Scripture Union Daily Guide 23rd June 2020 – Abiding In Christ Or Antichrist?
TODAY’S TOPIC: ABIDING IN CHRIST OR ANTICHRIST?
Open Prayer: May my heart, O Lord, be receptive to your word as I meditate on it.
Scripture: 1 John 2:18–29
Deceptions of the Last Hour
18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[a] 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[b] 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.
Let Truth Abide in You
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.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to [c]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 [d]will abide in Him.
The Children of God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that [e]when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Reflection
• What does the passage teach about God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit?
• What is God revealing to me in this passage?
Today’s Message: Daily Guide 23rd June 2020
Apostle John draws our attention today to the realities of the last hour. Prominent in his exhortation is the warning about the antichrists (vv.18–23). The emergence of the antichrists is indicative of the last days. We ought to take the events of these days seriously.
Notice the way he describes them in vv.19, 22; cf. 1 John 4:3. Anybody who denies that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, is an antichrist. Denying the existence of Christ is denying the central truth of the Christian faith, denying the very nature of Christ who is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine.
Christian is urged to stand up against their activities. They often appear in sheep’s clothing, but they are wolves. We must keep to the truth we know (v.21); maintain the standard we have learned (v.24); guard and utilize our anointing in the Holy Spirit (v.27) and continue to abide in Christ so we can stand qualified when Christ returns (v.28). Note the fundamental preparation that enables a man or woman to stand against the tricks of the antichrists (v.29). See also Ephesians 6:14–17.
⁂ Any new insight or reinforcement of what you already know?
Practice/Word Application
• Thought: “Anyone who has seen me, has seen the Father?” (John 14:9).
Prayer
• Grant me grace, O Lord, to stay focused on you and to put on the Christian armour to be victorious today and always.
• Pray against errors, false doctrines and unhealthy competition among Church leaders.
• Offer a prayer of faith in line with Genesis 39:21
Read the Bible in one Year: Jer. 50; Phil. 2
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Scripture Union Daily Guide 22nd June 2020
