1-3 John - 1st John 2 Questions/Review of chapter 2

Well, today we're going to briefly go over all the verses 2.1 through 2.28. There's actually a 29th verse, but we're going to cover that in Chapter 3. It seemed like it fit better in Chapter 3. So we're going to cover 1 through 28 this morning. So actually, we've had these lessons since we go back in February. So there's actually kind of a grouping here.

Verses 1 and 2 talk about the advocacy of the Lord Jesus. Then actually verses 3 through 11, which cover three lessons, are kind of a topic of His commandments and what that's about, and the fact that they're old and new, and then light and darkness kind of comes into that. Then 12 through 17 are two little children, young men and fathers, and the separation of the world. That's kind of another group. And then the last group is this thing called the Last Hour and the Hope of Christ's Return that covers 18 through 28.

So I'm going to go through and we're going to cover each of these sections. We're going to read all the verses and kind of review what we said before. I'm probably going to hit, you know, I only taught part of these here. So in some cases I had to go back and look and actually it was very good. Hopefully this will be helpful to you here. So let's go ahead and start out with, okay, What's that? Oh, thank you. Alright.

Can someone read verses 1 and 2 here for us? You can read it from the overhead or just from your handout. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world."

So I put some questions on. I didn't do it in every chart. So what's God's desire from verse 1 here? What comes through as God's desire from verse 1? This is not hard. Amen! That's a wonderful desire, His desire. So the question is, is that possible? Right? It is possible. Wonderful, it is possible.

But it's also possible we'll sin. So actually he covers all the bases, right? He covers, hey, I've given you the power of the Holy Spirit in my death on the cross, I've given you the power not to sin. And then, so what is God's provision when we sin?

Advocate from the Father. From the verse. We have an advocate, Father Jesus Christ. Right. So basically he says, if anyone sins, and that's what they call a third class condition, it's probably likely you will sin. So he says, OK, my desire is I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, and it's possible they will, we have an advocate. One who's called to one's side. He called the defense attorney, some have called it.

And it also speaks to the fact that it's Christ, and also it speaks to the Holy Spirit in some situations. And actually, let's look at Romans chapter 3 for a second. I'm sorry, chapter 6. There's kind of a parallel verse. We may not sin Romans 6 and verse 12 and it's stated a little bit differently here in Romans 6 12 it says therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies that you shall obey its lust and that goes on from there but basically God does not desire that sin reign in our mortal bodies. And he's made provision for that. What verse was that?

Romans 6.12.

Romans 6.12, yeah. So I was just basically comparing. I'm writing these things to you so you may not sin. And then this verse says he doesn't want sin to reign in your mortal body. So a similar thought process there. Now I have a question that is kind of a strange question.

How is God satisfied about our sins? He is actually satisfied about our sins. And it's not because we've done anything. We haven't been particularly exemplary, right? It's all because of His Son and what Christ accomplished. And it says, he is the propitiation, or you translate that, satisfaction for our sins.

And it's not just, so R in this case I believe is talking about believers. So it just doesn't, it's interesting. God's provision is for those who even don't believe. which is incredible. So the question for an unbeliever is that will you accept what Christ has done for you? Because it says, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world. So it goes beyond just the believer. It encompasses the whole world. So God's death on the cross, or Christ's death on the cross, satisfied the sin question. Sin is no longer the issue. It's who is Christ, and what has he done? Will you accept that? Will you believe that?

And then there's actually kind of a parallel verse, and if you look in 1 John 4.10, 1 John 4.10, and we'll get to that sometime in the future, but 1 John 4.10, and this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son. The word sent is like he sent him on a mission. He sent his son to be the propitiation or satisfaction for our sins.

So God took the initiative. Man could not take the initiative. It's interesting, man outside Christ kind of thinks he can. He kind of thinks, well boy, I get to church there and really be good. I can gain God's favor. It's interesting, before I was a believer, I kind of had that thought process.

I thought, well, you know, I'm as good as I can be. That was my dumb thought. That's not it. I'm as good as I can be, okay? That's probably true. Tom, go ahead. After due study, a person who It don't work that way. That's exactly right. Man cannot reach up to God and satisfy God's requirements. It's an impossibility.

