Steve Schwetz hosts another compelling episode of Through the Bible, taking you deep into the letters of John. Today, we tackle the critical question of how to ensure one’s salvation, looking at the marks of a true believer and the deceptions of false doctrines that have been present since the church’s inception. Dr. McGee’s teachings shed light on the spirit’s role in giving believers assurance and guiding them in truth and authenticity.
00:00:03 Introduction to 1 John and Dr. McGee’s Legacy
the foundation ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faithful Am I really saved? How do I know for sure? Well, most pastors will tell you that these are the most common questions that they’re asked by sincere and searching people. I’m Steve Schwetz, your host, and I’m so glad that you’re here on the Bible Bus with us to study God’s Word. Now, we’re right in the middle of a great journey through the book of 1 John, on our way through the entire Word of God in five years, alternating between the Old and New Testaments. Our teacher, well, he’s the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee, who faithfully taught the Word of God his entire adult life, and now his legacy continues as his study is now in more than 250 languages around the world. Dr. McGee would have been the first to say that he was amazed at how God has used these simple yet life-changing studies to bring people an understanding of what it means to know and walk with God by faith. I know I’ve personally been changed by my study of God’s Word on Through the Bible, and I would guess that God has used Through the Bible in your life too. Many have told us how their restless questions about their relationship with God were settled once they understood His Word. We begin in 1 John 2, verses 19 to 22. But first, here’s Dr. McGee to continue his special introductions on how to live the Christian life.
SPEAKER 01 :
We’re in a very critical and a very important, a very solemn section right now, but it’s very exciting. And I want to add, before we get into our study today, again, the fact that The Christian life is not a set of rules and regulations. It’s not a turning from one law, the mosaic system, to another law. It’s not that at all. It’s from law to what we call grace. But that word is being so abused today. Grace means that you’re saved by grace and that you’re to live by grace. And when the rapture takes place, I’m going to be taken out of this world by grace. It won’t be because of any merit on my part at all, or no one will go out on that basis. And therefore, you and I today have salvation, and salvation means that we’re in Christ. And if we live the Christian life, It means that the Lord Jesus Christ not only died for us, but now he wants to work in us. And it’s to abide in him. That’s what John says. Paul said that we are to yield, are to present our bodies a living sacrifice. And this is not by some psychological gyration. I hear today a great deal of Bible stories told, and the application is always a psychological, that God gives you this in order that he might develop you psychologically and bring you to some conclusion. May I say to it, I don’t think he’s doing that at all. Somebody says, well, I’m going to practice this rule, and you can practice until you’re red in the face, and that’s not going to be the solution to your problem, my friends. And you can say, well, I’ve had an experience and that experience has taught me that the experience may be helpful in some way, but you’re not going to live the Christian life by an experience you’ve had. It’s only by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the scripture says thus one thing concerning the Holy Spirit that’s in the nature of a commandment. He says, be filled with the Spirit. or to walk in the Spirit. That is the thing that the child of God is to do today. And that is the thing that we are coming to do today in our study. And we are going to attempt to develop this in a very real way. But I think probably we need that little preparation that will prepare us for this study that’s coming up. And it’s a very important one.
