The antichrists of the age
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Intro
Intro
Pray
If you have your bible’s you can turn to 1 John 2:18-27, we will read our text in a few moments.
At an early age, we begin teaching our children how to tell time. We use moving clock hands to help teach them how to discern the time. John helps us see this importance in the text today.
Over the next few minutes, I want to spend the time talking to you about three truths we see about the antichrists that plague our world.
If you have found your place in 1 John 2:18-27, would you say word?
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
We are in the last days.
We are in the last days.
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
The last hour is a period of time.
The last hour is a period of time.
John emphasizes that the church age is the last hour period of time. He says it twice.
he declares it is the last hour
he then confirms it is the last hour because there are currently many antichrists.
Consider these other passages that talk of the last days:
16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
As we can see from these texts, the Bible paints a picture that we are in the last hour, or to put it another way the last days. The writer of Hebrews tells us that these are the “last days.” Jesus coming the first time marked the beginning of the the last days and his return will mark the end of the age.
In our text john says that us being in this period of time, the last hour is proven with the appearance of the antichrists that were and still plague the church today. However, we should spend just a bit of time looking at how,
John points out that the people “had heard that antichrist is coming.” This church was well aware of the reality of a coming antichrist and seems to be looking for the rise of that great evil.
1. Antichrists attack Christ.
1. Antichrists attack Christ.
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
Anti- means against, Christ. In other words it is a way of saying the one who is against Christ.
Only John uses the term antichrist. However, other passages point to the same wicked one.
Daniel calls him the “one who makes desolate.”
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
Paul calls him the “man of lawlessness”
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
In Revelation 13:1-10, John describes him as a beast from the sea:
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
There is a great lawless, opposer of Jesus Christ coming and he is going to be given permission to rule and persecute the saints. Yet, this time is not yet here as John indicates in this text.
“that antichrist is coming”
This means that he has yet to come on the scene. However, John tells the church that even though the great antichrist is not here yet,
“even now many antichrists have appeared”
We should not forget that right now we are faced with many antichrists in the world during this period of time considered the last hour.
Who are these antichrists?
Who are these antichrists?
While they might not be the great prince of destruction, the great beast of the sea, they are still opposers of the Lord. They are trojan horses who have infiltrated churches, they take positions of professors, preachers, deacons, Sunday school teachers, and members in our congregations. In many cases, they do not directly oppose the faith; instead, they strategically alter who Jesus is, they re-imagine Him. They pervert him, they strip him of his deity, or they strip him of his humanity. They diminish the person and work of Christ.
One example of this is the cults of our world. Joseph Smith, was a man who thought the church was corrupt, he claimed that an angel from Heaven named Moroni came and gave him golden tablets of new scriptures that are known as the Book of Mormon. Yet, Mormonism distorts Jesus and ultimately is a false doctrine that leads many moral, responsible, and on the outside good people to eternal hell.
Anything that opposes Jesus ultimately is an antichrist. Whether it is from outside the church or even within the church it is a form of the spirit of the antichrist. They are opposing Jesus.
2. Antichrists abandon the church.
2. Antichrists abandon the church.
19 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.
There is a gravity to this verse. Exposes the real issue the church faces, it is not attacks from bad actors and persecution from government or those outside the church. The most deadly attack is from within the church body. Over the years, there have been many who have waged war against scripture and Jesus. They try to justify their sin. They lead their churches to embrace godlessness in the name of “love.” Yet, they do not have love at all. The unfortunate truth is that we, at least for a season share in fellowship in our churches with those who ultimately are lost, but even more than lost, they are deceivers and will attempt to lead the church down the road of deception.
Alistar Begg says it well:
Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John Antichrists Abandon the Church (1 John 2:19, 22–23)
There are some who share [for a while] our earthly company who do not share our heavenly birth.
Ultimately, the true church will persevere while the ungodly and those who have not experienced a heavenly birth will depart.
John says,
“they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.”
Just for a moment, I want to talk about the great falling away of youth when they leave their family and begin college life. There are many studies on the subject of College students leaving the faith. The general overview is that 70% of High School graduates who are in the church will leave the church when they get to college. Out of that 70% of students only about 30% will return to the church as adults.
Let’s do a little math, if you have 100 graduates, that means that only 30 will stay in the church while 70 leave the church in college. Now only 30% of the 70 will return which means that only 21 students will eventually return as an adult to a church. Basically, the study reveals that we will see half of high school graduates leave the faith and never return.
