from that vine. As the catechism, I think, says it very well, we are members of Christ by faith. And John gives us an idea of what that means throughout his epistle, pointing to the fact that that means knowing Him, keeping His Word, and abiding in Him, all by the anointing of the Holy One. And because we belong to Him, because we are one with Him by faith, we share then in His anointing. And we cannot help but then think of Psalm 133, where David says how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, for there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore. Of course, David is talking about the beauty of unity and how that oil unites the whole body, as it were. It flows over the whole body. And boys and girls, what that is talking about there, because of the large quantity of oil that was used, that oil did not just stay on the head. It spilled down over the face and over the beard and on the collar and over the whole body. And by His anointing, because of His anointing, our Savior purchased His people. And his anointing then spills over to his whole body, to the church, and makes us who are in him share in the anointing of his Holy Spirit. And therefore, in a sense, just as anti-Christ, as we said last week, means against Christ, this particular anointing puts those who are saved with Christ and makes them a part of Christ, bound to Him by faith according to the truth. But why are you called a Christian? As a believer, why are you identified with Christ? Well, beloved, it's because the anointed Savior anoints His saved. And therefore, because believers are beneficiaries of His full salvation, because we benefit from all that He has accomplished through His threefold office, therefore, by the Holy Spirit, we too are anointed into full service. Into full service as prophets, priests, and kings. Though not in the same way that Christ is, but we share in His anointing as prophets, priests, and kings. That is the content of the true Christian's life. That is the content of that life for those who remain in Him. That is what the life of a Christian is to look like. That of prophet, priest, and king. And we are called then, beloved, to engage in that office as those called and equipped by the Holy Spirit in the first place to proclaim the truth. John says very clearly to his listeners, you know the truth. He says it so confidently. You can make no mistake about it. You know it. And he's talking of only one truth, and that is the truth about Jesus Christ, whom he calls earlier the Word of Life. He calls Him the Righteous One. He says He is the one for whose sake God will forgive us all of our sins. You know the truth. And therefore, those who are connected to Christ by faith, those who are Christians, are then to proclaim the truth as prophets. And, beloved, we are to do so against the spirit of Antichrist. Remember, as we said last week, that spirit of Antichrist denies that Jesus is the Christ. Boys and girls, that spirit of Antichrist denies the work that Jesus has done. It says he didn't do it, or it says we don't need it. the spirit of antichrist denies that jesus was appointed by god the father and anointed by the holy spirit to be the messiah the the long expected messiah the one to come to save us from our sins the spirit of antichrist rejects the gracious act of god in providing that one and only and guaranteed way to be saved from sin and rescued from God's eternal anger against sin. You see, all of that, in a nutshell, is the lie that is embraced by and taught by the spirit of Antichrist because of their father of lies, who we know as Satan. But Christians, those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit, are the complete opposite of Antichrist. Especially when it comes to Christ. Christians, those anointed by the Holy Spirit, Paul says, cannot curse Jesus. Those who truly are anointed by the Holy Spirit cannot curse Jesus. And instead, they will confess that Jesus is Lord. Because they are prophets of the Lord. Prophets of the Lord who love to tell the truth of the story that we sing about, that message of salvation from God's own holy Word. John says in verse 24, See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. That truth that you heard way back in the beginning, that it remains in you. The idea is that truth is to be at home in the Christian. The Word of God must take up residency in our hearts. It is to be hidden there, as the psalmist says. so that our every thought and word and action is guided by the Word of God through the Holy Spirit. And when it is, then as prophets, beloved, we will, without reservation, as the Catechism says, confess His name. Without reservation. Confess His name. And of course, that's talking about more than simply public profession of faith. When one stands here, as wonderful as that is and how necessary that is, when one stands here before God and His congregation, fellow believers, it's much more than that. This is truly a public profession. Out there as well. With our mouth, we are to witness to all that we come in contact with that Christ Jesus is Lord. And that witness is to be open, it is to be ongoing, it is to be constant. And if one truly lives in the joy of Christ, full salvation. That one cannot keep silent. Because, beloved, to keep silent is the same as to deny Him. When will we stop denying Him? When will we stop being silent? And as prophets of the Lord, beloved, we are called to teach those entrusted to our care, our children, our students in the school or in Sunday school and catechism, those under our care in young peoples or gems or cadets or whenever we have the opportunity to influence those under our care as well as anyone who asks. We are called to teach them the reason for the hope that is in us. You see, beloved Christians, our prophets, in the shadow of the chief prophet, Jesus Christ, in whose light alone we see the light of God's revelation, especially His revelation of redemption. That greatest of buy-back programs. That great purchase that Jesus Christ has accomplished for you and me. As we sang about this morning, I will sing of my Redeemer and His wondrous love to me on the cruel cross. He suffered from the curse to set me free. And we go on and on in that beautiful, glorious song. Beloved, we are called to confess the only truth that sets