Well, good evening. You can turn with me in your Bibles to 1 John 2. We're returning to 1 John 2. We're going to look at verses 18 through 23 this evening.
First John chapter 2, we're going to read verses 18 through 27 to set the context for us. Begin reading at verse 18. Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. And even now many Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
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. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
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.
Denying the Christ
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either.
Acknowledging the Son
He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 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. And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life.
These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. 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 will abide in him. Amen.
Well, let us go to our God in prayer.
Closing Prayer
O Lord God Almighty, we thank you for this time that we can gather together. We thank you, O God, we can come into your house. We can sing praises to you, O God, for you are the great God of heaven and earth. We thank you, O God, that you are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
How we worship the Father through the Son by the Spirit. And those who know the Son, know the Father. And those who know the Son, see the Father through the Son. We thank you that we have the Holy Spirit, who illumines our hearts and minds concerning the things found in your Word, as you reveal yourself to us in your Word.
And Father God, we thank you for the work of Christ, who lived, died, and rose again, who did come in the flesh to die on behalf of His people, that His people may have everlasting life. We thank you, O God, that we have your word concerning him. We pray that we would better understand these things, for in your word you do not seek to deceive, but you seek to set forth your truth as it's found in your word. Father God, we pray that you help us to better understand the Lord Jesus Christ, to better ponder him, better ponder what he has done, who he is, how he is one person in two natures.
Help us to better understand and dig deeper into what Your Word reveals concerning the Trinity, O God, one God in three Persons. O God, these are great mysteries, but help us to understand these things as they are revealed in Your Word, O God. and help us to understand sound theology, sound doctrine, that when those who come who do not know the truth, who do not know sound theology, we might be able to refute them and deal with them quickly and spot them, oh God. And we thank you that you would give us your word to know the truth, to know the things found in your word. We pray that you would help us to understand the truth.
We pray that you would illumine our hearts by the Holy Spirit. As we study divine things, as we study divine matters, oh God, we need your spirit to be with us. So we pray that Your Spirit would be with us. Help us, O God, help us to understand the things found in Your Word.
Help us to understand the truth about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we might better know Him and better understand Him and wrestle with the reality of knowing Him. For in Him is eternal life, O God. We pray for those that do not know Christ, that you would work in them by your Spirit, that they might see that only eternal life is found in Christ, that they might find saving knowledge in Him, find everlasting life in Him, and be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father God, we pray that you'd help us now by your Spirit.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said every time I preach through 1 John, the primary theme of 1 John is to assure his hearers that they know that they have eternal life, that they know the Lord Jesus Christ. We are still in John's first point of his sermon, because 1 John is structured like his sermon, living in the light. And one of the ways we can live in the light is we have to know who the light is. Who is Christ?
Who is God? Who is this light? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the main issue throughout 1 John, the main issues found in it, is he's dealing with those who have a false Christology, who teach false things concerning Jesus Christ.
He said there were some that John is dealing with who denied that Jesus is the Christ. And not only that, they also denied that Jesus came in the flesh. And so he writes to deal with this problem, he writes to combat that, that they might know who the true Christ actually is. And as we think about this text, the word Antichrist comes up in 1 John 2.18.
And many today ask the question, who is the Antichrist? As we think through that, I think that's the wrong question to be asking. Because, as John highlights for us, many have come. Not only the question we should ask, not who is the Antichrist specifically, looking at a specific person, but the question we need to ask ourselves is, do you know the Christ?
Do you know the true Christ? Do you know the truth that is found concerning Him? And that is the question we are going to seek to answer as we go through 1 John 2.18-23 this evening. We will look at the three headings I have are, first of all, the time of Antichrist, Second of all, the remedy against Antichrist.
And thirdly, the lie of Antichrist. And you heard that correctly. I don't have a the there for a reason. The time of Antichrist, the remedy against Antichrist, and the lie of Antichrist.
And I think the reason for that will be made evident as we go through. But
The Time of Antichrist
notice in verse 18. John says, little children, it is the last hour. And as you've heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. So little children, he's addressing his hearers in this term of endearment that we've seen before in 2.14.
And he's writing to warn them, as a father would to a child. When a child looks to touch that burning stove, and you tell them to go away, he's warning them against these people that are coming and have come. And notice the time of the Antichrist.
The Last Hour Defined
It is the last hour. You know, many evangelical Christians today ask, are we in the last times? Is Christ's return imminent? Is it the reality that because of what's going on in our time, is it true that Christ will come soon?
