3 LETTERS of JOHN

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] Theme: How the dear children may know each other and live together; the Father’s love for his children; the two natures of the believer in action. “This is a very wonderful statement that John makes here. Let me give you my very literal translation of this verse: “Behold ye, of what sort of love the Father hath bestowed upon (given to) us, that we should be named children of God, and we are: and because of this the world does not know (begin to understand) us, because it did not know (begin to understand) Him.” John is saying that we do not expect to be the sons of God, we are the sons of God. A better translation includes the words “and we are.” The child of God can say emphatically, “I am a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” We don’t hope to be, we don’t expect to be, but the thrilling fact is that every believer can exult and rejoice and constantly thank Him that he is God’s child. We are boasters not in ourselves, but we are boasting of the wonderful Shepherd that we have. John makes it perfectly clear that if you are a born again child of God, you are going to exhibit a life that conforms to the Father. A child of God need not be in the false position of saying as an old hymn says: J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 786. Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought, Do I love my Lord or no? Am I His, or am I not? —Author unknown It would be understandable if an unbeliever didn’t know if he was a child of God or not, but believers should know that they are a child of God, but many do not. There will be some who think they are an unbeliever because they thought they weren’t good enough to go to heaven. But they will be surprised when they wind up in heaven because someone gave them the gospel. Then on the other hand, there will be some who think that they are going to heaven because they did so many good deeds to get there. But they will be surprised when they find themselves in torments (Luke 16:28), waiting to be judged at the Great White Throne. The child of God can say emphatically, “I am a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” Every believer can exult and rejoice and constantly thank Him that he is God’s child. God’s love for us is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Many people declare that all people are children of God, but that is not true, no one is a child of God unless they have put their faith alone in Christ alone when they believed the gospel. God has demonstrated His love by giving His Son to die for us. How many of us have someone who would die for us? How many folk would you be willing to die for? God loves you, and He has proven His love—He gave His Son to die for you. The greatest motivating force in the world is God’s love. Love is the greatest drive in the human family. A man falls in love with a woman, a woman falls in love with a man, and some make such tremendous sacrifices for each other. When human love is genuine love, it is a beautiful thing, it is a noble thing, it is a wonderful thing, and it is a tremendous drive. But God’s love for His children far exceeds anything we can experience on the human plane. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 786. God’s love is foreign to humankind in that we cannot understand the magnitude of such love. It astonishes, amazes, and creates wonder within those who properly reflect upon it. Daniel L. Akin, 1, 2, 3 John, vol. 38, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 133.

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Some believers are going to be embarrassed at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and that is what John refers to in: 1 John 2:28 …so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. There will be shame because they have wasted their lives, their time, and the opportunities that God gave them to advance to spiritual maturity. After the Rapture of the Church, there is going to be an assembly of thousands and thousands and thousands of born-again believers who are going to be ashamed during the evaluation period of the Judgment Seat of Christ. It will be too late to do anything about what was done in the past. It means that many will be faced with the real and genuine standards of Bible doctrine and truth, which they didn’t care about when they were on earth. Principle: When they are standing at the Judgement Seat of Christ and they have no rewards, then, they will have a complete understanding of what was required of them to follow God’s plan and to live the Christian way of life. Sadly, there is nothing they can do to about it. They probably will remember how magnificently God supported them and graciously gave them every opportunity to make right decisions that would open even greater options. The key to life is making good decisions. Good decisions open the door for more options, or you can make bad decisions that destroy future options. Learning Bible doctrine is the best way to make good decisions. 