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Good Morning and welcome to Confessors of Christ Church!
Today is an exciting day in the journey through 1st John
One of my favorite aspects to preaching through entire books of the Bible is that you can’t avoid anything.
Whether you want to talk about it or you don’t want to talk about it, well we are going to talk about it!
Today we are going to hit one of those topics!
We going all end times, anti-Christ, last days, and blood moons!
Well, not blood moons, but the astronomy side of me got a little excited.
Ever since we discovered we are in the last days, which was 2000 years ago, by the way, but more on that in a minute.
Christians have been captivated about what it all means,
How it is going to be played out, and what we should be looking for.
Not only does end time discussion peak our interest, it is also very profitable.
End times talk can make you pretty rich, even if you have no clue what you are talking about.
Tim LaHaye who wrote the Left Behind series sold 80 million books, and is worth 20 million dollars.
John Hagee wrote books and made whole ministry outreach based on the end times.
On his website it states: “If you are wondering how long it will be until the Savior’s return and what we can expect before His arrival, this is the perfect series for you.”
If you want to know the answers, all it will cost you is $20.00 plus shipping for his CD.
While this is certainly a fascinating and intriguing topic, we must not give into theories, made up concepts, or wild speculations.
Today’s message is more about not being deceived than it is about the AntiChrist.
Today’s message is more about assurance in the faith that you have then the one who will captivate the faith of the world.
Today’s message is more about testing your own salvation than it is about testing the current events for clues into the end times.
The way we can have certainty and not be led astray is by knowing what God says concerning this topic through Scripture.
If we get our understanding from those trying to make a buck, we are already heading in the wrong path.
Do not let people who are famous, have a large following, book deals, or platforms be your determination of truth.
As beautiful as it may sound, we are not to let our conscious be our guide.
But, instead let God’s Word be your guide on discerning what is true and what is not.
Which is what we will be doing together, this morning.
John is certainly going to have us look at the Anti-Christ and antichrists.
John is going to tell us that we are in the last days and goes as far as saying the last hour.
John is going to give us tests to help us know who is true and who is a liar.
He will encourage us who are in the faith to hold fast to the faith while giving us reasons why others abandon the faith.
But John wants to make sure that we are not deceived and give us assurance that if we are in the faith, we will not be deceived.
Ultimately, John will tell us the truth of Christ vs the lies of the anti-Christ.
If you are ready, as I know I am, then do not delay in opening our Bibles or turning them on if that is your preference.
We are going to be in the first letter of John, the second chapter and reading verses 18-23 together.
Then we will break down each verse and see what is truly being said and try to weed through the phony and the fake.
These are the infallible and inerrant Words of God.
These are the words of God.
John is not deviating from His overall purpose in the letter to address a side topic here.
John is fully and purposely continuing His letter with a focus on giving the true believer assurance in His Faith
While simultaneously separating those who are false believers into realizing that they are not in the faith.
John did this by first and foremost declaring God to be the standard or the light.
If we do not see God as the standard, and looking to God as our standard then we are in darkness.
More specifically, we are not a true Christian believer but have been deceived.
If we look to God as light, if we look to Jesus as our Savior, if we walk according to the commandments, and if we confess our sins.
John says that we have assurance in our faith and Jesus is the propitiation for our sins.
Then last week, we were given the warning to make sure that we do not live according to the desires of our flesh.
The lust of our eyes.
and The pride of life or have pride in what we have and what we do.
If we are doing this, then the love of the Father is not in us, and we love the things of this world, Over the love of the Father.
John is going to continue to give authentic believers a warning, while also bringing clarity to what is truly happening around us.
John is going to help us see why some walk away from the faith.
John is going to help us understand why some are opposed to Christ.
He will also confirm that there is one that will come who is the Anti-Christ.
Let’s not delay and let us now turn to our first verse in chapter two beginning in verse 18
John begins with his beloved greeting of endearment towards those who are reading this letter.
We have gone over this a couple of times now but it is meant as a father telling his children what is important.
But, one thing that I want to add, is that John also uses this phrase to introduce a new topic.
It is a key to show us that something important is about to be said.
So, we must now look to see what new subject is being raised.
The subject that is being raised is that it is the last hour.
Then John gives us the reason for him declaring that it is the last hour.
Specifically that an antichrist is coming and many antichrists have come.
Because of this, we can have assurance that we are in the last hour.
That’s great, but what does John mean when he says last hour.
Especially in light that this is a really long hour.
I understand that time can certainly drag, but it’s been about 17 million hours since this letter was written.
(I did the math)
So we can be certain that John was not being literal but figurative.
John is referring to a new age, one that included Jesus coming and will include Jesus returning.
He gives us this hint when in last week’s verse, verse 17, John said that the “world is passing away.”
So, here we have a time frame that isn’t a physical time, like an hour or a date, but a period.
This period that John was in, that John is telling those he’s writing his letter to were in...
And those who are reading this letter today, are in, is the period of the last hour.
Later in Revelation John will use the figurative language of 1000 year or the millennial, to represent a section of time.
I do not believe John is speaking of a literal 1000 years to come but figurative language of the time period we are in now.
Specifically the time between Jesus’s resurrection and Jesus’s return.
But, we will wait for a further unpacking of this when we go through the book of Revelation either next year or the year after.
The point John is speaking of is that we are in a time frame, an hour, anticipating the return of Jesus.
How do we know this is the case?
John now moves to tell us that.
“As you have heard, the anti-Christ is coming, so now many antichrist have come.”
There were many antichrists who were already present in John’s time some 50 years after Jesus was resurrected.
These many antichrists are a precursor for the one antiChrist that is to come.
They are not THE antichrist but still antichrists
We can use little “a” for antichrists (being plural) and a big “A” for the AntiChrist (being singular).
Just like we can use little “c” for Christians and a big “C” for Jesus as the Christ.
There will be many antichrists who will come in every generation leading to the AntiChrist.
But who are these antichrists and who is “The” AntiChrist?
It is absolutely necessary and essential that we seek a biblical understanding of who these antichrists are
Along with what these antichrists will do, so that we are not to be deceived and carried about by every wind of teaching
When we think of antichrist we think of wildly different things.
But at the core, antiChrist means “in the place of” Christ, or “against” Christ.
(Repeat)
This is what antichrist actually means.
At the end of the day these are people who are either against Christ, or want to take the place of Christ.
They are actively trying to destroy the purpose and plan of Jesus, or
They want you to look to them as your Savior and safety.
They are essentially a denial of Christ or a substitute for Christ.
There is a difference between one who does not believe in Christ and one who is actively apposing Christ.
There is a difference between one who does not mind the things of God and those who are campaigning against God.
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