SPEAKER 02 :
Let’s pray together as we dig into God’s word. Heavenly Father, thank you for how your spirit uses your word to transform our lives. We ask that it goes out now in power, blessing those who have ears to hear and hearts willing to obey. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now here’s our study of 1 John 2 on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
SPEAKER 01 :
Now, friends, today we come to a very serious and solemn section of 1 John, and we touched last time on verse 19 of 1 John, the second chapter. And I’m going to pick up with that verse today because it’s a very solemn statement that is made here. 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. Now, this is very solemn. John says that some that had made a profession of being Christians in that day, they had all the outward trappings of being a Christian. And they bore the Christian name. And they identified themselves with some local assembly, some church. And they were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They were immersed. They took the bread and the wine at the communion service. And they do all of that. But you must remember, it was said of Judas… And the Lord said this of him, The hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. Right here at that first communion service, there was a traitor there. It was Judas Iscariot. And he was one that was identified with the group. John 6, 70, it says, Have not I chosen you twelve? And one of you is a demon. Now, he was never anything else. He looked like an apostle. He acted like an apostle. And I think that he had power to perform miracles. He went out with the others. And they were not able to identify him as being a phony. But he was. Now, that’s a very solemn and serious statement that’s made here. And it’s made for you and me today. The Lord Jesus said to that very religious man, you must be born again. He said to Nicodemus that night, except a man be born again, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. And John says they went out from us. They were not of us. They look like it, but they actually were not. And the real test, of course, was the Word of God. And it ought to cause every Christian today, I don’t care who you are, including this poor preacher here that’s speaking to you today. And the question is, have I really faced up to my sins in the light of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have I come to God in repentance, owning my guilt and acknowledging my iniquity? And have I cast myself upon Him and Him only for my salvation? Have I evidence in my life of being a regenerate soul of God? Do I love the Word of God? Do I want the Word of God? Is it bread to me? Is it meat to me? Is it drink to me? Do I love the brethren? And do I love the Lord Jesus Christ? These are the things, my friend. And the Word of God enjoins us in this particular connection. And I think it’s very important for us. You remember that in Galatians, the sixth chapter, verse 15, Paul makes it very clear. After presenting justification by faith in no uncertain terms, he says, “…but in Christ Jesus…” Neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Now, you can’t even boast of the grace of God and say today, oh, I don’t believe in church membership. I don’t believe in baptism. I don’t believe in those things. All right, those things are of no avail because you say you don’t believe in them. The question is, have you really been born again? Or are you one of those that are trusting these things today? My friend, the important question is, are you a new creation in Christ Jesus? And then you remember Paul speaking to the Corinthians, and some of them had reason to believe they might not be children of God. He says in 2 Corinthians, the 13th chapter, verse 5, examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. Know ye not yourselves how Jesus Christ is in you, unless you’re discredited? Do you really know today that you’re a child of God? May I say, friends, this is very important that God’s children know these things. Let’s look at another verse. Over in 1 Corinthians, this 16th chapter, verse 13. Listen to him. He’s speaking to believers. Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Quit you like men. Be strong. Friend, how are you doing with the Christian life? Are you really a child of God today? Is there evidence in your life that you are a child of God? I’m not talking about whether you’ve committed a sin or not. What did you do after you committed this sin? Did you keep on in it? Did you continue on in sin? Well, the son got in a pig pen, but friends, he didn’t continue there. That was not his permanent address. If you had mailed him a letter after he’d been there for a few weeks and months, unless the pigs had forwarded it, he wouldn’t have got it because that’s not his permanent address. He’s going home. And the child of God, after he sinned, is going to God with hot tears coursing down his cheek, crying out to God. And my friend, if he doesn’t, he’s not God’s child. God’s child today has to hate sin. This light view that we have today is just something that is not quite accurate. And I’m afraid that there are many church members that are just taking it for granted that they’re children of God because they’re as active as termites in the church and just about with the same effect as termites. But let me pass this little story on to you. I’ve heard it told several different ways. I do not know which way is accurate or not. But years ago in London, down in the slums, there was a woman of the underworld, a prostitute. She had a little son. She became terribly sick and she was frightened because she knew she was dying. And she sent her little son to get a minister to come and, as she put it, to get her in. She told the little fella, you go get a minister to get me in. And the little fella went out looking for a church. He