1 John 2:29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. Righteousness is going to be developed consistently throughout the next ten verses. Down through 3:10 we have the importance of righteousness contrasted with continuous sin. For example, 1 John 3:6 “No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.” This is not saying that Christians don’t sin but that if we are in fellowship we are not sinning. So v.6 is going to tie us back to the main commandment which is to abide in Him. What John is saying is that if we continue in a lifestyle of carnality, then obviously we haven’t come to the point where we really know God. That comes through doctrinal orientation and grace orientation. Then in v. 7 he says: “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” What he is saying here is that we are Gods children, part of the Royal Family and we need to grow up and act like it. He is teaching us that there are certain things that should never characterize the life of a mature believer nor an advancing believer who is growing spiritually. Because of his position In Christ and because of his position in the Royal Family, We should not be deceived by false doctrines and lies. Bible doctrine teaches us to practice righteousness which shields us being duped by anything that is false. The righteousness in v.7 is not imputed righteousness; it has to do with the right application of Bible doctrine. John says we are to practice righteousness. We are not to practice self-righteousness, nor arrogance, nor legalism, which are the opposite of practicing righteousness. Then in 3:9, he contrasts this and says: “No one who is born of God practices sin…” 2:29 says the one who is born of God practices righteousness. The theme here is that the believer who is abiding in Christ, develops righteousness. Extended verse 1 John 3:9 And at the moment when anyone is born from God (at salvation), he is not sinning (at the point of entering the Divine Dynasphere (DD) because His seed (God the Holy Spirit) keeps residing in it (the DD). Furthermore, he is not able to sin (inside the DD), because he has been born from God. Note: At the moment of salvation you are not able to sin because you are in the Divine Dynasphere. When from your own volition you decide to sin, you immediately are in the Cosmic System.}

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] Review of lesson 69 and continue to Lesson 70 2 Corinthians 5:8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. We know where we are headed. We know that our citizen- ship is in heaven, we know that we have an eternal destiny, that our destiny is to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, and therefore, because our focus is on heaven we want to be there. We understand that there is a purpose for our life and time here on earth, it is a training ground and where we are developing our spiritual maturity so that we will have the capacity and the ability to rule and reign with Him during the Millennial kingdom. There is a purpose to this; it is like boot camp in the military. How well we do is going to determine what our position will be after the Judgment Seat of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:9 Therefore also we have as our ambi- tion, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. Only God determines when we will leave planet earth and go home to heaven. That is His decision and His alone! There is no reason for us to fret about it. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2) A time to be born, and a time to die; We should focus on growing in grace and knowledge, serving Him and pleasing Him, learning to trust Him and to grow spiritually through consistently learning (B.D.). …and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Why would we shrink away from Him in shame? The reason is that the event that immediately follows the Rapture of the church age believer is the Judgment Seat of Christ. This does not refer to our eternal destiny, that is already settled; this has to do with those who will experience shame at the J.S.C. because they wasted their time and opportunities that God offered them. Their shame will be temporary. Deponent verb (active voice) shame – AISCHUNO, αἰσχύνω, (v.aps) ① to have a sense of shame, be ashamed ② to experience shame, be put to shame, having shame, guilt, embarrassment, or remorse. P- Normally this is a passive voice or a middle voice, but this is a deponent verb. Deponent — A verb that is middle or passive in form because there exists no active form for a particular principle part in Hellenistic Greek, but whose meaning is active (i.e., there is no middle or passive force to the verb’s meaning). Deponent verbs usually have lexical forms ending in -μαι. Deciding when a verb is deponent is a historical difficulty in Greek grammar. Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013; 2013). We know where we are headed. We know that our citizen- ship is in heaven, we know that we have an eternal destiny, and our destiny is to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, and therefore, because our focus is on heaven, we want to be there.

