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1 John 2:18-27
Stephen Caswell © 2001
Telling The Robbers
When the father of the great Emmanuel Kant was an old man he made a perilous journey through the forests of Poland to his native country of Silesia.
On the way he encountered a band of robbers who demanded all his valuables, finally asking: /Have you given us all?/ and only letting him go when he answered, All.
When safely out of their sight his hand touched something hard in the hem of his robe.
It was his gold, sewn there for safety and quite forgotten by him in his fear and confusion.
At once he hurried back to find the robbers, and having found them, he said meekly: I have told you what was not true; it was unintentional.
I was too terrified to think.
Here, take the gold in my robes.
Then to the old man’s astonishment nobody offered to take his gold.
Presently one went and brought back his purse.
Another restored his book of prayer, while still another led his horse toward him and helped him to mount.
They then unitedly entreated his blessing, and watched him slowly ride away.
Goodness had triumphed over evil.
God has warned the church family about the conflict between /light and darkness/ in *1 John 1:1–2:6,* and between /love and hatred/ *1 John 2:7–17.*
Now He warns them about a third conflict: the conflict between /truth and error/.
It is not enough for a believer to walk in the light and to walk in love; he must also walk in truth.
Tonight we will see two responses to the truth.
*/Antichrist's Abandon The Truth & Christians Abide In the Truth/*.
/Firstly / Antichrist's Abandon The Truth
/a.
They Depart From The Fellowship/
*1 John 2:18-19:* /Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, 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.*/
/ /
/Why does John call it the last hour?
/Because Jesus Christ has appeared and put away sin once and for all.
All the time that has passed since Calvary is considered to be the last hour.
/Why didn't the antichrists appear before this time?/
Because Satan is only a counterfeiter.
He simply imitates/ /what God is doing.
Now that Christ has appeared antichrists will also appear to counterfeit His work.
The prefix*/ anti/* has two meanings, */instead of/* and */against./*
Many antichrists have appeared to work against Christ.
They attempt to get people to follow them instead of Jesus Christ.
They substitute lies for the truth.
Every antichrist that appears is just a fore runner of the final Antichrist who appears in the Tribulation to deceive the world.
The word */us/* refers, of course, to the fellowship of believers, the church.
Not everyone who is part of an assembly of believers, is necessarily a member of the family of God! True Christians desire to be with the people of God.
They enjoy meeting together with their brethren.
/We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren./
When people share the same divine nature and are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit, they want to enjoy fellowship and to share with one another.
As we have seen, /fellowship/ means to have in common.
When people have spiritual realities in common, they want to be together.
But the counterfeit Christians mentioned in 1 John 2 don't /remain/ in the fellowship.
The word */continue/* menw in verse 19 is the same word usually translated */abide./*
They didn't abide with the fellowship because they didn't belong.
This doesn’t imply that staying in the church keeps a person saved; rather, it indicates that remaining in the fellowship is one evidence that a person is truly a Christian.
In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus makes it clear that only those who produce fruit are truly born again.
It is possible to be close to an experience of salvation, and even to have some characteristics that would pass for Christian, and yet not be a child of God.
Those spoken of in* 1 John 2:19* left the fellowship because they didn't possess the true life and Christ's love wasn't in their hearts.
They weren't part of the body of Christ so they left it.
An old saying is appropriate, /Birds of a feather flock together!
/
/b.
They Deny The Faith/
*1 John 2:22-23: */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; he who *acknowledges* the Son has the Father also.
/
Is Sincerity As More Important As Truth?
It makes no difference what you believe, just as long as you are sincere!
That statement expresses the personal philosophy of many people today.
Yet it is doubtful whether most of those who make it have really thought it through.
Is sincerity the magic ingredient that makes something /true?/
If so, then you ought to be able to apply it to any area of life, and not only to religion.
A nurse in a city hospital gives some medicine to a patient, and the patient becomes violently ill.
The nurse is sincere but the medicine is wrong, and the patient dies.
In court witnesses are required to swear that they */will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth./*
We can determine true teachers from false teachers by their response to the truth, Jesus Christ.
The key question for a Christian is: /Who is Jesus Christ?/ /Is Christ merely an Example, a good Man, a wonderful Teacher; or is He God come in the flesh?
/What we believe about Jesus Christ is vital to our salvation.
/Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by me./
When the Philippian jailor asked Paul what he must do to be saved Paul said this; /Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved./
Paul's answer expressed both the deity and humanity of God's Son.
Lord refers to His deity.
Jesus refers to His work; it means Jehovah saves.
Christ refers to God's Messiah.
John’s readers knew the truth about Christ, or else they would not have been saved.
John said to them, /You all know the truth, because you have the Spirit of God, an unction, and the Spirit teaches you all things.
/They had already confessed Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The great assertion of the faith that sets a Christian apart from others is this: /Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh/.
Not all preachers and teachers who claim to be Christian are really Christian in their belief.
If they confess that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, /then/ they belong to the true faith.
If they deny Christ, then they belong to Antichrist.
The word */acknowledge/* in verse 23 is usually translated */confess/*.
The word o&mologew means */to say the same thing as./*
It means that we believe the testimony that God has given about His Son.
The Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons deny that Jesus Christ is God come in human form.
They won't accept that He is God the Son.
They deny the incarnation and are condemned.
* *
Traffic Signs
Just say you drive down a highway when you encounter a sign that reads, dangerous curve ahead.
Immediately you are confronted with making a choice.
One, you can observe the warning and slow down.
Two, you can ignore the warning and maintain your current speed.
Or, three, you can defy the warning and speed up.
Whatever response you exercise, you will not change the truth of the sign.
The curve remains dangerous regardless of whether you acknowledge the fact or not.
It doesn't matter whether people deny or confess that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh, the truth still remains.
What we believe affects our eternal destiny, but it doesn't change the truth about God's Son.
*Acts 8:36-37: */Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.
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