Abide in Him | 1 John 2:18-27 | Walking in the Light
This week's message in the "Walking in the Light" series moves into 1 John 2:18-27, a passage that names a hard reality: opposition to the truth about Jesus doesn't only come from outside the church, it can come from within. John calls the false teachers "antichrists," not as a title reserved for some future figure, but as anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Against that backdrop, he reminds believers of what they already have, the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the truth they were taught from the beginning, and calls them to a single response: abide. Stay connected to the truth of the gospel, and it will hold you all the way to the finish.
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Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week we dig into God's Word, trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.
A marathon is 26.2 miles.
Most of us aren't prepared to walk that far. Some of you might not be prepared to drive that far.
You don't wake up on a Thursday morning and decide, "I'm gonna run a marathon this weekend." You have to be deliberate about training.
Even if you are an extremely fit person, you likely aren't able to run a marathon without doing the specific type of training required for a race like that. Imagine that you make the sacrifices that are necessary to train. You get up early for months, you progressively increase your distance, and as you get close to the day of the race, you start to taper back your training. To make sure your body is ready for what you're about to do to it. And you follow a strict diet to ensure that your body is going to have the energy to make it the entire 26.2-mile race.
And on the day of the race, you arrive early. Your family has come along to support you and to cheer you on. Now imagine a second runner. Standing at that same starting line, he looks like everybody else. He's got the shoes, the numbers pinned to his shirt, the same nervous energy in his legs.
Nobody standing there would be able to tell the difference between him and the runner who spent 8 months training.
But here's what nobody in the crowd knows. Back in January, when it was time to start getting up early, he didn't. When it was time to increase mileage week by week, he still wasn't running. He just skipped it. He talked about training.
He may have even believed he was ready. But the work was never actually done. So the gun goes off, and for a while the adrenaline has this guy fueled, right? But by mile 5, he's already walked a couple times. By mile 7, his legs simply stop responding the way they need to.
There's nothing underneath to support what he's trying to do. No base of training has gotten him him ready. What needed to be built up over the months just isn't there. He tries to jog but can't sustain it. So finally he has to stop, just go off the course.
But 18 miles later, somewhere around mile 25, the runner who trained all those months is still moving. She's tired. She's hurting in ways that you expect you would hurt from running that far. But she's upright. She's steady.
And she's going to finish. Standing next to each other at that point in the race, nobody would mistake which one of them had done the work to prepare for the race. There's no mistaking it at all.
The truth is that mile 7, when the one runner dropped out, that wasn't when they failed.
That was just the moment when months of skipped training finally caught up to him. The stopping didn't make him a fraud. It revealed that he was one.
And as we continue through John's epistle, we find that there's a concern that there are many who are not finishing the race of the Christian life. John makes it clear that there are those who stepped away from the faith and that they were never really one of them. They claimed to believe, but by their dropping out of the race, they exposed who they really are. And what they really believed. So as we come to verse 18, we find ourselves with a statement that definitely gets our attention.
John again uses this term of endearment. He refers to his readers as children, and he tells them it is the last our. Now we read that and we immediately feel the tension. The last hour. We get a sense of urgency here.
Think how language like this is usually used to prompt us to action, right? Teachers warn us about the weight that a final exam will have on our total grade. And what happens? We get anxiety that even though we have a passing grade today, we've done good the whole semester, we get afraid that we might completely bomb the final exam and end up failing the course and our life will be over. I can't be the only person who thought that way when they threatened us with the weight of the final exam.
That's what that kind of language does to us. Advertisers also use that kind of language. To inform us it's the last day of a big sale. What is the hope? That we might actually come and spend our money because we're worried we won't get the best deal.
And that's what gets our attention in verse 18. We can't miss it here. But is John using that same technique I just talked about? The same technique of somebody trying to sell you clothing or furniture. Well, when John says it's the last hour, is he implying here that the end of the history— that the end of history and the final judgment is right around the corner?
Well, he wrote this in the first century. I'm guessing it wasn't right around the corner unless I missed something. What, what is he talking about? We're prone to reading it like that's what it's saying, that he's saying that the end of history and the final judgment is on the way. But that isn't really the way that Scripture uses language like the last hour and the last days.