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] Originally, “anointing,” meant what was rubbed in or spread on in anointing. Eventually it even meant to be commissioned. God the Holy Spirit was never given until the Church Age. Cf. John 14:16-17,& 26. It is the anointing or unction (healing ritual) of 1 John 2:20 & 27 that refers to God the Holy Spirit. At that same time, the Holy Spirit indwelt our body, gave us the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, gave us a human spirit, and gave us the Filling of the Holy Spirit. LESSON 69 (11-13-25) Every believer receives all this and more from our Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, there is around 40 different free gifts that are given to every believer by “Him” Jesus our Lord. The instant a believer is saved, he also constitutes the ordination of the royal priesthood. When the believer enters the Divine Dynasphere, it is the royal priest entering the temple of God, the temple which God has provided for him. 1 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Extended verse: 1 John 2:28 And now, dear children, keep residing in It (the Divine Dynasphere) that if He should appear - maybe He will, maybe He will not – (in their lifetime - imminence of the rapture of the Church) we might have confidence and might not be put to shame by Him (at the Judgement Seat of Christ) 'at His coming'/'in His presence'. We now get into the main body of the epistle which extends to 1 John 4:19 and the main message is that the believer must mature to the level of loving God as loving one another if he is going to be bold before the judgment seat of Christ. little children - John is expressing himself and his love for the congregation: by teaching them what is necessary to advance to spiritual maturity. The term does not refer to them as spiritual infants but simply as those who are under his pastoral care. abide in Him - “meno” – to remain, to stay. This word relates to fellowship, ongoing, continued intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ based on the Word of God, application of His Word, being in fellowship. Why is it important to abide in Him? We don’t just abide in Him simply to grow, to glorify God; there is more to it than that. Whenever John refers to “abiding”, he is referring to persevering in the faith of salvation. There are many dimensions to that and the one that John is emphasizing here is for the purpose that “when He appears, we may have confidence.” so that when He appears - Jesus Christ ascended to heaven around 2,000 years ago and no one knows exactly when He will return to earth, which is called the Rapture. Every Church Age believer will meet Him in the clouds and will be taken to heaven. we may have confidence - Our goal should be that we will have confidence in the way we receive the ongoing grace of God, consistently learn Bible doctrine, learn to trust and love God, and grow to spiritual maturity. 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad worthless (phaulos).” This is not referring to our eternal destiny, that is already settled; this has to do with our roles and responsibilities in the Millennial kingdom, with rewards for spiritual growth, not for spiritual service. As we advance to Spiritual Maturity that (spiritual growth) is going to impact and affect the function of our priesthood—witnessing, giving, and all of the other things that relate to our priesthood—but our rewards at the judgment seat of Christ are not based on that, they are based on our spiritual growth! 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- 7) for we walk by faith, not by sight— That is the principle for the spiritual life; we are to walk by faith and not by sight. This is trust in the Word of God. Faith means that the Word of God is more real to us than our experience, our feelings, than our circumstances; and if the Word of God is more real to us than the events of our lives then we are walking by faith and not by sight.

----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] LESSON 68 (11-11-25) – Veterans Day Principle: 1. The believer who is distracted by either people problems, thought problems or system problems, follows both procedure and analogy related to seduction. 2. For example, seduction is preceded by lust or desire, and lust or desire indicates lack of contentment with one’s status quo. 3. Therefore, believers are unhappy or miserable inside the Cosmic System and are susceptible to being deceived, led astray or seduced. 4. Seduction is not possible without getting involved. 5. No one is seduced apart from his own volition and consent to seduction, and therefore the excuse of being deceived is not valid. 6. Whether deceived or not you wanted to be seduced and you were seduced (you asked for it!). 7. Therefore ignorance is never an excuse because people follow their volition whether in ignorance or cognizance. 8. Seduction is not possible unless one has erroneous priorities, hence the importance of assigning number one priority to Bible doctrine. 9. Seduction is not possible apart from predilection to arrogance. When people are deceived and seduced they are preoccupied with themselves, for lust is preoccupation with self, lust is arrogance. 10. Seduction is not possible apart from predilection to arrogance. When people are deceived and seduced, they are preoccupied with themselves, for lust is preoccupation with self, lust is arrogance. 11. Consequently, flattery is the key to seduction and there are many kinds of flattery which deceive – verbal, the maximum attention given to a person, deference apart from respect, hypocrisy, and fornication without love (which is a complex of sins). 12. Seduction implies arrogance in motivation and unfaithful-ness to the plan of God. 13. The one who is seduced spiritually has entered Cosmic One, the Arrogance Complex, as his motivation. And he has entered Cosmic Two, the Hatred Complex, as his inevitable way of life. 14. Therefore seduction implies an erroneous perspective of life as well as a lack of capacity for life, love, and happiness. Obviously, then, daily positive volition toward Bible doctrine is a great defense against spiritual seduction and the spiritual fornication of reversionism. Now we move from seduction to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Dynasphere. 1 John 2:27- And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Extended verse: 1 John 2:27 - Furthermore, as for you, the anointing (of the Holy Spirit) which you have received from Him (Christ) resides in you. Furthermore, you do not have need that anyone be teaching you. But as His anointing keeps teaching you concerning the all things (of Bible doctrine) and It (bible doctrine) is true/doctrine and furthermore, it is not a lie/false, in fact, as it (doctrine} has taught you to keep residing in It (the Divine Dynasphere). Note: All learning of Doctrine must be in the Filling of the Holy Spirit. R. B. Thieme Jr. says the 'anyone' refers to false teachers. So the pastor teachers must be filled with the Spirit as they study and when they communicate. Eventually, it even meant to be commissioned. Hence, it refers to what the person is anointed with and that is its use in this verse. It is a reference to God the Holy Spirit who is the power of the Divine Dynasphere, and the Church Age believer is anointed with the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit refers to the believer’s initial contact with God the Holy Spirit and the original entrance into the Divine Dynasphere at the moment of faith in Christ.

