Building on The Basics

May 24, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Remembering Sacrifice in the Shadow of Freedom

Gratitude for earthly freedoms points to the ultimate freedom bought by Christ’s sacrifice. Just as soldiers laid down lives for temporal liberty, Jesus’ death secured eternal liberation. Freedom to worship without fear remains a gift many nations still crave. Cherish this dual inheritance—national liberty and access to God—by stewarding both with sober responsibility. [19:25]

“Greater love has no one than this, that a person lay down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:13, NASB)

Reflection: What tangible act today could honor both the sacrifices of fallen soldiers and Christ’s eternal sacrifice? How does your daily life reflect stewardship of these hard-won freedoms?

Day 2: Guarding Against Counterfeit Convictions

False teachings mimic truth like knockoff brands—close enough to deceive, but fatally flawed. Just as Pizza Hat imitates Pizza Hut, distorted views of Christ’s divinity corrupt salvation’s core. Vigilance requires knowing Scripture so thoroughly that counterfeits trigger immediate discernment. Eternal stakes demand rejecting spiritual shortcuts. [41:42]

“Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”
(1 John 2:22-23, NASB)

Reflection: When have you encountered a “spiritual counterfeit”? What practices keep your convictions anchored in biblical truth rather than cultural imitations?

Day 3: The Cost of Complacent Freedom

Freedom decays when treated as entitlement rather than blood-bought gift. Nations crumble when liberties are hoarded instead of leveraged for gospel advance. Like travelers blind to their passport’s value, believers risk missing their charge—using earthly freedom to proclaim eternal liberation. [21:16]

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
(Galatians 5:1, NASB)

Reflection: What specific freedom do you most take for granted? How might stewarding it intentionally amplify Christ’s kingdom this week?

Day 4: Anchoring Identity in Christ’s Divine Nature

Arianism’s ancient heresy resurfaces whenever Jesus gets demoted to moral teacher or created being. Eternal salvation hinges on Christ’s full divinity—the Son shares the Father’s nature, making His sacrifice sufficient. Like a forged will nullifies inheritance, flawed Christology voids redemption’s promise. [01:12:49]

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”
(Colossians 2:9, NASB)

Reflection: How does Jesus’ divine nature reshape your understanding of prayer, suffering, and eternal security? What habits reinforce this truth when doubts arise?

Day 5: Critical Thinking as Spiritual Warfare

Truth withstands scrutiny—lazy faith crumbles under cultural pressure. Just as soldiers train to spot enemy tactics, believers must exercise discernment muscles through Scripture study. Passive acceptance of feel-good teachings makes churches recruiting grounds for cults. Vigilant theology protects the flock. [56:52]

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2, NASB)

Reflection: What biblical truth have you recently scrutinized deeply? How does intentional study fortify you against deceptive teachings?

Sermon Summary

John keeps Jesus Christ at the center and then ties gratitude for civic freedom to the higher freedom of confessing Christ without fear. The text in 1 John 2 turns from the danger of the world to the deception of bad theology. John reminds his “little children” that they have an anointing from the Holy One and know the truth, yet he warns that many antichrists have gone out, looking close enough to the real thing to fool the undiscerning. Like a knockoff sign that reads Donkey Donuts, near-truths mimic the look and feel of the genuine while slipping just enough to deceive.

John recalls the tests already laid down. The walking test shows a life patterned after Jesus. The love test calls for sacrificial, inconvenience-accepting love for the family of faith. The devotion test exposes hearts that chase the world. Now John adds the truth test. This one is accuracy-based. He asks for hard thinking, the kind that is scarce as hen’s teeth, because love and truth cannot be separated. A.W. Tozer is right: worship and morals cannot stay sound if the view of God is wrong.

The verses press a tight bond between the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. John is pushing back against a trajectory that would later be labeled Arianism, the wonky notion that the Son is a created being and therefore less than the Father. The repeated pairing “the Father and the Son” slams that door shut. Jesus himself claimed equality with the Father. “Before Abraham was, I am.” “I and the Father are one.” “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” If those claims are false, Jesus is a liar and the cross collapses. If they are true, then the triune God is to be confessed as one God in three coeternal, coequal persons.