one free. And since in many ways this is such an application, we cannot help but to examine ourselves and ask ourselves, what about me? What is being heard from me? What is being heard from you? And I trust we all understand too that in order to proclaim the truth, we must know the truth. The only way to confess the truth of Jesus Christ is to know it, and that means that we are to be students of the Word of God. Those who delight in it, those who read it, those who study it, those who memorize it, those who crave it as the nourishment it is by the blessing of God. Not just snack on it once in a while. Boys and girls, your moms do not allow you to live on snacks, I hope. Because a snack is really often not very much or very good nourishment. We need the full meal, don't we? A little snack isn't going to do it for us. And the same is true with the Word of God. It doesn't do us any good or much good at all to simply snack on it once in a while. We must invest in it to feed upon it, to digest it. But it also doesn't do any good to know the Word without believing it. We must also believe the truth. John says in chapter 5, verse 1, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. In verse 5, who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. You see, true faith alone believes the truth of Jesus Christ and believes that it's for me too. That I'm actually saved. Only one with true faith is able to stand against that spirit of Antichrist empowered by the Holy Spirit as a prophet to confess the truth. Now beloved, we have been given the greatest message to share. That message of hope. that message of life, that message of salvation. So again, how can we keep quiet? How can we possibly keep quiet? May it be that we would proclaim it. But this confession is also to be a confession of life as well as a confession of words as the Christian is anointed in the second place to live the truth. And we are called to live the truth very simply as priests, again, as we share in the anointing of Christ. The Catechism says to present myself to Him as a living sacrifice of thanks. We know that comes from Paul. Paul says, present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Present your bodies, present your whole lives, every aspect of your lives. And we are called to live the truth as priests and to do so by remaining in Him. That's what John also seems to focus on here. Verse 27, as for you, the anointing you receive 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. And once again, the idea of remaining there is that of abiding, of taking up residency, of being at home in Jesus Christ, as we sometimes sing with each thought and each motive beneath His control. By faith, as Christians, we are called to exercise a conscious and a consistent fellowship with Him as our true life. We are called to live the truth as priests, beloved, being so profoundly grateful. So profoundly grateful for the salvation and the new life that Jesus Christ has earned for me and brought me into. So profoundly grateful for that. therefore delighting to be like Him and delighting to hear, desiring to hear His words one day, well done, good and faithful servant. And seeing that we have no other purpose for living than living for Jesus. Because He alone, beloved, gives meaning to our families and to our marriages and to our relationships and our work and our studying and our recreation and our words and our everything. Boys and girls and young people, when will you learn when will you learn that this life all by itself and the things of this life are absolutely meaningless apart from a relationship of faith with the Lord Jesus Christ the things that we might enjoy and like today will be taken away from us will take none of it with us this earth will be consumed it will pass away it means nothing apart from, but everything when we are in a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to live the truth as priests, sacrificing our all. And that means our time and our talents and our treasures, beloved. These are gifts from God, and as Christians, these then are to be used continually and consistently for God's glory. I don't think it would be too far off base to say that we could define Christ another way, and that is as selfless. Because when we consider the anointing of our Lord Jesus Christ, His work as prophet, priest, and king, it is all selfless. And the same is true as Christians. We are called to be selfless for God and for others. And therefore, we too, as we live the truth, we are called to practice what we preach. Not just to proclaim it, but to practice what we preach. Our walk is to match our talk. may none of us ever need to say to someone, do as I say, but not as I do. We are called to practice what we preach or that sends a mixed message to our children, to those who see us, to the world, a message that is deadly and dangerous. But instead, may we live the truth, beloved, as priests and do so again against the spirit of Antichrist. There's one thing I think that is consistent about the spirit of Antichrist and that is it denies Christ with both mouth and life. Oh, there are wolves in sheep's clothing. We know that, but they are always seen for what they are. The spirit of Antichrist lives according to the wisdom and the reason of men, not the Word of God. The spirit of Antichrist exalts man even as Satan tempted Eve. You will be like God. You deserve that. That's owed to you, so go for it. The spirit of Antichrist sacrifices everything and everyone else for their own benefit. and the goal of the spirit of antichrist is to preach and teach a false gospel as john warns about here for example the life is all about you that great triune me myself and i and with regard to the spirit of antichrist and their false gospel the truth is for them there is no absolute truth what's true for you is true for you what's true for me is true for me it's all relative and there is no life to come if there is we must secure it we can do it because it's survival of the fittest and it's all about me beloved not only are we called to proclaim the truth but to live the truth as priests and to do so against the spirit of antichrist and that means too that the christian is anointed by the holy spirit in the third place to defend the truth to defend the truth and it is a truth that