And I'm going to exaggerate with what I'm about to say, but most theologians in many different eras, thought that Christ's return was imminent in their time, in those times based on what they were seeing. But as we see with what John's saying, he's saying it is the last hour. Because you see, it's true to some extent. We are in the last hour, brothers and sisters.
We are in the last times, brothers and sisters, but so was John. So were the apostles. So was the hearers of 1 John. Little children, it is the last hour, because what last hour refers to is the time between Christ's two comings.
Last times, last days, last hour, last time, singular, all refer to the time between Christ's two Advents. That's what last hour refers to. And that's exactly what he's highlighting. It is the last hour, brothers and sisters.
And he goes on to highlight how we know that it is the last hour. Notice what he says. As you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. And then he says, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
We know that it is the last hour because many antichrists have come. Now, many use this text to teach that there is one major giant eschatological meanie, as Pastor Butler says, who's coming soon, who's coming before Christ returns. This giant figure who is the antichrist. Some Reformed theologians Do hold that what is going on in 1 John 2.18 is that Antichrist is, there is an actual Antichrist coming.
And that this Antichrist, that these many Antichrists serve as a forerunner to the coming Antichrist. John Gill was one of those who held to this. But I don't think that's the point of the text. You see, he's not drawing out for us a personal figure, but he's trying to draw out that many antichrists have now come.
He's trying to draw that antichrists, plural, have come. I don't think it's referring to a personal figure. As Stephen J. Nichols highlights, it's not improbable that's referring to that a big meanie could come, but it's not the point of the text.
It's not what John is dealing with. It's not what John is highlighting. And even as some of these Reformed theologians teach this one who would come, they never ask the question who it is. They don't think to go, well, is it this person?
Is it that person? As we look in our day and age, as some people like to muse about figures that arise up in the political sphere, specifically in one instance, that's not the point of the text. Because I think even as Warfield highlights, John is writing to clarify. It's not an individual, but a multitude.
Because notice what he says. He says, you have heard that the Antichrist is coming. What that could be saying, or what he could be doing here, and it works grammatically, and what Warfield is highlighting, you have heard, quote, Antichrist is coming." That is, some have been teaching that an Antichrist is coming, that it's in the future, that it's a long ways away until this Antichrist would come. That works in the context.
So then John is trying to clarify that it's not in the future, but many Antichrists have now come. And sometimes there's even a variant reading with respect to the, should the even be there? that I don't think so. And as you've heard, at Antichrist is coming. And even as the word, as the grammar highlights for us, there's a comparison, just as you heard. the Antichrist, or Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come.
So he seems to be clarifying, he seems to be highlighting, he seems to be speaking in generalities, not some specific person. And John does that in the other parts in John. You see, Antichrist is only mentioned in John. It's not to say that Antichrist concepts couldn't come up in other places, but John is the only one who mentions it.
He mentions it here in chapter 2. He mentions it in chapter 4, and he says in verse 3, And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you've heard was coming and is now already in the world. And then also in 2 John 7, So he seems to be speaking in generalities.
He seems to be speaking as referring to many different antichrists, not some specific person. But we will draw this out a little bit more under point three and even further as we go. So the time of the Antichrist, it is the last hour. But
Origin of the Antichrists
notice the origin of the Antichrists in verse 19. They went out from us, but they were not of us. As John says in 1 John 4.2, he's highlighting that they are false prophets, false teachers. These men, as we've been highlighting as we've gone through 1 John, claim to be Christians, claim to be part of the church, and so they say they are part of the church, but notice, they went out from us, but they were never of us.
Notice, 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. That was the purpose of their going out, to show that they were never part of the church. They never held fast to sound doctrine, never held fast to the truth. So the origin is they come out from the church.
That's the point of John. And this is why I don't think that, well, some people would highlight that the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2 and the beasts of revelation in Revelation 13 and the Antichrist all highlight the same figure. I don't think it's that clear, brothers and sisters, because in Revelation 13, speaking of the beast of the sea and the earth, most commentators highlight that John is referring to anti-Christian government and anti-Christian religion. What's going on in 1 John 2?
They went out of us, but they were not from us. Or they went out from us, but they were not of us. So the origin is a little different. And then in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, he's dealing with different issues.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, he's dealing with an over-realized eschatology. That is, they were taught that Christ had already come. So he's combating saying, no, Christ has not come yet. Christ's second coming has not happened, and thus you have to wait for something in order for that to happen.