The gospel not only redeems; it reshapes, reorients, repurposes, and one day relocates. If that trajectory is absent, something is off and needs honest examination. Modern echoes of an old heresy still say “Jesus is a god,” using shared words to point to a different Jesus. Truth guards households and opens doors for neighbors. Scripture silences slick lies, and the Spirit draws real people, like Michael Martin, from a look-alike gospel to the Lord who saves. Entertainment can wait. Thinking well about God cannot.

Key Takeaways

1. Beware theology that looks close [41:42] A counterfeit only needs to be near enough to pass a quick glance. John warns that antichrists depart looking like insiders, but their doctrine drifts just enough to deceive. A steady diet of Scripture trains the eye to spot the off-colors and wrong fonts of bad theology. Proximity to truth is not the same as truth. [41:42]
2. The truth test demands accuracy [56:32] Action matters, but belief steers action. John shifts from conduct to confession, insisting that sound doctrine is not ivory-tower fluff but guardrails for life with God. Tozer’s insight lands here: a small view of God shrinks holiness and saps power. Thinking well about God is an act of love. [56:32]
3. Denying the Son rejects the Father [01:08:30] John repeats “the Father and the Son” to weld them together. To minimize or redefine the Son severs fellowship with the Father, no matter how devout the language sounds. Real communion with God runs through a true confession of Jesus. To have the Son is to have the Father. [68:30]
4. The gospel reshapes and reorients [54:32] Redemption is not just a canceled debt; it is a changed direction. Priorities shift, loves get reordered, and purpose is repurposed toward the glory of God. If nothing is being re-aimed, John says to take a hard look under the hood. Grace that saves also trains. [54:32]
5. Jesus openly claimed full equality [01:11:31] “I am,” “one with the Father,” and “seen me, seen the Father” are not soft metaphors. If those words are untrue, the atonement fails because a sinner cannot save sinners. If they are true, worship belongs to the Son as to the Father. Salvation stands or falls on that confession. [71:31]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[19:25] - Memorial Day gratitude and prayer
[24:50] - Greetings and first-time guests
[25:41] - Livestream shoutout and updates
[26:12] - Nonagenarian birthdays celebration
[38:57] - Life is a mist reminder
[39:55] - Knockoff brands setup
[41:42] - Counterfeits and theology connection
[42:00] - 1 John 2:15-19 read and review
[43:34] - The deception of bad theology
[44:31] - Call to think well
[46:22] - The walking, love, and devotion tests
[49:34] - The devotion test recap
[50:44] - Loving the world warning nuances
[51:27] - Professing versus possessing Christ
[52:59] - The gospel reshapes and reorients
[55:40] - Christology focus introduced
[56:07] - The truth test explained
[57:40] - Love and truth inseparable
[58:56] - Bad definitions of God surveyed
[63:16] - Early Arian ideas surface
[64:49] - Denying the Son is antichrist
[68:30] - The Father and the Son together
[69:09] - Why Arianism fails biblically
[71:31] - Jesus’ claims of equality
[72:49] - Triune God: coequal, coeternal
[73:12] - Modern echoes in cults
[75:00] - Why churches must teach truth
[76:52] - Missionaries meet Scripture
[77:39] - Michael Martin’s conversion story
[79:39] - Prayer and call to trust Christ
[83:37] - Closing and next steps

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 John 2:20-23 (NASB)
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Observation Questions

According to 1 John 2:23, what is the relationship between confessing the Son (Jesus) and having the Father?
What example did the sermon use to illustrate how false teachings mimic truth? [41:42]
How does Jesus’ statement “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) challenge incomplete views of His identity?
What practical test did John introduce to evaluate spiritual authenticity besides actions and love? [56:32]

Interpretation Questions

Why does John repeatedly pair “the Father and the Son” in this passage? What does this emphasize about their relationship?
The sermon warned that a “small view of God shrinks holiness.” How might an inaccurate understanding of Jesus’ deity weaken a person’s faith or obedience?
If denying the Son means rejecting the Father, what does this imply about religious systems that claim to honor God but redefine Jesus?
The gospel is described as “reshaping priorities and repurposing lives.” How does this transformation guard against loving the world? [54:32]

