Anti-Christ

Text: Sermon on 1 John 2:18-27

Title: Antichrist

Textual Theme, Goal, Need:

Theme: Jesus’ followers ought to remain in the truth that Jesus is the Christ.

Goal: to encourage Christians to continue to commit themselves to Jesus Christ.

Need: The last hours will include the antichrist, antichrists and the antichrist spirit.

Sermon Theme, Goal, Need:

Theme: Christian ought to remain in the truth that Jesus is the Christ.

Goal: to encourage Christians to continue to commit themselves to Jesus Christ.

Need: Antichrist, antichrists and the antichrist spirit tend pull Christian away from the truth about Christ.

Textual Outline:

Antichrist has pulled some of the antichrists away from belonging
Remaining in the truth of the Holy One is the only way to know Christ and the Father.

Textual Notes:

Sermon Outline:

Intro about unhealthy fascination with identifying the antichrist.
Anti Christ

One
Many
Last hours
Tells what influences some to not remain in the Christian faith.

Anointed to know truth

TRINITY.

i. Holy One anointed- faith

ii. Know the Son-Jesus is the Christ. Matthew 16:16

iii. Know the Father- John 17

Remain in the Truth- vs 21, 24, 26-27

Conclusion- Remain in the truth.

Sermon in Oral Style:

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

What do George Bush, Stephen Harper, Osama Bin Laden, and Pope Benedict all have in common? They are all Toronto Maple Leafs fans. No actually they are all candidates for being the anti-Christ. They are all candidates for being the anti-Christ.

A quick search online and you can find out how almost any political leader in the world has been pegged as a candidate to be the antichrist that is mentioned in the Bible. I found this quote pretty quickly on the internet. One journalist writes “George Bush’s actions bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations—the antichrist.[1]”

This quote has lots of problems with it and none of them have anything to do with whether or not the President of the US actually could be the anti Christ.

The first thing. The last book of the Bible is the book of Revelation. It’s a book about the final revelation of the everlasting city of God. It is not a book of many different visions and revelations about the end times. That’s just way off.

The second issue we can take up with what this journalist writes is that the Book of Revelation never mentions an anti-Christ. Did you catch that? The book of revelation never mentions a person called the antichrist.

In fact reading the passage we did this evening, we have covered three of the only four times the antichrist is mentioned in the Bible. The fourth occurrence of the word anti Christ happens in 2 John. That’s the only place the word antichrist is even mentioned.

I bet most of us believed that Revelation is filled with things about the antichrist. And if we have bought into the LeftBehind series of books, we would believe that most of the things going on in the end times will be focused around the work of the antichrist. But the antichrist is not a person that gets a whole lot of attention in the Bible.

In fact, in this passage that mentions the word antichrist 3 times, discovering who the antichrist is isn’t the reason for this passage. John warns of the antichrist, but most of all he is seeking to encourage Christians that they have been anointed to believe the truth of Jesus Christ.

When you think of messages about the antichrist you think of these fascinating studies on who fits what characteristics of the antichrist. 50 reasons the pope is the antichrist. Or 100 reasons why George Bush is the antichrist. Those would be intriguing studies, but they would not be faithful to the reason why the antichrist is even mentioned in Bible.

The point of Johns teaching about the antichrist is not first so that we can oppose him. It is first of all so we can be assured that we belong body and soul in life and in death to the faithful savior Jesus Christ.

Just look at the first part of the passage. We find out John doesn’t even give a straightforward definition of anti Christ. Verse 18 says, “18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. [2]”

Antichrist and antichrists. In passing he mentions like there is one and many. But look how he describes The singular anti-Christ in verse 22. “22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.[3]” The antichrist is the man who denies the father and the son. Do we know anyone who denies the father and the son? Then we know that antichrist. John isn’t talking about a single person that you can identify like Hitler or Saddam Hussein or Bush. That’s not his point.

The reason he talks about antichrist is to explain why there is false teaching and why they see many people leaving the true church. The end of verse 18 and verse 19 say, “This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. [4]” Antichrist and falling away from the faith is a sign that it is the last hour. The return of Christ is coming soon. Hold on to the truth.

John may be giving some warning to Christians about the influence of the power of antichrist, but its nothing like popular Christian fiction would have you believe. Actually John’s even mentioning of the antichrist at all is supposed to be a motivation and an encouragement to Christians. Stop speculating about the antichrist. Start living more for the True Christ.

He moves from anti Christ, to anointed Christians. Verse 20 says, “20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.a 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.[5]”

This isn’t… “Look out. The antichrist is around”. They know it. They realize there are antichristian forces in the world. The point for first century Christians and for 21st century Christians is encouragement. YOU KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRIST. You believe in the true Christ.

Christians you know the truth. You know the truth because you have been anointed by the Holy the One. God has filled you up with Jesus Christ, and with his Holy Spirit. The true Holy Spirit gives you true faith that Jesus is the true Savior. And when you know the true savior, you also know the true Father in heaven.

Faith is a gift to you. It is an anointing by the Holy Spirit. Faith has to be the greatest gift, the greatest anointing because it puts us as individuals and a community of believers into a relationship with the almighty, bigger-than-the-entire-universe, triune God! My mind can’t figure it out. But my heart goes crazy feeling that connection with some thing, some one so great as our God.

So listen to the truth of the Bible. Believe what it tells you about the triune God. Believe that Jesus came to die for as God made human. Believe that he loves you deeply. And then John tells us, remain in that truth. Dwell in that truth. Live your entire life in that truth.

Verse 24 says, “24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.”[6]

Remain. Dwell. Live. John tells them to take the teaching that they heard from him and heard from Christ through the Holy Spirit from the very beginning. Take it and remain in that teaching. Don’t turn away from the pure teaching of who Christ is. And don’t turn away from the pure teaching of how Christ has saved us from our sins. Remain in that truth about Christ.

For us, then, we also need to be paying attention. We must watch out for teachings that tell us anything against Christ being God and saving us from our sins. We have to watch out for the antichrist spirit that is always with us in these end times. These end times that began at the coming of Christ the first time. We need to be aware of what is false.

But don’t get your self wrapped up looking for the antichrist and the new world order and the ultimate evil that will have some great power before the return of Christ. What does God want from us? What does God expect from us after hearing this word for us today? God wants us to give our hearts even more completely to the true Christ. Spend more time building your relationship with Jesus than building up walls against possible antichrists. Spend more time taking the truth of Christ’s saving acts to the lost people we love. This week dedicate some more time to not just reading the Bible, but digging deeper into who Jesus Christ is. This year, dedicate yourself to spending more time bringing the truth of Christ’s grace into your work as a farmer, building, homemaker.

That’s remaining in the truth. Living in the truth. Live by the truth of Jesus Christ and will not have to worry about who the antichrist is, or who might be an antichrist in their actions. Our best defense and readiness for whatever scheme of the devil is to be in Christ. Brothers and sisters. Remain and live in the truth of Jesus Christ.

This is God’s will from his word. And all God’s people say, AMEN.

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[1] http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_9_27/ai_108881880

[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Jn 2:18-19

[3] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Jn 2:22

[4] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Jn 2:18-19

a Some manuscripts and you know all things

[5] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Jn 2:20-21

[6] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. 1 Jn 2:24-25