And not only that, as we'll see, the primary identifier of an antichrist refers to how they understand the true Christ. And Paul doesn't seem to be dealing with that in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. But even if it were true that 2 Thessalonians 2 was the same as the Antichrist, it says in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the man of lawlessness will be revealed in his own time. We're not supposed to ask who He is.
We're not supposed to think about that. We're supposed to think of the true Christ. Understand who the true Christ is, what we think concerning Him found in the Word of God. We must realize, brothers and sisters, we must hold fast to what is found in the Word.
Not go searching after who these other guys could be. What does the Word say about them? In a lot of ways we're going to answer further who the Antichrist is. Anyone who denies that Jesus came in the flesh, that's Antichrist, brothers and sisters.
But what I think John is highlighting here for us with respect to the time of the Antichrist is that even now you and I live in the last times. And the question, again, we should not be asking is, who is the Antichrist? Or do we live in the last times? Because we do.
But are you ready, brothers and sisters? Are you ready for Christ's second coming? Are you ready for the fact when Christ will descend out of the heavens and call forth his people? That's the question we need to be asking ourselves.
You see, as the scripture highlights, we're in the last times. Christ could come. Are you ready for Christ to come? That's the important question we need to be asking ourselves.
And if there is some end-time eschatological meaning that would come, so what? We have the true Christ. If you believed on Christ, you have everlasting life. And when Christ comes, we will be taken up and ushered into the new heavens and the new earth.
So what if some big meanie comes, if that were true? I don't think so, but if that were true, it should not change our view of how we understand our Lord and as we look for his coming. So these antichrists have come.
The Remedy Against Antichrist
How do we deal with all these antichrists? The remedy is know the truth. And so this is our second point, the remedy against antichrist, verse 20 and 21. Notice he says, verse 20, but you have an anointing from the Holy One.
Holy One here refers to the Lord Christ, and the anointing refers to the Holy Spirit that is given by the Lord Christ. We have the Holy Spirit, as 2 Corinthians 1.21 highlights, referring to this language of anointing. Paul says, Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who has also sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But Christ speaks of this in John 14.26 with respect to the coming Lord, the ascending of the Spirit.
He says in 14.26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring you to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Now in the instance he's speaking to the disciples, and certainly the Holy Spirit would guide the disciples in all manner of truth, as the Holy Spirit guide them with respect to the Scriptures, with the inspiration of the Scriptures. But that doesn't mean, brothers, that we don't need the Holy Spirit to help us to understand the truth. to help us think through the truth, to illumine our hearts and minds concerning the truth. We need the work of the Holy Spirit as He works with the Word. The London Baptist Confession, Chapter 1, Paragraph 6, highlights this.
Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word. and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God and government of the church common to human actions and societies which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence according to the general rules of the word which are always to be observed. But it's that section. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the spirit to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the word of God. The Holy Spirit must work in the hearts of dead sinners to show them their need for Christ.
And the Holy Spirit must continue. We still need the Holy Spirit to help us understand the truth, don't we? As we read the Word, as we study theology. Notice what John says in 2.27 of 1 John.
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teaches you. Now this isn't a charismatic text, brothers and sisters. I think it's a redemptive historical text. I think he's got Jeremiah 31-34 in the background.
In Jeremiah 31-34, as he's describing the new covenant, Jeremiah prophesies and says in verse 34, Notice what he's saying in verse 20.
The Anointing of the Holy Spirit
You have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. It's because of the Holy Spirit. It's because we live, and even as Jeremiah prophesied, in those days, we live in those last times, brothers and sisters. We live in the age of the Messiah, and the Messiah has poured out His Holy Spirit that we might understand things concerning the Messiah.
We need the Holy Spirit, and we have the Holy Spirit. Remember, John is writing to assure his hearers that they know that they have everlasting life. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. And even as we think about know all things, we know the truth of the gospel as it's set forth in chapter 1 verses 1 through 4.
We have the word of life. We know the true gospel. We know that Christ actually did come in the flesh. We know the message that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
And we also know that our true spiritual state is found in 12 through 14. We have our sins forgiven, brothers and sisters. We know Him who is from the beginning. We have overcome the wicked one.
We know all things, but especially we know all things as they are tied to our Christ, and even as they are tied to our God. As we'll go on to see, with respect to the lie against Antichrist, we need to know who God is and we need to know who Christ is. We need to have a robust theology proper and a robust Christology concerning our Christ. And so we know the Lord Christ, we know the truth, the remedy against Antichrist is we have the Holy One.