My Bible says atoning sacrifice. Right, that's good too. I like that. No, I like it too. Actually, if you look at that word propitiation, it's an Old Testament picture of the mercy seat and the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat. So it is very much that idea. Okay, so that's about all we have time for those two verses. So we're just going to kind of keep going here Okay, I put these together.

I have some questions I'm going to ask but I kind of put them together because they're kind of similar similar topics so Let's see here Would someone like to read the three through six? By this we know that we have come to know him if we keep Thanks Tom. Okay so the first part, first question I have for you, do you remember? Bob Eckel went over this I believe.

What is his commandments refer to? And this is key, key, key. The love of one another. Excellent, excellent. You get a gold star. My wife's a teacher. If I could get her a gold star, I'd say, give me a gold star. Excellent. Because you know what happens when people look at this and they say, hmm, they try to make this a mosaic law.

And as Vern has been spending many, many classes, right, in the main service on law and grace, this is not, this is not the Mosaic Law. Something that really helps you here, let's look in John 13, the Gospel of John, in verse 13. This is just so helpful in deciding what is His commandments. And actually, it's either called His commandments or My commandments. So that personalizes them to Christ. And what's interesting here, John 13. Could someone read 33-35 in John 13, the Gospel of John? 33-35.

Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek me. And as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, where I am going, you cannot come. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Okay, well just, you know, one of the stuff I didn't notice until I prepared for this class, but right in here he says, little children, and that's in terms of endearment, and we see it in many passages in 1 John, I am with you a little longer, you shall seek me, and as I said to the Jews, and now I say to you, it's interesting, He distinguishes between the Jews and, we would say, the church. I mean, it's interesting. He makes a distinction. The believers in that time period, which the church hasn't started yet, so I mean, I realize that. But I just said, wow, he's already distinguishing.

And what did he say to the Jews? He told the Jews, you obey the Mosaic law. You obey everything the Mosaic law does. And he said, I've come to fulfill the Mosaic law. But then he says to you, I'm going to give you a new commandment. It's interesting, he already makes that separation. I thought it was just really, really good. So, and then he says, a new commandment I give to you, and this is what's said, and what is the commandment? That you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. And he says, all men will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. So love, and love is not a law, right? Love is a fruit of the Spirit. I like what...

Mine's gone here. I'll read the quote and then I'll take you who it is. It's Schaeffer. In his Grace book. Thank you. Okay. In his Grace book on page 82, if you have that book, it's really good. It says, the commandments of Christ, my commandments, new commandments, are not therefore the law or any aspect of the law. They rather constitute the law of love, the perfect law of liberty. So love is in focus here. So his commandments are love. And how do we display those commandments? How is a believer to do that, right? He walks you through this, and he basically says, as you walk with me, as you abide with me, then love will be the manifestation of my life in you.

So you read through that. He says, by this we know that we have come to know him. So first of all, he's talking about a relationship, right? You've come to know a person. You know him. And if we keep his commandments, and his commandments are love, the one who says, I've come to know him and does not keep his commandments, which is love, is a liar. The truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. And so by John 13 there, it's love. Love is in view here, not the mosaic law.

Could someone read the 7 through 8, 7 and 8 rather, excuse me. Either from the overhead or from your Bible. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

This at first seems a little confusing, maybe a lot confusing. So he's actually going to refer back. Remember when we read in the Gospel of John 13, he called it a new commandment. He calls his commandment, my commandment, a new commandment. He says, I'm not writing to you a new commandment. That word new, it's kind of neat in the Greek, there are two words for new. This is a new of new in quality. I'm not writing to you a new and quality commandment to you, but an old commandment. And the word, the idea of old is the idea that this is the old that you had from the beginning, that you constantly had from the beginning. So, and the old commandment is a word which you heard. So he's saying, go back to when you first came to know me. What was my commandment? That you love one another. Love was in view. So he refers back to this concept that his commandment, the new commandment, is love.

And it's not an old thing. It's been around since the beginning. Then he switches gears here. Then in verse 8 he says, on the other hand, I'm writing to you a new commandment. And this is new in quality. So there's an aspect which this new commandment is new in quality. Because as we walk with him in love, that's a new relationship. Even though you heard it from the beginning, it's a new relationship that never existed before. So it's new in that sense. So he kind of plays on words. He changes it around.

