Spiritual Termites in a Church
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I have been fortunate to avoided a pest. That is termites.
A termite is an insect which infiltrates a house and destroys the wood. From the inside, it can destroy a structure over time.
It is not just a physical problem. There are spiritual termites. There are those inside a congregation that influence others. Faith gets eaten away and nothing is left to support their relationship with God and Christ. Soon, their spiritual lives are nothing but dust scattered in time.
John knew them well. He battled them as they arose at the end of the first century. In the end of the second chapter of his first letter he addresses two principle questions about spiritual termites, these false teachers.
First, how can you determine who the spiritual termites are?
Second, how do you protect yourself and the church from them?
Discussion
Discussion
The Teachers
The Teachers
In chapter 1, we introduced a sweeping movement in the church that was ramping up. It was formally called “Gnosticism” or “The Knowers.”
They believed they had received secret spiritual knowledge and had become the enlightened ones. All that mattered to them was their spirits. Their flesh never touched their spirit, so their lives reflected the basest of living, from adultery to the worse kind of debauchery imaginable.
Here in this lesson, John applies a special term to them.
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
Here we meet the term “antichrist.” The term has been adopted by those who go off on flights of fancy concerning “end of the world” scenarios. Attempts have been made to name a name, whether Hitler, or some other tyrant. Some have even targeted anyone who had influence in society.
But that’s is not how John, who uses the term the most, describes it. It is not a person but a principle. It is something a person embodies in both life and teaching.
It can mean one of two things.
It can mean “instead of Christ.” In this usage, it would be someone who would come and try to substitute themselves for Christ.
Jesus told his disciples:
For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
Here, it sounds plausible. But there Jesus is talking about those who claim to be the messiah in themselves, not just a stand-in for Jesus.
But the second way is probably how John uses it here. They are “against Christ.” It is a fitting portrayal for these false teachers who teaching destroys the obedience to God’s will and the love for others as Jesus evidenced.
They are working against Christ and therefore “anti-Christ.”
John has much to say about them.
First, they came from within in the church.
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
One of those was a teacher named Cerinthus. John had nothing but contempt for Cerinthus who taught that immoral living and Christianity were bedpartners.
He apparently had been a teacher in the church at Ephesus and started teaching his spiritual superiority to the Christians there. The desire to be special caught fire and he pulled many away from the faith.
Christianity has stood many challenges from without but continues to this day to struggle with challenges from within.
In Revelation 2, John points to both Pergamum and Thyatira as places this spiritual virus has infected and afflicted.
It is easy for a teacher, a preacher, or an elder to develop a following. His personal teaching, not the inspired word, is what people begin grasp. No longer is faith in Christ important but allegiance to the teacher or preacher.
No wonder, at Ephesus of all places, Paul had given them the warning.
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
So it was, half a century later, that John is no longer warning the church about their coming but dealing with their presence.
But John says, they went out from them. The did not stay. In fact, the language points to the fact that they felt they could not stay.
Apparently, they faced such opposition from the leaders of the church that they had to flee to survive.
It is a good picture of what must happen with teachers.
We know something of their teaching and why it was so incompatible with the gospel message.
These teachers focused on philosophy, one which was Greek in origin with a mystical tint. Jesus was a man but not “the Christ.”
Perhaps he was given a spirit at his baptism when the dove descended upon him but divinity was not in his DNA.
They denied the incarnation, that God had come in human flesh. It was the hub of Christianity and something as incompatible as oil and water.
That may sound strange to us and yet, it is up-to-our-century modern.
In 1985, Robert Funk established the Jesus Seminar. These were “scholars” who said Jesus was a man, a wonderful man, a great ethical teacher, but nonetheless a man.
They went to cities and with very persuasive speakers conducted seminars teaching people that Jesus was a good man but a lousy God.
It last well into the recent times.
Piggyback onto that is Dan Brown, a novelist of blockbusters. in 2003, Brown published a novel called The DaVinci Code. The premise of the book is that the church had concocted the story of Jesus’ divinity. He had actually married and had a child with Mary Magdalene. And the blood line of Jesus could be traced to a living relative.
While Brown’s book was pure fiction, our gullible age took much of it as textbook.
