An Attack From Within

Good afternoon, everyone! Well, it certainly is, in many ways, a sad Sabbath, we could say. I guess this is the last Sabbath that will be here before we move to Knoxville, Tennessee. I hope each of you know how much you've meant to myself and to my family, and just the love that we have felt from each and every one of you. It's been wonderful, and we will miss you. That's for sure. We will miss you, but it's only for a little while.

I know we'll be back to visit. We want to come to visit and the different activities throughout the year, so we'll be doing that as much as it allows. I really appreciate the opening message, the sermonette, the profound simplicity of love and that message. I think that fits very well into what we're going to talk about today. Love is needed, especially amongst ourselves. As we enter into the last days, we will feel many pressures and many attacks as these days get closer.

The title of today's message is, An Attack from Within. Our study is going to be over a very important letter written by the Apostle John. This letter is known to us as First John. It is a fascinating letter. Here in First John, we find an old man who is entering into the last stages of his life as he sits down to pin what would be, in many ways, one of his most profound, pivotal, and important letters that he would ever write. Pivotal and important because of what John was facing and what this was an incredible threat that he was facing and that his brethren were facing, those in the church.

This threat arose in the church that he was a part of in Ephesus, where he now lived. We're going to talk about that threat and the serious problem that they faced. I think what we'll see is that it's every bit of a threat that God's church today faces. You can begin turning there. First John, let me set the scene briefly here. First John, sometime after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, probably around 70 AD, John relocated to Ephesus.

He came into a fold of the brethren there and a fellowship to which he dearly loved. He dearly loved these people that he joined. That love for them is on full display and is wonderfully felt here in this letter as he addressed the brethren. As we read this, what we're going to see is that it was kind of a fatherly tone. A father would have a love for his children. That tone runs throughout the whole letter in the letters. Let's see this fatherly tone. This love is evident and on display.

Look at chapter 2 and verse 1. We'll just read the very beginning here. Chapter 2 and verse 1 of 1 John begins with what? My dear children. And then scan down to verse 12 of chapter 2, he says, my little children. And then again, verse 18 of chapter 2, little children. Now, when you have someone call men and women his children, men and women who aren't children, you certainly can feel and understand just the type of endearment that he had for them and the love.

And again, it's the tone throughout this entire letter. He had a great concern for them and he expected them to take his words and for his words to carry a weight with them. And he expected these letters to be read aloud to the brethren there. So before we establish what the problem was, let's establish where this problem is coming from. Soon it becomes clear that this is the issue that they were facing and the threat that they were facing was not from an outside threat, but actually an attack from within.

And an attack from within can be one of the most dangerous attacks there is. And we'll be able to see now as we begin to read that there were false teachers, false teachers who had arose within the fellowship. And John would go as far as to call these individuals anti-Christ.

That was in labeling them in this way, that shows the level of evil that John felt about these individuals and what the brethren were facing. So let's see what John begins to speak to these individuals. Look at 1 John 2, verse 18 and 19 here. 1 John 2, verse 18 and 19, Little children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the anti-Christ is coming, even now many anti-Christs have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

They actually went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest, that it might be made clear that none of them were of us. Again, you can feel the incredible weight by which John is putting up here by labeling them in this way as anti-Christ. This is the deep feeling he had, the deep seriousness that surrounded their departure here.

In this controversy, this heresy caused by these false teachers, these anti-Christs as he labels them, this was an issue that was in progress. This was not an issue that he was writing about that was to happen in the future. It wasn't an issue that he was writing about in history. This is happening right now. So when John sits down to write, this is the purpose.

The purpose of this letter is an urgent attempt to the brethren there that he loved to protect them, strengthen them, encourage them to hold fast against these false teachers. Staying here in chapter 2, let's go forward to verse 26. We'll see John imploring them to do just that, to hold fast.

Verse 26 and 27 of chapter 2, he says, So he's saying, as you hear these things, depend upon, lean upon the anointing that you have. Lean upon the power that you have access to, the power from Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit. Remember what it has taught you, that power.

And again, they went out from us. They didn't belong to us. They would have remained with us if they would have belonged to us, but know this. They didn't belong to us. This is an attack not from the outside in. This is an attack within the fellowship of persecution. Again, often we read of the persecution that comes against God's church that's from the outside, but this is certainly from the within side. And in so many cases, and we've seen, can be the most seductive and the most destructive.

These false teachers that John was identifying here, they were part of the Christian community, part of their very fellowship. And so this removal of them, this would have been a split. It would have been a schism in the community, and maybe even a significant split. It might have represented a numerical majority that would have been withdrawn from and put out of the fellowship.

