REAL CHRISTIANITY
1 JOHN 2:18-27
LIE DETECTOR
Real Christianity #9, Studies in 1 John
Wouldn’t it be nice if each one of us had a built in
“lie detector” so we would know who was lying and who was telling the truth?
The need for a “lie detector” is more important than
you may think. John 8:44
People are especially good at lying because of the
influence of Satan.
As the “Father of lies”, what do you think the Devil
would lie most about?
Religion, of course!
The way to Heaven
The road to salvation
Eternal life
The deity of Jesus Christ
Satan is an enemy who wants no one to find eternal
life.
In our text we find that Satan is at work promoting
lies that will keep people from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
Thankfully, we as Christians have a lie detector that
can keep us from succumbing to the lies of Satan.
DECEPTION
1 John 2:18-19 - Little
children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come,
even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
[19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
It is the last time or “the last hour” according to Vs. 18.
This is not a literal hour, but a period of time.
It is the time when anyone can be saved who puts their
faith and trust in Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life.
It is also the time when Jesus Christ can return at
any moment for His saints, and set the stage for the last great events of
history.
After Jesus does come for his saints there is the
promise of the appearance of the character that John says his readers have
heard that he would come. John calls him
the “antichrist”.
I view Antichrist as Satan’s greatest and culminating
effort in this age to overthrow the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, it will not work. Lord Jesus will destroy Him.
Satan is not idle, waiting to reveal his antichrist.
In Vs. 18 John says that we know it the last
hour because there are already antichrists around.
They are not as powerful. They are not as dangerous. They are not as
persuasive. But they are powerful,
dangerous, and persuasive enough to lead many people astray!
The word “anti” we think of meaning against.
So naturally, an antichrist is one who speaks against
Christ.
No matter how well he speaks of Christ, He is against
him.
Some of these antichrists sound so flowery and nice
talking about the Lord Jesus. But if you
listen carefully to what they are saying you discover that they are denying Him
as Savior, as Christ, as Messiah, as the Son of God.
This preposition, “anti”, has another meaning besides
“against”. It can also mean “instead of”
or “imitation”.
The antichrists of today are an imitation of Christ
and of true Christianity.
They are designed by Satan as a means of deception, as
a lie!
Vs. 19 - They
went out from us, but they were not of us;
In other words, many of these antichrists, these false
teachers started in the church, started among believers, but they were never
really saved.
Vs. 19 continues …they would no doubt have continued with us:
And why not?
If they stayed right within the church they could have peddled their
false teaching much easier.
But God spared us.
…but they went out, that they might be
made manifest that they were not all of us.
They separated from true Christianity so that it might
be obvious that
they were not with us. Of course the
world still tries to group false teachers under the title of Christianity.
There is deception out there!
Satan has his antichrists.
Be careful. Be
concerned for those who are being deceived.
DETECTION – Vss. 20-21
Is there a way of telling the true from the false?
Can a Christian tell which teachers are right and
which teachers are wrong?
Can a Christian avoid being fooled? These false teachers
are certainly out to “convert” Christians.
The answer, of course, is “yes”!
God has provided a detection system for us.
1 John 2:20 - But
ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
This word, “unction” means “anointing”.
There is an anointing that has taken place the moment
a person was saved.
God’s Holy Spirit baptized, immersed, or placed each
believer into the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13
And when the Holy Spirit baptized us He came inside us
to dwell. We have the Holy Spirit of God
living inside.
God’s Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity is
a teacher. John 16:12-14
The teaching of the Holy Spirit allows us to discern
when there is a false teacher. Vs. 20 concludes and ye know all things. These words can actually be rendered, and ye all know. In other words, every
true Christian can discern between what is truth and
what is false doctrine through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Vs. 21 - I
have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know
it, and that no lie is of the truth.
John assures his readers that he is writing not
because they did not know the truth, but because they did know the truth.
And because they did know the truth, he wanted to
remind them that the truth contains no lies.
John further reminds his readers that no lie was
caused by the truth.
This means that none of us should sit back and look at
the cults, and say, “Well, there’s some truth there, that
makes them all right.” The falsehood of
the teaching overrides any truth.
These cults do not need to be wrong in all their
doctrines to lead people astray. It only takes a little poison in some
perfectly good grain to kill a mouse.
If there is a lie in the basic teaching of Christ and
salvation, there is no truth there, and we as Christians should be able to
detect it.
DECEPTION
DETECTION
DENIAL – Vss. 22-23
1 John 2:22 - Who
is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the
Father and the Son.
Now John tells us who the liars are.
These are the ones who play fast and loose with the
doctrine of Christ.
They deny that Jesus is the Son of God, that is, God
the Son in the flesh.
They deny that Jesus is the Messiah.
1 John 2:23 - Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but)
he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
To deny the deity of Christ is to reveal that you do
not have the Father living inside of you.
To confess the Son as Savior shows that the Father
dwells within you as well. John 14:21
The Muslim people do not acknowledge the deity of Christ, they do not have the Father.
The Jewish people do not acknowledge the deity of
Christ,
They do not have the Father.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses do not acknowledge the deity
of Christ. They do not have the Father.
The Mormons do not acknowledge the deity of Christ in
the same way we do. They do not have the Father.
Liberal theologians often do not acknowledge the deity
of Christ. They do not have the Father.
Look at what a teacher is saying about Christ, and if
he is a false teacher, an antichrist, you will see the denial of Christ
somewhere in his teaching.
DEFENSE – Vss. 24-27
So how do we guard against false teaching?
What is our defense against this onslaught of Satan?
1 John 2:24 - Let
that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that
which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son, and in the Father.
There should be some non-negotiables
in your faith.
There should be truths that you believe, that you have
heard from the beginning of your Christian faith.
If these non-negotiables
remain in you, you’re relationship and fellowship with God the Father and God
the Son will continue and abound.
These non-negotiables are
the Gospel.
G – God loves you.
O – Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ
S – Sin, all have
P – Precious blood of Christ shed for our sins
E – Ever-living Savior
L – Let Him in
1 John 2:25 - And
this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
The one who is truly born again will stay with the
Gospel and receive the promise of eternal life.
1 John 2:26-27 - These
things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. [27] But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that
any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you,
ye shall abide in him.
John wrote these things because of the ones who would
seduce or lead Christians astray.
In Vs. 27 he assures us that we have an
anointing of the Holy Spirit that abides in us. It is continual
It is the work of the Holy Spirit that defends us
against the seduction of false teachers.
It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us, so that we don’t
need false teachers haranguing us.
This passage doesn’t mean that we don’t need Bible
teachers. That’s what John himself was
doing, teaching the Bible!
Jesus Himself told us to teach in his Great
Commission. Matthew 28:19-20
Paul appointed teachers.
Paul told Timothy to teach others who would teach
others. 2 Timothy 2:1-2
I think John’s point is that you and I have a defense
against false teachers. It is the
teaching work of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit will use God’s Word, His own personal insights, and the teaching of
Godly teachers to keep us on the straight and narrow.
And the more we allow the Spirit of God to teach us,
the more we will abide in Him.
So God has equipped us with a lie detector.
DECEPTION
DETECTION
DENIAL
DEFENSE