had to go a long ways before he found a very imposing looking church. He went around to the rectory there in London and The minister came to the door when he rang the bell. And the minister looked at this little urchin and said, what do you want? My old lady, he says, is dying. And she wants you to come and get her in. Well, the minister thought at first to get her into a hospital, that she was probably drunk somewhere. And he says, well, get some policemen. It’s raining tonight, and I don’t want to get out, but get some policemen to get her into her home. And the little fellow says, she’s already home. She’s not drunk. She’s in her own bed, and she’s dying. And she wants somebody to get her in. And she wants me to get a minister. And would you come? And the minister was stunned for a moment because he was a liberal. And he knew that he should go. He couldn’t turn down requests like that. So he got his coat and umbrella. And he went with the little fella. And they walked and walked and came to that very poor section of London. And And finally found the creaky stairs that led to an upstairs bedroom. And the minister all the way over, he thought, well, what will I say to her? I can’t say to her what I’ve always preached to my people. I’ve told them that they are people of culture and refinement and that they are to keep that up, of course, and to continue to be very cultured and refined. What in the world can I say? And he said, I can’t tell her to reform. She ought to be reformed, but it’s too late now. What can I tell her? And he remembered that as a boy, that his mother always quoted John 3, 16. And in desperation, he got his Bible when he sat down by the side of this woman and turned to John 3, 16. And it actually wasn’t too familiar to him. And he read it to her. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. And the dear woman wanted to go over it. She said, you mean that the type of person I am, all I’d have to do is just trust Jesus? And he said, well, that’s what it says here. And it says that God gave his son and that he gave him to die on a cross. It says, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. He said, I see that here. So that’s what you’re to do. And this dear woman, before she died, right there, she accepted Christ as her Savior. And the preacher that was there told the story afterward. He said, and that night, I not only got her in, but I got myself in. May I say to you, friends, are you sure that you’re in? Are you sure that you’ve trusted him and that he is your Savior? I know some people are going to write me an ugly letter and say, you’ve got no right to ask us questions like that because we’ve been members of the church 30 years. Well, I think that you ought to examine yourself and see whether you’re in the faith or not. I think it’s wonderful to make an inventory and find out where you were. One summer, we didn’t know where we were financially because we’d been without an auditor here to help us. Then when we got one, we found out that we thought we were just sailing along on nice blue seas, and we weren’t. We were in the red somewhat, and thank the Lord, we got to it in time and we got out of the red. Thank the Lord for that. But it’s because we examined our condition And we thought we were all right. And friends, I think a great many Christians today, at least church members, they need to examine themselves. Are you really in the faith? You really trust Christ? Somebody says, you’re robbing me of my assurance of salvation. My friends, I believe in the security of believers, but I believe in the insecurity of make-believers. And I think that we need to examine ourselves and see what kind of a believer we really are. Now, I’m going to move on down to verse 20. He says, But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Now, what he means here and what he’s saying by the unction is an anointing. We have an anointing, and that is the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which we are going to see later in this chapter here, that there is an anointing in verse 27. It says, “…but the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you.” Now, that’s the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Now, the Holy Spirit indwells every believer, every real believer. And the Holy Spirit is able to reveal to him all things. I have not seen the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things the Lord has prepared for him. But God hath revealed them unto us by spirit, so that we have someone dwelling in us that can reveal these things that are in the word of God to us. And we have an anointing, therefore, so that every person can have the assurance of his salvation. If you really want to do business with God, you really want to get right down to the nitty gritty with him, come to him and ask for light, ask for guidance, ask for his assurance. Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. It means all things that you should know as a child of God, their potential. It doesn’t mean that you’ve been given a Ph.D. degree in spiritual things all of a sudden. But it means that by the Holy Spirit you can study the Word of God, and then through the experiences that God sends to you, you have the possibility of growing in these matters. And many a child of God grows in grace and in knowledge of Christ. And I’ve been amazed at the number of lay people I’ve met in my ministry. I have told the story before about when I was a student in seminary. It was my first year. It was during the Depression, way back in the late 20s. And I was invited to a little Baptist church in the cotton mill section of Sherman, Texas. And I went up and preached four times that Sunday. And I’ll never forget it. The cotton mill hadn’t been operating for over a year. And they gave me 30 cents. And I took one of my friends, a fellow student there with me. I told him on the way