The Antichrist(s)

One of the earliest and most important lessons we Americans teach our children is how to tell time. This is because we live in a time-conscious culture. Whereas people in many other parts of the world worry much less about deadlines and dates, we are rather obsessed with time. Being early is not fashionable. Being late can often be costly.

The apostle John was also concerned that we know how to tell time. However, it was not chronological time-telling that concerned him. It was spiritual clock-watching that he deemed most important.

His interest was not time as man measures it, but time as God measures it.

1 John 2:18–23 NKJV

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which 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 they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

How God reckons time is an important theological issue that should concern the heart and occupy the mind of every follower of Jesus Christ.

You see, as God keeps time, “it is the last hour” (v. 18). Time is running out. Midnight is almost here. How do we know this?

According to John, unmistakable evidence has appeared: the antichrists have come on the scene!

The word “antichrist” (Gk antichristos) has a way of striking a sense of wonder, amazement, and even fear in our hearts.

And in one sense it should. Nevertheless, given all the strange and wild speculations that surface when antichrist is mentioned, it is absolutely essential that we have a biblically balanced understanding of who the antichrists are and what the antichrists do.

In our text this morning, John will place before us some important lessons that will equip us to both recognize and defeat these archenemies of the true Christ, our Savior the Lord Jesus.

It is time to get armed for the battle. Spiritual conflict is inevitable.

Antichrists Attack Christ

1 John 2:18 NKJV

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

The apostle John did not go looking for a fight. However, he would not run from one when those he loved and cared for were in danger of being lied to (v. 22) and deceived (v. 26).

Once again he addresses his readers as “children” (cf. vv. 1, 12, 13). It is a term of endearment and tender affection.

It is also a literary device John uses to introduce a new subject.

Here, that subject is “the last hour” and the appearance of “many antichrists.”

The word “antichrist” means “against Christ” or “in the place of Christ.”

The primary idea in this case is that these enemies are “against Christ.”

Only John uses this striking term and only in four places in his letters (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7).

While John appears to have coined the word, he did not make up the idea.

Daniel calls this rival of Christ “the coming prince” (Dan 9:27

Daniel 9:27 NKJV

27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”

Paul calls him the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess 2:3

2 Thessalonians 2:3 NKJV

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

John will picture him as the beast from the sea in Revelation 13:1–10.

In this text, John notes several important truths about this spiritual nemesis.

Antichrist Has a Period of Time

John says at the beginning and the end of verse 18, “it is the last hour.” It is crucial that we understand what this term means if we are to develop a proper eschatology.

Note that John said it was the last hour almost 2,000 years ago.

The phrase signifies the entire period of time between the first and second comings of Christ.

The last hour evokes the sense of urgency in which those who follow Christ must live in throughout any and every age.

We live in a time when antichrists (plural) are active. This activity will increase until “the Antichrist” comes at the end of the last hour.

Jesus Himself warned us of all of this in Matthew 24:4–5, 24–25.

Matthew 24:4–5 NKJV

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

Matthew 24:24–25 NKJV

24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.

As the gospel spreads, so will false teaching. As Christ’s missionaries go out to the nations, so will Satan’s missionaries called “antichrists”!

We are engaged in a global conflict for the souls of men.

Interestingly, there could be no antichrists if there was not a true Christ. Even their coming is a witness concerning His coming!

Antichrist Is a Principle of Spiritual Error

In 1 John 4:3 the apostle speaks of “the spirit of the antichrist.”

In our text in 2:22, he makes plain what the spirit of antichrist is all about:

they are liars who deny “that Jesus is the Messiah.”

And their strategy is deceptive and seductive.

They do not directly oppose Jesus Christ. They redefine Him. They re-imagine Him.

“He is good,” they say, “but He is not God.”

“He may be a son of God like we can be sons and daughters of God,” they teach, “but He is not the Son of God.”

“He may have died on the cross as a martyr,” they affirm, “but He did not die as a Savior.”

The spirit of antichrist always diminishes the person and work of Christ.

It chips away at His deity and rejects His work of atonement. The antichrist spirit thinks and then teaches incorrectly concerning who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ has done.