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] What is it that they are to have abiding in them? “That which you heard from the beginning.” There we have a relative pronoun plus an aorist active indicative verb which expresses the object of the command. The relative clause plus the verb indicates something they have heard in the past. The aorist tense is culminative and it indicates a complete message that they have previously heard and understood, i.e. the message about the person and work of Jesus Christ: that He is the Messiah, that the second person of the Trinity was incarnate through the virgin conception and virgin birth, that because of that He had no imputed sin, He committed no personal sins, and all of that qualified Him to go to the cross where He would die and pay the penalty for every sin. That is the ultimate issue because if sin isn’t really taken care of through the Hypostatic Union, then there is no certainty of eternal life and no certainty of forgiveness for sin. So John says they are to let that abide in them, continue to believe the message they heard from the beginning. Then he uses a third-class condition to express the believer’s options: he doesn’t have to do this. This emphasizes the potential of failure in the believer’s life if he rejects sound doctrine and if he gets involved in carnality. The basic claim that John is making related to salvation is that rejection of the unity of Father and Son is really implicit in the gospel. When we receive Jesus Christ as savior, John is saying, that is the same as accepting the truth about God the Father. If God the Father is rejected then Jesus Christ is rejected, because in essence they are the same. Other passages that emphasize this are found in: 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. He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.” It is not just belief in Christ but belief in the fact that if He is the Son of God then there is truth to the concept of God. John 14:10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 11) Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” 1 John 2:23 “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” Some may ask if that means they’re not saved if they don’t have the Father. The answer is yes, because the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. They are One and they cannot be separated. 1 John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. deceive – PLANAO, πλανάω. ① to cause to go astray from a specific way, ⓐ lead astray, cause to wander from someone. ⓑ mislead, deceive someone Believers must overcome the various distractions -- people testing, thought testing, system testing. So to avoid involvement in the Cosmic System, the believer must continue inside the Divine Dynasphere from his own self-motivation. You cannot stay inside the Divine Dynasphere as long as your motivation is based on inspiration from someone else. “I have written to you these things about those who are trying to seduce you.” Some Bibles use the word “seduce” instead of “deceive” but both words will suffice. There are many people who seek to lure the positive believer away from the Divine Dynasphere. There is always someone who is ready to come into center stage and try to lure you away from Bible doctrine. The active voice: both believers and unbelievers involved in the Cosmic System are constantly trying to lead astray or seduce those positive believers residing and functioning inside of the Divine Dynasphere. Therefore people inside the Cosmic System become the devil’s evangelists to lure you away from God’s Principle plan for your life.