But not only that, we have the truth.
Holding Fast to the Truth
Notice verse 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." Again, assuring them that they have the truth, assuring them that they have the gospel. The remedy against any lie is that of the truth.
So the hope for us, brothers and sisters, is to hold fast to the truth. Study it. Ponder it. Read sound theology.
Read the Word of God. And when we read sound theology, we must remember it's not just an intellectual endeavor. Well, we are using our minds. Well, we are thinking about those things.
We need the Spirit to help us understand those things. How often, personally sometimes, I get up to read a theology book, I forget that we need divine aid. Don't we? We're studying divine matters for the glory of God and for our good.
Should we not seek and call upon our God in prayer to help us understand those things? Know the truth. Hold fast to the truth. Because why do we need to know the truth?
Because it helps us figure out who the Antichrists are.
The Lie of Antichrist
Which is the last point, the lie of Antichrist in verses 22 and 23. Notice he says, who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? Anyone that says Jesus is not the Messiah is a liar. If Peter had not confessed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, and if he said he was not the Christ, he would have been a liar.
But thankfully, we saw how God revealed to Simon Bar-Jonah that Christ is the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Christ is the Christ. Jesus is the Messiah who has come into the world to save his people from their sins.
Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? and evidence that they are liars, that they do not know the Christ. The clear indication of an Antichrist is anyone who has false teaching. Again, the general focus found in 1 John and 2 John concerning Antichrist is general. Anyone that denies that Jesus is the Christ, anyone that denies that Jesus has come in the flesh, they are antichrists.
And another reason I think John is very general with respect to how he refers to antichrist is his disciple Polycarp takes it generally as well. In Polycarp, when he's writing to the letter to the Philippians, he is the immediate disciple of John. He says, everyone who does not confess Jesus Christ to have come in the flesh is antichrist. It's general, brothers and sisters.
We aren't supposed to look for some one person in the future. We can say then that there aren't any antichrists present even now. So now even many antichrists have come, and they are known by their theology. They are known by what they say concerning the true God.
How do we know a false prophet in Deuteronomy 13? One who does miracles, potentially, but then says, let us go worship Baal. The same is true now. If someone says, I am a believer, but they say, Jesus did not come in the flesh, Jesus is not the Christ, Jesus is not God, Jesus is just a mere man, they are antichrist, brothers and sisters.
They teach false things concerning the Lord Christ. But then some of you might say, Mike, what about London Baptist Confession 26.4, when the writers say that the Pope is that antichrist, that man of sin, that son of perdition, that exalted himself in the church against Christ. If you notice, first of all, it's not capitalized, that Antichrist, but also as Dr. Renahan highlights, it's not referring to an end times Antichrist, but an ecclesiastical or church Antichrist.
One who sets himself up as the vicar of Christ instead of Christ, as we saw this morning where Christ himself is the head of the church, not some pope. That's what they are dealing with when they say he is that Antichrist because he sets himself up in the place of Christ. But anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, or even anyone who sets himself up as the Christ, is an Antichrist, brothers and sisters. Who is the Antichrist?
Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Notice what he says. In verse 22, He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
The Trinitarian Stakes
Notice the Trinitarian connection, brothers and sisters. The importance of understanding the Trinity as God has revealed Himself with respect to His Word. Because the Trinity is a great mystery, isn't it? One God, three persons?
One God, or as the Confession says, three subsistences? What does that even mean, brothers and sisters, other than what's been found for us or delivered to us and defined for us in the Word and also through men throughout history who define these things so precisely that we have a robust understanding of the Trinity? Because as John says in 2 John 9, whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. Whoever denies the Father then denies the Son.
Notice, whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. And as John says in John 5.23, as Christ says with respect to His relationship with the Father, as they are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 5.23. Verse 22 of John 5. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Or in John 10, when he's talking about himself as the Good Shepherd. In John 10 verse 28, And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Why? Because he's equating himself with God.
Anyone who denies the Father denies the Son. And many of our forefathers defined our Lord Christ very well. In the Creed of Nicaea, they say, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, or we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds. God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
I love how, oh come all ye faithful, the second stanza is God of God, light of light, right out of the Nicene Creed. Isn't that wonderful? We have this Lord Jesus Christ. If we deny the Father, or we deny the Son, we deny the Father.
But notice, in verse 23, he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. You see, eternal life hinges on true Doctrine. Eternal life hinges on true Christology, who Christ actually is. Eternal life hinges on how a proper and robust understanding of the Trinity, brothers and sisters, when we see and even as we see the mission of the Son and the mission of the Spirit, the mission of the Son and the Spirit reveals something concerning the Trinity.