So now in writing this letter, John adopts this we-they stance. He wants to make a clear separation. He's writing to those that haven't yet embraced the message that these false teachers were putting forth. But I'm sure, no doubt, were feeling the pressure. I'm sure they were feeling the pressure. And so as a father figure, now, he sits down to write to them. And as we read this letter, we begin to put together the pieces and begin to understand the issue that was facing this fellowship, God's Church. So what was the problem? What was the threat?

These false teachers came to believe and came to teach within the fellowship that Jesus Christ was not indeed the Son of God who had come to earth. And they began to deny the actual divinity of Jesus Christ. Christ, in their thinking, was just a man. And he was not the part of the family of God. And these false teachers believed it, and they began to teach that Jesus Christ, as he was and as he walked on this earth, was a created man. And that the Spirit of God descended upon him, but just for a short period of time. And that he was not the begotten Son of God who came to the earth as the Scriptures detail. And John addresses this very specifically in chapter 4. Look at chapter 4 in verse 1. We'll see this. Chapter 4. Let's read 1 through 3 here, 1 John. He says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false prophets have gone out into the world. But this you know, the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the Spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world. Quite a direct response to this threat that was being put forward, this message. And interesting enough, the thought process of these false teachers was not a new thought process by any means. This thought process actually came from an ancient belief. And it was an ancient belief that taught that there was inherent evil in matter. That there was inherent, in other words, inherent evil in physical flesh. And we're looking back to these ancient beliefs. And so these false teachers took that ancient belief, brought it forward, and applied it to the person of Jesus Christ. So therefore, it made it impossible for them to accept the idea of a real incarnation of God in the flesh. Because flesh is evil, they said. And so logically, then, Jesus was in the flesh, and so therefore, he couldn't be the Son of God. And again, it was a very ancient and seductive spirit of false knowledge that had come to present day there with John and this fellowship and the brethren at that time. And to really understand the corruption of this evil spirit that came to attack the fellowship of John's, we must understand the nature and the background of that spirit and of the evil method of approach to bring forth that of pagan knowledge and past pagan beliefs into the present. This is an evil method and an approach that actually has a label. And I know some of you may recognize this. And the label of that evil method and approach is Gnosticism. Maybe you have recognized that word, of course, Gnosticism.

And it comes from the Greek word Gnosis, which simply means knowledge. And the G is silent, so it's G-N-O-S-I-S. And it's the Greek word that simply means knowledge. And one of the elements and one of the aspects of Gnosticism can be described in this way, where it is a bringing together of knowledge from the old to that of the new Gnosticism. And Gnosticism claims to possess a higher knowledge, a higher truth of life, even that of a higher power and or higher powers that be. And by incorporating the past with the current concepts and precepts, these individuals then believe they are awakened to a higher understanding of what life is all about.

And this type of method and this type of teaching, it actually predates 1st century there with John. And it draws together these thoughts and ideas from different pagan religions of the ancient world and brings it into a belief system of the current, just as they were doing here in John's day, in applying this ancient belief to come to a higher understanding of the nature of Jesus Christ. Very deceptive. And it took this belief, this ancient belief that of the evilness of flesh, to come to the false conclusion that Jesus Christ in the flesh could not have been the flawless Son of God.

And this type of Gnosticism, it just was beginning to infiltrate quite greatly the new 1st century church and even in the 2nd century church.

And whether we realize it or not, it infiltrates the church today. And this Gnosis, this knowledge, was applied to the person of Jesus there. That's just one example.

One example of Gnostic thought. There's countless ways in which Gnostic thought has been brought into modern-day philosophies and religions. One of the most interesting ideas that is within the Gnostic ideas and elements is that knowledge is power.

They believe gaining and being awakened to knowledge. Well, that supersedes all things. And so to be a Gnostic was to be in the know. And it was to be part of a group that had an understanding that maybe only a few people understood.

And so if you were lucky enough, in a sense, to have this knowledge awakened in you, then you could be part of this particular group and this particular organization in society. And seemingly, only a few would understand this.

And these ideas, though, were always contrary to Scripture. Always contrary to Scripture because of its very origins by which they came. And so the Gnostics would have these debates. And this would often happen in the very Church of God.

And these debates and these contradictions would occur and they would then cause these splits to spawn. And so one group would branch off from another. And again, we can see this play out even today. People form and group themselves around an idea.

Often always, it's an idea that doesn't fit in Scripture, but they hold on to certain beliefs that they hold very near and dear to themselves. And these contradictions then take place. The conflict takes place with this Gnosticism. And eventually, that individual can end up straying from the faith.

