Friday, November 29, 2024

PT-2 "The Characteristics of Antichrists" (1 John 2:19, 22-23, 26)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2024 9:37 PM

 

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Characteristics of Antichrists”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 John 2:19, 22-23, 26”

 

            Message of the verses:  19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us… 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also…26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.”

 

            According to MacArthur the ones that John is writing about here were teachers and if those teachers and their followers had possessed the true eternal life, they would have remained with us.  MacArthur adds that “God allowed—and still allows—liars, deceivers, and false teachers to come into the assembly of believers to purge it, so that it would be shown that they are not of the fellowship.  Those who defect give clear evidence of their true character and unregenerate condition.  Thus, in His perfect plan, God uses false teachers to draw away false believers from the church, so they will not remain in the assembly as harmful and corrupting influences (cf. 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9).”  Now let us take a look at those two verses to help us better understand the truth that MacArthur just wrote about.  “Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?) (1 Cor. 5:6).  9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough” (Gal. 5:9).  If I understand these two verses correctly Paul is saying that it only takes a few unbelievers in the church to cause it to not be speaking the truth as they can affect the entire congregation.  MacArthur’s not from his study Bible on 1 Cor. 5:6 as he writes about the leaven states “In Scripture, it is used to represent influence, in most cases evil influences, although in Matt. 13:33 it refers to the good influence of the kingdom of heaven.”  “Whole lump: When tolerated, sin will permeate and corrupt the whole local church.”  I think that those explanations will help us to understand more thoroughly what John is talking about here.  I move on to say that God permits antichrists to do their sinister work in His own church for the ultimate good of His body, and here is an example from the Old Testament, and of course it really has nothing to do with the church but I think we will understand why I am including Genesis 50:20 here:  "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  I don’t think that it would be a problem to also quote Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”  It is in a surprising way that the Lord allowed a messenger from Satan to fracture the Corinthian church in order to wound the apostle Paul and produce in him greater humility, trust, and strength and this is seen in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, verses that most of us will know about, but if not take the time to look them up.  Now of course false teachers are fully responsible for their heinous actions. Earning for themselves the severest eternal judgment and an example can be seen in Jude 13 and also 2 Peter 2:12, verses that we will not look at.  “wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 13).  “But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,” (2 Peter 2:12).  MacArthur concludes this paragraph by writing “Nevertheless, in spite of their hatred for God, they serve His end to purify His people.  Satan and all his demons, in the final analysis, serve the sovereign purposes of God.”

 

            Now if you are a genuine believer you need not fear some fatal influence from the activities of antichrists, and the reason is because the children of God will always stay true to the faith and persevere to the end.  Let us look at a few verses to confirm this last statement beginning with John 10:27-30.  “27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 “I and the Father are one.’” I want to also look at Jude 24-25 “24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”  This benediction from Jude is one of my very favorite verses in the entire Bible.  Now I have recently been studying the book of Colossians as I am teaching this book in our Sunday school class and there was a problem with this church as they had false teachers come into their assembly to teach lies and so Paul writes to them and assures them that because they were reconciled to God that they would not defect as seen in Colossians 1:21-23.  “21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach —  23  if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”  Now I want to move onto the book of Hebrews as the author gave a similar assurance in Hebrews 3:6, and 14, verses that I will allow you to look up on your own.  MacArthur concludes this paragraph by writing “On the other hand, those who oppose the truth or engage in apostasy (cf. Num. 16:1-35; 22-25; 1 Tim. 4:1-3, 2 Peter 2:1-9; Jude 10-13), or are not anchored in the truth (Matt. 7:26-27; Mark 4:17; Heb. 6:4-6), have no real salvation.”

 

            I hope to finish this section in my next SD but there is still much ground to cover.

 

11/29/2024 10:19 PM

 

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