Antichrists
1 John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsAntichrist is the foundation of a lot of theological discussions. Is there more than one. Is there a singular antichrist at the end of the world. What is the attitude of antichrist? How can we be on God's side?
Notes
Transcript
The Huffington Post reports:
A Zimbabwean pastor has reportedly convinced his congregants his holy pens can make students pass their exams - and the more you pay for one, the better grades you'll get.
Prophet Sham Hungwe of House of Grace International Church in Harare is selling the pens, which cost from $1 up to $20.
According to News24Zim, the prophet told his congregation those sitting exams only needed faith and one of the special pens to pass.
"They are anointed and I declare passes when your children sit for exams. They are said to work for anyone who is sitting for any test," he said.
According to Nigerian Watch, one parishioner testified: "My son is not very bright and I think this will help him. With the knowledge he has acquired and this pen from the man of God, I think it is going to work."
One student said he scored highly in his A-levels last year after using the pen he was given by the prophet, reports Amebo Book.
The Last Hour
The Last Hour
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.
Do you feel it is the last hour? How could John say that? It has been 2000 years.
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
Next letter
Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
It is not here yet!
Things much happen first.
What things?
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,
Paul knows
it will happen
after he dies:
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
So how can he say “we”
For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
Two possible ways to understand.
God instructed him to speak imminently about the return of Jesus because that is what Christian listeners of every age need.
He knew that he wasn’t part of “we” but used we in the collective sense referring to the Christian brotherhood.
May prophets did not
fully understand their own
passages of Scripture.
(Daniel)
And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.
They were inspired to write
not just for the generation
of their time but us as well.
Matt 24 is example:
Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Notice,
they asked 2 questions:
tells us about the destruction of temple
tell us about the end of the world.
Jesus goes on to answer both
70 AD - Destruction temple
End of world.
Meshes them all together.
Looking back
we see 2 events
Jesus was purposely
not precise about chronology.
Why?
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
What do they ask?
Is this it?
Will you establish National Israel?
Is this the end of the world now?
Jesus’ answer:
Not for you to know now.
What does He want them to focus on?
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Right now
focus on,
spreading truth,
making disciples!
Good message for us
you don’t need to know it all
but you need to be a soul winner!
Summary:
People get worked up about
passages like this:
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
Don’t get worked up.
Jesus did not come
2000 years ago when
these things were written,
but that is not the point!
Point is:
live like Jesus coming
is very emanant.
Procrastination
Laundry day.
Antichrists
Antichrists
Back to key passage:
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.
One of John’s
evidences that it is
the last hour is because:
antichrists are common
The AntiChrist is coming!
Who is antichrist?
Why singular and plural?
The singular for should be
“The Antichrist”.
But there are plural
“antichrists”.
“The Antichrist” is coming
but the plural, “antichrists”
have already come.
The Antichrist is
yet future.
Antichrists (plural)
is a present experience.
Let’s read further
to see what we can
find about about them.
They Went Out
They Went Out
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.
Who is they?
They is plural pronoun.
Must refer to
“antichrists” (plural).
What is the verb tense?
Aorist tense:
usually meaning our
past tense.
This is definitely referring to
the antichrists (plural)
because the other one
is yet future.
These have already gone out.
What does it mean that they went out from us?
If they went out...
they were originally _______
in the body of believers.
They where Christians!
Part of worship service.
Prayed together.
Likely even teachers.
Leaders in the faith.
They started holding
false teachings about God.
If you asked them,
they would still identify
as “believers”.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
Here John says,
all false teachers are deceivers.
And all deceivers
are an antichrist.
The Antichrist
The Antichrist
This is an important point.
The Antichrist,
which was about to
come on the scenes
at that time...
And is mentioned again
at the end of time.
Many people refer to
the best of Rev 13
as “The AntiChrist”
and I agree with that title.
But when you talk about
the last days with people,
most Christians believe,
The Final Antichrist is
Atheistic.
The final AntiChrist
persecutes true Christian believers.
Therefore many assume,
must be Atheist or other religion
some have suggested Muslim.
Let’s be clear,
the antichrist (plural)
that existed in John’s day
were “Christians...
Came from body.
false teachers.
The confusion about this
comes from the name...
“Anti-Christ.”
Anti could mean:
against
in place of
or both
The word “antichrist” is a transliteration of the Greek antichristos, a name formed from anti, “against,” or “instead of,” and christos, “Christ.” The word may therefore mean one who opposes Christ, or one who claims to take the place of Christ, or one who combines both these functions.
It goes on...
The title vice-Christ, or vicegerent of Christ, would convey a similar idea when used of one who falsely claims to be vested with Christ’s authority.
Remember,
that was Satan’s
original desire.
He wanted to be
in the place of God.
If you want a more complete
Bible study about “The AntiChrist”
at the end of the world
open YouTube Channel
AuburnSDA
Signs of Second Coming Series.
Let’s continue
studying passage
see what else we find.
Anointed Knowledge
Anointed Knowledge
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 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.
John talks about
those still in the faith as
“anointed ones.”
How is it that we have been anointed by God?
We are anointed by
the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit in our lives.
According to this passage.
The Spirit of God help us how?
By giving us knowledge
of the truth.
