1 Jn 2:18-19

Dealing With Deceptions—Part 1

1 John 2:18-19

Introductory Thoughts

· Cults are nothing new in the church world
· False doctrine is nothing new
· Deception by false teachers is nothing new
· But our age has seen a multiplication of heresies, partly because of the power of TV and other modern means of communication.
· History tells us that John was writing to Christians who were dealing with a cult called Gnosticism. This cult denied the reality of Christ as Lord and Savior, and considered Him to be a mere man in whom the Spirit dwelt during His earthly ministry, but that on the Cross, only the man Jesus died. The Gnostics believed all physical reality was evil, and therefore, God could not have lowered Himself to become incarnate.
· This heresy is discussed in the next few verses, then again in 1 John 4:1-6

1. The Last Hour—“…Little children, it is the last hour;…”

a. First, what does John mean by this?

(1) Some liberal commentators have flatly said that John was teaching that Christ was about to come, and therefore he is proven to be wrong, and the Bible is not without error. This is a major stretch!

(a) For one thing, since Christ Jesus was emphatic that no man would know the hour or the day, it makes no sense that one of His apostles would violate Christ’s teaching so obviously.

Mark 13:32 ""But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Acts 1:6-7 "Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority."

(b) For another thing, as Stott and A.T. Robertson point out, the Greek here is “anarthrous,” which means there is no definite article. What John is saying is that is “a” last hour.

b. A progression of moving toward the end—the big picture of end times theology or eschatology—this is far more vital to understand than a list of exciting little “facts” that change with the times!

(1) The basic Last days, last times, etc.

(a) Pentecost was part of the last days—Acts 2:16-17 ""But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams."

(b) The last days began when Christ came, and the first part of the last days was the working out of our salvation.

(i) Heb 1:1-2 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;"

(ii) 1 Pet 1:20 "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you"

(2) The Last of the Last days—As the end approaches, there will be a series of declines away from the Truth. Because it has been a long time in the mind of men, and Christ has not returned, scoffers will mock and deny the second coming.

2 Tim 3:1 "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:"

2 Pet 3:3-4 "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.""

(3) There will be a last days apostasy and the revealing of The Man of Sin—2 Th 2:1-12

(4) The Last time—the culmination of our salvation will be revealed at the end.

1 Pet 1:5 "who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

(5) The Last Day—which is not a day in the sense of a 24-hour period, but is a day, an era, a time, when we are raptured, when Christ returns to rule and reign, and when there is a final judgment. ( In all of these verses, the definite article is present).

John 6:39-40 ""This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.""

John 6:44 ""No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:54 ""Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 11:24 "Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.""

John 12:48 ""He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him; the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day."

c. So John here is showing the development as it was in his day—the evidence in his mind that the unfolding of events was continuing to progress was the presence of little “antichrists,” who were not The Man of Sin.

“…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…”

2. The Antichrist and antichrists—the only place that the man of sin is given this name is in the letters of John.

a. He is not, as some say, a false Christ—Jesus talked about those in Mat 24—the word there is “pseudochristos,” not “antichristos.” The man of sin does not claim to be Christ—he denies Christ, and brings in his own religion.

b. He is best defined by 2 Thes 2:1-12

(1) He is “the man of sin”
(2) He is “the son of perdition,” instead of the Son of God
(3) The opposes Truth and makes himself out to be God
(4) He causes himself to be worshipped in the temple.
(5) His coming is restrained—(by whom or what is a theological football, but probably by the Holy Spirit)
(6) He is called the “lawless one”
(7) When he is revealed, he will have the power to work lying wonders
(8) He will deceive people who do not love the Truth
(9) God will enhance that deception by judging the rejecters of the Truth and sending them a delusion.

c. Antichrists—the little antichrists resemble the man of sin—they are deceivers who seek to draw people away from the Truth, and they have been with us since the beginning of the church age.

3. God’s purpose in allowing divisions in the churches

a. First—They went out è “…They went out from us, but they were not of us;…”

(1) This was a blessing!
(2) They went out but they were never really there!

b. The perseverance of the saints! “…for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us;…”

(1) The Security of the Believer

John 5:24 ""Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."

John 10:28-30 ""And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "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. 30 "I and My Father are one.""

1 Cor 1:9 "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

1 Pet 1:1-5 "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

(2) The perversion of “eternal security” è carnal security!

(a) In a way, “once saved, always saved” is true, but not the way that many understand it today

(b) Profession does NOT equal possession! Saying you are saved, even thinking you are saved, these have nothing to do with real salvation.

(3) Perseverance is evidence of reality!

Mat 10:22 ""And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved."

Mat 24:13 ""But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

Mark 13:13 ""And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

1 Cor 1:4-8 "I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Cor 15:1-2 "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you; unless you believed in vain."

Heb 3:6 "but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end."

Heb 3:14 "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,"

(4) Persevering to the end does not save us, but those who are saved will persevere!

c. God caused the false believers to leave to protect the true believers! “…but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us…”

(1) This has precedent—1 Cor 11:19
(2) The reason they went out was that their heresy would become apparent!
(3) No one made them leave—they left—God’s hand was clearly in this!