Application Questions

How could you practically “train your eye” to spot subtle theological counterfeits in teachings or media? [41:42]
In what area of your life has the gospel most clearly reshaped your priorities or desires? What tangible evidence of this reorientation can you identify?
The sermon emphasized that worship and morals crumble with a wrong view of God. What habits could help you deepen your understanding of God’s character as revealed in Scripture?
Have you ever encountered someone (like Michael Martin) who held a distorted view of Jesus? How might you graciously point them to the biblical Christ? [17:39]
What steps could you take this week to intentionally “think well” about God’s nature, especially His triune unity?
Are there areas where cultural values or personal ambitions compete with your devotion to Christ? How can you actively reorder those loves?
If salvation stands or falls on confessing Jesus as fully God and fully man, how does this truth shape your urgency in sharing the gospel?

Sermon Clips

42s

#DefendTheTrueJesus

“``That Jesus is a god. That he was created by the father and therefore he is less than the father aka Arianism. But but to but if you're not if you're not tuned in, if you say, oh, yeah. Praise the Lord, brother. I I believe that Jesus is God. I I believe Jesus is savior of the world. But, you understand, they're ultimately, they're talking about a different Jesus. They're talking about a different God than the one that's revealed in scripture. And you and you may say, jeez, pastor. That's that's kinda harsh.”

25s

#KnowTheTrueGod

“To the Hindu, God presents himself this way. To the Christian, he presents himself this way. To the Buddhist, God presents himself this way. But but he he's he's all the same God. We all believe in the same God. Well, no. No. We we we don't. That's right. So if if if we're gonna know God, then we have to know the truth about who God is. That's that's why this matters. That's what I'm trying to say. That's why this matters.”

35s

#DoctrineMatters

“Now the previous tests that John has been giving would be what I would call, action based. In other words, if you belong to Christ, this is what you'll do. This is how you'll act. This is what your life will begin to look like. They're action based. This test is accuracy based. He is moving into an intellectual thought moving into this theological discussion about about what we believe about God.”

30s

#LoveAndTruth

“this kinda matters. This is kind of a big deal. And I believe that I said this at the beginning of this series, but as as we're reading John's letter, first John, it really as we make our way through all of all three of his letters, I I think there begins to to come this observation that we can make that there is an there is an inseparable and and inescapable connection between love and truth. Love as as God intend for us to understand it and truth. There there's this connection.”

21s

#TeachTruthNotTrends

“From people who attend churches that are light on theology and they fall prey to some deception that sounds good on the service, it looks good on the service, these people are so nice, and they're sucked into a a religion that that has them worshiping a god that's not god at all.”

41s

#ProtectTheFlock

“I I I work with the Jehovah's Witness and that that lady is one of the nicest ladies I know. Yeah. Yeah. I I we have some Mormon neighbors and they're some of the best neighbors that we have. I know. But I'm a pastor. I'm an under shepherd, and part of my responsibility is to protect the flock. And that means revealing truth so that it ultimately reveals the lie, the untruth. By the way, do you know where the vast vast majority of Mormon and Jehovah's Witnesses converts come from? Not from the unchurched, from the church.”

33s

#WalkLikeJesus

“if you belong to the body of Christ, if you're genuinely born again as John puts it in his gospel letter, then you will walk as Jesus walked. In other words, your your life, your actions will reflect the life and actions of Jesus. Not not not to his perfection, but that that his his desires become your desires. His morality becomes your morality. His You begin You understand? You walk in through life even though you don't get it right all the time, but you walk through life as as Jesus would have you walk. That that was the walking test.”

38s

#ThinkWellBelieveWell

“Today, I'm asking you to think well. Now I I hope that I would that I ask you to think well every week, but I'm asking you to think really well today, really well. Stay with me. Okay? Because I because, obviously, I believe that this this is important. I think it's important that we we know this. We've been beginning to see in in this latter part of first John chapter two, John has been laying out these what I've been called these tests for determining a person's spiritual condition.”

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Building on The Basics

Devotional

Day 1: Remembering Sacrifice in the Shadow of Freedom

Day 2: Guarding Against Counterfeit Convictions

Day 3: The Cost of Complacent Freedom

Day 4: Anchoring Identity in Christ’s Divine Nature

Day 5: Critical Thinking as Spiritual Warfare

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Building on The Basics

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