Welcome to session number seven of More Painless Greek, a review verse-by-verse through the Greek text of 1 John. And this time we're looking at 1 John chapter 2 verses 18 through 23. Now this section has 120 words in the Greek text, And 110 of those are already in our glossary, meaning we've studied them at some point during the introductory course or this course in 1 John. There are 10 new words. One of them is used three times, another twice. So only seven of those are unique. So we'll walk through the text in two sections, learning the new vocabulary for each section. And then we'll go through the Greek text. And as our practice, we'll go through the entire thing again at the end. So let's begin with our new vocabulary, starting, ironically enough, with the last. That is eskatos, last. In the beginning course, an introduction to painless grief, we learned protos first, and this is its logical companion, eschatos last. Then, antichristos. Antichristos, the Antichrist, sometimes capitalized, sometimes not. And of course, in the Greek text, there's no indication of capitalization. And we'll see in this section of text that it can refer to the one ultimate Antichrist, but also to anyone who denies the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And a verb that's very significant and prominent occurs almost 700 times, ginomai. And you'll notice that it has a wide range of meaning, born, produced, made, created. Often in the scripture, if you read in English, it came about, then chances are it's a form of this verb, ginomai. Notice, because it has that oh my ending, we know that it is a middle preference verb, so it will likely be in the middle voice. Now, genomi is also a verb that has a second aorist form, that is, we see some changes in the stem of the verb when it is used in the aorist tense, and also, in this case, in the future tense. So, here are the aorist middle indicative forms of ginamai. So, notice it's changed a bit. We have the augment, as we would expect. So, again, a main, againu, againata. And then the agenomatha is not used in the New Testament, ageneste, agenanta. And if you recall the little mnemonic for remembering these forms, oh man, ooh, a toe, a Methodist is on the toe. So these are the forms of Getemi. So you'll notice that when it appears in the Aorist tense or the future tense, it's going to have a spelling change in the stem. Then we have a new conjunction. This one only occurs 15 times, not very frequently in used in the New Testament. Hafen. Hafen. And it speaks of a logical connection from this or thus, thence. It can also be from where or whence. So we'll see this in our text, consequently another meaning. Then a compound verb. We've looked at erchemi in the past. And this is ex-erkhamai, so it has the preposition ek in front of the verb erkhamai. Erkhamai, I come, I go. Ex-erkhamai, I come out, I go out. Now you may wonder for a moment if the preposition ek Epsilon Kappa is in front of Erchemai. Why do we see that funny squiggly letter, the xi? But then, hopefully, you recall that when the kappa comes up next to a vowel, it's going to change form. And in this case, it lengthens, in a sense, to the x. And it's certainly easier to pronounce x-er-ka-mi than ek-er-ka-mi. is even the difficulty in saying it, helps us understand that's most likely why native Greek speakers added this little shift, exerchemi. And you'll notice it occurs quite a few times, 218 times. So let's jump into our text, beginning in 1 John 2, verse 18. And interestingly, almost all of our new vocabulary occurs in this one verse. So several new words here. John begins with a vocative form, paideia, children. It's a warm greeting. But the fact that he's using the vocative is an indication that this is a new section of text, and you'll notice that the idea is capitalized by the editors of the Greek text. And then we have one of our new vocabulary words, eskate. So this is a nominative singular feminine form of eskatas, last. Now, why is it feminine? Because it's modifying a feminine noun, hora, hour. children, eschate hora estine, last hour it is. It is the last hour. And obviously we know it's not the last chronological hour, but it is the last theological hour. And John's going to unpack a little bit about why that is and how we know that's true. So he continues, children, it is the last hour. And just as y'all have heard. This is a form of a kuo, second person plural. Just as you all have heard. What have you heard? Second line. You've heard that Antichrist is coming. Kynun antichristoi and or even, nun, now, even now, antichrists, plural. Notice that oi ending, masculine, plural. Even now, antichrist poloi. So many antichrists, gegonosen, this is probably somewhat difficult to recognize. This is a perfect active indicative, third person plural of ginomai. Many antichrists have come, have arisen. So even though there is one Antichrist to come in prophecy, going all the way back to Daniel, and certainly in the writings of Paul as well, John is saying, even now, many Antichrists, those opposing the person and work of Christ have arisen. And then this new conjunction in the third line, hafen, from this or thence, consequently, genoskamen, we know. Notice the plural ending. From this, consequently, we know. What do we know? Hati eschate hora estin. We know that it, last hour it is. We know it is the last hour. So John is saying, we know that theologically, this is the last hour. because there are so many who are opposing Christ. And certainly what was true in his day is true in ours as well. From this, we know that it is the last hour. Then in verse 19, we find a form that is probably also difficult to recognize, ex-eilthan, this is an aorist active indicative, third person plural of that new verb we learned, ex-erchamai, they went out, third person plural. And again, because it's an aorist, it's using the second aorist modified stem. So back to the beginning, ex haemon, ex erchemai, out of us or from us they went out. And he's referring to these antichrists, the false teachers who are denying the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of us they went out, al uq, but not a san. This is a form of a me and imperfect. That would be very difficult to recognize. That's why you have those reference sheets so you can take a look, particularly for the forms of a me. But they were not ex-haemon. So notice what John is doing. You can't see this in English, you can only see it in Greek, but he's using the exact same phrase ex-haemon in two different ways. He is using it to indicate that these Antichrists, these false teachers, they went out from us but they really weren't from us, they weren't of us. And then he explains that, notice in the second line, we have a gar, we'll pull that forward, for, a, if, if ex haemon, a san, if they were of us, from us, and then notice this long verb, memeneke san, Now, this is a very unusual pluperfect form that doesn't occur very often in the New Testament at all. This is from the verb meno, and combined with that on next to it, which is a conditional little particle, an indicator for the subjunctive mood, If, John is saying, if they were from us, they would have remained, they would have been abiding, metemon, with us. So notice the preposition