On the other hand, I am writing to you a new in quality commandment, which is true in him. It's true in Christ. because the darkness is passing away. And the passing away, if you think about it, Christ has come, right? Christ has come and paid for the sins of the world.

So we've started this process. That process will end up when Christ comes, the second coming, a thousand years rule millennial kingdom and then Christ and then eternity basically. So basically it's like a parade. So we start the parade. Christ has come.

He's paid for the sins of the world. He says that darkness is passing away. Eventually there will be no darkness, right? When Satan is put down, finally, there will be no more darkness ever, forever and ever. And the true light is already shining. So he's referring to the fact that Christ has started his He paid for the sin, and this is moving on.

Hopefully I'm not making that harder. And he says, what's interesting is, it's true in him, he says, on the other hand, this new aspect of this commandment to love one another is true in him and true in you. As you walk with the Lord, and Christ lives his life through you, what is true of Christ is true of you. That's what's so marvelous about the Christian life. It's not I, but Christ.

Tom? that as you abide more and more in the Lord, you abide less and less in proximity to the darkness and it just becomes all the more clearer and all the more neat to know and put into practice by His grace. Absolutely, absolutely. And we're going to see more of that about hating your brother. We're going to see that coming up in a few passages here. That's going to come more in view.

But what's wonderful is this new commandment is love and love is not a law. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. Love is an outpouring of who Christ is. And it's true in Him and true in you. Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. So I found as I went through this, a lot of it kind of pulled together. Of course, we're not spending a lot of time on some of this, but we're just kind of hitting the highlights here. So, any thoughts? Go ahead, Tom. Tom, I'm sorry. Sorry, the two news there are the same word. Actually, the two news are the new and quality. And that's what makes it.

The first one is, beloved, I'm not writing to you a new and quality commandment, but an old commandment. He said, you had that you should love one another from the beginning. And the beginning here, I believe, is when Christ, the beginning of his ministry. You had that from the beginning. And the old commandment, he kind of explains it, the old commandment is the word which you have heard. So you heard Christ's word, which was to love one another.

Then he flips it around and says, oh, by the way, there is an aspect of this new commandment, new and quality commandment, which you need to understand. So he kind of qualified it, but he uses the new and the old. It's the same word though. It's the same word, it's new and quality in both cases, yes. Roger, is there a sense in which the commandment has been the same from the beginning, but we were unable to keep it under the old commandment until the new life came in? Exactly, that's good. I agree with you. The more you look at this, you kind of see more aspects, and that's really good. I had not thought of that, but that's excellent. Because we did have that. He's saying, you know, I came, I preached the word to you.

Maybe you didn't really Maybe you believed on me, but you didn't understand what that meant. Just like as we learn who Christ is, and we learn who we are in Him, we learn that that love is going to come Christ living His life through us, and that's what we're going to learn. Because we didn't have the Spirit. Exactly. Or we didn't have the information to trust Him, to believe that. We try to live the life. He's saying no. It's true in me and it's true in you. And why it's true in you is because it's my life in you. He doesn't say that, but I mean that's, you know, from the rest of scripture you can... Okay, let's go on. And the true light there is the word genuine. He's a genuine light. There's no substitute for that light. And light is, you know, referring to Christ. Okay. So now we kind of go and keep the light thing going here. Does someone read 9, 10, and 11?

The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. So actually this is going to talk to Tom's point here in a second because it's going to talk about how I know how you can be walking around and not walking with the Lord. Verse 11 is really interesting. So what is the source of this hate for his brother? He's talking to believers here. So what's the source of this hate for his brother? He's still the old man.

Right, exactly. It can't be the life of Christ. because he's holy and righteous and just. So let's just walk through here. So it says basically, this is the thing, does your walk match your talk? And John is really big on that. He's always saying, you say this, but you do this. You say this, but you do this. He's always using that kind of logic.

The one who says he's in the light, which is Christ's very life, yet hates his brother, is in darkness. He said it doesn't match up. The one who hates his brother, I'm sorry, the one who loves his brother, he takes the opposite, who loves his brother, abides in the light. So that word abide, as Bob pointed out last week, it shows up just kind of sprinkled all through this chapter. Abide, abide.