And maybe even worse so, bringing someone with them. And sometimes it is a great vulnerability for God's people to have itching ears. I know we've all succumbed to that for different... We are in the Bible when we're studying and we might have... We have to guard against having itching ears for different ideas or maybe so-called new truths that can come up. And again, it leads to splits and divisions, just as it did here in John's fellowship. One thing to know about Gnostic ideas is, inevitably, Gnostic ideas and thoughts take God's people away from the fundamental grasp of God's purpose and plan. Often, it takes them away from that core foundation of knowledge and his plan. And it was a very dangerous heresy here in the first century that John was dealing with. And again, this is just one such Gnostic idea that was put forth by these false teachers in thinking that Jesus Christ was just a man, and created a man upon whom the Spirit of God just descended upon for a period of time. These false teachers within the fellowship of God's church were saying that there was no divine conception with Mary by the Holy Spirit. And they would even go as far to say, when Jesus Christ was up and being crucified, when he cried out, why have thou forsaken me? According to Gnostic thought, that was just the Spirit leaving him, that had just descended upon him for a period of time. He wasn't really talking to the Father because he wasn't the Son of God. He didn't have that connection. So they were able to explain away the actual divinity of Jesus Christ. And they would come to this special gnosis, this special knowledge, and that's how they could then justify the splits and justify the attacks on God's church during that period of time. And so when you read John's letters, this is what you're reading about. This is what he was facing and what his fellowship was facing that he dearly loved.

And there was all kinds of conclusions, variations. Some even said, some Gnostic said, when Jesus Christ walked along the Sea of Galilee, he didn't leave footprints, they would say. So they would even go the opposite way in saying, oh, he couldn't be in the flesh. He was not fully in the flesh. He was just still spirit, not fully man. So all these kinds of different heresies would be put forth. Again, allowing ancient pagan ideas to lay ahold of their minds, and they would turn their minds over to those things. Maybe they didn't even realize it. Some may have been convinced that they weren't being divisive at all.

I'm fully convinced of that sometimes. Rather, certain individuals will put forth certain special knowledge that they've been awakened to, and they might not even be aware of the great power of division that it can cause.

But they've turned their minds over to this type of thinking. But John knew Jesus. That's for one thing for sure.

When John was faced with this particular Gnostic idea, he truly knew who Jesus was. He truly knew that Jesus was fully man, and he was fully God.

Here we have an old man, the Apostle John, sitting down to write to his children, worried for his children, the brethren. He would now open his heart. As he opens this letter, you notice as we'll begin to read here in 1 John 1, verse 1, he is not going to be dealing in any kind of abstract way.

He's going to be dealing in certainties. He's running with absolute clarity to a mixed up and vulnerable fellowship that he knew. So let's read this. Let's see his response to this Gnostic teaching. 1 John 1, and let's read verses 1 through 4. He has no address to them, you'll notice. He doesn't address them at all. He just gets right to it. Verse 1, he says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. The life was manifested, and we have seen, and we bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us, that which we have seen, and we have heard, and we declare to you, that you may also have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and the things we write to you, that your joy may be full. You know, John, the Apostle John, he dearly loved Jesus Christ.

And so this particular accusation and this particular belief was quite personal to him. This is John, whom we know was probably the disciple that had the closest relationship to Jesus Christ than all the other disciples, so much so that Jesus Christ Himself entrusted the care of His mother to John. And it's even very possible that when John came into Ephesus here, it's very possible that he brought Mary with him for her to live out the rest of her life. And so John is speaking from a very personal approach here about a friend and about one to whom he knew was the Savior, and about one to whom he knew left the very right hand of God the Father. And so he sets forth these first-world verses. He doesn't even address the church like so many letters do, and he gets right to it. And what did he say? Well, I'm sure you picked up on it. He says that from the very beginning, which we have heard, we have heard all but more than that. We have seen with our eyes. We've actually seen Jesus Christ with our own eyes. We've looked upon Him. When he says we've even looked upon Him, it's actually a word that has a lot of strength to it. It's very specific, and it means we've studied Him. We've examined Him carefully. We were able to look upon Him in such a way to grasp who was walking with us, to grasp who the significance of this individual is. He says even our hands have handled, and addressing the Gnostic and the false teachers head on here, those who said Jesus never made footprints in the sand. He's addressing those who said He really wasn't the incarnate God. John says, I want to tell you, we heard Him, we saw Him, we looked upon Him, and we touched Him.