is worth defending because only the truth of jesus Christ and His saving love will set one free from the slavery to sin. That slavery that man knows naturally. The slavery that man is at home in apart from Christ Jesus. But the Christian anointed in Christ Jesus is to defend the truth as a king. The catechism says to strive with a good conscience against sin and the devil in this life and afterward to reign with Christ over all creation for all eternity our future is set beloved and what a glorious future it is but we are not yet there we are still on this side of glory as it were this side of the consummation of all things and while we are still here in this life we are called to defend the truth as kings and we are to defend that truth first of all in our own lives you see the catechism says again to strive with a good conscience it doesn't say that we are perfect we do struggle with sin we we still do we fall short of the glory of god as we face our three sworn enemies the devil the world and our own flesh and and john knew that that's why he said see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you and all throughout scripture we are reminded especially in the New Testament to put off the old man to put on the new man to be obedient why? why do Christians need that reminder? because we have short memories we still struggle with sin we need that constant reminder but beloved we can also take heart at least to an extent because of the fact that we do struggle with sin the fact that it bothers us that is evidence of this anointing by the Holy Spirit and as kings we are called to fight and remember as we said last week this anointing that we're talking about includes the promise of the giving of the gifts necessary to fulfill the office to which we are called and by grace God strengthens our faith by His word through His Holy Spirit that we might consciously fight consciously. Boys and girls and young people, did you hear that word? Consciously. That means we are to use our head. Use the brain that God has given to you. Use the heart that you have. That means we are to think about things. We are to read the situation. and be discerning and recognize error, not embracing it, not taking it unto ourselves, but fleeing, running away from it, seeking to always do that which is pleasing to God, not consciously doing what is wrong, not consciously sinning against God. You see, that's nothing but willful disobedience to God. How dare we willfully disobey God? But because of this anointing too, beloved, when we do sin, we hate it, we despise it, we are sorry for it, we confess it, we flee from it all by the leading and power of the Holy Spirit by the grace of God. We are called to defend the truth in our own lives, but also to defend the truth in the world. This wicked world we know is Satan's domain over which he is prince, and this world is held captive to the lie, and we know that this world is saturated with anti-Christian, not just un-Christian, but anti-Christian, ungodly living, anti-Christian laws, anti-Christian practices and desires. It's out there. It's all around us. All you need to do is open your eyes, look around, watch a little TV, you'll see it there. Watch a little news. Read magazines and the newspaper. It's all there. And all this anti-Christian stuff that the world is filled with has become the standard for the world. It is acceptable to the world. The majority rules. And Christians, you see, well, Christians are in the minority. And Christians are considered to be intolerant. But the Christian is a part of the militant church, the fighting church. And therefore, we are not to lay down and forfeit under pressure, but we are to stand firm on the rock of ages against the world's attacks, fighting for the one who fought for us and gained for you and me the victory over eternal death. Beloved, as priests, again, our sacrificial living is to result in proclaiming the truth and defending the truth. In the Old Testament, the sin offering was given first. And that was followed up by a thank offering. And the same is true here. Our Lord Jesus Christ has offered that one final sacrifice for sin. That's not the kind of priest we need to be because that's been done. We can't do it. We don't need to. But we are called to respond to that, follow that up with thank offerings. And our life of thankful sacrifice is also to result in proclaiming the truth and defending the truth. The spirit of Antichrist surrounds us. That spirit will attack us. It will try to wear us down. It will seek to change us. But John says, you don't need to learn from anybody else. You need to learn only from the Spirit. Don't listen to what they have to say. And our comfort is that those anointed by the Holy Spirit are preserved by our mighty fortress. And God has given to us the assurance that we will not be snatched from Him. But there's one more place wherein we are called to defend the truth. Not only in our own lives, not only in the world, but also in the church. Sadly, in the visible church, the church on this earth, that church is not exempt from sin. That church is not exempt from sinful attitudes and behaviors. And therefore, as Christians, we are called to consciously fight the temptation that comes upon us, any one of us at any time, to hurt another one in whatever way. And instead, we are to consciously love each other as we love ourselves. As kings defending the truth in the church, we are called to exercise mutual discipline. Oh, this gets difficult, doesn't it? Because we don't like to confront each other because we're afraid of how they might respond or what they might dig up about us. But you see, none of that matters. We are called to exercise mutual discipline, to keep each other accountable and each desire to be kept to be held accountable. As kings, we are called to love each other deeply as we recognize our own unworthiness and the fact that we are all recipients of the amazing grace of God. Not one of us is more deserving than any other. In fact, we all don't deserve it to the same degree. But we are called to love each other deeply and help each other fight sin in our lives. May it never be, beloved, that we would desire to leave another in their sin or that we would desire to be left by our brother and sister in Christ in sin. And young