The “hub” of Christianity is the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth, the eternal and divine Son of God. If you get it wrong here, you will get it wrong almost everywhere else.

This is the spirit of the antichrists, and it will attempt to lead you down the road of spiritual error that is a theological dead end.

Antichrist Is a Person of Deception

John makes an important distinction between many antichrists who are already here and the Antichrist who is coming at the end of the age.

Satan’s superman will appear someday. The Devil’s darling will make a grand entrance sometime in the future.

This counterfeit Christ will come on the scene of world history and, amazingly, the whole earth will marvel and follow him.

Satan will indwell him and give him “his power, his throne, and great authority” (Rev 13:2–3).

The Bible teaches that the nations will even worship him as God (Rev 13:4).

Now you may ask, “When is he coming? Could he be alive right now?”

Several years ago Newsweek reported that 19 percent of all Americans and 50 percent of those who accept biblical prophecy believe the antichrist is alive today (Woodward, “The Way the World Ends,” 69).

Whether he is alive or not, I cannot, will not, and should not speculate, and neither should you. That is God’s business. What I do know is he will come, and the spirit of antichrist is alive and well.

So, be on the lookout for those who attack the biblical teachings about Christ. They will do you no good.

John then speaks about...

Antichrists Abandon the Church

1 JOHN 2:19 , 22–23

The greatest dangers to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ are always from within, not from without.

Satan is a master deceiver and strategist who knows that the deployment of a spiritual Trojan Horse can do serious, if not irreparable, damage to the body of Christ.

However, once the damage is done, the antichrists will leave the spiritual battlefield taking with them what captives they can.

Eventually they reveal their true colors and allegiance. Their departure will almost always be painful and the occasion for tremendous grief. But their exit is essential for the health and vitality of the church.

Alistair Begg says it well:

“There are some who share [for a while] our earthly company who do not share our heavenly birth” (“A Word of Warning”).

You see, their leaving us is a clear sign and certain signal that they were really never a part of us to begin with.

Physically, They Desert the Fellowship (1 John 2:19)

1 John 2:19 NKJV

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 they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Perseverance is the proof of possession. Defection from the fellowship gives evidence of a defective faith. That was certainly John’s perspective.

The contrast between “they” and “us” in verse 19 is striking.

In the original text both words appear five times. There are two spiritual teams as John sees it. There is “us” and there is “them” (they).

Several observations can be made about each team.

First, the “they team” did not last. They left. “They went out from us.” Most likely this was a voluntary departure not an excommunication, though both are certainly possible.

Second, their departure proves they were never really a part of us regardless of what they once professed. In other words they were never truly saved; They were and are lost.

The “us team” in contrast remains in the fellowship and perseveres. As tragic as this verse is on one hand, it is glorious and comforting on the other. Why?

Because it is a wonderful affirmation of what we call “eternal security” or “perseverance of the saints.”

Those who truly belong to Christ will stay with Christ because, as Jude 1 says, we are “kept for Jesus Christ.”

Jesus addressed this wonderful truth in John 10:27–29 where He says,

John 10:27–29 NKJV

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father’s hand.

I love what the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 says of this doctrine in Article V 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.”

Spiritually, They Deny the Faith (1 John 2:22–23)

1 John 2:22–23 NKJV

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

The physical departure of the false teachers and their disciples was grounded in their defection from and denial of the faith.

They left the church because they had left Christ. They no longer believed what the apostles, those who had been with Him, taught.

They denied the incarnation and deity of Christ, that Jesus was the One sent by the Father.

You see, to deny the Son is to deny His Father who sent Him. This is a package deal, as verses 22–23 make crystal clear.

Indeed, “No one who denies the Son can have the Father.” But, and this is good news, “He who confesses the Son has the Father as well.”

Once again we see the Christological test is the crucial test.

What do you think and believe about Jesus Christ?

Sadly, many modern day false teachers and others like them have left the faith but have sought to remain in the fellowship. Their deadly poison continues to infect the body of Christ with its lies. John has given us a way to identify them. We must have the courage to expose them, even though it hurts to do so.

It is always better to be divided by truth than united by error.