He was real, and He really was from the right hand of God. That's what he's saying here. The testimony is clear. Then John moves on to confirm the identity of Jesus Christ as the Word. He says, This which was from the beginning, concerning the Word of life, the life that was made manifested to us. I declare you that eternal life which was from the Father was manifested to us. Of course, this is just an extension of the Gospel of John, where he said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He became flesh, and He dwelt with us, and we beheld His glory. In 1 John 1, this Word was from the beginning. He carries that to the fellowship here. From the beginning, the Word of life pre-existed His manifestation. John is saying, listen, we've seen Him, we've heard Him, we've looked upon Him, we've touched Him. Although He existed co-eternally with the Father in a moment of time, that life was made manifested to us. This is what he's putting forward, and he's talking about Jesus who really was an eternity, and He really was with them, with us. So John is attacking head-on here, those Gnostics, that seduction that was occurring within the fellowship here. Again, he's writing to these men and women from this fatherly-like love. He doesn't want to lose their fellowship. He doesn't want to lose any more of those that would follow these antichrists and feel the pressure. Verse 3, he says, We have declared what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. This was just a driving point for him. And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. So these individuals not only had a fellowship with Him, they had a fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. It's what brought them together, and they could enjoy this with one another. Verse 4, all these things we write to you that your joy may be full. Later, in these letters, John writes that he had no greater joy. He says, I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth. So he was greatly concerned and greatly involved with them and doing what he could to keep them centered, to keep them to the core knowledge, the purpose as to why they've been called out. He greatly loved them, and he wanted them to know who Jesus was, who they were actually following, and have a true understanding of Him. That was his joy. And so he set forth to sit down and take on this task as an old man, to write to his dear children, to encourage them to stay strong and confirm and let them know, bring them back to the true knowledge, not these Gnostic ideas and these Gnostic truths. It really was a pivotal time in the Church then, and it's an incredible pivotal time in the Church today.

There are every bit of seductions today that we see here that can arise in God's Church. Turn back with me to Acts 20, if you will. Acts 20, let's read verses 28-31.

Acts 20, verse 28-31. Really, all of God's leaders faced these type of Gnostic ideas and this influence, and we're going to see Paul, the Apostle Paul, as well, give a stark warning to his elders here at Ephesus at a time in which he was departing them. So, Acts 20, verse 28-31. Paul says, Not sparing the flock, and also among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. Let's stop there. This was going to be a message, he says, and I don't know how much more deeply he could have described it here. Just every day for three years with tears. He knew the message was going to be an enticing, seductive message, and it was going to be a message that would appeal to God's people specifically. It wouldn't be a message that would fully depart from God's truth. It would be a message that would take maybe ancient beliefs and ideas and blend them in and apply them to God's true truth. So what did he say to him? Guard, because after my departure fierce wolves will rise from within. From within. This is a warning from God to God's people over and over again in Scripture. Turn to 1 Timothy, just to look at one other example here, 1 Timothy 6, verse 20. This is very telling here. We have the Apostle Paul again very concerned. He's writing this specific concern to Timothy, young Timothy, who was to be leading his own congregations. He's warning them about this special noeses, this special knowledge that will come forth and it will be very enticing. 1 Timothy 6, verse 20 through 21. Paul says here, Oh, Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust. Avoid the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith. Stop there. That word there for knowledge, it's noeses from the Greek. So he's telling Timothy here to guard against this particular threat and hold fast what has been committed to your trust. In a way, use your anointing and give the fellowship this instruction to stay close to and listen to God's Spirit so that you can pick up and you can identify. Hold fast to what you've been taught in your youth. Hold fast, Timothy, what you've been trained in the ministry. Hold fast against these profane, idle, empty words, babblings, contradictions. Those professing to have special knowledge or those professing to be awakened on a special part, an idea about God's truth. It's going to be under that guise. This is special. Come here. This is exclusive knowledge. Listen to this. That's what he's warning against. Be careful, he's saying. Hold fast to what you know and what you know that you know. We have a lot of current thought, a lot of Gnosticism today, and it's alive and well. People who claim to be Gnostics in the psychologist world, as teachers, spiritual leaders, make no doubt they're in God's church today. In fact, it's quite strong today to have a profound awareness of how these Gnostic ideas have come in. If you do a study on Protestant ideas, Catholic, all religious thoughts, all various philosophies of Buddhism and other ideas and thoughts throughout the world, you'll see very clearly they've brought ancient ideas together to be brought to the present. One current-day Gnostic idea is that really all of mankind has a spirit within them.

They're not speaking about God's spirit, which is given upon repentance and baptism. They're not speaking about that. All men, all women, have a spirit within them, and they can have an inner experience that they can be awakened to. This is a very strong message that's out there today. Therefore, often these individuals aren't part of an institution. A church, they say, is an outer form of religious exercise. You don't need that. Religion can be from within. Whatever you feel inside, wherever you go, you can access this spiritual feeling, they say. You can do that. You can be awakened to a part of you. You can have access to this spiritual experience. Today, we can have a generation that is coming up that considers themselves very spiritual. In some cases, more spiritual than their parents, but it's in a less conventional manner.