Howard-John Wesley
I was learning how to fry chicken in my mother's kitchen one day. After we bought the chicken, washed the chicken, seasoned the chicken, and put the flour in the brown paper bag I went to get a skillet. I grabbed her new, Teflon coated, shiny gray skillet. It was pristine - no scratches, no burn marks, no signs of wear or tear. My mother laughed when she saw it in my hand and said, "Son, you can't fry chicken in that skillet. It's never been burned, never been used, never been proven." She grabbed an old black cast iron skillet, full of scratches and all the signs of wear and tear, all evidence of it having been in the fire and come through, and she said, "this skillet I can use!"
THE WORD
SKILLET TO TRUST.
This gives us
more indication
about the false teachers
the antichrist (plural)
that came out of faith
in John’s day.
The false teachers
claimed to have the truth
claimed to have knowledge
but it was falsehood.
The primary group
of false teachers
he is struggling with is
gnostics.
They named their
false theology
Gnostic
Gnostic
After the Greek word
The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament γινώσκω, γνῶσις, ἐπιγινώσκω, ἐπίγνωσις
γινώσκω
Ginosko
Interestingly,
two common words
translated as “know”
in english NT.
Talked about this word
Ginosko, in previous sermon.
It means to “know”
in experiential way.
I know my wife.
I know a little about
theoretical physics.
There is other common word
that means to know:
This word
also means knowledge
but refers more to
intellectual knowledge.
The gnostics were claiming
that they had truth.
Secret knowledge about God.
But in this verse
John uses other word
oida
not Ginosko
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 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.
T. P.There was a woman who religiously read her bible daily and sought to walk by biblical principles. One day her son came home, and after a meal he picked up her bible which was worn from much use. As he looked through it, he saw penciled above certain bible verses the letters T. P. T. P. was printed above “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” T.P. was printed above “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear… .” T. P. was printed above “All things work together for good, for they who love the Lord.” Throughout her bible “T.P” appeared above certain verses.
Her son said, “Mom, I can tell you’re a bible student, but I noticed above certain verses, you wrote the letters T. P. What do these letters mean?” His mother responded, “Son, I don’t just read the bible, I believe and obey God’s word. “T. P.” stands for tried and proven. Son, God’s Word works!”
John says,
these false teachers
claim to have secret knowledge
about God.
ginosko.
But we have the
true knowledge about God
oida.
(intellectual knowledge).
Compare this verse
with other passage
where John uses
ginosko
(experiental knowledge)
And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
You come to know God
by having relationship with him.
(experiential knowledge).
What secret knowledge
were these false teachers
claiming to have?
The next verse
makes it mor clear:
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.
Denying Jesus is Christ
Denying Jesus is Christ
What does the Antichrist do
according to this verse?
These antichrists
are liars.
What is their lie about?
They deny Jesus Christ.
How so?
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
What were they denying?
They were denying
literal
physical
human nature
of Christ’s 1st coming.
This was a big issue
in John’s day.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Gnosticism
Gnosticism
Large category
of false teachings.
Main teaching
Jesus was God
But not human.
Gnostics
were dualists
blended Christianity
with Zoastrianism.
Focused on Dualism
Physial is bad and evil
Spirit - is good and holy
Body is evil.
This makes sense
why they Denied the idea
God would take
human flesh.
Denied many
other Christian teachings
Physical Creation
Physical Resurrection
etc.
Modern Atheists
“Jesus was a good man.”
“Jesus was a prophet.”
“Jesus was not God.”
“Miracles are exaggerated.”
He didn’t raise from the dead.”
Syncretism
Syncretism
We see this much today.
Relativism
(There is no absolute truth. )
Theistic Evolution
(God started, Darwinian evolution continued)
New Age Christianity
(We are all gods...)
Modern Gnosticism
Modern Gnosticism
God is with us.
Pantheism.
(the omega of apostasy)
Body is Bad
asceticism
Licentiousness.
Science is God.
Miracles are impossible.
Truth is Relative...
Modern Humanism
All of that is
false teachings
is completely bankrupt.
How can I say that?
Next verse:
No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
These forms off
modern gnosticism
are bankrupt because
they don’t have Jesus.
And those who
don’t have Jesus
don’t have God at all.
Those without God
are without hope.
In the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy, there is a portrait rendered by Giovanni Battista Moroni that depicts the martyrdom of Peter of Verona, better known as Peter Martyr. In this portrait, Peter Martyr is on his knees already bearing a bloody wound atop his shaven monk’s pate from the first blow dealt him by the executioner who now stands over him ready to deliver the fatal blow that will send him into eternity. Hovering above Peter are two angels, one with a lily and the other with a crown. As dramatic as that is, the focal point of this painting is not Peter’s bloody head, the executioner, the angels, the lily, or the crown. The focal point is Peter’s hand because there he uses his index finger that has been dipped in his blood to write in block letters “C-R-E-D-O,” which simply declares “I believe.” Here we are some 450 years after the painting of this portrait and the life of Peter lives on because his faith continues to speak even after death has silenced him.
Jason Turner, New Haven, Connecticut
Appeal
Appeal
Guard against
modern heresies
antichrist teachings
relativism
humanism
theism.
Experience faith.
Experience Christ.
Come to know Him.
Have the Father.
Trust God’s word.
