I John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
The Bible makes it clear that we are in an all out war. That war is a spiritual war. God has the upper hand all the way through the war. He is a merciful God Who gives the lost ample opportunity to repent and be saved. The devil cannot be saved and he will eventually be cast into the lake of fire. Sadly, but necessarily, all of his followers will also be cast into the lake of fire. The “rewards” of rebellion are not good at all. We noted yesterday that God declared that Christians should not be surprised that there are many antichrists. Sadly, many professing Christians ignore the Word of God and they determine truth based on their feelings. Our feelings cannot determine truth. You cannot follow your heart in determining what is truth. Your heart can be deceived. Truth is declared in the Word of Truth, the Bible. It is absolute. In verse 19 we are further reminded that the antichrists went out from us, not because they lost their salvation, but because they were never saved in the first place. There are far too many professing Christians who want to support the lie that a Christian can lose their salvation. God makes it abundantly clear that this is an impossibility.
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
We must remember that pride has no place in the Christian’s life. It is pride that causes a person to believe and promote something that God does not say. Back to verse 19 of our text. Judas Iscariot was one of the “they” who went out from among us. Judas was chosen by Jesus Christ as one of the twelve disciples. He observed Jesus for the same 3+ years that the other eleven disciples observed Him. Judas saw the same miracles and heard the same teaching that the others saw and heard. Judas chose to reject Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. He liked the power that Jesus had and he liked being in the lime light, but he was not part of the true faith. He went out from among the twelve because he was never saved. He was there in body, but not in spirit. He chose to reject the truth and that was tragic for him. John tells us that there were others because he was directed to use the word “they”. Those who hang around where Christians are for a time and then walk away, demonstrate that they were just “tire kickers”. They never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. They may learn some of the language used by Christians, but it is never real in their lives. There are many like that in our time. We have had too many of this type come to our church. Not that they should not have come, but they should not have left. They should have repented toward God and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. They chose to throw that all away and they left. It seems that those who leave tend to seal their fate. They seldom come back. The Bible shows us this. Having tasted the good fruit and walking away from it is not a good thing. There is no other way of salvation, other than through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
God tells us in verse 19 of our text that those who leave, expose themselves for who they truly are. God does the true saints a great favour by exposing these frauds so that others do not get deceived by them. As we have mentioned, the sad thing is that too often those who leave gain somewhat of a following and they manage to gain the sympathy of others. Those others are also in grave danger. It is sad when a person rejects the truth. The person that rejects the truth does not need an “enabler” to come alongside of him or her to keep them in the dark. They need to be exposed for who they truly are. God’s will is still that all come to repentance. He does not force anyone to reject Him. He does not have multiple stories of ways of salvation that are designed to confuse and confound people. The devil has many fraudulent accounts of salvation that too often are accepted as the truth. However, anyone can take the Word of God and read it and believe it. Anyone can contact a godly pastor and get answers to any questions they would have about things they do not understand from the Word of God. The truth is available. God does not want His children to be deceived. That is why He tells us in verse 20 that those who are born again have an unction from the Holy One. The Greek word translated as “unction” means “special endowment”. This unction is from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. He is there to open the understanding of the true child of God. That is why John was directed to write that true saints know all things. This is not by osmosis. It is because the Holy Spirit guides the true child of God into the truth as he or she faithfully studies the Word of God. He works in the heart and conscience of the true child of God and helps that person to believe the truth as given in God’s Word. True Christians have no excuse for being deceived. When a true child of God is deceived it is because they deliberately chose to ignore what God says through His Word. They may be a fairly new believer who has not been well taught yet and thus easily deceived. They may be a believer who is walking in sin and not willing to be taught properly due to their pride. God made it clear here and elsewhere that He has equipped the true child of God with all that is needed to follow the truth. We are currently doing a study on “Baptist Distinctives”. In that study we are noting that there are thousands of denominational churches and thousands of people who are attending these places. They would have us believe that Jesus stated that He is the only way of salvation, and that you can work your way into salvation. They would have you believe that Jesus taught on the sanctity of marriage, but He also said that marriage is not really that big a deal. They would have you believe that Jesus Christ suffered and died to make it possible for true churches to be established and for people to become members of, and also that there really are no true churches on this earth and there is this big universal entity that has many different doctrines, but they all love God anyway. Are you scratching your head yet? As a young person, I chose to reject God because I observed these things and more and it was so confusing to me that I figured it was pointless to try to follow God. I am thankful that God did not leave me in that dark place. He showed me that He is real and that I did need to be saved right away. I finally listened to Him and was saved! God has been working on me now for over fifty years to refine me as His child. He is obviously not done with me yet, because I am still here. I am privileged to grow in the Lord and to be given the opportunity to try to help others to know the blessing of knowing the true God. If you are reading this, but confused about who to believe, believe what God says. Dismiss anything that contradicts what the Bible says and believe the truth. If you have questions, ask God to lead you to a godly man who can show you from the Bible, what the truth is. Look up the verses he uses to answer you. Make sure you read the verses in their context. God’s Word is the truth. You can and must trust in what God has to say if you want to know His peace in your heart. Don’t miss out on the greatest blessing God has to offer you — His gift of salvation. Pastor Bartel
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