Discernment in an Age of Deception, Part 1

1 John 2:18–23 ESV

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. 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. 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. 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. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

Prayer

As we consider this text today, it is important to remember briefly where we have been.

Several weeks ago we saw John affirm and confirm in the lives of these believers that he truly thinks they are children of God.

He was encouraging them to grow up into maturity and not settle with being spiritual infants.

Then two weeks ago we walked about not taking the bait of this world.

Which we defined as accepting and affirming a kind of worldly evil.

A kind of evil which is moral, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

The kind of evil John will be addressing us with today appeals more to our minds than to our fleshly desires.

It is the kind of evil which is occurs at a philosophical level, a doctrinal level.

Discernment thrives where truth reigns.

Deception thrives where lies reign.

1 John 2:18 NKJV

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.

Signs of the Times: Antichrists

What Paul calls, “philosophy”, “elemental spirits of the world”

What he also calls, “teachings of demons”

Notice that John begins by talking about a singular Antichrist.

This figure will come at the end of time and try and deceive many.

We see it in the book of Daniel, and Revelation.

But John also references “many antichrists”

We also hear from Jesus Himself about false-Christs.

Mark 13:22–23 NKJV

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.

This kind of “false prophet” is what John has in mind as he talks about antichrists.

Jesus says that these false Christs will show us what days we are living in.

Which is why John says that we are living in “the last hour”

1 John 2:18 NKJV

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.

Now another way the Bible talks about this concept is how Paul refers to antichrists.

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 NKJV

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, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Notice the word that is present with both Paul and Jesus, “Deceive”.

What we should know about this figure of “antichrist” is he will deceive many.

What does John mean by “antichrist”?

1 John 2:18 (NKJV)

and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come,

It should be interesting to note that John is the only writer in the Bible who uses that word “antichrist”

The way John is using this term falls in line with the common belief of the day.

That there would come a final struggle between the forces of Satan and God.

Notice how John looks forward to a singular figure which he is calling “the Antichrist”

But then he says, “even now many antichrists have come”

This word is composed of two smaller words, “anti” and “Christ”

Christ as we have talked about before simply means “the anointed ONE”

But the word “anti” can either mean “the opposite of” or “instead of”

When we hear John referring to the antichrist, we should have in our minds a person or system of thought which provides a vision of salvation without Christ.

In other words, they are antichrist, meaning in-place-of-Christ.

Examples of antichrist thought.

Gnosticism - pulled many Christians away from the true Christ because they denied that Jesus came in the flesh.

Humanism - claimed that man and his ability to reason was the only hope for mankind.

Deism - claimed that the Creator never intervened in the affairs of humans and Jesus was only a good man.

Evolutionism, Communism, Materialism.

They all have a vision of salvation which replaces Christ with something else.

How can you recognize antichrists?

The Heresy of the Antichrist

1 John 2:19 NKJV

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.

I want to say on the front end, because I know how this will be heard.

This does not mean that anytime anyone leaves “our” church that they are an antichrist.

The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary The Antichrists

We must bear in mind that John is not talking about a mere exchange of one denomination for another—the one who does that is not by that act revealed to be an unbeliever—but rather of a departure that is at the same time a rejection of the fundamental truths of Christianity.

Now I will caveat this by saying that sometimes when people leave a church for another church, they are abandoning the faith.

For instance, if someone left our church to begin attending the Church of Scientology, or became a Jehovah’s Witness.

But in many instances, a change in denominations is NOT what John has in mind here.

Notice the dynamics of what John is saying...

1 John 2:19 (NKJV)

They went out from us, but they were not of us;

1. The Visible vs. Invisible Church

The ones who went out from their gathering, were not of them.

You can hear very clearly the division that has taken place in this church.

The Gnostics, who believed that Jesus was only a man, and that the Christ came on Jesus at his baptism and left him at the crucifixion.

They have left the church.

And John is reminding these believers, “They may have left, but its because they were never really a part of this church.”

They may have been a member of your physical and visible church, but they were never a part of the invisible church.

The invisible church is made up of born again believers.

The visible church may or may not be filled with actual born again believers.

You may have heard me say at other moments the difference between the capital C church and lower case c church.

Even Jesus talked about this dynamic at play.

Matthew 13:24–30 (NKJV)

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;

but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’

But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

The point here for Jesus is to say that unbelievers will always be amongst the born again believers.

The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary The Antichrists

The implication of Christ’s parable and John’s statement is that some Christians are so much like non-Christians and some non-Christians so much like Christians that it is impossible to tell the difference between them in this life.

Oftentimes what happens, when false teaching is happening in a church.

The people who should confront it, don’t because they want to preserve “unity”

We need to know that false teachers are always the ones who destroy unity within the church.

It is never the Christians who are guarding the “good doctrine” who create division.

It is always the false teachers who are destroying unity.

Deception thrives where lies reign!

So if you begin to see lies reigning in this congregation, it is mine and your responsibility to address them.

Another marker of an antichrist spirit is..

1 John 2:19 NKJV

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.