Last hours and last days are pointing to the final way in which God relates to his people. In the Old Testament economy, God related to his people through prophets and kings. The way that people could come to God was mediated through the priests and through the temple. And we, and we so often see that way of doing things, that Old Testament stuff, was just a type and a shadow that was pointing to something better that was going to come. And so the last days, the last hours, speaks of the arrival of that something better that was promised.
The last days, the last hours speaks of the truth that we now have the Lord Jesus Christ as our Prophet, Priest, and King. God Himself in Jesus is our Mediator. And so John is saying that what was promised has arrived. And the language of finality draws out that there isn't going to be another way later on. In other words, the plan of God has come to its fullness, and this is the way that God is going to relate to His people from now until the end of history.
And that glorious reality is known because Jesus is the Messiah. He's the Promised One. The Anointed One. Remember, That's what Christ means. That's what we, we really need to hone in on that today of what the word Christ means.
It means anointed one or Messiah. And now, because the plan has come to its fullness in Jesus, who is the Christ, we're seeing that there is opposition that is coming. And he says that it has in fact come and it is a multifaceted opposition. Now, one struggle that we have with this passage is going to be what happens in us when we hear the word Antichrist, because we immediately have in mind the end times bad guy that has been given the title Antichrist. Now, this title is used for different people warned about in different portions, uh, different parts of the New Testament, but it's not— this person, this end times bad guy, has never actually given the title the Antichrist in Scripture.
And so notice that in our English text, the definite article the is not here. What John is doing is he is telling us about people who are coming who are going to be against Christ. A cursory overview of that word is that this group of people, these, this, a person or many people, as John says here, are going to come and be against the work of the anointed one. So what he's expressing here is this opposition to the Christian faith that is against Jesus as the Messiah, as the anointed one. Like I said, the word antichrist literally means what a simple reading of the word would imply.
And so as we read this, it's important that we understand it's the last hour.
The fullness of the gospel has come in Christ, and because of this, there's going to be opposition to the work of God. There's always been opposition to the work of God. There are going to be those who are going to oppose this great and glorious truth of the Gospel. They are against Christ.
John says that this opposition is coming and even now may have come, and that's why I focused on this idea that while there is something pointed to in the future, John is being very deliberate about saying that they are here now, that the spirit of antichrist is at work now.
And this is a confirmation that they are in these last hours. Back in the first century, they were experiencing these type of things. There was opposition to the church. There was opposition to the work that was being done.
This opposition has always been in place. But yet the work of the church has continued. The people of God have remained faithful. And that's a testimony to the endurance of the church and the message. The opposition that has come has been something that has persisted from John's time.
There were antichrists coming against the church in the first century that John was warning about. And there are people against Christ opposing His work as the Messiah now. This has been the case for a very long time. But think about this: the church has remained even though there was opposition. There have been those who have remained faithful to the call of the gospel, faithful to what God has done for us.
To keep the message going even against opposition. Now we have unbelievable freedom to worship God. We have unprecedented access to the Word of God, right?
How many Bibles do you have in your house? How many Bible apps do you have on your phone?
We have unprecedented freedom.
And so it's essential that we need to be prepared.
We can't be lulled to sleep. It's easy for us to think that there is an opposition or that the opposition isn't substantial. That there aren't those who are against Christ. We can't be lulled to sleep. And John makes it clear as we move to verses 19 and 20 that the ones who are against Christ were once a part of them.
This reminds us of a very humbling truth.
Our perception is that if someone comes against Christ, that those primary attacks are going to come from the outside.
That those attacks on the church are going to be from outside the body of believers. That's what we naturally assume.
Now certainly, There are those who are against Christ who are not a part of the church.
But throughout the ages, the most significant attacks come from within. And John says that they went out from them, but they were not truly a part of the church because they fell away.
He's telling us that if they were truly a part of the church, then they would have endured. And this is a humbling reminder for us.
A verbal confession, an outward appearance of being a part of the church, does not always indicate true faith. In the community of faith, it is easy to say that you believe. In the presence of believers, it is easy to show up. It's easy to put on a show.
