As we have learned so far in our study of 1 John, the Apostle John has been teaching us about the nature and essentiality of fellowship. That God did not send Jesus to die on the cross just to save us from hell, but to woo us to intimacy, fellowship, and communion with the living God. And so to this point we have studied the basis of fellowship, which is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And then we saw the proof and progress of fellowship, then the evidence of fellowship, and the process of fellowship, which is maturity.
Along the way, we noted that John gave us a series of tests, so that we might ascertain whether or not we were in fellowship. There was a moral test; if we are in fellowship with God we will keep His commandments. There was the social test; if we are in fellowship with God we will love one another. Now today we are looking at the doctrinal test; if we are in fellowship with God we will be united in certain essential doctrines. And negatively, if we are not in fellowship with God we will reject certain doctrinal truths.
John wants to make something clear. That truth is incompatible with false teaching. Truth and a lie cannot coexist. Light cannot coexist with darkness. There is sound doctrine, and there is false teaching. There is right, and there is wrong. There is no such thing as relevant truth. That is an oxymoron. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
You know, I buried my mother this last Thursday. And I had an opportunity to say some things at her funeral to honor her memory. And if I might add something today, being Mother’s Day, I would say that my Mom wasn’t perfect, but she did teach us kids right from wrong. If there was anything that she did well, it was to teach us right from wrong. In her mind, there was a right way to do something and a wrong way. There was the right way to make your bed or fold your clothes. There was the right way to iron a shirt. These were things that she knew were true and she wanted to pass them on to us. There was no middle ground. And in the same way she taught us that the Bible was unconditionally true. She taught us that correct doctrine mattered. Truth mattered. And to some extent, as she grew older perhaps she grew disconsolate about continuing on in this world, because the things that she had known to be true did not seem to be what the world considered true any more. And so she no longer felt at home in this world and wanted to go on to the next. She wanted to be where righteousness reigns. Where wrongs will be made right. But even though she is gone, the truth that she taught her children remains, because it was founded on the truth of God’s word. And in like manner, truth is essential to fellowship with God. The scripture says, “let God be true, though every man a liar.” If we would have fellowship with God, if we would worship God, it must be in truth.
So John presents three characteristics of false fellowship, and three characteristics of true fellowship. Let’s look first of all at the three characteristics of false fellowship. As an intro to this section, John says it’s the last hour. Now that may be as surprising to hear for you as it might have been for the church he was contemporaneously writing to. We all have this idea that the last days, or the last hour is still somewhere in the future. But it’s interesting, that this same writer wrote the book of Revelation, which most believe is all future events of the last days. And yet he writes sometime probably before Revelation that it was already the last hour. The last hour then refers to an age, and we are in the last age. It started with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it will culminate in His return. But John was living in the last age, and we are living in the last age. It is the last hour.
The evidence that he gives for that pronouncement is that “just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.” So they already had heard that the antichrist was to come. And John says that already many antichrists had come. And from that they could recognize that they were in the last hour.
There are many popular theories out there, supported by Hollywood style movies, which present the antichrist as some sort of charismatic world figure that perhaps has already been born and who is going to head up a one world government. But what John seems to be saying is that the antichrist is many people, who are imbued with the same spirit; the spirit of antichrist.
The term antichrist simply refers to one who is not only against Christ, but one who is another Christ. He has another gospel. Another way. Another truth, so called. It’s a false teacher, or someone who seeks to influence others to another gospel. In chapter 4, John tells us to test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false spirits have gone into the world. And then he continues in vs.2, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” Confess by the way does not just mean saying the name of Jesus. To confess means to agree with. So what John is saying is that person who does not agree with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the word of Christ, then that person has the spirit of antichrist. And they are already at work in the world. They are already deceiving men and women. And they are in the church. More on that later.
So the first characteristic of these antichrists is that he says they departed from fellowship. All the things we have been talking about which constitute fellowship with God; keeping God’s commandments, loving one another, abiding in the truth, they have abandoned those things in favor of another gospel. They have opted for an easy believism that is more culturally palatable. Look at vs.19, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”
I have found that it’s very seldom that as a church we would have to break fellowship with someone because of false belief. It usually works out that they leave us. And though the reasons they give sound plausible on the surface, the bottom line I think is that they cannot stand sound doctrine. They don’t really like preaching and teaching the whole counsel of the gospel. They like to camp out on certain themes, but discard others that don’t fit into their lifestyle. But I decided some time ago that I would preach the truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. And I would not patronize people for the purpose of gaining popularity. The truth is incompatible with a lie, and so they eventually can’t stand it any more and they leave.