----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] 1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. This denial involves also a denial of the Father. Any claim they might make to having the Father’s approval is false. One cannot have the Father without the Son. To reject One is to reject the other. A characteristic of antichrists is that they deny the faith (i.e., sound doctrine). Anyone denying the true nature of Christ as presented in the Scripture is an antichrist (John 4:2; 2 Thess. 2:11) John 8:17-18 Even in your law it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true. 18) "I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." “When you say that you believe in God and deny the deity of Christ, you really do not believe in God, certainly not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the one who sent His Son into the world to die for our sins. And since the Son is God, He alone is the one who could make a satisfactory sacrifice to God for our sins. Had he been anyone else other than God, He Himself would have been a sinner.” J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 781. 1 John 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 1 John 2:7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 1 John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.” “The beginning” in 1 John goes back to the incarnation of Christ. That “which ye have heard from the beginning,” that which you heard concerning His incarnation, that which you heard concerning His life, that which you heard concerning His death and resurrection—in other words, that which they had heard from the beginning when the apostles began to preach the gospel. I know a man who heard our Bible-teaching radio program more than twenty years ago in San Diego. I’m not going to tell you about his life before then, but when he heard the broadcast, right there and then he accepted Christ as his Savior. God put him at the head of the Christian Servicemen’s Center in San Diego, and it is one of the finest in the world. Down through the years, he has been responsible for leading literally thousands of sailor boys and soldier boys to the Lord. I thank God for the testimony of this man’s life because John says that if you abide in Him, that is the evidence that you are a child of God. It is essential, therefore, to have a living faith which rests in the One who came to this earth more than nineteen hundred years. The important thing in this whole section of Scripture is communion with the Father and with the Son. The emphasis here is not so much upon having life in Christ through faith in Him, but the emphasis is upon having communion and enjoying that fellowship with Him which is so essential.” J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 5 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 782.

----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] Deuteronomy 13:1-3 "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2) "and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods' -- which you have not known -- 'and let us serve them,' 3) "you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; “These people who left the community had shared in its external life but were never truly a part of its internal existence due to the fact that they had never truly embraced God’s Word. The reason for this assertion was, they had never really been a part of the spiritual community. Literally, “for if they were from us (but they weren’t), they would have remained with us (but they didn’t).” The decision of these weak believers to remove themselves from fellowship with the community, gives evidence that they have never been motivated to grow in grace and knowledge. For some, their true inward devotion is to the world, not to the Lord. Once again it is clear that having one’s name on the church roll does not necessarily mean that one loves the Lord or wants to please Him. There are millions of believers who’s Lives cannot be distinguished between unbeliever’s Lives. They don’t care about the community of believers who are advancing spiritually. They don’t care about God’s commands or being obedient to Him but some go to church to see their friends or to sing hymns or to listen to the choir sing, or feel good about themselves There are reasons for true believers to leave a church that they have gone to for decades and it is not because they have not believed the gospel. It could be that their pastor retired or went to another church in another state. It could be that someone accepted false doctrine and left the church. It could be that a member just got tired of learning Bible Doctrine and no longer go to church. Verses 20-29: Shows the Conflict of the Divine and Cosmic Dynaspheres 1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. Extended verse: 1 John 2:20 You (In spite of believers defecting to the Cosmic System) have an anointing (of the Holy Spirit - the indwelling and Filling of the Holy Spirit) from the Holy One (Jesus Christ in the prototype Divine Dynasphere) and you have come to know (through the study of doctrine) all (spiritual) things. Anointing - chrisma, χρῖσμα, (n.asn); assignment, particular task, formally, an anointing “Anointing from the Holy One The Holy Spirit has come upon the believing community; God has chosen them for a specific purpose. This anointing served as further evidence of the Christian community’s genuine relationship with Christ, one another, and John (v. 3). It provided them with the discernment necessary to reject the false teaching of the antichrists (see v. 27).” The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit takes place when He permanently indwells our body when we believe the gospel. The Filling of the Holy Spirit also takes place when we believe the gospel, but we lose the Filling of the H.S. when we go into carnality when we sin. The only way we can get out of carnality is to acknowledge our sin/sins to God who is faithful and just to forgives our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then we have the filling of the H.S. again and reside again in the Divine Dynasphere. Perception is only possible in the Divine Dynasphere 1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie (pseudos) is of the truth / Bible doctrine. (Ek – from, Aletheia – truth) Pseudos is the word from which we get pseudo. It does mean a lie. Note: Ek and Aletheia means 'from doctrine' or from the 'truth'. Bible doctrine as the Word of God, is the Truth and there is no lie in what it teaches. John is writing to believers who are positive and cognitive of Bible doctrine, but they cannot understand what happened to their fellow believers who are no longer interested in doctrine. “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth”- they had the gospel; they had the truth. John is not writing something new to these folks. He is writing to them for what is a twofold purpose. One is to encourage them, and the other is to warn them because there was false teaching going out in that day.”