He abides in the light, he's in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and there's no cause for stumbling. As long as he's in the light, walking the light, he won't be stumbling. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness. Walks in the darkness and does not know where he's going.

So there's three things. There's three things very he's in the darkness He walks in the darkness and doesn't know where he's going Because the darkness has blinded his eyes I was thinking about you know there maybe you come across and maybe you know in your family other places there are believers you believe that you are are pretty certain they're believers, but they may be like, they're in verse 11 right there. And I think I see something like that, and it just hurts so much. But it says they're blinded. They may have heard the truth at some point, but for whatever reason, they're walking around in the darkness. And it's sad, but God recognizes that.

And what's cool is, it's said that He never gets tired. He never wearies of drawing them to Himself. And that's the status of the world, right? Exactly. And that's where a believer has a chance to come out of that. The world is in that 24-7. That's all he sees.

But this is all addressed to believers, right? You read through the commentary and some people say, well this part of this verse is for an unbeliever. And I'm thinking, boy, I don't know. This whole letter is about fellowship, walking with the Lord from beginning to end that I see. So every time he refers to this, I take it I know, I have a hard time going through with my scalpel and saying, that part of that verse, that's for an unbeliever. First of all, he wouldn't be reading this.

I know, I, to me this is speaking to the believer, really. And saying, you know, you can, you know, if you find that you're, if you're, and we do, sometimes we do. Maybe you don't like your brother. Maybe hate is probably too strong a word, but maybe your brother bugs you. You get bugged by your brother or your sister. You know, so you think, you know, that's not Christ's life.

It says very clearly, until now. Until now. Good. That's a very critical comment there, until now. In other words, it's holding you up to hope. May you guys have the experience, you'll read something and you'll say, you know something? That's me. In scripture you'll say, wow, that's me. Whoa, and that kind of, you know, doesn't mean you'll never do it again, but it certainly, you know, it causes you to really examine yourself. That's what scripture is supposed to do. It's supposed to, you know, to the innermost parts of your being.

Roger? Sure, go ahead. Just real quick. Sure. You know, sometimes we may think we're not really hating our brother, we just think he's a real jerk. And he is! And he may be. That's true. But you know what, when I think of this scripture, it says you who call someone an idiot or whatever, a ruck or a fool, you're murdering him. So maybe if we feel that, he's saying if you hate, but maybe that It's our attitudes which are pretty negative. We don't think often. Everybody feels that way about so-and-so.

That's good. Attitudes are a trail of tears and they lead to these ultimate actions even though they don't look like the ultimate actions. So let's go on here. Little children, young men and fathers. Someone read these verses. 12, 13, 14. Someone new?

I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven. You put his name safe. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. Okay, thanks.

Well for starters here, I looked at this, I think Randy taught this one, and I don't remember if he pointed some of these things out or not, so I'm going to just do it again. You know, verse 12, and we talked about the fact, well, some think, well, there's different opinions about the children, young men, and fathers. But after looking at this, I think verse 12, it says little children, and that word little children is the word technon, and that's that word of endearment. We've seen it a couple times already in the Gospel of John, and it appears five or six times, seven times in 1 John.

I think the first verse is talking to all believers. I'm writing to you, little children, my beloved ones, my little-born ones, speaking to all believers, because your sins have been forgiven for his namesake." So he makes a statement, which is true. Your sins have been forgiven for Christ's namesake.

And then he starts in, in 13 and 14, starts in talking to fathers, young men, and actually the word for children down here is not the same word as little children. It's paedion, I think. It means younger children. And in fact, each of these words, the young man is an age period of about up to 30 maybe, and fathers are maybe beyond that. So that children, and that really helped out, because that put 13 and 14 go through here, and you see that by trying to include 12 in the mix, it made it very confusing. By having 12 address all believers, then I could see there's a progression here.

So he talks to fathers, and he says, fathers, He says the same thing twice, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. And I thought about in Philippians that you might know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering. That know is knowing Him as your very life. He talks about children. I have written to you children.

