All right, please turn with me now in your copy of God's Word to the book of 1 John, not the gospel of John, but John's first epistle. Returning where we left off last week in this sermon series, 1 John 2, verse 18 is where we'll begin today. When you've found your place there, will you please stand with me for the reading of God's Word this morning? Let us pray. And now, Lord God, bless the congregation of Haynes Creek Church as we continue our study together of John's first epistle to the churches of the first century. We pray, Lord God, that it would be your Holy Spirit speaking to us through your servant, John, speaking not only to our heads, Lord, but also to our hearts. Teach us things, Lord, that we need to know. Give us the wisdom to be able to be discerning, as we face the challenges of our time. And so God, by this great means of grace, your holy word, bless your people today. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So our sermon text today is 1 John 2, verses 18 and 19. 1 John 2, verse 18, listen now to the word of God. The Apostle John writes here and says, 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. They went out from us, but they were not of us. 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 allies. This is the word of the Lord. Please be seated. A lot of people imagine the Apostle John as something of a softy. I think. And Leonardo da Vinci may have something to do with that. Da Vinci, who lived in the 15th century, of course, did not know the apostle John, but in his famous painting, The Last Supper, for some reason, da Vinci depicted the young Galilean fisherman as the palest of Christ's apostles, as if John mostly kept to his bedchamber. If you're looking for John in Da Vinci's The Last Supper, he's the long-haired fellow at the Lord's right hand, the one with the pink shawl draped over his shoulder. As depicted by Da Vinci, you might be forgiven for mistaking John for a girl. And also as an old man writing to the churches in the first century, as John is here, we often think of John as the apostle of love, because agape, or love, is such an important theme in John's Christian theology. And as he addresses himself in this letter to his dear children, we often imagine John as a gentle, grandfatherly pastor, lovingly ministering to Christ's flock in Ephesus. That's how we think of John. You'll note here that when Gnostic heretics arose in the first century churches, churches that John loved and cared for, the gloves came off. We see that here in 1 John 2, verse 18, in that John doesn't just call the Gnostic teachers wrong, he calls them antichrists. His words again are these, 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. 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 manifest that none of them were of us. So you understand John is not talking about ideas and attitudes here. He's talking about particular men and men who were known to the Christians in these churches because these men, these antichrists, were once members of these churches. So where's the pink shawl draped over the shoulder of the Apostle of Love now? If John ever wore such a thing, which I doubt, I would say it is on the ground behind him as he lurches forward aggressively to condemn these antichrists in defense of Christ's flock. Now, to be sure, the apostles of Jesus Christ did not handle all doctrinal controversies in the church this way, with this sort of aggressiveness. We think of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome. and the controversy in that church over the dietary scruples of Jewish converts to Christianity. If you think about Romans chapter 14, Paul clearly thinks these newly baptized Jews were wrong not to see that the Mosaic dietary law had been abrogated under the New Testament. But addressing himself to the Gentile Christians in the Roman congregation, Paul calls these Jews not antichrists, but weaker brethren. Invoking the priority of love, Paul teaches the Gentiles in this church to be in every way affirming of their Jewish brethren, accommodating to their scruples, and patient with them in their imperfect but growing understanding of Christian theology. So that's the Apostle Paul dealing with the controversy over Jewish dietary scruples in the Church of Rome, and a lot of controversies in Christ's Church are to be dealt with with that spirit. But there are other controversies of a more serious nature, where lines are crossed that must not be crossed, and errors introduced that would be fatal to the Church's gospel hopes. And that is when the gloves come on. And Christian love doesn't go away, but takes on a different aspect. And in John's estimation, these Gnostics have twice crossed that line. John pins two heresies, two related heresies on the Gnostics in this same letter. He speaks of the first one in 1 John 2, verse 22. He says there, quote, who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. Denies that Jesus is the Christ, that's one. The second one is in 1 John chapter four, verses three through four, where John writes, quote, every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that is that he was truly a man, 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. So those are at least two of the heretical errors of the Gnostics. And because of the seriousness of these errors, unlike Paul in Rome, John is neither affirming nor accommodating nor patient anymore with these Gnostic men, but with great alarm and sounding the alarm in these churches that he loves. So there are four questions that