Many put together ideas about religion with an approach that you can pick and choose your own religious experience. You can pick and choose dabbling in spiritual ideas from a multitude of beliefs and a multitude of ancient ideas. Still calling themselves Christian, though, despite the multitude of ideas that they carry in.

Too often, these things can creep into God's church. We have to be careful of these ideas. They say it's a kind of salad bar type of approach, where they'll take this idea from this belief and another one from this. Oh, but I still want to add Jesus as my Savior. Just to be safe, I guess.

But that's what we're facing today. It really is a Gnostic belief that is coming in. And certainly, again, the church has to be careful that we don't mirror society in that way. Going back to 1 John, let's look at chapter 5 and verse 5 here.

1 John 5 and verse 5. We will see something else here to note about Gnosticism. Something important to note as we guard ourselves against Gnosticism. Ultimately, there's something that Gnostics, who put knowledge to the forefront above everything else.

There's something telling about that aspect here that we're going to see. And John is addressing this. 1 John 5 and verse 5. Ultimately, Gnostics reject and ultimately work against something about God's teaching. Gnostics do not see that knowledge is to produce something in a believer. We'll see John address this. 1 John 5 and verse 1 through 5. He says, And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world? But it is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Who is he that overcomes the world? He says, and he says, it is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

So in a profound way, John is taking another step here to combat these Gnostic ideas as he connects the idea of belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God with the idea of keeping his commandments and overcoming the world. This would have been an idea that the Gnostics would have rejected. They would have abhorred this idea because an ultimate quality of the Gnostics again is to put knowledge above everything, even above virtue, even above and superseding living righteously. In their thinking, all you needed was knowledge. That was their focus. Translated, salvation is by grace alone.

So it creeped into that belief system and that belief that salvation is by grace alone. Ancient beliefs mixed with today's. The old with the new. Knowledge is exalted. The Gnosis is exalted above standards that defines human conduct. And this idea of virtue with knowledge. John addresses again here. Look at 1 John. Let's go to chapter 1 verse 5 through 8 here. Chapter 1 verse 5 through 8 and see this. He's continuing to make this connection to his fellowship here. So 1 John 1 verse 5 through 8, he says, This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in light as he is light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

If we say we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So he's speaking about the fellowship here. And fellowship with those who truly have God's truth. John is addressing the idea again that virtue and living righteously is a critical element that is linked with belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

So to know who he was addressing, it really enriches these words that he is putting forth. In other words, living righteously under a standard of conduct is the result of believing Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God.

Again, this is his attempt to counteract these ideas of Gnosticism that taught just of a special knowledge. And that was the most important thing. Come into this group, look at this knowledge that we have been awakened to.

If you've encountered an individual who has a Gnostic belief, often it is just knowledge for the itching ears. It's rarely spoken in an attempt to lead the listener out of darkness into light.

Often it's just so-called revelation, and it's put out there, and it just sits. It just sits with really no purpose whatsoever.

But what identifies God's truth and his true knowledge is the action and change by which it produces. That identifies God's true knowledge, and that's how you can use God's Spirit and his anointing to really recognize it. What does this lead me to? Does this lead me out of darkness and into light? Or is it just special knowledge that just is put out there with no purpose?

We must, as John instructed, use the anointing and God's Spirit to identify the Gnostic ideas and reject them.

Isn't this just an amazing book here? It's just incredible to look at it, and just this brief introduction that we have today, and be able to see the same things that the church in the first century fought, the same things we fight today. It's what connects us, and that's why the Bible is so wonderful. We can look at it, and it's every bit relevant today, and there's so much to learn from it. So let's conclude with John in his letter to his children, the brethren that he loved dearly. Look at 1 John 2, and let's read 12-14.

Even though it was such an incredibly tough time for them, the brethren here, John's letter must have been just a wonderful encouragement to them. It's such a wonderful encouragement to us to hold fast, never lose your vision, stay to the core knowledge of what we know. John's reminding them of this, in just this wonderful way, poetic in many ways. Verse 12-14, John writes, Such an encouragement, such loving words, he believes in them, he knows they can withstand the pressure, and he knows that they're strong and the Word of God abides in them.

May we all guard to what's been committed to our trust. May we all avoid idle babblings and contradictions of so-called knowledge. May we all hold fast to God's truth, the knowledge of the true God to the end.