The AntiChrist
Notes
Transcript
Introduction - Story about sports and bringing in the big guns as the time is expiring and they are getting desperate. (sports/real life comparison)
The end of the game is drawing near, the adversary is increasing the pressure trying to win; and the apostle John told us all about when he wrote this letter. So what does 1 John 2:18-24 say?
18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
The antichrist is coming but many antichrists have come and they are all around us.
How can that be? How can he be coming and still be all around us?
The antichrist who is coming is the one man who will set himself up as a god during the great tribulation. But the antichrist was also there in the beginning and has been struggling against Christ since He dwelt among us. That is why John said many have appeared.
a. So what is an antichrist? Antichrist means: a person or force seen as opposing Christ or the Christian Church
Ultimately John was telling the church that those who left the church because they were against Christ they were antichrists.
The Beast - the antichrist who is to come at the last hour. Rev 13:1-4 says:
1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”
Many - Since Christ has come!
Some people of the past who have been considered the antichrist -
Nero Caesar - around AD 64
Hitler -
Mikhail Gorbachev
Napoleon
Vladimir Putin
All of these men struggled against Christ Jesus. They all acted in some way against the Church. They are not the only ones. There are people and people groups that stand against Christ and His church all over the globe. But, at the time John was talking about individuals who were a part of the church who left the church saying that Jesus was not the Christ. Think about the conversion of Saul into the Apostle Paul but in reverse. The antichrist was a part of the church and then left and began to struggle against it. Have you seen this in the church now. Someone gets upset and they stop believing in Jesus and begin to persecute the church in some way. A famous example would be Darwin. He grew up in the church and then he tried to destroy the truth of creation. The average guy who is a part of the church and then tries to destroy it.
They, that average guy, the antichrists went out from among us.
a. They are not of us. The antichrists John is talking about were never really a part of the fellowship. Look back at a few verses and you can see some of the reasons why they were not a part of the fellowship.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Since they are liars or in love with the world or the things of the world they did not remain as a part of the fellowship. Not everyone who leaves the church is an antichrist. Many leave and go to another church or they leave because the church is failing to remain in fellowship with the Father. But this was not the case for John. He speaks of those that went out and tried to do harm to the church afterwards - they tried to draw away others from the fellowship.
But there are also those who remain. Those who remain are of us. Those who remain are in fellowship with the body. Those who remain have the Spirit of God and will stand with the brothers and sisters of the church who are in Christ Jesus.
Verse 20 says we have an Anointing. But what does that mean? Definition - Smear or rub with oil, typically as part of a religious ceremony.
Smear, rub oil - Three things which the anointing symbolizes:
1. Consecration - Set apart for the work of the Lord Jos 3:5 says:
5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
2. The Lord’s Favor - “tangible evidence that a person has the approval of the Lord.”
Favor and grace - kind of the same thing. If the Lord favors you - He shows you His grace, His unmerited divine assistance. And it is by His grace that we are saved.
3. The Presence of the Holy Spirit, Acts 10:38 says:
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
And what does it mean when it says we have an anointing from the Holy One?
The anointing of the Holy Spirit occurs when the Lord’s presence rests on a believer in a powerful way, bringing a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit and a fresh manifestation of His power. This intimate encounter with God is meant to be a daily reality for every believer.
It means we have that same anointing that Jesus had. The same Holy Spirit has been given to those who believe in Jesus - Acts 1:8 says:
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
We are consecrated by the Holy Spirit for the work which He has set before us. We have the favor of the Lord. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We have the Presence and Power of God in our lives!!!!
Do we live like it? Do the people in your life know you are filled with the Holy Spirit?
Sometimes I wonder if people even see enough difference in me to think that I am filled with the Holy Spirit.
So why all the talk about the antichrist? Well verse 22-24 explains who the antichrist is. According to John anyone who denies Jesus is the antichrist. The meat of this passage is verse 23:
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Previous passages in this letter taught us that if we lie then you do not dwell in the light or have fellowship with the Father. So, if you are in the body of Christ the Church and denying the Son you are a liar. These are the antichrists, these are the ones who have gone out from among them and us.
So what happens when you deny the Son Jesus Christ?
Matthew 10:33 tells us what happens when we deny Jesus before men.
33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
So if you are denying Jesus then when judgement time comes our Advocate will stand before the Father and say I don’t know this guy - send him into utter darkness. It wont matter how many wonderful things you did in the name of Jesus - if you deny Him, He will deny you. Plain and simple.
But on the other hand what happens to those who confess the Son with their lips but their actions don’t match what they are saying? Titus 1:16 says:
16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
So we can’t just use our lips to confess Jesus, our actions have to follow our words. We have to walk the walk. We can’t just be hearers of the word we have to be doers of the word. We have to keep His commandments and walk in the light. Many have gone out of the fellowship because they denied Jesus - but not us. We will confess Jesus and be in fellowship with the Father.
And then we come to verse 24 where the apostle John is speaking directly to each of us - As for you!!!
24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
We finish up with the exhortation to allow what we heard in the beginning to abide in us. What is that which we heard in the beginning. The beginning of what? The beginning of our walk with Christ. John is exhorting us to allow the Holy Spirit which we heard in the beginning to abide or live in us. You can’t go wrong. If you have the Holy Spirit in you then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. He has been telling us the same thing all along; God is light so dwell in the light; keep His commandments so that we know Him; and love your brothers and sisters in Christ so that you will walk in the light.
Exit - Do not be swayed by the antichrist! The one who denies Christ