You can't have the Father if you don't have the Son
1 John 2v23-27
10th July 2020
In our study of 1 John 2v18-27, we've taken some time to demonstrate that in the last days, which began in the time of Jesus, false teachers arose. John calls these false teachers "antichrists". Last time, we began to study the false teachings about Jesus that arose in John's time and are still with us. Teaching and believing falsehoods about Jesus is a very serious matter. John writes:
1 John 1:23
No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father
also.
This is, of course, very bad news for those Jews who continue to deny that Jesus is the Messiah. Again, the Bible means what it says. No-one who denies Jesus has a relationship with God the Father. But John isn't thinking primarily about the Jews. He's thinking primarily about the antichrists – the people who left the true church because they were never truly saved, and who formed false churches, and preach a false Gospel.
They deny that Jesus is God, or they deny that Jesus is a man, or they deny that His sacrifice on the cross pays for our sin. John says this proves that they have no relationship with God. No wonder that John writes in the verses 10 and 11 of his second letter that "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [about the true nature of Jesus Christ], do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares his wicked work".
Truth matters. Heresy matters. John says:
1 John 1:24-25
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.
And this is what he promised us — even eternal life.
John wrote these words to the church in western Turkey in the first century, but they apply just as much to the church in Britain today. Hold on to the truth. Hold on to the Bible. Hold on to the Gospel.
Some very clever, very educated, very deceived people will try to persuade you that the Bible is wrong, or that it's out of date, or that we should modify the Bible to make it less offensive to the generation of people we live among. Don't fall into their trap. Some Christians and some churches have let go of Biblical teaching. Don't let it be you. Don't let it be us.
The true Gospel of the true Christ, as revealed in the true Bible, leads to eternal life. There is no price that isn't worth paying for holding on to the truth about Jesus. No matter what they call you, no matter what they do to you, "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you". Then you will always have a relationship with Jesus, and with God the Father, and you will be welcomed into the eternal dwellings.
John makes it clear that he's writing to the true church, about the false church. He says:
1 John 1:26-27
I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
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.
Satan and the antichrists will seek to lead you astray. But you have the Holy Spirit living inside you. If you listen to the Holy Spirit, and read your Bible, you will always know that Jesus is wholly God and wholly Man, that He died on the cross to save you from your sins and that he rose on the third day to win eternal life for you.
Of course, John isn't saying that the church doesn't need teachers. He's saying that the church doesn't outsiders to give them revelation that haven't already received. The "you" here is plural. He's saying "you the church" don't need non-Christians' wisdom to educate us about the things of God.
So listen to the Holy Spirit. Never doubt that He is real and that He lives in you. Listen to the Bible. Never doubt that it is the perfect written word of God.
Jesus said:
John 15:9
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."
That's good advice, isn't it?