Sermon Outline:
TWO PHRASES TO NOTE:
"The last hour” (vs 18a)
"The antichrist” (vs 18b)
SIGNS OF FALSE TEACHERS:
They depart the Church (vs 18-19)
They deny the faith (vs 20-25)
They deceive believers (vs 26-29)
ENCOURAGING WORDS:
Abide - stay close (vs 28a)
Appear - stay alert (vs 28b)
Ashamed - stay faithful (vs 28c)
Sermon Text:
Ill:
• There is a story told about Abraham Lincoln;
• Who had a very heated argument with a political opponent.
• Lincoln asked his political rival,
• "How many legs does a cow have?"
• "Four, of course,"
• Came the disgusted reply.
• "That’s right," agreed Lincoln.
• "Now suppose you call the cow’s tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?
• "Why, five, of course,"
• Was the confidant reply.
• "Now, that’s where you’re wrong," said Lincoln.
• "Calling a cow’s tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg."
So far in this short letter:
• The apostle John has warned the Christians about:
• The conflict between light and darkness (chapter 1 verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 6)
• The conflict between love and hatred (chapter 2 verses 7-17).
• In this section this morning;
• The apostle John warns them about another conflict,
• The conflict between truth and error.
The issue in this section is truth-or consequences!
Ill:
• I once read about a man who heard his friend say:
• “There are 2 sides to every question”
• And the man replied
• “Yes, there are two sides to every question…
• Just like there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper,
• But it makes a difference to the fly which side he chooses.”
• When we ignore or reject the truth;
• That course of action will always lead to negative consequences.
• The apostle John is writing to warns these Christians;
• That the actions of false teachers among them will only cause them destruction & death.
Note:
• Before we pull out our key thoughts from this passage:
• We need to understand two unusual phrases that occur in verse 18:
• Because an understanding of these will help us understand the other verses.
(a). "The last hour”.
• K.J.B: "The last time".
• Amplified: “It is the last time” (hour, the end of this age).
• The term that is used is describing a KIND of time,
• Not a DURATION of time.
• He is talking about a specific time period;
• That is the time period between the ascension of Christ and the return of Christ;
• Often it is referred to in the New Testament as “The last days”;
• Or by John (only) here as “Last hour”.
Ill:
• Parents know that when driving a long distance with small children.
• No matter how many activity books, games and tapes you bring,
• It’s never really enough.
• Sooner or later you hear that drone of, "Are we there yet?"
• There are of course many ways to answer;
• One parent was heard to say: "We’re closer now than the last time you asked."
(b). “Antichrist”.
• The second term, "antichrist," is again a phrase uniquely used by John;
• In both this letter and also in 2 John.
• ‘Anti’ simply means; ‘against, in opposition to, hostile or antagonistic’.
• ‘Anti Christ’ is therefore anyone that is hostile, opposed or antagonistic to Christ.
• The ‘Anti-Christ’ in verse 18:
• Are false teachers who pretend to preach and teach the truth;
• But actually are preaching and teaching lies and falsehood, that which is ‘anti’.
Ill:
• In the early days of the Church,
• As happens still today, e.g. your preacher today.
• Itinerant Bible teachers would move around from place to place;
• Teaching the people of God and building up the Church.
• Unfortunately some false teachers had mixed in with these good teachers;
• And they were also doing the rounds,
• And the Christians who had no New Testament to check them out,
• Were having trouble spotting the good teachers from the bad.
• So John wrote his letter to help them hold onto the truth and reject the error.
Note:
• These verses give us three outstanding marks, or evidences;
• Of those who are false teachers (those who are ‘antichrist’);
(1). They Depart from the Fellowship (vs 18-19):
N.I.V:
“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”.
The Message:
19”They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colours, showed they never did belong”.
The word "us" refers, of course, to the fellowship of believers, the Church.
• It is a reminder & a warning that not everyone who is on a membership list;
• Or a regular in the congregation; is necessarily a true member of the family of God!
• So the ‘us’ refers to those people who have been ‘born again’, converted.
• Those who are indwelt by the Spirit of God.
• And has a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
• Therefore says the apostle John;
• It should be natural that they want to enjoy fellowship & to share with one another.
• The word fellowship actually means "to have in common."
• When people have spiritual realities in common,
• They want to be together.
• Genuine Christians will have that desire for coming together.
• For fellowship, support and encouragement.
• Quote the old saying is true:
• “Birds of a feather flock together”.
But the "counterfeit Christians" mentioned in 1 John chapter 2:
• Did not remain in the fellowship. They went out;
• Unable to settle in a local Church fellowship for very long.
• Because it is hard to fellowship with people when you are right & everyone else is wrong!
• This doesn’t imply that "staying in the church" keeps a person saved;
• Rather, it indicates that remaining in a local Church fellowship;
• Is one evidence that a person is truly a Christian.
(2) They Deny the Faith (vs 20-25):
“But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21 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.
22 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.