people, this includes you too. When you know that a classmate or friend is doing something they have no business doing, engaging in a lifestyle that is harmful to them, that will hurt other people, and most of all is ungodly, That God hates. You may not keep quiet. You may not keep quiet. Woe be to you if you do not say a word. And that goes for all of us, beloved. We are to have such a love for the soul of our brother and sister in Christ and for all those with whom we have contact that we would desire that they repent of their sins and be brought to God or restored to God. But along with mutual discipline, we must also understand very briefly that defending the truth in the church includes fighting to keep the truth in the church, being proclaimed from the Lord's pulpit, not watering down the truth, not inventing new interpretations or new perspectives from that which we know is clear that God has clearly given to us in His Word. Defend the truth. Dear people of God, the Christian life is not an easy life. It's not an easy life because it is. It is to be anti-world. It is to be different, set apart. It's not an easy life, but it is a most blessed life. It's a most blessed life because of the truth of Jesus Christ that has called us and brought us to be Christians. It is the most blessed life because of that very same truth that we have the privilege to proclaim and live and defend. It is the most blessed life because it enjoys the eternal protection of our namesake, Jesus Christ. There is no greater privilege so undeserved, yet no greater privilege given to those for whom Christ died than to be identified with Him, to bear His name, to represent Him. You see, beloved, you can't be. It is impossible to be a true Christian and at the same time live and believe and teach a message different than Jesus Christ. Even John says in chapter 3, verse 6, no one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. It doesn't mean that we don't sin. That's not what we're saying here. But no one continues in that kind of a lifestyle. Now we all know that we are expected, In this life, we have certain social expectations. We are expected to represent our family names and our schools and our employers and our clubs and anything we are associated with. We are expected to represent these things according to certain standards. For some of these things, if you don't, you're kicked out. If you don't represent these things according to certain standards, you make them look bad. You cause others to have a bad impression of these things, of your family, of your school. of your employer, of cadets or gems. If you confess the name of Jesus Christ, if you claim to be a Christian, you and I are called to represent Him well, and therefore may it never be that others would see us and say, if that's what it means to be a Christian, I don't want any part of it, or worse. If that's what it means to be a Christian, I don't have to change a thing. I'm doing all right. Well, beloved, once again, how are you doing? As you examine yourself. You see, there's one guarantee that we can be certain of. If we are giving our family and our school and our employee and these other things a bad name, then we are also doing it to Jesus Christ. There are many who claim the name Christian. But they're in deadly danger because they have nothing to do with Christ and Christianity. And apart from Jesus, Christ is simply one who is a prophet of the devil with the darkness of the lie, shutting out the light of the truth. Apart from Jesus Christ, one is a priest of the devil offering his heart to desire sin and his whole life to engage in sinful behavior. Apart from Jesus Christ, one is a king under Satan with a rebellious will toward God and instead being a subject of Satan and subject to the reign of sin. But those anointed by the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus are being remade in the image of Jesus Christ and they delight. They delight to openly display that badge of membership in Christ. And again, beloved, it does not mean that we will never fail. We will fail. That's not the point here. We will fail until we reach glory, until the Holy Spirit is done sanctifying us. We will fall short of the glory of God. but that is not to be an excuse for us. That does not let us off the hook from striving to proclaim the truth and live the truth and defend the truth. But when we do fail, our comfort is in the mercy of God for the sake of our chief prophet, our only high priest and our eternal king who has accomplished full and complete salvation for us. And therefore, that anointing that we enjoy also means that we sacrifice ourselves in humble repentance and confession of sin to our God, demonstrating to the world how the believer deals with sin. So you call yourself a Christian. So what? What does it mean? You see, the most important task we have is to proclaim and live and defend the story of Jesus and his love, that message of salvation. And everything else we do is to serve that end. Very simply, a Christian is to actually be Christian. Our Lord Jesus Christ deserves that response from us. And praise God, we are unable to, not because of ourselves, but because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, as Your children, we come before You at the close of this sermon together. As those whom You have anointed and given the name Christian, as those whom You have called as Your children to represent the Christ Himself, to show forth his work, to proclaim that work, to defend that work. Indeed, O Lord, what an awesome task this is, yet what an awesome privilege as well. One that we do not deserve and one that we often fail in. But we do pray, O Lord, that day by day, moment by moment, you would cause us to be more faithful servants of the Most High God. that you would give to us a greater assurance day by day of the joy of our salvation in Christ Jesus. And that if it is your will, it might be that through us you would bring some, even one, to the light of this truth, that they might embrace it by faith, by your Holy Spirit. Father, bless us as we go forth once again into this world as Christians for you. Give us the strength and blessing that comes only from You. May we not be afraid, but give us courage to stand firm for Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.