Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Opposition to Jesus signals a new time (18-23)

Παιδία, ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν, καὶ καθὼς ἠκούσατε ὅτι ἀντίχριστος ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν· ὅθεν γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστίν.

19 ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξῆλθαν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἦσαν ἐξ ἡμῶν· εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἡμῶν ἦσαν, μεμενήκεισαν ἂν μεθʼ ἡμῶν· ἀλλʼ ἵνα φανερωθῶσιν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν πάντες ἐξ ἡμῶν.

20 καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ οἴδατε πάντες· 21 οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι οἴδατε αὐτήν, καὶ ὅτι πᾶν ψεῦδος ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἔστιν.

22 τίς ἐστιν ὁ ψεύστης εἰ μὴ ὁ ἀρνούμενος ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ χριστός; οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱόν.

23 πᾶς ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν υἱὸν οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα ἔχει· ὁ ὁμολογῶν τὸν υἱὸν καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἔχει.

24 ὑμεῖς ὃ ἠκούσατε ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, ἐν ὑμῖν μενέτω· ἐὰν ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ ὃ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ἠκούσατε, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ υἱῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ μενεῖτε.

25 καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο ἡμῖν, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.

26 Ταῦτα ἔγραψα ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν πλανώντων ὑμᾶς.

27 καὶ ὑμεῖς τὸ χρῖσμα ὃ ἐλάβετε ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ μένει ἐν ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε ἵνα τις διδάσκῃ ὑμᾶς· ἀλλʼ ὡς τὸ αὐτοῦ χρῖσμα διδάσκει ὑμᾶς περὶ πάντων, καὶ ἀληθές ἐστιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ψεῦδος, καὶ καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν ὑμᾶς, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ.

(18) What the last hour brings

children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that the anti-Christ is coming, and now many anti-Christs have come about.

by which we know that it is the last hour.

- The last hour is coming.

The period of time that describes the end of times in relation to the time from the ascension of Jesus to the Father to His second coming.

There is definitely a narrow band of time that seems to speak of the period of time at the end of this period that describes the 7 year period of tribulation.

I don’t believe that this is that time that is mentioned.

Ironically, John does give a picture of that shorter period of time right before Jesus comes back in “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.

They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.

But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

Jesus’ Warning

1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.

2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.

In the meantime, even before the tribulation comes there exists a difficult related with a group of people called the antichrists.

3 “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.

- What is the antichrist?

or antichrists?

4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

These things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

*

The phrase antichrist is often associated with a particular person that is identified in the period of tribulation that plays a prominent part in the end of the age.

talks about this: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”

* The phrase antichrist is often associated with a particular person that is identified in the period of tribulation that plays a prominent part in the end of the age.

talks about this: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?”

The word for antichrist includes this preposition: ἀντί, It’s usage can mean “opposite, over against” or it can mean “instead, in the place of”.

ἀντί, Prep.

governing gen.:—orig.

sense, over against.

(Cf.

Skt.

ánti ‘opposite’, ‘facing’, Lat.

ante, etc.)

A. USAGE:

In this case, I think that John is reminding them that at one point in time the “antichrist” is coming that was identified in other passages.

(the one who professes to be a substitute for the messiah) Yet, there are several antichrists that have arisen that are opposing the Lord Jesus Christ.

(against) Thus, it signals that the time for the end really is not all that far away.

I. of Place, opposite, over against, formerly quoted from several places of Hom., as Il.21.481 ἀντὶ ἐμεῖο (where now ἀντίʼ ἐμεῖο, i.e. ἀντία); Τρώων ἄνθʼ ἑκατόν (i.e.

ἄντα) 8.233; so ἄντʼ Αἴαντος (i.e.

ἄντα) 15.415, cf.

