I John 2:12-27
Kenny Hodges
October 24, 2016

I John 2:12-27

Verses 12-14 Recognize Spiritual Assets

Children, Fathers, Young Men This is not a chronological order

Children – All the readers are referred to as children: 2:1,
18, 28, 3:7, 18, 4:4, 5:21

Children:
Vs 12 – because your sins are forgiven
Vs 13 – because you know the father
Son-ship and development in spiritual growth is emphasized

Fathers:
Vs 13 – because you know Him who has been from the beginning
Vs 14 – because you know Him who has been form the beginning
Maturity is emphasized

Young Men:
Vs 13 – because you have overcome the evil one
Vs 14 – because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one

Spiritual warfare is emphasized

Verses 15-27 Recognize Spiritual Adversaries

The World System - verses 15-17

World – the world system
Things of the world – any of the world’s sinful components

Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon.”

James 4:4 “…whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God.”

The three-fold appeal of the world:

  1. The lust of the flesh – the desire to do something apart from the will of God

  2. The Lust of the eyes – the desire to have something apart from the will of God

  3. The boastful pride of life – the desire to be something apart from the will of God

Principle: The world is passing away and the things we do for love of the world will not last, however, the things that we do for God will have an eternal consequence.

The Antichrists – verses 18-27

The last hour – A period, during which human history will climax with the rise (and overthrow) of Satan’s final great deception, of which the Antichrist is the primary human agent. It is not so much a fixed period of time as it is a unique period of time.

Antichrists – any false teacher who denies the deity or work of Christ:
Vs 22 – denies that Jesus is the Christ
Vs 22 – denies the Father and the Son

They went our from us – probably ‘false brethren’ (Galatians 2:4) but possibly apostate believers

An anointing from the Holy One – The Holy Spirit
This word ‘anointing’ is used only three times in the New
Testament; here, and twice in verse 27
Jesus was ‘the Anointed One’ (Acts 10:38) and our identification
with Him makes us ‘anointed ones’.

Jesus is the Christ – John 11:25-27

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

John 12:44-45 And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me.”

Eternal life – the antichrists were denying that Jesus was the Christ and that eternal life was available through Him.

You have no need for anyone to teach you – Not that we don’t need human teachers, but that we don’t look to human beings as the ultimate source of our learning. The antichrists were probably encouraging them to listen to them as if they had divine revelation.

Abide in Him – The ultimate and only source of a true walk with God