back, he says, why are you so quiet? I told him, I says, you know, the offering I got was 30 cents. And he says, well, this is a real event for you. This probably will be the only time that you’ll ever be paid exactly what you’re worth, 30 cents. But gracious, that had to be spread out over four sermons I gave. But I had dinner, that is the noon meal that day in a home. And there was an elderly woman there and And everybody called her grandma. And there were about 15 or 20 people there. And I don’t think she was the grandma of everybody. And she could not read or write. In fact, she told me that she came out in a covered wagon in the early days. And she said, I loaded the rifle when my husband shot at Indians. And she’d been a real pioneer, but she’d never learned to read or write. And they asked me, they said, would you read something for Grandma? But she wasn’t able to go to church. And so I thought, I’m a first-year seminary student, I’d give this dear lady the benefit of my vast knowledge of Scripture. Which, by the way, wasn’t so vast, but I thought I’ll take something easy and familiar. So I took John 14, and I began to read it. And as I went along, I wanted to explain it to Grandma. After all, she couldn’t read and write, so I thought I would help her. And I made a comment or two, and she sat there. And I thought she looked a little bored, but after a few minutes, she said, “‘Young man, had you ever noticed this?’ Frankly, she’d make a comment and bring out something in the passage that I’d never even heard before. In fact, there was an old professor at school that had ever mentioned that about that passage of Scripture. And before we got through that chapter, she was telling me and I was listening. And this friend of mine had gone with me. He was sitting over in the corner. I knew he was going to get me for that afterward. So on the way back that night, he made another comment. Ma, he says, you sure were helpful to Grandma today. I said, where in the world do you suppose that woman learned so much about John 14? And he said, had there occurred to you that maybe the Holy Spirit was her teacher, maybe that you and I have been listening to the wrong teachers. We need to let the Holy Spirit be our teacher. May I say to you, that’s what this verse means here. You have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. That’s potential. That’s up to you whether you’re going to learn or not. Now he says, I have not written unto you because you know not the truth. They had the gospel. They had the truth. But because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. What he’s saying is this. You’ve had the truth, but now lies are coming in. Gnosticism was coming in. And there were many antichrists that were appearing. Now, who is an antichrist? Now, we said just a few words about it the other day. We’ll say a little bit more right now. Verse 22. Who is a liar? Now, that’s John. Well, the one that doesn’t tell the truth is a liar. But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Now, may I say to you that a definition now of Antichrist, and it will be the embodiment of the Antichrist, but there are many Antichrists. There were some in that day. There have been some down in our day, and there are many today. Who are they? Easy to recognize. Those that deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that deny that Jesus, Jesus the man, is the Christ, the Messiah, the one that is God, the one whose name is wonderful, the Counselor, the mighty God, the one pictured in the Old Testament. And when you deny that, that’s Antichrist. Now, may I say that we have, I think, many systems in the world today that deny him. They are against Christ and they also imitate him. They try to take the place. You have that in early church. It was Gnosticism. Irenaeus made this statement. He said that they say, that is the Gnostics, that Jesus was the son of Joseph and born after the manner of other men. That’s where Irenaeus identified the Gnostics in his day. And I would say that if you take any of these cults and isms today, liberalism has denied his deity. And that’s the reason that, very candidly, I have made the statement, and I don’t mind making it again, that Jesus Christ… That superstar is Antichrist. It’s not the Jesus of the Bible that is the Savior of the world by any means. And so here, who is a liar? But he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is Antichrist. Not the Antichrist. There are going to be many Antichrists, and already there were. And the one that denieth the Father and the Son. Now, that will be the sure mark of Antichrist. And there are many of them. And there are many around us today, of course. Now, I want to pick up right there next time. And so until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.
SPEAKER 02 :
If you’d like to know more about the last days, you’ll find a clear biblical presentation from Scripture in Dr. McGee’s booklet, Who is Antichrist? It’s available for free download at ttb.org, or if we can help you find other resources by Dr. McGee to deepen your study of God’s Word, call 1-865-BIBLE. Again, that’s ttb.org or 1-865-BIBLE. And when you’re in touch, be sure to tell us how you listen to Through the Bible. Is it on our app? online on youtube or maybe your favorite christian radio station you know this feedback helps us to be good stewards of the resources that god provides through faithful friends like you so thanks in advance next time dr mcgee tells us about the four godly men who encouraged him in ministry it’s a great testimony of how our lives impact others i’m steve schwetz grateful for your company on the bible bus and your partnership in taking god’s whole word to his whole world through the Bible exists to take God’s whole word to the whole world and we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support where will God’s word go today