meta has changed its ending because of the rough breathing mark of the vowel that begins the next word. So meta, became meth, meth haimon, they would have remained with us. And then in contrast, he explains in the third line, al but so that in order that, so that they may be revealed, something is being shown even by their departure, so that it may occur that they may be revealed, that not they were pontes ex haemon. They are all not of us. They aren't part of us. They aren't part of the true fellowship of believers because they are denying the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we need to learn a few more words. chrisma, anointing. And you should notice immediately the common stem with the word Christos, Christ. And that means the anointed one. So chrisma is the anointing itself. And pseudos, this is a lie. This is the content of the lie. We've already looked at the words sous-tace. It's a cognate, same stem in some sense. Sous-tace is a liar, the one who lies. we've looked at Pseudomai, the lie as a verb, the action of lying. So we have all three words now, the action of lying, Pseudomai, the one who lies, Pseustes, and now the lie itself, the content, the false word, Pseudos. And we're ready for our last section of text, starting in verse 20. John says, and you all, notice the plural, chrisma echete, anointing have. You have an anointing. Such a beautiful reminder of what we have in Christ, the blessing of the Holy Spirit. And as part of this kingdom of priests that God is assembling for his glory, we have an anointing. It is an anointing apatu hagyu. It is from the Holy, from the Holy One. And we know that must refer to God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it seems most logical to assume that he's referring here to the Holy Spirit, who is our anointing. We have this anointing, John tells us, and then notice in the second line, and oedate, you know, you all know, you know all, you know all you need to know, you know all the truth. And of course, that's a reminder of the promise that Jesus gave to his disciples that when the Holy Spirit came, he would guide them into all the truth. And we have that truth preserved for us in God's word in the Bible. And continuing into verse 21, and John is giving a word of encouragement here. He says, uc egrapsa, this is from the verb grafo, I write here, it's in the aorist, I wrote, not I wrote, who mean to you all, I didn't write to you all, hati uc oedate, Because, not you know, because you don't know, tena lethean, the truth. I didn't write to you because you don't know the truth. Second line, contrast, but, hati udate autein, because you do know the truth. And, I also wrote to you, third line, hati pan sudas, because that all, every lie, ectes aletheas, from the truth, ucestin, not is. So reworking that into good English, we would simply say, because every lie is not of the truth, from the truth, And notice the use of ek there, very similar to John's use of ek in his referral to the false teachers, those antichrists that have departed from the local assembly, the church. The lie is not of the truth, just as the antichrists, the false teachers are not truly of the fellowship. So then moving on to verse 22, John poses this question. Who, tis, tis estin, who is? Hasustes, the liar. Ame. Now this pairing of words is often translated as a single word, like accept. But in this particular instance, I think a very wooden, literal translation actually makes sense. Who is the liar? A may, if not. If it's not this guy, well then who is it? Who is the liar? If not, second line, ha arnuminas, the one denying. we'll see what he's denying in just a moment, but that's from the verb arneomai, and we learned that in the beginning course. This is a participle form, a middle, present middle participle, nominative, masculine, singular. So the liar is this one who is denying Now, what is he saying in his denying? That Hati Iesous, that Jesus, uc estin hachristas. He's saying that Jesus is not the Christ. is denying his person and his work in some sense because of course his messiahship is tied up in both his identity as God the Son and the work that he has accomplished in his perfect life and in his sacrificial death. So the liar And we see that that connects with John's words about the Antichrist, this one who has the spirit of Antichrist, the denier of the truth. It's this one who's denying that Jesus is the Christ. This, hutas, this esteem is ha-antichristas. This is the Antichrist. again, for emphasis, ha-arnuminas, that same participle form from arneomai, the one denying, and notice what he does here, the one denying tanpatera, the father, kaitanguian, and the son. So this one who's denying that Jesus is the Christ, He's actually denying both the Father and the Son. And he explains this a bit in verse 23. All, pas, or every, ha arnenos, all those denying the Son, tanhwian, ude, literally and not, but in this case, neither is better as a translation. The one denying the son, neither, ton patera eche, neither the father has. The one denying the son doesn't have the father either. But in contrast, notice in the second line, the final part of our text, ha-hamalagon, the one confessing. And here we see that on ending again, which could be a genitive plural if it were a noun or an adjective. But in this case, we recognize this is coming from hamalageo, to speak the same, to agree with, to confess. So this is the one confessing. What is he confessing? The one confessing Tan Hwian, the son, in the fullness of his person and his work, Cai Tan Patera Eche. The one confessing the son also the father has. This one confessing the son in the fullness, again, of his person and work, he has the father also. because it is all of one, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You cannot deny the Son and have the Father. No one who denies the Son has the Father either. So now let's work through the entire text bit by bit. Again, at the beginning, this evocative address of endearment, children. it is, and we'll insert the last hour. And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now, many Antichrists have come. From this or thence, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not from us. They were not of us. Or if they were from us, of us, they would have remained with us. But in order that They may be revealed, it may be evident that they are all not of us. And you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because every lie is not from the truth. Who is the liar, except if not The one denying that saying that Jesus is not the Christ. And that, I'll just pause for a moment, that double negative is a bit confusing, but common construction in Greek. This one denying that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist. the one denying the father and the son. All those denying the father, the son, sorry, all those denying the son, neither have the father. The one confessing the son also has the father. There's a wonderful promise for us in these verses that because of our confession of faith in Christ, we have the Father, and John assures us we have this anointing, and we know Him, we know the truth, and we know our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Father, and the Holy Spirit.