They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.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.They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us.
7 sermons cite this verse
… of what it means to be a Christian. So listen to what John says. He describes him. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 John 2, verse 19. So again, these are the letters of John near the book of Revelation. 1 John 2, verse 19. They went out from us, but they were not really part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But by going out from us, they showed they all are not part of us. You know, it's interesting today, there's a whole lot of people who call themselves Christians who are no longer actively involved in faith communities but are seriously engaged in politics. And it's as though politics has taken the place of their religion. And that's a bit of what we find in 1 John. It wasn't religion necessarily, politics necessarily, but it was something that had taken them away from their faith. John goes on to mention two ways in which the faith of those who left differed from the Christians who remained. So listen to this. The first one is found in 1 John 1, verses 8-10. I'd love for you to read this together. Just follow it. Follow me along. Follow along with me. 1 John 1, 8 through 10. He says, if we claim we don't have any sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and …
… by which we know that it is the last hour. Then they went out from us, but were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar except he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father also, either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning, translation, what saved you as a little kid that made you a baby in Christ, if that abides in you, if you stay there, if you don't get past Jesus, if you don't upgrade past Jesus, if you can become a father who still is only talking about, I know him who's from the beginning, let that abide in you. …
Yes, but they pray the prayer. I don't care. 1 John 2.19 they went out from among us because they were never of us if they had been of us they would have remained but they went out so that it would be shown that they are not all of us one of the evidences of salvation is you endure to the end you don't endure you were never in the camp that's biblical salvation that's not modern American easy believism that's not your best life now that's not purpose driven life but it is Bible And unfortunately, there's a huge difference between the two. so we don't understand salvation we don't understand the gospel and you've got people i mean they will come to blows over this some of you got relatives like this you finally got saved for real truly converted and all you wanted to do was tell them about coming to this true conversion experience and all they heard was you're judging me you don't know my heart God knows my heart huh let me see so what you're telling me is that you have had an experience that has changed the core of your being but God's not powerful enough to work it to the outside you can have that God all day every day and twice on Sundays I don't want it because he's not the God of the Bible. …
… Some of them will become true Christians, but many of them will eventually walk away. And 1 John 2, 19 says, they went out from us because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. So in the matter of evangelism, we want to make sure we're giving the gospel well enough so that people are literally believing what they need to believe in order to genuinely be converted. And our Lord never made it easy. Never. It is a narrow way. It is a struggle. He even said many will attempt to come into the kingdom but won't be able. People will not be willing to hate their father and mother and hate their own life and give up everything for Christ and salvation. That's a massive exchange. It's pictured in the parable of the pearl of great price and the treasure hidden in the field where the man finds the pearl, finds the treasure. In each case of the parables in Matthew 13, he sells everything, gives up everything to get the treasure of salvation, holding on to nothing. …
unbelief. With regard to the words that He spoke, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. And remember, 1 John 2.19 says, They went out from us because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us that it might be made manifest they never were of us. They didn't lose their salvation, they didn't have it. They walked away. Not because they didn't see miracle power, they saw it. Not because He wasn't the most profound teacher they've ever heard, they heard it. They walked away because they did not want to obey His commands. They did not want to acknowledge His heavenly origin, because if that's the case, then they They have to obey His command. So they didn't want to accept who He was or what He said. You have to deny both. You can't accept who He was and then deny His Word. You can't say, Jesus is the Son of God, but I don't believe what He said is true. …
… Speaking of these anti-Christ people, as he called them in verse 18, in verse 19 John says this, they went out from us. These are the defectors. These are the ex-evangelicals. These are the Christian deconstructionists. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. If they had been of us, they would have, what? Remained with us. But they went out so that it would be known and shown that they all are not of us. When somebody defects, they didn't lose their salvation. They never had it. Never had it. But to defect, to be an apostate, is to put yourself in the most jeopardy possible, and be unable to be renewed to repentance. The true disciples were distinguished by the very thing that is the opposite of the false. The false didn't believe the words of Jesus. The true disciples did believe the words of Jesus. Verse 69, Peter speaking for them, we have what? Believed. All this defection from Christianity is a rejection of biblical truth, the very words of God. …
… IT HAD NO FOUNDATION. JOHN SAYS IN FIRST JOHN TWO VERSE 19, THEY WENT OUT FROM US, BUT THEY WERE NOT OF US. FOR IF THEY HAD BEEN OF US, NO DOUBT THEY WOULD HAVE CONTINUED WITH US. BUT THEY WENT OUT THAT THEY MIGHT BE MADE MANIFEST, THAT THEY WERE NOT ALL OF US. I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU THIS MORNING ABOUT SINLESS PERFECTION. I'M NOT SAYING THAT IF, IF YOU GET SAVED AND GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS AND THE STORMS COME, THAT YOU WON'T HAVE SOME DOUBTS, YOU WILL. I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU WON'T STUMBLE, YOU MAY. I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE A RELAPSE, YOU MIGHT HAVE A RELAPSE. YOU KNOW, STANDING IN THE CROWD WHEN JESUS GAVE THIS SERMON ON THE MOUNT ABOUT TWO KINDS OF, UH, BUILDERS. YOU KNOW WHO WAS THERE MOST LIKELY? A MAN NAMED SIMON PETER AND A MAN NAMED JUDAS. THEY WERE BOTH THERE. THEY HEARD JESUS SAY, WHOSOEVER HEARTH THESE THINGS OF MINE AND DOETH THEM I LIKENED HIM UNTO A WISE MAN THAT BUILD HIS HOUSE UPON A ROCK. THE WINDS, THE RAINS, THE FLOODS CAME, BEAT UPON THE HOUSE, BUT IT STOOD. THEN THEY HEARD JESUS SAY, BUT A FOOLISH MAN IS LIKE A MAN THAT BUILD HIS HOUSE UPON THE SAND, THE WINDS, THE RAINS, THE FLOODS CAME, AND THE HOUSE FELL, AND TRAGIC, GREAT, WAS THE FALL OF IT. JUDAS WAS THERE, AND SIMON PETER WAS THERE. TWO KINDS OF BUILDERS, VERY SIMILAR. THEY BOTH ERECTED A SPIRITUAL HOUSE. …