He only says it one time, young children, because you know the Father. And I think that actually speaks of immaturity, because only knowing the Father We find later on here that it's going to say we're to know the father and the son. So knowing the father actually is more in terms of a of a faith that's not mature. They know enough for salvation, but they don't know the completeness of who Christ is and what he's done. So I think that really helped. So there's a difference in maturity there.

And then young men, he talks about because you've overcome the evil one in verse 13. And then down here, because you are strong, the Word of God abides in you. He talks about maturity in the Word and knowing evil and knowing that evil has been overcome, that Christ has defeated Satan. So it kind of fit that there is a, and I think it's right to put this in a stair step or some way, that children, they have a basic understanding. The young men have an understanding and know how to handle the word of God. And the fathers know Christ and walk with him and have intimate knowledge with him. So there is a picture of maturity in this verse. I was thinking along there too, the young men, it seems to be more what Christ has done for them.

Right, exactly. My view on my benefit. Whereas with the fathers, the benefit is on who the father is. That intimacy that we always talk about here. That's excellent. That's excellent. So I kind of, you know, putting verse 12 and making sure that's for all believers, 13 and 14 I think do speak to the spiritual maturity here. So, anyway. Okay. And let's see. Actually, I answered my own question. It speaks to all believers. Okay. Separation from the world. Would someone like to read 15, 16, 17?

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Okay, so what two things are we going to have to love from verse 15?

It's a little subtle here. the world and the things of the world. Excellent, excellent. It's not hard. It didn't make this tricky. So we're not to love the world, and the world is this, the world is cosmos, which is a sum total of human life in the order world. It's everything. It's all the order, all that we see in this world, all the system, everything that's in place.

Let's look at the Gospel of John for just a second. John 15, John 15. And let's look at John 15, 18 and 19. The Gospel of John 15, chapter 15, verses 18 and 19. It says, if the world hates you, this is Christ speaking, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. So the admonition in this verse is to be separate from the world.

First of all, if you truly are a believer, at its core, it hates you. And we can see that, I think, in our society. We can see that Christians are really hated. Every other thing is sort of tolerated, but Christians are, for the most part, never tolerated at some levels. So he's basically saying here, don't love the world or the things of the world. And it has this statement, if anyone loves the world, and once again, it's possible they will, we're taken in by the world, the world's very attractive.

I was thinking about the royal wedding, we watched it, it was great, it was great. But I was thinking about this beautiful bride and the groom, just fabulous, neat. We lived there for five years, so I really identified with a lot of things in there. But I thought, if they don't know Christ, where is this marriage going? It kind of hurt me. such a beautiful couple and where is this marriage going without Christ? I just really somehow just, anyway. Okay, so for all that is in the world. So it talks about here's what the world is like.

There's a lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. So people, I think rightfully so, tried to identify lust is a word, the core word is desire, So basically they kind of put this and try to expand a little bit. The lust of the flesh most likely is illicit sexual desires. So that's one thing. The lust of the flesh. The lust of the eyes is most likely materialism, possessions, wanting. I want stuff. The more stuff the better. And the lust and the pride of life is I want power. I want to be in control. Those three things drive mankind outside of Christ. They drive them. Sex, materialism, and power. And we see that in our society.

It says it's not from the Father, but it's from the world. And the world is passing away. It's still here now, but over time it's not going to be here. It's passing away. And the desires, the lusts. But the one who does the will of God lives forever. Roger? Yes. I thought the pride of life was to want to be revered by all those around you. Okay, I think that fits in, sure.

Versus power, but I want everybody to know just how cool or smart, but all on TV. Don't politicians, don't they want to be reviewed? I don't want to be thought of as being just, I don't want to be thought of as Abraham Lincoln. I want to be thought of as whoever your icon is in life, I want to be thought of as that person, and a place of honor. Robocalls and campaign literature.

OK, is our salvation in question in any of these verses here? In verse 15 it says, the love of the Father is not in him. So does that mean that they have any... Some people might take that and say, well, you know, if you love the world, if anyone loves the world, then the love of the Father... Well, I don't know. Is your salvation in question? I don't think so. I think basically, you know, it says He loved us first.