23 No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 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.
25 And this is what he promised us— even eternal life”.
The false teachers had a wrong understanding and appreciation of Jesus Christ:
• False Christians in John’s day used two special words to describe their experience:
• Verse 21: "Knowledge" or “Knowing all truth” and "Unction." Or “anointing”.
• Theses false teachers were called Gnostics.
• ill: ‘An Agnostic is someone who does not know, a Gnostic is someone who claims to know!
• These Gnostics claimed to have a special unction (anointing) from God;
• Which gave them a unique knowledge and put them above the other believers.
• They were "illuminated" while the rest were still in the dark;
• They claimed to be living on a much higher spiritual level than anybody else.
Ill:
• We see it today in the false cults and sects.
• Mormons, Christian-Science who have additional books (special insight & ‘knowledge’).
• Or in groups like the J.W.’s;
• Who claim ONLY the watchtower organisation can interpret the Bible (‘unction’)
Notice:
• That in verse 20 John points out that all true Christians know God;
• And they all have‘…an anointing from the Holy One’ the Spirit of God!
• There are no second class Christians;
• God treats us all the same!
Quote: Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13-14 (N.L.T.):
“And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people”.
Now every Christian has an ‘anointing’ an ‘unction’ that is the Holy Spirit!
• With that in mind remember this,
• NO-one gets more of the Holy Spirit than anyone else:
Ill:
• Same amount of time each day as President Obama or Prime Minister David Cameron,
• It is a question of how you use that time, are you wise or unwise?
• They cram so much into 24 hours;
• At times we can cram so little.
• The difference is not the amount of time you have, but how you use it.
• I believe that the reason some people seem to be more spiritual than others:
• Is not that they have more of the Holy Spirit,
• But he has more of them - he is allowed to be a greater influence in their lives.
SO THE APOSTLE JOHN WRITES TO HIS READERS AND SAYS (VS 21):
• And because they have believed the truth,
• They should recognise a lie when they meet it.
• Quote: D.L. Moody:
• “The best way to show that a stick is crooked is to put it next to a straight one”.
True doctrine is based on what God has taught us through his apostles:
• Today we would say;
• “What God has taught us in this book – the Bible.”
Ill:
A person is not saved by assenting to a church creed or even a set of doctrines!
• They are saved by trusting the living Christ!
• That is what sets a Christian apart from all other cults and sects:
• Our very salvation depends not just in knowledge.
• But in a relationship ‘knowing’ the risen Christ?
• That is why John will labour the point all through this letter.
• If you are wrong about Jesus you are wrong about everything else!
Ill:
• So throughout this letter
• John emphasises to his readers key truths regarding Jesus Christ:
• The false teachers denied the deity of Christ (that he was fully God).
• The false teachers denied the humanity of Christ (that he was fully human)
• The false teachers denied the incarnation (Jesus became a real human being).
• The false teachers denied the work of Jesus (saved by faith alone).
• The false teachers claimed to worship the Father, to believe in God the Father;
• But John says in verse 23 to deny the Son means that you are denying the Father also.
• After all Jesus himself said; ‘No-one comes to the Father except by me’.
• John chapter 14 verse 6.
• Jesus himself had already taught in John chapter 5 verse 23.
• That true believers honour both the Father and the Son:
That all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him”.
Ill:
• Christadelphians used to have a bookstall in Coventry City centre;
• Behind them they had a big poster which read;
• “We do not believe in the…..”
• It basically listed every Christian belief i.e. virgin birth, resurrection of Christ etc.
• We had a man in our assembly called Bob Henderson who would say to them;
• “You might as well go home you’ve got nothing left to believe!”
Note:
• When John wrote this letter;
• He emphasised that he had not come with a new message but an old one:
• Chapter 1 verse 1:
• “That which was from the beginning”,
• Chapter 1 verse 5:
• “This is the message we heard from Christ and declare to you”
We need to be wary of:
• Any religious leader who comes along with "something new,"
• That is additional knowledge or unique, exclusive insight
• Something that contradicts what Christians have "heard from the beginning";
• Is not to be trusted.
• That is why later John will tell his readers to
• "Try the spirits, whether they are of God" .(l John chapter 4 verse 1).
(3) they Try to Deceive the Faithful (vs 26-29).
“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing you received 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.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. “
Antichristian groups like nothing more than:
• Trying to convert professing Christians;
• And especially church goers to their own doctrines.
• Because unlike unbelievers, professing Christians & church goers are half-way there
• They already believe in God, and want to understand the Bible better.
• So false teachers set out to "seduce" the faithful.
• ill: The word "seduce" carries the idea of "being led astray."
One of the devil’s strategy is to lead Christians astray by teaching them false doctrines:
• We should not accept everything a person tells us;
• Simply because he or she claims to believe the Bible.
• It is possible to "twist" the Bible to make it mean almost anything;
• Quote: “Take a text out of its context and you are left with a con!”
• Quote Campbell Morgan: “Christian doctrine is not built on ‘it is written’.