It's an entirely different thing to hold fast and to believe that confession. And John lets us know here in verse 19 that actually when these defectors pull out of the race, it's a blessing. They went out He says, "That it might be plain that they all are not of us." Their opposition to Jesus and the Gospel made it readily apparent that they didn't have faith in the first place. Their departure through false teaching made this clear. Their opposition to the Gospel was the diagnosis that confirmed the disease.
It could have remained hidden, It could have festered and infected the whole body. But instead, it became apparent when they left that they were the problem. And so John is showing us that this was actually a blessing. And this is a reminder for us as we desire to remain faithful in our time.
We can lament when we see people or movements of people who depart from the faith. We should. It is sad. And we should pray that they would return. But it's also a blessing because allegiances are made clear.
As we desire to run the race and finish the course, it is good to know that we have the support of those who are faithfully progressing to the finish line with us. And while we should be continually evaluating ourselves and calling ourselves and one another to faithfulness, John also writes that they are anointed by the Holy One and they have knowledge. And so John is doing something interesting here. Remember, Christ means anointed one, and so John wants them to know that the Anointed One has also called them and set them apart as well. The Anointed One has anointed them.
They are God's people and they know the truth. The message here is clear. You're God's people. Hold fast to what you know. That is how you finish the race.
That is how you progress. Through this Christian life. And we find here as we read this passage that this is John's desire. He's not writing to them because they don't have knowledge of the truth. He's encouraging them to stand strong in that truth that they know.
He says, "No lie is in the truth." If they hold to what they know, they will not be deceived. And John doesn't mince words here at all. The liar is the one who is denying that Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. John has said that those who are against Christ have come and that many more are coming.
Well, do you want to know how to identify them? If they deny that Jesus is the Messiah, they are Antichrist. They are not a part of the body of believers.
And this was not only valuable for the church in the first century, but it's also essential for us today. Those who come with false teaching will try to cloak what they are teaching and convince you that they're teaching the truth. And one of the key ways that we can sniff out false doctrine is by what do they say about who Jesus is and what He did for His people. Is Jesus just a good teacher and not the Savior? Well, then they are denying that He is the Christ.
Why? Because the purpose of the Messiah, the Anointed One, was to save His people from their sin.
Some say Jesus is just one spiritual path among many and all roads lead to heaven. Well, this is the denial of Jesus as the Christ. Why? Because Christ means anointed one. He is the only anointed one, the only mediator promised by God, not a preference.
To call him one option among many is to deny that he is a fulfillment of what the Old Testament pointed to, the sacrifice that was required for the forgiveness of sin. And others say Jesus is just a moral example and we are merely supposed to model his love and sacrifice as something to strive after. Well, this is a denial of Jesus as the Christ. Why? Because it makes the cross an example rather than an atoning sacrifice.
Jesus came to show us how to live, but he also came to to be the propitiation for our sins, if the purpose of the cross is just an example and not the turning aside of the wrath of God, we're still in our sin. We are doomed to hell.
So you can see why understanding the person and work of Jesus Christ is then essential to staying the course, to finishing the race. The race. And again, John lays this out for us clearly. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Well, this is because the Son shows us the identity and character of God the Father.
It is the sending of the Son to save us from our sin that shows us the love of God. He loves us enough to provide us with forgiveness and salvation, and it's essential to know what Jesus did to understand the character of the Father. This is why, "If you know the Son, you will know the Father." Confess the Son, and you have the Father. You can't be in right relationship to God the Father while rejecting the Son who puts you in right relationship with Him. It doesn't work that way.
So the question then becomes, how do we make sure that we hold on to this truth? How do we make sure that we don't drift? How do we prepare ourselves to stay the course and finish the race?
We need to let 'What we have heard from the beginning abide in us.' Our faith is rooted in Christ and the salvation that we have because He is the Messiah. That Gospel message is what works in the heart of believers at the beginning and brings them to faith. That is how the Holy Spirit works. We are regenerated, we are brought to faith through the proclamation of the Gospel and the work of the Spirit in us. That is the beginning.