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us. Extended verse: 1 John 2:19 They separated/'went out' from us (quit studying God’s Word), however they were really NOT part of us. (not positive to B.D. as we are) For if they had been part of us (eager to study doctrine) - but they were not ( “if” - 2nd class conditional clause – “not true”) - they would have resided with us. But (they have reacted to us by separating from us), in order that they might be exposed . . .because not all believers are part of us. It is very important that we recognize that those who were not interested in Bible Doctrine, nor the spiritual life were believers! The fact that they separated from believers who were eager to study God’s Word and to live the spiritual life does not mean they were unbelievers. They would miss the great benefits and rewards that God offers, but that doesn’t mean that they lose their salvation or never had it. They have received the free gift of eternal life and the free gift of righteousness which are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. There are others who believe those who think that those who separated from the faithful believers were not true believers. They arose from within the church and departed from true fellowship and lead people out with them. The verse also places emphasis on the doctrine of the persever-ance of the saints. Those genuinely born again endure in faith and fellowship and the truth (1 Cor. 11:19; 2 Tim. 2:12). The ultimate test of true Christianity is endurance (Mark 13:13; Heb. 3:14). The departure of people from the truth and the church is their unmasking. John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1967. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, All of us are sinners, so no one can know that they will be faithful to God over the years. Acts 20:29-30 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30) and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. False teachers can go into a church and cause people to turn away from Bible doctrine and embrace the Lies of their perverse understanding of Satan’s deceptions.

-----Complete notes can be downloaded from our website - www.countrybiblechurch.us -----You may contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] 2 Thessalonians 2:9 the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, This is a further description of the one who will come to an end, meaning Anti-Christ. He is the one who will be assisted by the activity of Satan. Satan uses his power to promote the anti-Christ. Notice the contrast of this to how God uses His power to make the worst of sinners a minister of the gospel. And then that lawless one will be revealed . . . Paul makes it very clear that nothing begins until The Restrainer (HS) is removed. This verse spans a seven-year period from the beginning of the Tribulation when the anti-christ is revealed to the end of it when Jesus Christ comes to set up His Millennial Kingdom. Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21) who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. God uses His power to transform puny, corrupt bodies into glorious resurrection bodies like our resurrected Savior’s body. . . . with all power and signs and false wonders . . . Satan will pull out all the stops to empower anti-christ to perform supernatural feats that will convince most all people that he is God. Jesus warned that false prophets would come producing signs and wonders in: Matthew 24:24 . . . For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. In Exodus 7:11, Pharaoh’s sorcerers turned their staff into serpents just as Moses had done, but they were pseudo. The serpent that came from Moses’ staff ate the serpents that came from the sorcerer’s staff. This was an illustration and preview of how God’s power will prevail over Satan’s power when all of Satan’s efforts come to naught and he is cast into the Lake of Fire. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 - and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. . . .every wicked deceit . . . APATE, n. dsf; deceit or delusion; deceptive. Many people believe that the devil is red, has horns and a tail, and that he carries a trident. Actually, quite the contrary is true. The Bible describes him as an angel of light: ..those who are perishing. . . APOLLUMI, part. pa. to destroy, void, perish, or bring to naught; to put to death physically. It also speaks of eternal death which is called “the second death” in Rev. 20:14. However, it does not carry the meaning of annihilation or of being caused to cease to exist. People who do not know the Bible are suckers for signs, visions, and wonders. When you combine signs and wonders with deception and wickedness, you have something power- fully evil. The Word of God is more reliable than what we see. Satan is the great deceiver who will easily deceive the entire world. There is an old saying, “Those who do not stand for something will fall for anything.” People who are not rooted and grounded in the Word of God will fall for all kinds of signs. There is only one way to distinguish whether something is true or false, and that is to hold it up to the light of the Word of God. because they have not accepted the love of truth, . . . have not accepted DECHOMAI v. ami; to accept an offer deliberately and readily; to take to oneself what is presented or brought by another; to receive. Zodhiates, S. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament The middle voice highlights volition. It signifies that the subject is being affected by its own action or is acting upon itself. Their own choice brings about their condemnation. God will provide everything that is needed for those who want to know the truth. No one will have an excuse for remaining spiritually ignorant.