You Are Different, Remain That Way (1 John 2:18-27)
John saw a special work of Satan going on in his day. It seems that demonic forces were at work and drawing people away from the faith. And John saw the heretics who were drawing people away from the faith as participating in the demonic work of “antichrist”. Try not to let your view of the end times cloud what John is saying here today. He was not speculating on the end, for his Lord told him this was not possible (Mark 13:32, Acts 1:7). Jesus taught that there would be tribulation and apostacy before the end came along with the rise of “false Christs and false prophets” (Mark 13:22). And John is simply affirming that they were in the last hour because that was going on. The many antichrists that were at that time prevalent signaled to John that they were in a day of intense Satanic rage and there was intense opposition to Christ.
I open with this because I can look around and see that we too are living in a period of Satanic rage and intense opposition to Christ. I can look around and see how public opinion on everything concerning Christ is shifting and since Satan’s rage is powerful in our day, it’s not favorable. I can see people leaving the church for the same reason people did in John’s day. And I see the world teaching our children to hate God and His ways in TV, movies, and sometimes in education. And I see Satanic views of Christ being what many people hold today. It just looks so very much like John’s day. And the call to us today is to remain in Christ, remain in fellowship with God, and in fellowship with the Church.
Christian, Satan rages but you have the truth, and the Holy Spirit, and Eternal Life. Remain there.
Today we will look at 1 John 2:18-27 and see that Satan rages but God’s people have the truth, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. And we are to remain there.
Satan Is Raging And His People Are Leaving (1 John 2:18-19)
The first thing that we notice in the text is John discussed the fact that it was “the last hour” and that there were “many antichrists” (1 John 2:18). Now, as I already discussed in the introduction this is not a discussion about end times for John. This is about a special day of rage that John is calling the “last hour”. I do not for a moment believe that John was speculating about the end times. His Lord had told him not to do so (Mark 13:32, Acts 1:7). What John is saying is that the heretics are part of the spirit of antichrist that is waging war against Christ and His people. I say, “spirit of antichrist” because that is the terminology John will use in 1 John 4:3. He is using the two phrases interchangeably. This same spirit is waging war in our day and is at least part of the reason that many churches will close their doors over the next few years. The many false teachers out there should signal to us the same thing that it signaled to John. We are living in a day of special Satanic rage.
Do not tear verse 18 and 19 apart or you will miss the point. The heretics were leaving because they were part of the Satanic world system that we would call the spirit of antichrist (1 John 2:19). The heretics left because they were not part of God’s people. These people were influenced by Satan and not by Christ. That is why they left.
The non-Christian is still part of the world system under the dominion of Satan. They are influenced by Satan and not Christ. That is why they leave. Now, I’m not saying that every person that leaves our church is part of the spirit of antichrist, but what I am saying is that is the case with some of them. And I am saying that the people who leave the faith and bash the church are participating in the spirit of antichrist.
I will also state here that the news reports are true, church attendance is shrinking around the country. Church attendance in the US has been in decline for years now and Covid has accelerated that. What these people get wrong is the reason. They say the church is now ineffective and is in decline because of holding to traditional morality or being narrowminded about salvation. The truth is much more simple. Satan is raging in a special way in our day and the people of the world that are part of the Satanic world system are leaving. And as they walk out the door they seem to have to tell everyone about how good they are and how they are the ones living in the truth. But here is what you should know. Jesus Christ came and rescued His people from sin, death, and Satan. Those people who remain in Christ are not those people who leave during the time of Satan’s rage.
Think of it this way. People are frustrated about what you believe about other people, the world, the way of salvation and they are leaving the church over it. They are leaving, not because they are better than the people they are leaving behind…which is what they believe about their self. They are leaving because they don’t belong. They are part of a bigger thing that is going on. They are part of the spirit of antichrist. So, no matter how much Satan rages in our day we must hold fast to the faith that Christ delivered to us through the testimony of the Apostles.
You Are Different You Have The Son, Remain In Him (1 John 2:20-24)
John then uses the word “but” to inform those who remain that they are very different than those who left. Well, it is the Greek word “kai” which is a conjunction but the translators seemed to have hit the nail on the head with the word “but” when putting this idea in English. You that remain are different from those who left.
Now, what is the difference. The ones who remain have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And because they have the Holy Spirit they have the truth, know the truth, and are able to sniff out the lies of those who are teaching and living in the spirit of antichrist. One specific lie that is being taught by those in the spirit of antichrist is denial of Jesus Christ. It should be obvious to all that those who teach falsely about the person of Christ are part of the spirit of antichrist. It is the people who have the Son, as He was delivered to us from the Apostles, that has the Father. Everyone else is a liar. To have the Son is to have the Father, to deny either is to not have both. This is a major test that we can apply today with every group that claims Christianity.
In verse 24 John shifts gears just a little and says that we should “abide in the Son and in the Father” (1 John 2:24 ESV) We are to remain dwelling in and living in the truths that we have heard about Christ from the beginning. Don’t stray toward those things that are new. Remain in what has been taught about Christ for thousands of years. Remain in that old, old story.
The heretics are liars and antichrists and God’s people know it. God’s people have the truth and they can sniff out the liar. One of the lies that we see often are distortions of who Christ is. Remember, those who have the Son are different than everyone else. To have the Son is to have the Father, to not have the Son is to have neither the Son or the Father. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. God the Son came to Earth and took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and accomplished everything that sinful man would need to accomplish to have eternal life and then He died in our place. He bore our punishment on our behalf. This was done so that the person who trusted in Christ could be credited with Christ’s perfect life and have their sins completely washed away. Jesus Christ is the only of salvation and the person who denies Christ does not have salvation. They are outside of fellowship with the Apostles. They are outside of fellowship with Christ. And they are outside of fellowship with the Father.
