“Therefore 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.” I John 2:24.

“…let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning” 1John 2:24a. It is and was important for the Christian to have the word of God within their heart, and not to deviate from that.

The word of God is the entire Bible, and in particular, the gospel of Christ.

“…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10.

Without the gospel or with a watered down gospel we are helpless to help those around us.

The Gnostics, in this case, and the antichrists, are in a continual battle to destroy the knowledge of who God is.

Today the Jehovah’s Witness’s teachings are close to those of the Gnostics, telling us that Jesus is not God; He is a god, thus denying the trinity.

The Mormons teach that God the Father was begotten of a species of gods and this father god and his wife have begotten millions of spirit-children in a preexistent time. Jesus is the first born of all spirit-children including Lucifer and Adam.

To the Hindus, Christ is an avatar, just another god, although an important one, or so goes the lip-service.

Christian Science tells us that the Trinity is a pagan concept, Jesus is not God, and the shed blood of Christ is worthless against sin, which does not exist anyway.

Islam teaches that God never had a Son, and rather than being saved by the shed blood of Christ, non-Muslims are to convert or be slaughtered and go into eternal damnation. Allah, by the way is not the same person as the God of the Christians and the Jews.

And profane men will say that Christ was a great teacher and example who never claimed to be God; which is a lie and the height of condescension.

If you will forgive me, but it is difficult to sit down and type these blasphemous things out.

If you are interested in what the cults believe, you might find “Larson’s Book of Cults” interesting, written by Bob Larson and published by Tyndale House Publishers, inc., Wheaton, Illinois.

So the importance of having the word of God abide in you is this, if you are conversant in the Scriptures, if the word of God abides in your heart, you will not be robbed by these antichrists when they come to you and spout their gobbledygook. In fact you may just walk away, or you may refute their arguments from Scripture.

Most of the time a discussion with an antichrist is futile, but occasionally it may help other listeners turn away from error.

“If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” 1 John 2:24b.

If you abide in God’s word you will avoid falling into the error of false doctrine. By this your relationship with the Father and the Son will remain unbroken, and your fellowship with, and growth in Christ will enable you to live the blessed life that God wants for you.

Jesus said this about Satan, the thief, liar and deceiver.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:10-11.

Grasp on to that, never let it go; do not let Satan rob you through his antichrists.

“And this is the promise that He has promised us – eternal life.” I John 2:25.

If a person has truly accepted Christ as their savior, this promise is good, there are no strings. You may be familiar with the following verse, but read it again, very carefully.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

Consider the last seven words, “…should not perish but have everlasting life.” The words have everlasting life is present tense, which means that it starts upon salvation – acceptance of Christ as payment for all of your sins, past, present, and future.

This is a wonderful promise for the Christian, think of all the things men have done to gain eternal life, and failed. There is no Fountain of Youth; scientists will never find a solution to death with some drug, diet regimen, or bionic repair to body organs.

Men have gained an eternal life of sorts through the building of monuments and pyramids, but the folks inside are still dead.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23.

Hold a steady course and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the promise is a glorious future.

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’” I Corinthians 2:9.

“These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” I John 2:26-27.

The alternate word for “deceive you”, in my Bible’s margin is “lead you astray”; another translation has the word seduced.

There are people in this world who grab women’s purses and run, they are jackals; there are those who cheat old folks out of their home and life savings, they are serpents who crush and devour their prey, there are those who beguile and seduce young children, they are sewer rats.

There are those who deceive the gullible and new Christians, they are demons straight out of the pit of hell. If there are those who prey on the weak and trusting, why should you doubt that there are those who rob the unsaved of their eternal soul and Christians of their reward?

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” I Timothy 4:1-3.

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” II Timothy 3:1-5.

While it is true that men have always been like this to some degree or another, for the most part there has existed in most societies a certain civility; this is disappearing in today’s world.

If you will study the media, computer games, and the move to godlessness, the sheer violence of popular movies, and the push to explore evil, you may agree that society has taken on all of these characteristics in recent years.

And the teachings of the antichrists are at the head of this drive to desecrate the name of Christ and destroy the moral base of this nation.

It is up to you to guard your soul, and if you have a spouse and children, your responsibility is to them too. If you are a pastor or elder, your flock is also important, you have taken on responsibility for them too, and be assured, you will be held responsible.

Christ has given us His Spirit to lead us into all truth; He has also given us His word the Bible. He gave us one other thing, the church, which not only provides support, and fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, but which He has fully equipped for the following reasons.

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. “ Ephesians 4:11-16.

The purpose of the church is to nurture the babes in Christ, strengthen the young men, and use the knowledge of the fathers, so that none should be left behind spiritually.

“…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting…” Ephesians 4:13-14.

Christ’s intent for the church is for everyone to come to the full measure of a man in Christ Jesus; not for pastors to collect a paycheck for babysitting a collection of people.

Once again, notice the warning of Scripture, “…by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive…” just like the jackal, the serpent, and the sewer rat, they lie in wait for the vulnerable.

You have been warned, if you fall into their snare, you cannot blame your pastor, church or anyone but yourself, please be careful. Here is verse 24 again.

“Therefore 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 2:24.

And Jesus said this in His high priestly prayer before going to the Garden of Gethsemane and then to the cross.

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” John 17:14-18.

Eternal Life, 1 John 2:24-27 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 12-1-11, updated on 5-30-18

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.