Od.4.115,

Hes.Op.727; but ἀντί is so used in X.An.4.7.6, IG2.835c-l68; αἱ ὀπαὶ αἱ γιγνόμεναι ἀ. τόρμων mortises facing tenons, Hero Bel.97.5; ἀντὶ μαιτύρων in the presence of witnesses, ἀντὶ το͂ ἀρχο͂ BCH87.3 (vi/v B.C.), Leg.Gort.1.40;

ἀντὶ τῆς ὄψεως ἡμῶν Eudox.Ars18.

II. of Time, ἀντὶ νυκτός the same night, SIG1025.43 (Cos); ἀντι ϝέτεος GDI2561 A 45 (Delph.);

ἀντʼ ένιαυτοῦ IG5(2).266.8 (Mantinae, i B.C.); ἀνθʼ ἡμέρσας· διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας, Hsch.; cf.

ἀντετοῦς.

III.

instead, in the place of,

(19) Who are the antichrists?

Liddell, H. G., Scott, R., Jones, H. S., & McKenzie, R. (1996).

A Greek-English lexicon (p.

153).

Oxford: Clarendon Press.

19 ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξῆλθαν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἦσαν ἐξ ἡμῶν· εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἡμῶν ἦσαν, μεμενήκεισαν ἂν μεθʼ ἡμῶν· ἀλλʼ ἵνα φανερωθῶσιν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν πάντες ἐξ ἡμῶν.

they went out from us but they were not from us. for if they were from us, for they would be remaining with us but that they may reveal because they all were not from us.

- The crazy thing is that these came from among those in the church.

These people that oppose Christ had been part of the community.

They were participating in the fellowship and activities of this believing community of the church.

However, they were oppositional to Christ (antichrist) so they were not really part of His church because you can’t oppose the cornerstone and be part of the church.

The picture is that these people would have stayed in fellowship with these believers if they were truly on board with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In addition, this leaving was an opportunity for the church to realize that these people were not of the same ilk in Jesus Christ.

- An important side note about these that left

For the first time, we are told about a group that had been part of the church but were really not believers.

As I consider the earlier verses in this book, the admonition given was not to these people or to illustrate these people that had left.

Thus, the first hint of anybody that was there but not really part of the believers is just now mentioned.

(20-21) The anointing of the Christian

and you are anointed from the Holy one and you know everything.

- What is the anointing about?

The word “anointing” used here is found here and verse 27 in the entire Bible.

A cognate verb “to anoint” is used in several other places in the New Testament.

As it speaks of Jesus we find “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

In the Gospels, we see a quotation of Isaiah that Jesus applies to Himself in “ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

In a similar but different way, Paul talks about being anointed by God in “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

And recovery of sight to the blind,

21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God,

To set free those who are oppressed,

The anointing is the Holy Spirit whom the Lord gives to everyone when we come to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,

19 To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

- The result of the Holy Spirit’s anointing is knowledge

14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

The phrase is “you know all things” implying that the anointing of the Holy Spirit leads to being able to have knowledge in all things.

Stephen Smalley talks about John’s reason for writing this phrase: “He is attacking the heretics on two grounds: their claim that only a chosen few had a real knowledge of God; and their insistence that those few knew everything.

Against such esoteric claims the writer emphasizes that the knowledge of God (through Jesus) is the inheritance of “all” Christians (πάντες) inclusively.

The “chrism is no longer confined to kings and priests”; for, under the new covenant, “knowledge is the common possession of all”.

By saying this, moreover, and not “the Christian knows everything,” John implicitly denies the belief of the heretics that they possessed all knowledge.”

(21) Don’t change the course

21 οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι οἴδατε αὐτήν, καὶ ὅτι πᾶν ψεῦδος ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἔστιν.

I don’t write to you because you don’t know the truth but because you do know it, and because all false is not from the truth.

- John’s reason for writing them has nothing to do with their lack of knowledge of truth.

John doesn’t write to them because they have to be instructed in new truth about God but because they already possess that truth.

In other words, the thrust of the message is almost a warning against the false teaching that has been coming into the church.

This teaching would be associated with those who are opposed to Jesus Christ (antichrists).