1 John: Χρισμα

Translation

Little children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come, thus we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. Because if they were from us then they would have remained with us still, but as a result they were all revealed as not being of us. As for you, you have a christening from the Holy One, and all of you know.

I did not write to you because you have not known the truth, rather because you do know it, and because every lie is not from the truth. Who is the Liar if not the dis-owner who says, “Jesus is not the Christ?” This is the Antichrist: the one who disowns the Father and the Son. All who disown the Son do not have the Father. Those who confess the Son also have the Father.

As for you, what you heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which he promised us: The Life of the Age.

I wrote these things to you concerning the ones leading you astray.

As for you, The christening which you received from him remains in you, and you have no need for someone to teach you, but in this way his christening instructs you concerning all things, and it is true and is not false, so just as it teaches you, you must remain in him.

The World is Passing: Living at the Fringe

Did you hear the world is ending this year?

Kenton Beshore predicts rapture in 2021

William Miller (JW founder) Predicted world would end on October 22, 1844

John Wesley predicted second coming in 1836

Is John another doomsday prophet? Was he wrong?

Early Christians did believe we are living in the “last days” or in the “last hour”

Jesus himself urges watchfulness

Since Christ’s ascension, history has run parallel to the end times: Christ is always near, his coming is always eminent, and thus we should always be watchful

Even so, John makes no prediction about when the last day will be. He knows that Christ is near, that it could happen any moment, but does not dare to predict when that will be, or even if it will be in his lifetime

Matt 24

The New Revised Standard Version The Necessity for Watchfulness

Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

This world is passing away, the light is coming in and the dark going out

The end is near in proximity, but God gives us no hint of its nearness temporally

Our place, then, is not to attempt to predict when Christ will come back, or the precise date of the apocalypse, but to be alert.

The Antichrist: Spiritual Warfare in the Eschaton

And why be alert? Because though the world is passing away, it is not yet done fighting!

The Antichrist is coming

Who is the Antichrist?

αντιχριστος: “against Christ” or perhaps even one who “replaces Christ”

2 Thess 2 “Man of Lawlessness”

Evil figure that will be final enemy of God. The Antichrist is to Satan as Christ is to God.

But John is worried less about the Antichrist and more about antichrists

While the Antichrist comes at the very end, his spirit is still at work against God’s church up until that point. Thus there are many “antichrists” who will come

Who is an “antichrist” then?

Do they have glowing red eyes and drink the blood of infants?

No! They are a liar and “dis-owner” of Christ

Claims to know the God the Father, but disowns the Son

Attempts to make Christians “wander”

As the name suggests, they are “against Christ”. They either deny him or try to replace him

Matt 24 Jesus predicts false prophets and messiahs

Revelation the beast (Rome and emperor cult)

Dan 7:25 (Likely historical, perhaps Antiochus Epiphanes)

The New Revised Standard Version Daniel’s Visions Interpreted

He shall speak words against the Most High,

shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High,

and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law;

and they shall be given into his power

for a time, two times, and half a time.

Don’t Be Deceived: Need for Perseverance

The spirit of the Antichrist was active in John’s day, and continues to be active in ours.

Christian Nationalism

Heretical sects (e.g. JW and LDS)

Note: not all non-believers are “antichrists”! “Dis-owner” assumes the person was Christian at one point. “Antichrists” according to John mislead people about God, and this is an active work.

Our “Christening”: The Key to Victory