1 John 2:18-25 Bible Teaching

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Okay, we left off with some really tremendous verses regarding the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life – addressed to little children, fathers, and young men of the faith.

Now, addressing only the little children, he enters into another area of the faith. (Verse 18)

9 1st John 2.18-end – Part I
May 22nd 2016
Meat

1st John 2:18 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 (the anti-Christ) 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.
20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
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.
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
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.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26 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.
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Let’s go back to verse 18 where John write what is perhaps one of the most telling passages relative to eschatology in the New Testament, saying:

18 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.

(Long beat)

We might first ask ourselves: Why does John, who went to such great lengths to address little children and Fathers and Young men only mention little children here?

The Greek is not Teknon, which probably means infant but Paidon which probably means an older child and it the last term John used in this chapter describing children.

I would suggest that he is either lumping all believers in to this category OR he sees no need to address the young men (who, according to our text last week he says “have overcome the wicked one, are strong and have the Word in them”) nor the fathers of the faith (who have known Jesus) but is trying to warn the children of the faith that the end is not just coming – but was there.

“Little children, it is the last time.”

What does he mean?

The Greek term for last is “eskatos,” and it means (listen – ready?)

The farthest, final of a place or time, the end of, the last, latter, lowest, and uttermost.

From it we get the term eschatology, the study of END . . . things.

Robertson’s Word pictures says of this verse:

“Certainly John makes it plain that the “Parousia” (which means the “a being near, an advent, return, especially, of Christ to Jerusalem or to the wicked. It implies a physicality, an arrival or presence) “might come in the life of those then living, but it is not clear that here he definitely asserts it as a fact. It was his hope beyond a doubt. We are left in doubt about this “last hour” whether it covers a period, a series, or the final climax of all just at hand.”

We see in this commentators explanation of this passage that he admits that “Certainly John makes it PLAIN that the “paroosia” MIGHT come in the life of those living,” but then he goes on and says that this is not clear that this was his definite assertion.

Really?

“Little children IT IS the last time?”

Spoken by an apostle of the Lord with such directness that there can be no doubt – but as a means to justify a futurist view we say that while John seemed to believe it was happening then we cannot be sure he was saying it was happening then?

There are three main Greek words that speak to the second coming or advent or appearing of Christ, who ascending into the clouds had angels say that He would be coming back in the same way and who Christ Himself said would be within a generation:

Paroosia (used 24 times), Apokalupsis (used 18 times), and Ephiphanea (used 6 times). There may be others.

Paroosia, as stated, mean pretty much the same thing as apokalupsis and ephiphanea –

An arrival or a presence, especially referring to Christ and his second advent.

An example of this term is found in Paul’s words to the Thessalonians, written much earlier than John’s words here.

At that time there were rumors floating about that Jesus was coming back THEN – Paul tells them that that was NOT so, and says:

2nd Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Paroosia), and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
(Notice that at this point Paul says that the day of Christ was NOT at hand but in our text from John he says that it was the LAST time? Its because in Pauls day the time was not at hand for the parousea but in John’s day – who wrote last, it was! Anyway, Paul goes on and says)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming (Paroosia)

The second term used to describe the second advent or presence of Jesus is
APOKALUPSIS and it means a disclosure – and appearing, coming, to enlighten, a manifestation, to be revealed, a revelation. We read this term in passages like 1st Peter 1:7 which says:

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ:

We can see that apokalusis is a term applied to the second appearing of Christ.

Another Greek term that describes the return of Jesus is “EPIPHANIA” which means a manifestation, i.e. (specially) the advent of Christ (past or future):–appearing, brightness.

We read this term used in 2nd Timothy 4:1 which says:

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing (ephiphania) and his kingdom.

From John’s words here we know that when he writes, Little Children it is the last time, that he is without question taking about the last days BEFORE Jesus “paroosia, his apokulipsis, his ephiphania.”

You know that we could spend an inordinate amount of time proving that all of the New Testament writers were under the impression that the “last time” was either headed their way or was at hand, and that the “last time” was always associated with the appearance of Christ out of heaven to bring justice to Jerusalem and to save those where were His by faith.

I’m not going to even attempt it today.

What I will say it that the commentators – great and small – have gone to unbelievable extremes – to explain away the literal application of theses passages to that time while somehow trying to push it out to us now.

One commentator who I greatly admire supplies us with a really interesting and inadvertently impactful take on this passage and says:

“Some have supposed that the “last time” here refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the Jewish economy; but the more natural interpretation is to refer it to the last dispensation of the world, and to suppose that the apostle meant to say that there were clear evidences that that period had arrived.”

What he is suggesting is that the language is so clear that John obviously believed it was the end of the world itself! The implications of this prove something really important –

John the Beloved absolutely believed it was the END of something – and either He was right or he was wrong.