This also, I think, really pushes us to know the truth of God’s Word. We have a need to know the truth, to hear God’s Word preached and taught. We have a need to know God’s Word. And the reason is simple. You need to know the truth to be able to sniff out lies. So, are you thinking through what we are discussing right now? I’ve sat through enough sermons to know that it is sometimes very difficult to remain engaged in the sermon. Are you engaged while listening to sermons and Bible studies? We have a desperate need to know and understand the truth of God’s Word. And are you teaching God’s Word to your children at home? How are they going to be able to sniff out lies if they don’t know the truth? And it is your responsibility, parents, to teach your children God’s Word. So, let us resolve to teach it!
And we must resolve to remain in Him. Don’t chase after the new and novel. We have an old, old faith that is founded upon the old, old testimony of the Apostles about a Savior that came long ago. It was declared to us long ago and we have it in God’s Word. As John Stott said in his commentary over 1 John,
“Christians should always be ‘conservative’ in their theology. To have ‘itching ears’, ever running after new teachers, listening to anybody and never arriving at a knowledge of the truth, is a characteristic of the ‘terrible times’ which shall come ‘in these last days’ (2 Timothy 3:1, 7; 4:3). The continuous obsession for the ‘latest ideas’ is a mark of the Athenian not the Christian (Acts 17:21). Christian theology is anchored not only to certain historical events, culminating in the saving career of Jesus, but to the authoritative apostolic witness to, and interpretation of, these events. The Christian can never weigh anchor and launch into the deep of speculative thought. Nor can he forsake the primitive teaching of the apostles for subsequent human traditions.”—John Stott
And as a church we must resolve to live together in Christ no matter what may come. The world is now pressuring us to change and will likely provide more pressure to change in the near future. But we will remain. We will stand firm in the message that was from the beginning, in the old, old story no matter what may come. The world and it’s Satanic Systems are passing away. Christ and His Word are not.
You Are Different, You Have Eternal Life (1 John 2:25)
It is not those with “itchy ears” that shift their way of thinking with every wind of change that has eternal life. They have a lot of self-confidence, but they should be terrified. It’s not the person claiming superior knowledge or some new and secret revelation that has eternal life. It is the person who has trusted in the old, old faith that was once for all time handed down to us by the Apostles that has eternal life. You who remain have eternal life.
What is eternal life?
“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3 ESV)
It is those who abide in the old, old story that have fellowship forever with God.
There are many opposing viewpoints floating around today. The different views of Jesus, His teaching, and what He accomplished are many. But you must understand that the correct view of Jesus is not the new one. It is what was handed down to us long ago from those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. Everything else leads to death. Another way of saying this is that the life-giving message of salvation was delivered to us by the Apostles.
Christian, you are at odds with this world because you do not believe what this Satanic world system is putting forward. You are not in fellowship with Satan and his way of thinking; therefore you are at odds with this world. And it is you who has eternal life. We are a group of people who are in fellowship with God and one another by virtue of what Christ has accomplished for us. We stand outside of that system and that is very difficult. Let us help one another, support one another, disciple one another, and love one another.
You Are Different, You Have The Holy Spirit (1 John 2:26-27)
John makes it clear her that he is having to write these things because of the heretics. They have caused tremendous damage and he is writing against them and helping those who remain navigate the situation. And again John points out a rather large difference that exists between the believers who remain and the heretics who left.
The Christian has the Holy Spirit. He says that they have no need for any special teaching and knowledge that the heretics claim to have. They have no need for anything outside of the old, old story.
Now, John is not saying that there is no need for preachers. He has already stated a few times that we were in need of people giving the message of Christ to us. We need preachers and teachers. What we do not need is novelty. And so, the Holy Spirit affirms to us what is true. We remain in the truths that belong to the old, old faith.
We have two safeguards in the Christian life. They are the old truth taught to us from the Apostles and the Holy Spirit who teaches us. We need to hold fast to both.
The non-Christian who sneers at Scripture and God’s people does not have the Holy Spirit guiding them. They are under the power of the spirit of antichrist no matter how much they would deny this. We should not be ashamed to believe what a person who is held captive by the spirit of this age would mock. We are not like them. We have the truth and the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit affirms that what we learn from the Word is true and what the preacher and teacher of God’s Word says is true. The heretics do not have this. They teach lies and are teaching according to the spirit of antichrist. So, we live in the safeguards that God has given us: the old truth taught from the testimony of the Apostles and the Holy Spirit teaching us. We lean on those and abide in Christ.
Always remember that we are different from those living in the spirit of antichrist. Let us hold fast the old, old story in the power of the Holy Spirit no matter how much it is ridiculed by those under the influence of Satan.
Conclusion
I believe that we too are living in an age of special Satanic rage. I also believe that this rage will likely increase as the days go by. People are leaving, churches are shrinking, false teachings about Christ are circulating in large numbers, and those people that are leaving sneer at God’s people and what they believe. And all the while we have to remember that we are different and are to remain that way. So as Satan rages we remember that we have the Truth, the Holy Spirit, and Eternal Life and we remain in them.
R. Dwain Minor