So God's love is unchanging. God's love and changing. Our love, once again, can go off track. It can go off track and be attracted to the things of the world. So I think that's what's in view there. And then down at the bottom one it says, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Basically I think it's just talking about the fact that as a believer we can experience God's eternal life starting now. And as we walk with him, we are starting eternal life. And so it's not a question that we're not going to live forever. One of the three is mentioned here.

What are the two other adversaries in the Christian life besides the world? The old man, the sin nature, and Satan. This is his world. Absolutely. Is there a difference between the world, because you said it was everything, so what is the difference between the world and the things in the world? I think the world, I don't know. They're separated. They are, Tom.

Billy Graham has a saying that really puts it in focus. When he was challenged by somebody saying, what do you think about sex? All right, so I don't know, your question Bonnie, I don't know, I think, well it seems like that he enumerates the things of the world down here in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. I think just loving the, it's the totality of that, I mean that's my first thought.

I just had a thought like Mother Earth. A lot of those people are not material, per se. No. They love God's creation rather than the Creator. I think that may be it. The focus is on the creation, not the Creator. Okay. The Last Hour. Did someone read this? 18, 19, 18, 19, 20? Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. Or 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. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. Thanks, thanks Pat.

Okay, so basically, children, I think this is, I think this is this word of endearment again. Technon, little born ones. It's the last hour. So it's on all believers, it's the last hour. And actually, Randy did a good job on this one. Sometimes it's called the last days, the last times. And it says, just as you heard the Antichrist, that's one who opposes Christ, he's against Christ, is coming. even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know it is the last hour." So essentially the last hour started back in John's time. It's been around a while. This last hour has been around a while. Okay. And it says, okay, in verse 19 it says, it talks about us here quite a few times.

It says, they went out from us, they separated not really of us. For if they were of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that, or with a purpose that, it would be shown that they are not really of us. So the fact that these antichrists, those who oppose Christ, false teachers, they didn't stay with us. They didn't fellowship with us. They went out and did their thing.

And then he tries to comfort you in verse 20, because he's going to say, but you, you who truly know Christ, have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know it. So he's trying to contrast between those who left us and went out from us, they were opposing Christ, and you who stayed with us.

I've answered some of these questions already. Okay? Do all believers have an anointing? Sure. Okay, good. Even those that are in the world. Right, yes, exactly. Even the ones that are not in fellowship with the Lord. Even the ones who are walking in darkness. Right. Even all those ones he's talked about previously. Exactly.

Well, you know, it's interesting, as you start with it, you begin to see how it kind of ties back to the previous verses. The verse in 2 Corinthians is, we read this earlier, I mean earlier, not this time, earlier in the class. 2 Corinthians really kind of nails it down as far as 2 Corinthians 1, 2 Corinthians 1.21-22. It says, Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and anoints us is God, who also sealed us and gave us a spirit in our hearts as a pledge. So God is the one that has accomplished this, not us. He's accomplished His anointing. So all believers do have it. Would someone like to read 21 and 22. This is the last long section of verses. Sorry.

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 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. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Okay, so it basically says, I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. So you do know the truth. And then he goes through and he says, Who is a liar? It's the one who denies that Jesus Christ, that Jesus is the Christ. Remember, that is is important. That he is the state in which something continuously exists. He continuously exists as Christ.

That's the first thing he denies. The second thing is that he denies the Father and the Son. And then thirdly, the one who denies the Son does not have the Father. So he kind of nails it down to these false teachers these ones who oppose Christ, what they don't believe, and what they deny. And then at the end he says, whoever, at the very end, the one who confesses, who agrees with that, the son also has a father. It seems like he'll say a bunch of negative and he'll say that word of comfort at the end. Tom? and it's enough for us.

He who has seen the Son has seen the Father. And it's still true now. Amen. Would someone like to read 24, 25, 26, and 27? As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He Himself made to us, eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true, and is not a lie, That's good, Tom.

That's good. Okay. Okay. Okay. Does anyone remember, I have that and what underlined. Does anybody remember, I taught this two weeks ago. What is, those are pronouns, the that and the what. What, what are they, I'm saying what for what. What can I substitute in place of that and what? Well we experiment.

By thinking of the context, if you go way back to chapter one, because he did that in chapter one, it's a word of life. I did that in that little paraphrase I tried to do. As for you, let the word of life abide in you, which you heard from the beginning, If the word of life you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. He keeps pointing them back. You heard this in the beginning. You heard this in the beginning. Don't get off track. Don't get sucked in by darkness, by the world system. Don't let that get you off track.