If he was wrong you can take this book and toss it because scripture cannot be trusted neither can the apostles who wrote by the Spirit.

If we reject the idea that John could have been wrong then the second implication states that He MUST have been right and the absolute end of SOMETHING was happening.

Since we are still here, we know the end that He was talking about was the utter and absolute end of Jerusalem – with all that it entailed – the Nation, the temple, the Law, the genealogies – the end of it all.

And finally, since all the elements of the end of that age are tied directly to the Second Advent or paroosia of Christ, then we KNOW – KNOW

That the last time John is speaking of includes the arrival of Jesus from heaven to save His own and destroy the rest.

Boom.

So John says:

“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 (he repeats it folks) it is the last time.

Today, and for a couple of hundred years we have deluded ourselves that an antichrist is among us – or is coming – to help usher in the Second Coming of Christ.

But what does the Apostle John – there and at that time say right here?

He says, Little children, IT IS the last time, AND as you have heard that antichrist shall come (singular) even now there are many antichrists, this is how we KNOW that it IS . . . the last time (or in the Greek, the ultimate end of the hour).

The term “antichrist” occurs in the New Testament only here in 1st John 2:18, 2:22; then in 4:3 and 2nd John 1:7. It means “opponent of the Messiah” plain and simple.
This name has been applied to the “little horn” of the “king of fierce countenance” (found in Daniel 7:24-25 and 8:23-25).

It has been applied also to the “false Christs” spoken of by our Lord (in Matthew 24:5,23-24).

It has been assigned to whom Paul called “the man of sin” in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4 and 8-10) and it is referred to as

the “beast from the sea” (mentioned in Revelation 13:1 and 17:1-18).

Not going to go into who people think “it” was or who people thing “it” may be in the future, but am going to simply use John’s own words to help us understand “antichrist.”

According to John, who, only has used the word, he has himself says these things of the antichrist or antichrists:

Number One:

“and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

From these words we see that John recognizes the fact that one antichrist was spoken of in scripture AND that there would also be many WHO WERE THERE, at that time.

Number two

(In 1st John 2:22 John writes)

“Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”

From this the implication is that the antichrist is a liar and also that any and all who deny the Father and the Son are antichrist.

Then in 1st John 4:3 he says,

“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God; and this is that spirit of antichrist.”

So from this we see that the Spirit of AntiChrist denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (which contextually seems to be pointed right at the claims of the Gnostic Docetae group with whom He was battling.

And finally we read from John in 2nd John 1:7,

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”

And from this we are again presented with a plural reference to antichrist, are told that there were many deceivers had entered the world who did not confess that Jesus had come in the flesh and to these sorts John assigns the label of deceiver and antichrist.

There it is. Nothing about nationality. Nothing about being a European. Nothing about him or it being a Naval officer or having a mark in his head that has to be discovered at night by clipping away the hair . . . (Omen music). John assigns it all described in his day, happening at that time, and says that there were “many.”

Because he specifically mentions that they had been warned of AN ANTICHRIST I would believe that this role was played by Nero.

But because he adds that there were many at that time I would suggest that He was speaking specifically to the Gnostics Docetae and their deceptive claims maintained that Jesus did not inhabit human flesh.

It appears that John does not use the term in the sense that the antichrist would be a rival seeking to be the Messiah but more that they or it would be someone who opposed him by denying essential doctrines regarding his person and first advent.

Jesus descriptions of the antichrist also suggest that there would be a considerable number of them and that they would not only oppose Him but that some would claim to be Him (He called them deceivers and false Christs – which may be one and the same).

We also know that there would be “a spirit of antichrist” which would manifest itself early in the church and lead some to
Apostasy but that for a time (according to Paul) it would be restrained.

It also seems like this spirit would ultimately be “concentrated” into or on a single leader –“the man of sin” as he is called by Paul (singularly) who would embodied this great apostasy.

I am of the opinion, all things considered this man of sin was Nero.

And finally, as John describes, before the elements of the full, great apostasy should be concentrated and embodied in him there would be a number of souls who would partake of the same general spirit, who would be equally opposed to Christ in their doctrines and aims in the spirit of antiChrist by whose appearing it might reveal that Christ’s church was in its last hour – before being rescued.

I think that as Jesus, then Pau, fixed their words on a future day and age, this is what John is talking about – the last hour of his own age. And he approaches it with warnings – especially to the little Children, the most susceptible to the Spirit of AntiChrist.

Here, John (once again) says:

“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.

“We have been told that (singular) antichrist shall come, well look around, NOW there are MANY” he says, “we were promised one to indicate the last hour and LOOK AROUND – there are a lot of them.”

It’s like reading in a sci-fi book that the sign on aliens presence will be that we will see a gorilla sitting on the roof of a public library – and we come to a day where every public library in the nation has a gorilla sitting on the roof.