God only knows the heart, but he has given us this text to help us see that those that leave the church, faith behind, prove that they were never really a believer at all. Don’t miss this, many of these students made so called professions of faith as children only to reject their faith all together. It is not that they lost their salvation, it is that they were never saved. They never had it in their soul. They were never truly born again.
We cannot lose sight that perseverance in faithful obedience to the Lord is the proof of God’s possession of us.
Look again at the text and notice the they and us language that John used.
19 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 it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Notice those that left, do not belong to the church “us.”
The they:
went out from us
were not of us
would have continued with us
went out
all are not of us.
Those that leave the faith are not saved.
Yet, here is the beautiful picture of eternal security in Christ. When we are genuinely saved and belong to Jesus we remain in the fellowship and we are preserved by the Jesus.
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
then there is John 10:27-29 that paints a beautiful picture of how we are secure in Jesus.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
It is not possible for a child of God to be taken from the hands of the Father. We are his and we belong to him. Also, those that leave the faith prove that they had no saving faith at all.
I love how the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 phrases this beautiful truth of being secure in Jesus. It says,
Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John Physically, They Desert the Fellowship (1 John 2:19)
on “God’s Purpose of Grace”: “All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”
I am concerned that the church, especially through next gen ministries, we have so emphasized eternal security we have forgotten the other side of the same coin that those who persevere are proven to have eternal security in Christ. I admit this tension is incredibly hard to balance that our faithfulness proves salvation while salvation is in Christ, through faith, alone. It is a narrow road that has two huge ditches.
The ditch of works based salvation.
We can error so far into works that began to place salvation on the works. We become legalistic and fail to see the freedom we have in Jesus.
2. The ditch of false security.
a. the other error is the false security. I we focus so heavily on if you will simply pray this prayer you will be saved. They pray, then they go about their life with little to no change at all. Yet, they, in their minds are saved. They are fine their on the road to eternal life. Yet, they have no saving faith. They merely repeated words and their salvation is anything but real.
So what do we do? Scripture is clear that salvation transforms the sinner. It is a result of confession|repentance of sins, belief in the work of Jesus and total faith|trust|surrender to Jesus, meaning they are committing to live fully for Jesus and Jesus alone. Life transformation takes place at the hands of the working of Jesus and they are never the same and remain in faithful step with Jesus Christ and remain rooted in a Bible believing, gospel preaching, Christ centered church.
3. Antichrists assault the Christian
3. Antichrists assault the Christian
1 John 2:20-21, 24-27
20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.
Many of the modern antichrists are intellectual heavy weights, they have written books with academic acclaim, they might lead liberal theological institutions, be professors, pastors, etc. they have a knock for persuasive arguments and likable personalities. Also, they are set out to destroy the biblically faithful church. They revile it. Hate it. They’re enemies of Jesus. Enemies of the church.
Notice the play on words that John uses. In verse 20, he says “have been anointed by the Holy One.
Then in verse 27, he says, “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you.”
The word for Christ in Greek means “the anointed one” which means that antichrist means against the anointed one, which Christians are said to have been “anointed by the Holy One.” Antichrists cannot help but want to assault the Christian because Christians represent the very thing they oppose, Jesus.
These false teachers in John’s day were insistent that they needed some new special knowledge to be truly saved. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit John tells them, that the salvation they received, the knowledge of the true gospel was sufficient to save them and they need not worry about the lies of the enemy.
Ultimately, we must abide in the authority of God’s Holy Word.
If we are going to stand against the lies of this world, we must be ready to abide in and trust in God’s Holy Word.
Closing
Closing
We are living in the last hour where antichrists run wild. They are can be found within the church and outside the church. Their attacks attack Jesus, his gospel, and the truth of Scriptures. They minimize biblical truths and chip away at biblical authority until there nothing left. If we are to remain faithful to the Lord, our priority should be to abide in God’s word and living lives of obedience.
Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John Conclusion
Herman Bavinck was a Dutch churchman and theologian in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He also was an insightful teacher concerning the person and work of Christ. Concerning the centrality of Christ to the Christian gospel, he simply and concisely said,“Christ is Christianity itself; He stands not outside of it but in its centre; without His name, person and work, there is no Christianity left. In a word, Christ does not point out the way to salvation; He is the Way itself” (quoted in Warfield, The Person and Work of Christ, 319)
This is what we believe this is what we hold on to, and Jesus alone is worthy of our everything.
Pray