But what John is saying is don’t be dismayed by that; they were never really part of us. They were never really in fellowship with Christ, and so they will not be in fellowship with us. Don’t worry about it. God wants us to proclaim the truth without compromise. A lot of people confuse friendship with fellowship. Truth is foundational to fellowship, not friendship. Friendship with the world, James says in chapter 4vs4, is hostility towards God. So we aren’t to be as much concerned about friendship as we are about truth. When we are united in truth, then friendship, and even better - love, will follow.
Secondly, the next characteristic of antichrists is they denied the faith. Vs.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. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” So these antichrists have denied the faith, which is to deny God. On the contrary, he says the true disciple confesses (again, that’s agreeing with) Christ. Now let’s consider what it means to deny the faith.
Romans 14:3 says, “whatever is not of faith is sin.” What Paul means there is when you consider what you can see and feel and measure as more credible than faith in what is not seen, faith in what God has said, then that is sinful. These antichrists deny the faith by living according to the flesh. They are carnal. Theologians have debated whether you can have such a thing as carnal Christians. I say you can. Paul accused the Christians at Corinth of being carnal. To be carnal is to be fleshly; it’s to be worldly, to use an old fashioned word. That was a word my mother used a lot. I used to hate it. Every thing fun I wanted to do as a kid seemed to fall under that category of being worldly. But there are some things that are worldly.
To deny the faith is a progressive falling away from the faith. You depart from fellowship with God, and that person eventually ends up denying the essential doctrines of the faith. It’s the progression from carnality to apostasy. Just as there is a progression in sanctification to maturity, which we talked about last week, there is a progression the other way as well. You go from bad to worse. From a little sin, to full blown corruption. From a little lie to apostasy. Eventually denying the essential doctrines of faith.
Thirdly, he says the characteristic of antichrists is they deceive the church. Back in verse 26, "These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you." They are in the church, but they are not truly in the fellowship. But as they devolve into apostasy, there is a desire on their part to deceive others as well.
They aren’t happy to come into the church just to sit there in private and quiet denial. Their desire for validation means that they try to deceive others to participate in their rebellion. In Matthew 13, there is the parable of the tares and the wheat. And Jesus says in verse 26, "They are sown by the enemy in the field." The enemy comes and sows tares in the field. That was a very devastating thing to do to your enemy if your enemy sowed wheat, and you had some men go in the middle of the night and sow weeds, tares in the ground alongside the wheat. The farmer would be watching his crop and when it finally came up, he would see the tares coming up along with his crop and the tares would destroy the entire crop. That was done in ancient times to destroy an enemy's income, wealth, well-being. And that's exactly what the enemy Satan does, he sends his false teachers in the church, alongside the furrows where God has planted the true seed and he sows deceivers. Satan is the deceiver and this is the trade that he plies through his antichrists. They come into the church, they go into seminaries, they go into colleges, they go into denominational headquarters, they go into church staffs, they go in as elders and leaders in the church. They often ascend to the leadership of the church and sometimes they come into the church even as the pastor, as a wolf in sheep's clothing, the false shepherd. These are the antichrists who deceive. And Jesus said in the parable, that at first the tares and the wheat look very similar so that you can’t tell them apart.
In 2 Peter chapter 2:1, Peter says, "False prophets arose among the people in the past, among the people of Israel, just as there will also be false teachers among you." Note the important phrase; among the people, among you. These antichrists come from the church ranks. The greatest danger to the church is not the world’s agenda. It’s not the liberal left wing radicals. It’s often the smug, sanctimonious antichrists masquerading as elders or deacons or pastors in the church itself.
Now let’s move from the negative to the positive. John also presents three characteristics of true disciples. And notice that he calls them children in vs.1. This title refers to the fact that they have been born again by the Spirit of Christ. They are a child of God. And like children of every generation and family, they share the characteristics of their parents. That’s how you know someone’s children. They look like their parents. They share the same DNA. Well, as the children of God, we share the same Spirit. That’s how we can have fellowship with one another.
The first characteristic John presents is that they are not deceived. Verse 20, "You have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know. 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." Verse 27, "You have no need for anyone to teach you because His anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it is taught you, you abide in Him." So how can you tell a true Christian from an antichrist? A true Christian is not deceived. They may have doubt from time to time, they may question, they may even be temporarily led astray, but a true believer will not abandon the truth.