“Because of what I am seeing – what you are seeing” John says (repeats), “whereby we know it is the last time.”

I’m sorry folks, but we have to ask:

The last time . . . “the very end, the farthest, final place or time, the latter, lowest, and uttermost (eskatos) hour . . . of what?”

(beat)

In my opinion everyone needs to really answer that question themselves.

I have personally looked at it, examined it relative to the Bible, to Jesus’s birth, life, death, resurrection, the apostolic church, the parousea, and as many other factors included in the word that I could think of and I believe – don’t know, but believe – that it was the last time for . . . everything.

That the victory has been had.
That the faith has been authored and finished.
That the Spirit of God through Christ reigns and reaches all seekers of truth ever since and out to our day.
And all attempts at organizing objective religion, and the like, are unnecessary.

He reigns. Those who seek truth find. Those who live by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life have been temporarily blinded – but will ultimately see.

All because of Christ Jesus and His comprehensive, beginning to end work among us.

We could talk for hours about this. But relative to our text here in front of us, before you dismiss my strange views completely out of hand remember:

John believed that they were at the ultimate end of something.

That something HE clearly ties to the antichrist and antichrist’s presence, which Paul and Jesus clearly tie to His return and the end of the age.

Moving on, John now tells us more about these antichrists and says (verse 19):

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.

Seven “theys” (antiChrists) five “us’s.”

From John it seems that these anti-Christ’s were once professors of Jesus but now though their apostasy John says that they have proven that they never had really known Him and were therefore never really part of the body.

We know this because he first says that “if they had truly been part of them (the body)” they would have “no doubt” continued with us.

The King James translators inserted, “No doubt” into the text which is not in any of the mss.

Additionally, the line, “they went out” is also not in the original mss so the passage really reads (from the most literal translation):

1Jo 2:19 (YLT) “out of us they went forth, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but–that they might be manifested that they are not all of us.”

This line of thinking causes us to revisit the question can a person be converted by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then turn and walk away from God.

Of course the Calvinist says no in and through the point covered by “perseverance of the saints.”

But this verse is not really addressing this question. All John is saying is that those who walked were never really part of them because if they had truly been part they would have remained.

We know that those who walked from professing Christ were not, according to John, ever transformed by the Holy Spirit and I think we can conclude this by the next verse where he says (to the believers)

20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

This word unction perplexes me because it comes from the Greek word to smear and means to anoint – so much so that at verse 27 the same word is used and anoint is what is chosen to represent it.

Why the King James and others who followed suit used unction rather than anoint is beyond me.

The word Khris-mah means to smear or an ointment, and from this we get anoint or anointing and obviously what John is saying is that they have been anointed by the Holy Spirit which infers that those who left and became antichrists had not.

This is how John says “But you (who have remained) have been (as opposed to those who left) “anointed with the Holy Spirit and know all things,” he adds.

It is here that John clearly says that all who left to be antichrist had NOT been anointed with the Holy Spirit. He also seems to make clear that all who remain in the fold had been.

But I am not convinced that this is proof that once we have TRULY believed, really had the unction, that it is impossible for us to also walk.

In part this opinion is due to passages like Hebrews 6:4-6 which says

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Nevertheless, here – in John’s case – the apostle seems to say that he had no apprehension in regard to those to whom he wrote that they would ever apostatize.

In this epistle and regarding those John was specifically writing to, he did not seem to think that his audience would ever walk.

In addition to saying that they had been anointed by the Holy Spirit John adds:

“And ye know all things.”

I doubt very much that John means to say that those believers were omniscient (but I wonder how a King James literalist would see it) but it seems more to be saying, “you have possession of all that is necessary to keep you in the faith.”

Other translations vary in meaning and say:

1Jo 2:20 (ASV) And ye have an anointing from the Holy One, and ye know all the things.

1Jo 2:20 (RSV) But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know.

1Jo 2:20 (WNT) As for you, you have an anointing from the holy One and have perfect knowledge.

1Jo 2:20 (WEB) You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know the truth.

1Jo 2:20 (BBE) And you have the Spirit from the Holy One and you all have knowledge.

I all of this we have some principle reiterated.

First, we know from this passage (and others) that within any group of “said or apparent believers” that we can never tell who is “real and true and anointed” and who is not.

Jesus teaches the truth of this message in
Matthew 13, saying:

24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Within the body, within the confines of every church, we cannot tell until the harvest who is truly wheat and who are tares. So why even try?

Instead, with love and longsuffering and patience and gentleness we accept and receive and work with all rather than trying to uproot the evil.

Additionally, we have in John’s words imagery of certainty that seem to conflict with the words of Jesus in His parable of the sower, where He Himself says:

Matthew 13:3 Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Then jumping down to verse 18 the Lord explains the parable, saying:

18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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