The beginning of faith. And so we need to abide in that message of salvation. And when you hear a denial of what the Gospel does and what it promises, that is when we need to go the other direction.
A denial of the Gospel is a message that is anti-Christ. When you know that message and abide in that message, you abide in the Son and in the Father. All this, John tells us, is rooted in the promise that God has made to us. That promise is eternal life. The promise God makes is not personal prosperity.
The promise God makes is not that you'll have knowledge that can help you elevate and leave the physical world behind, like the false teachers were spouting back in John's day.
The promise of God is eternal life. That's what the gospel is about. That's why God the Son took on human flesh and turned aside the wrath of God. That's the promise. Believe it.
Hold on to it. Abide in it. And in these last two verses of our passage for today, John tells his readers that he is informing them of this because there are deceivers out there and they will come with these antichrist deceptions. And so they are to hold on to the truth. And he again affirms their anointing and how they don't need any special teaching.
They don't need any secret knowledge. The public truth of the Gospel And what Jesus has done is sufficient. The denials of Jesus as the Messiah are lies. But His work for His people is true. And again, He tells them to abide.
But this time He says, "Abide in Him." Abide in the Son because He is the Savior. He is alive. He is active. They have been united to the Son by faith. And so continue in Him.
He is the one who builds up His people. He is the one who has saved them from the wrath that they deserve for their sin. He is the one who brings them to the Father. He is not a mere human teacher who was killed by religious leaders and the Roman authorities. He is alive.
And therefore, He is the Savior. He is the Anointed One. He is the Messiah. The Christ. If he wasn't those things, he would have quickly been forgotten like other human teachers who rise and fall.
But still today, we as the people of God abide in him. The temptation for first-century believers to leave the faith was strong. And those temptations remain strong for us today. We need to abide in Christ if we're going to stay the course and finish the race. Think back to the two runners I painted the picture of when I started.
The one who dropped out at mile 7 wasn't undone by one bad moment. His failure came about by months of mornings where he didn't get up to train. The runner who was still moving at mile 25, though, wasn't running just on willpower. She was running on everything she had put into her training for 8 long months. She didn't ignore her alarm going off early in the morning.
She logged mile after mile of training, even when she was stiff and sore from the previous day's training. She also fueled her body through the process knowing that she needed to eat right so that her body could stay strong for the challenge. And as she soldiered on to the finish line, she was abiding in a body that had been shaped and prepared to make it to the finish line. That's what John has been pushing us towards through this passage. Abiding isn't a one-time decision you make and then you just coast through.
It's not enough to show up at the starting line looking the part. Abiding is staying connected to the truth of the Gospel and letting it sustain you, shape you, and feed you all the way to the finish. And as we come to the table this morning, we have a confidence in God's feeding of us to strengthen us to abide in him. We don't come to the table this morning thinking it's a reward. Instead, we understand that this is a means by which God sustains us as we run the race.
We're being fed by the One who did the work we could not do. The bread and the cup sustains us as we abide in Him. Day by day, He is with us until our race is done. So come to the table this morning and receive God's gifts and trust that he strengthens you to abide in him. Let what you've heard from the beginning continue to abide in you, that you might abide in the Son and abide in the Father.
And as you hold on to the promise of God, a promise that isn't about prosperity, it's not about secret knowledge, it is about eternal life. Jesus is alive. He is the Anointed One. He is faithful. Abide knowing that he will sustain you to the end.
Amen. Let us pray.
Gracious God, we thank you that we have a clear message of who Jesus is.
We pray that we would lock in on that message of Jesus as the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, and that we would know that this truth that was from the beginning is what sustains us. It is how we stay connected. It is how we abide. And we pray, oh God, that you would help us to have wisdom and discernment that we would be mindful of messages that are opposed to your truth. May we hear continually of your grace and your mercy and desire to live a life of holiness, bringing honor and glory to Christ alone.
It's in his name that we pray. Amen.
Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website, edgertonfrc.org.
“Abide in Him” is part of our ongoing series through 1 John, Walking in the Light. Explore the full series or browse our complete sermon archive to keep digging into God's Word.
