Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (19) They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. (20) But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (21) I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (22) Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. (23) Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. (24) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. (25) And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life, (26) These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. (27) But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (28) And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (29) If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him.
By the last time, whether the Apostle meant the age of the Apostles, he himself being the only survivor, or the destruction of Jerusalem, I do not determine; but that it could have no reference to the end of the world is certain, for the period in the Church which was to succeed the Apostolic age was but just begun. Heresies were to arise, according to what God the Holy Ghost had said by Paul, and the last time of the Gospel state was not to come before there had been a falling away, and the man of sin revealed. See 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 and 1 Timothy 4:1. I desire the Reader to be very attentive to these scriptures. If they are taken in one mass of particulars, they evidently amount to this conclusion: God the Holy Ghost, by the ministry of John, the last then living Apostle, was summing up the canon of scripture. And God the Holy Ghost, having given every evidence and testimony by the inspired writings of his servants the Apostles, to the truth as it is in Jesus, tells the Church expressly, that heresies shall come, the chief feature of whose character would be to deny the Godhead of Christ. Heresies now at the close of John's life, began to appear, which, under various shapes and forms, soon swarmed in the Church, that is, the nominal Church. And this John shews, is a plain testimony of being the last time.
He then draws the feature of their character. They went out from us, that is, they joined our assemblies, called themselves Christians, and, as far as outward appearances carried them, they seemed to be of the Church of Christ. But, they were not of us. Never had the tokens of regeneration, and therefore no features of the true sonship in Christ. Reader! do not overlook this. There is but one mark, and that is an infallible one of a real Christian; namely, the new-birth, or regeneration. Where this is, the proof is unquestionable of a child of God. Where this is not, the highest flaming profession is what Jude calls, clouds without water; Jude 1:12. I beg the Reader to remark with me, the grace of the Lord, in thus giving his children the sure testimony of a believer, in being born of God.
And, let not the Reader overlook what makes everything blessed in knowledge, namely, having the unction of the Spirit, by which we know all things. This is an infallible teacher; and the figure is beautiful. The unction of the Spirit, gives light to the spiritual eyes, softens the heart, searcheth the understanding, mollifies the corrupt affections, and becometh the oil of joy and gladness, in imparting a knowledge of all things necessary to salvation.
It appears that John, the beloved Apostle, lived long enough to see many of the early heresies. And it is our mercy that he did. For, by reason of it, he hath armed the Church, under the Holy Ghost, against them. If they dared to creep in, with the denial of the Godhead of Christ, (which, for the most part, is the foundation of all other heresies), while John was yet alive, who lay in the bosom of Christ, what might not be expected from the latter-day apostacy?
I admire the remedy which the Apostle, under God the Holy Ghost, proposeth for the stability of the faith. Abide in Him. A close adherence to Jesus becomes the sure way of comfort in the faith of Jesus. Our safety in Christ, indeed, hath nothing to make it so from any act of our's. It is the Lord's holding us, and not our holding him, which forms the everlasting security of the Church. Nevertheless, our confidence in Him will, more or less, bring comfort, and prevent us from being ashamed before him, at his coming. There is an abiding in Christ, which means somewhat more than our merely believing in Christ. A child of God, once savingly regenerated, may be said always to abide in Christ, though he is not always found in a lively exercise of the actings of faith upon Christ. He is still in the root, but it is winter with him, and there are no marks of life, in buddings, or blossoms, or fruit. It is plain that the Apostle meant somewhat more than merely confessing Christ, when he saith, little children abide in him, that when he shall appear ye may have confidence before him. He certainly meant to say, that by abiding in Christ, the child of God should constantly have Christ in view, be always living upon him, and living to him. He is supposed, by this abiding, to undertake nothing but in Christ's strength, and to aim in nothing but Christ's glory. And where this abiding in Christ is, there will be an increasing desire after him, and an increasing delight in him. So that when Christ, who is thus the life of his redeemed shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory.