1 John 2:18-23

1 John 2:18–23 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. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

1 John 2:18–2320 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

I. THEIR DAY

(paidion) young child, immature, needing to pay attention to instructions

a kind of time,not a duration of time

6 times in the NT

Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

Genesis 1:14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years…”

Matthew 24:32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

Anti – instead of or againstChristo – Messiah, Anointed One

(erchomai) present tense

“John is the only writer who uses that particular term; other terms are used in other parts of Scripture;—the Idol Shepherd, the Lawless One, the Willful King, the Son of Perdition, the Man of Sin, the False Prophet, and the one who shall come in his own name. These different terms describe the same person, the one who shall arise in the days of the great tribulation and lead guilty apostate Christendom and Judaism farther away from God than they are at the present time.”

Harry Ironsides

John 5:43

I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

“Many” (polus) = "a large number, many, a great number of”

II. THEIR DEPARTURE

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Acts 20:29–31 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch (present imperative), and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

Left of their own free will.

Matthew 13:27-30 ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’

John 13:30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.

NET Bible: “they did not really belong

to us”

III. THEIR DIFFERENCE

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

Emphasis in Scripture is not on the means but the affect or results of the anointing

(eido) is intuitive knowledge given by the Spirit of Truth

Allan Bloom Closing of the American Mind (1987)

“There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative.” He goes on to say (pp. 25-26), “The danger they have been taught to fear from absolutism is not error but intolerance. Relativism is necessary to openness; and this is the virtue, the only virtue, which all primary education for more than fifty years has dedicated itself to inculcating.” How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students Cc. 1; p. 25

IV. THEIR DENIALS

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Who-ever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

What's So Dangerous About theEmerging Church?

This growing movement downplays preaching (what could be more arrogant than for one man to stand up and say that he is proclaiming the truth?). And it magnifies sharing personal experiences in an accepting, non-judgmental atmosphere.

Avoiding Spiritual Deception, Part 1 - 1 John 2:18-23John MacArthur

• His deity• He is the sinless Son of God • His death and resurrection• His Lordship• His return to earth

Matthew 16:15–16 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”