How do they know the truth? Well, they know the truth because they have the Spirit of Truth indwelling in them. That is the purpose of the Holy Spirit, ladies and gentlemen. The Holy Spirit isn’t given to give you a spiritual buzz. The Holy Spirit is given that you might know the truth. “You have an anointing from the Holy One and you all know.” Who is the Holy One? Well it's Christ. Jesus is the Holy One of God." And Jesus has gone to the Father so that He might send His Spirit to us that are saved. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says that we've all received the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 says, "If any man has not the Spirit, he is not Christ's." So if you are Christ's, you possess the Holy Spirit. That is the anointing. It’s not a second blessing. It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. He is given to guide us into all truth. In John 16:13, Jesus says, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.” So He speaks the word of Christ. Not some new revelation, but He reveals the expressed Word of God through the Bible to God’s children.
And that is how we are not deceived. When we continually yield to the Spirit’s leading and conviction. But when we reject His leading, then we quench the Spirit, and that moves us into rebellion, which is the road to apostasy. But John says, the true believer, who has the anointing of Christ, will not be deceived if they have the Spirit of Christ operating in their life.
Secondly, the next characteristic of a child of God flows from the first, since they have the Spirit, they are not deceived, so they accept the faith. They hold fast to the doctrines once given to the saints. They have discernment. They can recognize truth from falsehood. The Holy Spirit in us is our teacher. Through His presence in us and through His inspired Word, the things of God are revealed to us. "We have not received,” it says in 1 Corinthians 2:12, “the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God that we might know the things freely given to us by God." The Spirit then is ours as our teacher and as the author of the Scripture.
At the end of verse 21 John makes this statement. He says, "I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie is of the truth." In other words, something cannot be at the same time true and false. And he says, "I'm writing to you because you know the truth, and because you know the truth you reject lies. You have spiritual discernment.”
Let me tell you how that happens - discernment comes by careful study of the whole counsel of God. When you study the whole Bible, then a false teaching is not going to fit. It’s going to stand out. I had a great discussion with my son Roy yesterday about spiritual discernment. And he made a statement which I thought was good, I hadn’t heard it before. He said, and I paraphrase, “spiritual discernment is not just judging between right and wrong, but judging between truth and almost truth.” And that’s very true. Satan doesn’t often come with an outright lie, but he comes with a half truth, disguised as truth. But as in setting a course to sail across the ocean in a ship by compass, a little thing such as one degree off course will take you far from your destination. But completely yielding to the Spirit as you study the word will keep you in the faith. You will not stray from the truth as long as you yield completely to the Spirit’s conviction as you study the word. Don’t go into it with an agenda. Let the Lord reveal His truth to you so that you may rightly divide the word of truth.
Finally, one last characteristic of a true child of God is that they remain in fellowship. They abide, they remain faithful. V27 John says, "The anointing which you've received from Him," that is the Holy Spirit from Christ, "abides in you. You have no need for anyone to teach you, His anointing teaches you about all things, is true and not a lie. And just as it is taught you, you abide in Him." So because the Spirit abides in you, you abide in Him. You stay faithful to the truth. You are not deceived. You accept the faith and you remain faithful.
To abide means to have fellowship with God. That’s the goal of our salvation. To have unbroken, unbridled fellowship with God. That we might have the joy of communion with God. That we might know God intimately, even as we are known. That there are no secrets we keep from God. That we share everything with the Lord, and He shares all good things with us.
If we have that kind of fellowship, then we will not fear that He is coming soon, since it’s the last hour. So John says, “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.” I remember as a very small child laying on the floor of the living room so I could meet my dad when he came home late at night. I loved him so much and looked forward so much to seeing him that I would beg mom to let me sleep on the floor in front of the front door.
But as I got older, and into more trouble, I used to try to duck out when my dad came home. I knew I had done things that he wasn’t going to be happy about. So I would try to pretend I was already asleep in bed and hope he wouldn’t want to wake me up. John says, if we abide in fellowship with Him, we won’t be ashamed when Jesus comes.
And he reminds us how to make sure of that. Vs 29, “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” If we are HIs children, and we know that He is righteous, then we know we are His children because we practice righteousness. That’s the fruit of our lives; righteousness. That’s the evidence of our salvation. That we are truly disciples of Him, that we are in fellowship with Him. We love Him, so we keep His commandments. And because we love Him, we abide in Him, and He abides in us and we have perfect fellowship. We persevere in our faith. It isn’t always easy. It’s fraught with trials and temptations. But the joy of fellowship with God, of knowing He is our Father, and we are His children in a right relationship with Him, is worth it all.
I trust that you have come to know God through a relationship with Jesus Christ and an anointing of the Holy Spirit. And I pray you will stay and abide in fellowship with Him, for it is the last hour, and there are many antichrists in this world, but our Redeemer draweth nigh. Let us not shrink bank when He appears, but may we be righteous, even as He is righteous.
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