And then he says, this is a promise, which he himself made, is actually the word promise again, so it can be read, this is a promise, which he himself promised to us, eternal life. And then he goes on, says, these things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. Okay, and then he says, and then I go back to the anointing thing again, and this is, I kind of put in brackets here, as for you the anointing abides in you so this is another nails it down that every believer which you receive from him is in brackets that's my brackets not scriptures brackets but i think it fits because anointing is the subject abides the verb the anointing abides in you and you have no need for anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you the spirit of god about all things and is true and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him." So you see abide, abide over and over again.

Fellowship you can put in its place. It's pretty clear to Roger with these verses, the way he says, I have not written to you because you don't know the truth. that this is all to believers. I know, I agree with you. These verses right here make it very clear that these are believers. I know, but you'd be amazed. You start reading through some commentaries and they're all... No, I do know. I've been taught the other way myself. And it never made sense. Slice and dice, I think. How can you do that? You can't do it. Okay. And then lastly, this is what Bob did last week.

Now little children abide in Him so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. So just before I put the question up here, once again, little children, little born ones, abide in him. And actually, it's the idea to be continually abiding in him is the present tense, so that with a purpose that when he appears or made visible, we may have confidence. So how can we have confidence? Bob, I think you did an excellent job, but I thought, you know, I may agree with everything Bob said, but I had just one little tweak on that maybe. How can we have this confidence?

Well, if we've been in fellowship with him here, then we absolutely know. I mean, we're going to be in fellowship there. I mean, we know that. It's hard for us to get our arms and heads around what exactly heaven's going to be like and where we'll be, other than we'll be there with him, face to face. That's good, that's good. So it's definitely fellowship. I was just thinking that if we approach this verse and focus on our condition, we won't have any confidence at all. Because in our condition, Oh wow, I didn't like my brother. I was mean to my brother. That boy, he was a pain, that brother of mine. But what does God tell us to do? What is the Christian life?

We're to know Christ, and we're to know who we are in Christ. We're to know that we're seated with Christ in the heavenlies. We are in union with Christ. We have been baptized into Christ, never to be removed. We're hidden with Christ in God. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He wants us fixed on Christ, focused on Christ, and we'll have no trouble with His coming.

He'll say, Lord, you're coming, wonderful. And when He appears, there'll be the fulfillment of what we've been focusing on all the time. But if we focus on our condition, we're over there muddled around in the world in the darkness. He wants us focused and abiding on Him.

So did Bob talk about that it is possible that some may shrink away from him and Shane? Well, no he actually did not. I guess I took it, and I agree with what was said in there, but I thought that just like it's possible for a believer to sin, I can see that a person could be walking in his sinful nature, and go ahead. I'm thinking that all the way up to get a chance to swallow all these verses, they barely had time to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

And then, boom, there it happens. And there may have been a few stray moments during their time when they just weren't exposed to this advanced truth, where, you know what? The thing is too, when he appears, it's going to happen like that. I mean, you're not even, because positionally, he's not going to see any shame, because shame is only the old man. There's no old man. And that's actually, if I had to crystallize Bob's point, Bob's point was, is that when, you know, obviously, I think Hal did a great job on this too, we're not going to spend eternity going through our sins. It won't be heaven. It will be awful. It will be terrible. So when he appears, at that moment, from that instant forward, the sin nature is gone. So that question is not there. This is addressing up to that time. Exactly. But it says, so that when he appears.

Well, when he appears, anyone who is a believer, it's just sin. There is no shame. But I think people maybe going up to that point, as Tom pointed out, maybe would feel, boy, I'm not doing... And we see that in the church, where it's real legal, and are you doing enough?

Right. And they're going to feel they're focused totally upon works, and they're going to feel, I'll never... Well, they're all in shame. All of them. Okay, wow, well we did it. Congratulations. You guys are great. Okay, let's close. We thank you, Father. We thank you so much for your word, Father. Thank you for this marvelous chapter in 1 John, Lord. We thank you for our time this day. We pray just for the service ahead. In Christ's name, amen.