2. They Leave the Gathering

John says that when a person leaves a gathering, it becomes plain or is revealed to everyone what has always been true about them.

When people leave the gathering, they show themselves to be true to what they are really like.

And what they are really like is unregenerate and are NOT born again.

John is reminding these believers that since we live in the times that we do, we should expect it.

When people leave the gathering it is not meant to shake the believers faith.

Knowing this does not necessarily make it any easier when we see people leave.

SO how are we to think about people leaving the faith in this way?

The Perseverance of the Saints

The perseverance of the Saints teaches that every person who has truly been saved by God will be kept by the grace of God till the end.

This means that when God changes a person’s heart, they become regenerate, or born again; then God will keep that person until they die.

SO when we see people breaking off from the faith family and attending a heretical church or not attending anywhere, we should remember this doctrine.

John 10:27–28 NKJV

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

Or Paul even in Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

This doctrine is meant to bring us great comfort as we see friends, family, and others we love and have had fellowship with leave.

And the comfort is to encourage us to speak up when we hear false teaching.

In contrast to the people who have broken off from the community....

1 John 2:20 NKJV

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

Now I would argue that I think the NIV has a better rendering of what John has in mind here.

1 John 2:20 NIV

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

Discernment for the Times: The Anointing of God

Now this concept of discernment is important but we need a helpful definition before we talk about it.

Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.

What Spurgeon is pointing out here is not simply a blaring difference between right and wrong.

Discernment is needed when half-truths are being spoken.

And the problem with a half-truth is it creates a whole lie.

What does John mean by “Anointing”?

The anointing here likely means an equivalent of a reference to the Holy Spirit which they received when they first believed in Christ.

I want to be clear here, if you are a Christian, then you have the Holy Spirit.

You don’t have to get some second portion of the Holy Spirit or second blessing from the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian you have all the Holy Spirit that you are ever going to have in terms of his indwelling your life.

John is showing that to be filled with the Holy Spirit is a necessary part of refuting antichrists.

Paul talks about the Holy Spirit in the same way in 2 Timothy 1:13-14

2 Timothy 1:13–14 (ESV)

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

John also used this word for anointing because of the contrast between the believers and the antichrist.

The word for antichrist is “antichistos” which is compared to what these believers have which is “chrisma”

John is again highlighting the difference between these believers and these defectors.

Notice also how many times the word “truth” is mentioned in these two verses.

1 John 2:20–21 NKJV

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 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.

The Battle for Truth

What the Holy Spirit brings to these little children is truth.

This is a battle for truth and lies.

When truth is present, than discernment can thrive.

When lies are present, than deception will thrive.

No Lie is of the Truth

Some say, “Opposing false reaching is something that just quarrelsome people do”

But John says opposing false teaching is a family matter in which spiritual fathers and mothers protect the spiritual children in the church.

It is an act of love, not anger.

Some say, “Opposing false teaching destroys unity."

But the Apostles say that opposing false teaching is guarding unity.

It is false teaching that destroys unity (Ephesians 4:14-16).

Some say, "I'm not interested in opposing false teaching; I'm just interested in love."

But John makes it clear that the reason church leaders oppose false teaching is that they love their church members.

(Remember that the early church called John the Apostle of Love.)

Some say, "I'm not interested in opposing false teaching; I'm interested in the Holy Spirit."

But John makes it clear that protecting young believers in the church from false teaching is Holy Spirit work.

He is "the Spirit of truth."

John goes on an further clarifies what the spirit of the antichrist is like...

1 John 2:22 NKJV

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

The Spirit of Antichrist

John has in mind here not simply one singular antichrist figure, but actually many antichrists.

He says later on there is a spirit of the antichrist.

1 John 4:2–3 NKJV

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

What does a counterfeit imply?

A counterfeit implies the existence of the real thing.

Why do people not counterfeit $3 bills?

There is no such thing as a $3 bill.

People don’t counterfeit that which is not real.

Satan counterfeits what is true.

So he has his counterfeit preachers in churches.

There are churches today with a false prophet, a counterfeiter, standing behind the pulpit teaching people.

Jesus told us we should not be surprised about that.

He said there will always be false prophets.

Jesus said that when he went away (after his resurrection), many false prophets would arise to lead many astray (Matthew 24:11).

They would claim to be the Messiah, and they would deceive many.

1 John 2:22–23 NKJV

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

Like father like son: Sons of the devil.

John 8:44 NKJV

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Confession: Jesus is NOT the Christ. 

There are far more antichrists than people often recognize. 

We should be aware of these antichrists and not yoke ourselves to them because they don't know God.

2 Corinthians 6:14–16 NKJV

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

Do you know how banks teach their tellers to spot counterfeits?

They don’t just give them all the fakes.

Because there are new counterfeits being created every single day.

What they do is teach the tellers what a dollar bill looks like.

Exactly the way they are made.

Exactly what they need to look like.

Exactly the specifications for them.

1 John 2:23 NKJV

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Like FATHER like SON: Sons of God through Christ Jesus

Confession: Jesus IS the Christ. 

This means that they not only have Jesus, but they have the Father as well.

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.