So, it is as close as your television set.
Christ’s opponents remain near.
The effect is to empty Christianity of its soul. It becomes nothing more than a competing moral system on the same plain as Buddhism, Islam, Confucius, and crystal-worshipping New Agers.
That is why John is emphatic.
No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
It destroys all faith. It is not a simple academic question.
The Detection
The Detection
So how do you know who they are?
It seems so self-apparent to us. But remember, we have the value of a Bible. We can put a finger on a verse and ask, “how does that square with this?”
For them, in a time before written text, they were vulnerable to the persuasive. (Even for us, we still have that tendency.)
John has presented two tests already.
There is the test of obedience. The knowers had ignored God’s will for their own. They lived the lifestyle of the profligate and filth. They failed this first test.
Then there is the test of love for others. Their condescending and judgmental attitude exposed more of them. They loved themselves but no one else. In fact, they considered anyone else besides themselves to be spiritually inferior.
So John has a third test. It is the test of belief.
Listen to it:
Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.
Again, it seems so simple. When someone comes to be baptism we ask the question, “Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?” We’ve heard it all of our lives.
But there is more to it than words.
The simple idea is Jesus is the Christ. It has been twisted by the teachers. They never denied the goodness of Jesus, just his divinity.
Jesus was exceptional. He was a man blessed greatly by God with extraordinary abilities and power.
But the question is not about Jesus’ goodness, morality, or teaching skills.
Is Jesus the same as God? Is God embodied in Jesus? It is this simple but profound question the teachers fudged.
The question walks down the dusty halls of church history. It brings a noisy debate about the essential nature of Jesus. In the centuries after the apostolic era closed, men grappled with a question beyond complete understanding.
And the controversies created many strange answers.
Was Jesus God himself? How can God die? If Jesus is God, did God die? Or was it a man who died?
Or, was Jesus just “like” God? Did he have attributes without the “substance.” And trying to define the substance is difficult if not impossible. What makes God God?
Or, was Jesus similar to God—not the same substance but a similar substance?
Each brought out the swords of controversy that human reasoning can never solve.
This is not a logical argument to be solved and settled. It is a faith question. Do you believe Jesus is God in human form? It is really a yes or no answer. And it makes a vital difference.
Never dismiss it because this is a smoldering discussion in religious circles. After all was Jesus:
A poor martyr who got caught in the political battle between Pilate and the Jewish leaders?
Was he a raving lunatic telling people a tall tale, “I am the Christ?” What would you do if someone claimed to be Napolean? Salute?
Or was he a charlatan, an Elmer Gantry, using the religious fervor of the time to build a following? Are we all deceived?
Much is at stake. His ability to forgive sin, intercede with God, and strengthen depends on the answer. Without “Jesus is the Christ” as a real fact then all of his power is a phantom.
And practically, we have no reason to live as we do. If Jesus is not the Christ, we are deluded followers of a clever cult leader.
In fact, it places us clearly asking “what is our relation to the truth?”
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
For John there is truth and a beginning. The teachers had “gone out from us” for a reason.”
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
How did they not “belong to us?” John actually shortens it to say they were not “of us.”
Who is this “us?”
Is it fellowship with a local congregation? That is our temptation. Or is it more than that?
If you listen to the verses it speaks of a beginning and what has been heard.
It is a problem with the concept of church.
Moderns believe that the church is “our group who meets together at a physical location with our name on a sign out front.” We do the same activities, are social with each other, and share potluck dinners.
For John, that is inane shallowness. From these verses, John would say:
“Church is a group of people whose believe Jesus is the Christ. They share a birth into God’s family which is rooted and grounded in a message delivered by the apostles who were eyewitnesses, never to be amended or changed.”
For John, you leave this, you leave truth. It’s not about changing congregations. It is about forsaking the bedrock truths of the gospel or adding other regulations or standards, besides those explicitly given in Scripture.
For John, it is not hard to tell the difference. Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?
And on that basis, John brings up the practical question, “how are we protected from this?”
Protection
Protection
John does not simply rail against false teachers, like someone shouting at the inevitable wind.
Instead, he is inoculating his brethren against their sting. Perhaps, if they remember some areas of their faith, they can shield themselves from the smooth tongues of the Knowers.