Trinity, brothers and sisters, as we see Christ coming out of the waters of baptism, the Father speaking, the Son coming out of the waters of baptism, and the Holy Spirit descending, all three Persons, one God, three Persons all working together for the salvation of God's people. How does that even work? But if we know the Christ, then we know the Father. And notice, as the Athanasian Creed says, and the Catholic faith, that is Catholic in the good sense of the word, is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.
For there is one person of the Father and another of the Son and another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.
Application: Know the True Christ
How do we combat these antichrists? We know Christ. How do we combat these false teachers? We know theology.
How do we combat these men? We know what the Bible says concerning Christ. We know what the Bible says concerning theology. We must have a sound Christology.
The whole point of this text is not to look for some antichrist, but to look at the Christ, brothers and sisters. If we spend all our time musing and thinking about what this person is, or if this person is that or not, we take our eyes off the Christ, don't we? There's one thing I've taken away from Pastor Butler, and there's many things I've taken away from Pastor Butler, is I need to read the best books on various subjects. And we need to read the best things concerning Christ.
We don't need to spend our time reading about those things. Because if we know the Christ, when those antichrists come, we go, no, not going to happen. We should strive to know Christ so well, know the intricacies of theology, thinking of those things, what the Word says, so that when someone comes along, we just look at them and go, no. Because it's just not going to happen, brothers and sisters.
Because we know it so well. When they say those things, we just go, definitely not. Certainly, we could probably do a little bit more than just say no to them. But you know what I mean.
Know the Christ well. Many antichrists have come. Many antichrists will continue to come. Combat them with sound theology.
For anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is antichrist.
Closing Application
So as we conclude with the same question we asked at the beginning, do you Know Christ. Have you owned Christ as your Savior? Have you believed on Him? Have you looked to Him?
Have you confessed that He is the Christ, the Son of God? If you do, praise God. If you know this one, continually study Him, continually look to Him, and always be ready, because He will come, brothers and sisters, and we look forward to that day when He comes, don't we? Some of us now are ready to go, aren't we?
When men get sick, we're ready to go, aren't we? We become little wimps when we get sick, don't we? We are ready for Christ to come back. And as John says in verse 24 of 1 John 2, And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life.
If you know Christ, you have eternal life. But if you don't know Christ, you don't have eternal life. And if you don't know Christ, believe on Christ. Confess your sins.
Look to Him. Do not deny that He has come in the flesh, as many do. Do not deny that He is the Christ, because He is. Look to Him and live, and you shall be saved.
Believe on Him, and you shall have everlasting life. Believe on Him, and you shall. be in eternity with Him. As John says at the end of his epistle in 520, This is the true God and eternal life. He is God, and He is eternal life, and only in Him is there eternal life.
Believe in Him, and you shall be saved. Brothers and sisters, do you know the Christ? Let us pray. O Lord God Almighty, we thank you for this time that we've gathered together.
We thank you, O God, that you are pleased to show us the truth. We thank You that You revealed Your truth in Your Word and You help us and aid us by Your Holy Spirit to understand these things. We thank You, O God, that Your people will know the truth. But, Father God, we do not know who those people are, and we pray that You would call many of them out of darkness to believe on the truth, that they might believe on the Lord Christ.
Work in them, God, by Your Spirit. Father God, we thank You for many of us who have believed. We thank You for the assurance that we have in Christ our Lord. We thank You, O God, that we know Christ.
May we never stop seeking to understand Christ, to look at what Your Word says concerning Him, to study these things, O God, that we might know more and more concerning our Savior. Not only know more and more concerning our Savior, but seek to resemble Him all the more, O God. We thank you that you've given us your word, and we thank you that you've given us many men who've gone before us, who've studied these things in depth, who've worked through these things, and you, by your providence, caused them to write concerning these things. We pray that you would give us divine aid and divine help and divine strength to understand these things, O God, for they are great mysteries.
How is it that there is one God in three persons? And how is it that the second person is one person in two natures? Yet these things are vital. These things are necessary.
We need these things for everlasting life. We thank you, O God, that you are pleased to reveal these things in your Word. We pray that you would again help us understand these things. And may we ever seek to look to our Savior, ever seek to love our Savior.
And we pray that you'd help us now by your Spirit. In the name of Christ, amen. We will close with a brief time of meditation, then you're dismissed.