• It is built on ‘it is written’ and again ‘it is written’ and again ‘it is written’.
I mentioned earlier:
• That the best way to detect an imitation;
• Is to put it next to something genuine.
Ill:
Arlo & it used to work with Kathy;
• We could give them plastic money and pretend it was real.
• We could give them toy mobile phones and pretend they were real.
• But that only worked for a short while;
• As they grew up they could see the imitation for what it was – false.
• The toy money & phone promised so much;
• But could not deliver on its promises because they were fakes!
The best way to detect what is false and an imitation:
• Is to compare it with the real thing.
• Jesus Christ is the real thing.
• He is ‘The Truth’ so we must keep close to him.
• Or as verse 24 puts it: “Remain in him”.
Verse 27: is not saying that we do not need human teachers:
• In fact the very opposite is true;
• God has gifted people for that very purpose.
• What it is saying is that each of us has the Holy Spirit;
• And under his guidance we must test the teaching we receive.
Ill:
Bereans (Acts chapter 17 verse 11).
Ill:
• If a business man picks up a Bible in a hotel and reads it and believes it;
• He will become a Christian not a J.W. or a Mormon etc.
• If a poor person in a third world country picks up a Bible in a hotel and reads it and believes it;
• He will become a Christian not a J.W. or a Mormon etc.
• They will only become a J.W. or a Mormon;
• If they are given additional books and teachings!
• I think this is what John means by saying; “You do not need anyone to teach you”.
• God has given you both his Holy Spirit and his word – the Bible!
(C). Three ENCOURAGING WORDS:
• Verses 28 and 29 are like a bridge:
• They takes us from the teaching about fellowship (chapters 1&2).
• And they bring us to the teaching about our son-ship (chapters 3-5).
• We have been ‘Born of God’ & therefore we are the ‘Children of God.’
• In these two verses there are contained three key words;
• That ought to encourage us to live in fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
(1). ‘Abide’ or ‘Remain’ or ‘continue’) (vs 28a):
“And now, dear children, continue in him…….”
• This is a word you will have met before in chapters 1&2.
• In fact, this has been the theme of the first two chapters of this epistle.
• We are told to abide in Christ by:
• Believing the truth, obeying the truth, and loving other Christians.
• If as a Christian you find yourself out of fellowship with God,
• It is because you have disobeyed one of those three things.
• That is we have disobeyed His Word,
• Lacked love for a fellow Christian, or believed a lie.
The solution to regaining that fellowship;
• Is laid down in chapter 1 verses 8-9,
• To confess your sin and to claim God’s forgiveness.
• And once again start to abide in Christ.
(2). ‘Appear’ (verse 28b).
“And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming”.
• This is the first mention in this epistle of the promised return of Christ.
• Not all Bible students are agreed as to the details of future events,
• But all evangelical Christians agree that Christ is coming again.
• Quote: Tony Campollo:
“I don’t know the details of Christ’s return because I’m on the welcoming committee not the planning committee!”
Quote Verse 28 in the J.B. Philips translation:
Let us so live consciously in Him, “that if he were suddenly to reveal himself we should still know exactly where we stand, and should not have to shrink away from his prescience”.
• John reminds us that the facts are simple:
• Somewhere, sometime we shall meet the Lord,
• If we are holding onto the truth, then we shall meet him with confidence.
• But if we allow ourselves to get side-tracked by false teachers;
• We will be those who will have to recoil from his appearing.
John the apostle is saying:
• The fact that Jesus Christ may return at any moment:
• Ought to be an incentive for you to live in fellowship with Him;
• Ought to be an incentive for you to be obedient to His Word.
• Ought to be an incentive for you to live right with other Christians.
(3). Ashamed (verse 28c)
“When he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming”.
• Sadly some Christians will be "ashamed”;
• When Christ returns.
• But please remember that:
• All Christians are "accepted," in Christ.
• But there is a difference between being "accepted";
• And being "acceptable."
Ill:
• A disobedient child who goes out and gets their best cloths dirty;
• Will be accepted when they come home,
• But they will not be treated as though he were acceptable.
• Their actions have caused a disruption in the fellowship.
Quote Warren Wiesbe:
“No matter in which direction a Christian looks, he finds reason to obey God.
If he looks BACK, he sees Calvary, where Christ died for him.
If he looks WITHIN, he sees the Holy Spirit who lives within and teaches him the truth.
If he looks AROUND, he sees his Christian brethren whom he loves;
He also sees a world lost in sin, desperately needing his godly witness.
And if he looks AHEAD, he sees the return of Christ!"
The return of Christ is a great inspiration for godly living:
• The apostle John has written about light and darkness,
• Love and hatred, and truth and error;
• And in verse 29 he sums up the whole matter of Christian living in one phrase;
• “Does what is right” or "doing righteousness."
A child bears the nature of his father,:
• And a person who has been "born of God"
• Will reveal the characteristics of the heavenly Father.
• God is righteous;
• And he wants his children to be righteous as well.