The first reminder comes from something that appears to be consistent with first century practice. It is a confession.
He reminds them of the problem.
Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.
At the new birth they affirmed a simple but radical idea. Jesus is the Christ. It brought them into fellowship with God.
And it was more than mere words or ritual.
If Jesus is Lord, he has the power to change life. Confessing is not a past event but a present one. It is living like Jesus lived and according to the teachings received.
For John, life has sharp edges. You live the truth or you lie. You confess or deny. There is no gradation of truth. Truth or not. Simple.
The second comes in the term “anointing” in verse 27.
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
What is this “anointing?”
Some scholars want to slice and dice it into various pieces. It is this, not that. However, such crude academic hacking is not necessary.
From the beginning, baptism ushered the life-giving support of the Holy Spirit.
It was what Peter preached at Pentecost.
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The issue of baptism is not only distorted by critics, but misunderstood by adherents. For many it is a ritual, which while nice, does nothing for you. For these people, you get a chance to feel better about yourself.
The reality of baptism is that it is a life-changing event. It is the recreated and associated death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It brings new life. And in that, the helper, the Holy Spirit “comes along side” to help and guide.
John reminds them of the enduring nature of their baptism. It is not a moment in the past that is rendered by a date on a baptismal certificate. It speaks each day. You are new. You are clean. You are God’s child. Now, God will help you live like it.
Perhaps a more regular remembering of your birth would help you live until you die.
Thirdly, John speaks of fidelity.
Six times in this little passage rests, nestled unnoticed in Greek translations, is “stay.” It’s a small Greek word. But John polishes it into a gleaming gem of Christian constancy. It speaks of security and steadfastness.
What exactly is to “remain?”
Listen to John carefully.
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
It is what you have had from the beginning. The message has remained constant and consistent.
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
In connection with the anointing, it “remains.” The tense is present indicating ongoing. It always remains in you. As you live, you stay in step with God’s Spirit.
By extension those who have experienced the experience of anointing and continue to believe and live in accordance with the will of God delivered to them, stay in Him.
It begs a question. What about confidence? Are we at risk?
Listen to the passages. These are people who are staying in the faith. They obey the will of God. But, it follows that if you”go out” from these, you don’t stay.
There is a theory in Christianity that arose 300 years after Christ’s ascension that it is not what a person’s life reflects but some strange draw of a spiritual lottery that puts him in God’s good graces.
Yet, John indicates that faith is dynamic, not static. It can change, for good or for bad over a lifetime. The question is clear. Can one be lost if they follow false teaching? If they can’t, we can rip these pages out of our Bibles.
Conclusion
Conclusion
There is one big word emblazoned across this passage. Beware. We are assaulted by those who claim to have studied the Bible and they interpret it in different ways. The beginning seems to fade into history’s dark dungeon never to be seen again. Voices call for a “fresh appraisal of faith.” I imagine John’s readers had heard those same sermons.
But subtle language makes massive changes. And beliefs have consequences both to the here and the hereafter.
So what do we do as we face the same voices calling for us to “re-examine the truth” or “let’s appeal to a current generation and circumstance.”
Be aware. It is easy to be fooled for Christian tricksters use confusing language. Never accept the notion that profound is true. Obscurity is the opponent of the clear truth of the gospel preached.
Be comparative. Ask the question of ideas, “what does this mean to my life now?” Keep the message closer than the speaker. That way you can see what the real message is.
Finally, be faithful. Measure yourself. Many times, we can do little about what someone else or what some other church is doing. But we can take stock of ourselves. Are we “remaining” in Him and in the truth that changes lives? If not, why not?
Before Columbus sailed to the West, hoping to find India, the most impressive and powerful people were the Aztecs. They built large cities and had an advanced culture.
Then, in 1545, they died out. What happened to cost a thriving culture its life? Why had it disappeared when it seemed so alive?
The answer is an Aztec word cocoliztli. It is a pestilence that kills mercilessly. Within a year, it had claimed 15 million lives and destroyed what had survived centuries.
What killed them was something that invaded them. Beware the diseases of faith, brought in by spiritual interlopers. And listen to John. Stay with what you have heard and believed. It is the way to life eternal.