Liar, Liar

Last week’s text led us into a discussion of antichrists, or Antichrist; John P. hunted down a quote he had seen, Referencing the Antichrist:

"We do not want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking.”

“Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we will receive him."

Paul-Henri Spaak, (d. 1972) former PM of Belgium

Last week was about falsehoods: the bending of the truth and those who bend it

John wrote as a reminder—all of us need a reminder once in a while

…and a reinforcement of what they already knew…we all need that occasionally as well

We may tell our kids we love them over and over…but we still have to remind them occasionally

Occasionally, we may need a reminder of the truth

Recalling the difference between relative truth and absolute truth

There are certain situations in which relative truth has some validity; in matters of faith, only absolute faith is valid; e.g., 1 Tim 2 5-6

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

The more chaotic the world, the more garbage we hear/see, the more we may need these reminders…

BTW...if anyone has concerns about the chaotic nature of this current world.... refer to Ps 20 7;

A piece of absolute truth we may need to remind ourselves in trying and uncertain times:

Psalm 20:7 ESV

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

We can change chariots and horses to Republicans and Democrats; …tanks and missiles; …aircraft and navy…but WE TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD!

His NAME implies his history, His reputation, His attributes…we must not forget that

Word-nerd Stuff

Recall that he is writing to true believers, understanding that there have been phonies among them

The phonies have left

The “anointed” ones…anointing of the Holy Spirit comes to all believers; what we do with it varies from person to person

“I write to you not because,” aorist tense; has a past aspect to it; other translations something like “I have not written to you...”

Most likely deals with the writing of the current letter and its purpose (a “hoti” clause); “I just said this, understand why I just said it”

John is not the only writer to offer repeated reminders—we found some similar things in 2 Peter, using the terms remind and reminder

The Players

There are only two kinds of people in the world, those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t!

We certainly can make a case for having two kinds of people: saved and unsaved

Saved are Heaven-bound

Unsaved, Hell-bound

We can also make a case—using this text—for two kinds of people:

Liars

Truth tellers

Liars:

Deny that Jesus is the Christ

Exemplifies antichrist

Denies Father and Son

We should not be surprised

John 8:44 (ESV) words of Jesus, speaking of Satan

When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Truth-tellers

Confess the Son

…confess is-to agree with God that Jesus is His Son

Thus has both Father and Son

Will abide in both Son and Father

Have eternal life

The Profession

Of Denial

…yeah, that sounds weird...

People profess their beliefs in many ways—pro and con; denials come in many forms

Some already addressed (heresies of John’s day; some current aberrations) e.g., Unitarians deny the trinity

Some denominations—or at least some leaders within them—deny the divinity of Jesus

…some make social issues into the Gospel

Many flatly deny God; some deny the Son of God, or His divine nature

Some practice other religions to the exclusion of Christianity

Some attempt to practice Christianity plus something else

Many will say “I’m a Christian” but have no idea of the term’s meaning and implication

—not Jewish, Muslim, Hindu....

Some claim a conversion experience…but make statements contrary to God’s nature and being

…or openly engage in and promote actions contrary to His commands

We want the profession of faith

Of Faith

We addressed the levels of Christian maturity based on a previous passage

Baby Christian; Warrior Stage; Senior Saint Stages

We’re not going to understand it all right away…but we should be learning

As we learn, our behaviors change—part of that transformational process

There’s the matter of abiding—we’ll dig more into that next week

Within this is the concept of abiding which takes us to...

The Promise

A condition: 1 John 2 24

1 John 2:24 ESV

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The “beginning” here refers to their initial conversion; when they turned to Christ for salvation

A result: 1 John 2 25

1 John 2:25 ESV

And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

A bit more word-nerd stuff: construction is a particular grammatical form, 3rd class condition, expresses a future potential

Does NOT express the thought that you can be in Christ and then leave

People dabble at Christianity—try it on for size—and walk

Never saved, never transformed, never converted; still the old man/old creation

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Eternal life

Sometimes misunderstood

We exist as material beings and immaterial beings

Dichotomy or trichotomy— either way you chose to understand it

Body and soul/spirit

Body, soul and spirit

Our total being comes into existence at conception

We live our lives

Our bodies (the material portion of our being) go into the grave or to ashes; our souls/spirits (the immaterial) into an eternal existence—either to be with Christ, or to be in Hell until the final judgement

This period is often called the intermediate state

At the Rapture—(our resurrection) the return of Jesus, our bodies and souls will be reunited (this for believers); we will reign with Jesus in the millennial kingdom

For the unsaved, their resurrection awaits another time, at the end of the millennial kingdom

There will be a final judgment

Believers judged based upon their works, to receive rewards;

Non-believers according to their deeds, appears to be levels of punishment, greater and lesser—still eternal punishment

No part of death or Hell will be pleasant for the non-believer!

After the judgment, Death and Hell will be thrown into the Lake of Fire—an everlasting fire

...a new Heaven and a new Earth come into being, and we will be forever with the Lord

WITFM?

A reminder—there will be liars out there

They may not—often will not—recognize the lies

First come to the truth

We must hold fast to the truth

We are anointed by the Holy Spirit to do so

With the spirit will grow in the truth—or the truth will grow in us

Be bold and share the truth