I want to ask and answer as we look at these words more closely together today, which are these. First, what does the term Antichrist mean? Secondly, who is the Antichrist? Thirdly, why does John call the Gnostic teachers Antichrists? And then fourthly, two-part question, what is the last hour? And why does John conclude that the coming of these antichrists means that it is the last hour? So I hope you appreciate to expect a short sermon. He's asking a lot of me today, but hopefully those questions are interesting to you. Taking the time to answer them will be worth your time. So the first question is, what does the term Antichrist mean? Antichrist. So I begin with the term Christ. The term Christ is, of course, a title. which the church applied to Jesus of Nazareth and calling him Jesus Christ. And it means the Anointed One. It's the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah. So, Jesus Christ is, in other words, shorthand for Peter's confession concerning Jesus at Caesarea Philippi. You remember that scene, Matthew 16? I'll read it to you, verse 13 and following. It says, When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And so they said, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the son of the living God. And notice then how important Jesus treats Peter's correct answer to that question. Jesus then answered and said to Peter, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against them. So Peter got the answer right. And it is a most important answer to a most important question in the life of the Christian Church. The question being, who is Jesus, the Son of Man? We say, He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. So, that's what Christ means, the Anointed One. What then does Antichrist mean? Well, interestingly, John is the only biblical author to use this term, Antichrist, and he only uses it in his letters. You don't find it in his gospel. You don't find it in the book of Revelation. Four times in his letters, three times in his first letter. Here, chapter 2, verse 18, also verse 22, and later chapter 4, verse 3, I already read those to you. And one more time in his second letter, 2 John, verse 7, you'll read this. He says, For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. So it's quite possible that John coined this term. In ancient Greek, The prefix anti, when applied to a name or a title, meant more than just opposition. It doesn't just mean against Christ. It carries with it also the idea of equivalence and substitution. So in other words, antichrist means first, in this case, the denial that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. But then secondly with it, Antichrist also suggests the identification of someone else who is the true Christ. So Antichrist here is not just against Christ, but it is also at the same time instead of Christ. That's the point I'm making. And so there's a definite overlap between this term Antichrist and what Jesus says when he speaks of false Christ, Matthew 24, Olivet Discourse. Jesus said to his disciples there, take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Okay, so when someone in this world is heard denying that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, it raises the question, well, who then is the Christ? Who's the Savior? not be too surprised to hear these same Antichrists suggesting an alternative answer, always someone or something other than Jesus. So, Antichrist, then, the term means not only against, but instead of Jesus as the Christ. The second question, then, is who is the Antichrist? See that in verse 18. John refers to many antichrists who have come, but he also refers to the antichrist whom they had heard was coming. So who or what is the antichrist? Well, of course, the church has been trying to figure that one out for a long time. So we should first ask, is there even someone called the Antichrist? I ask this question because not all of the ancient manuscripts of 1 John have the definite article THE in verse 18. So you can find some versions of the English Bible in which it doesn't say THE Antichrist, it just says Antichrist. It's not that easy. All existing manuscripts, however, do have the article in chapter 4, verse 3, where John says, this is the spirit of the Antichrist. So you can't get around it. John definitely does speak of someone whom he calls the Antichrist. You say, well, who is this? Part of the way that we try to answer this question is by noticing similar figures elsewhere in scripture, which are called by different names, but seem to fit the same profile, let's say. So we think here of, first, the little horn. On the head of the male goat in the vision of Daniel 8, 9, whom the prophet sees will grow exceedingly great, rise to the host of heaven, casting down and trampling stars, exalting himself as high as the prince of hosts. That's the little horn from Daniel chapter 8. We also think here of a similar figure in Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians, whom he calls the man of lawlessness. who during the falling away, Paul says, which must precede the day of the Lord, will reveal himself as one who opposes and exalts himself above God. Notice that, antichrist, opposes and exalts himself above God, even sitting as God in the temple of God. So there's the little horn from Daniel 8, there's the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2, and then also, of course, the beast arising out of the sea in Revelation 13. John sees the beast rising out of the sea with great authority and a blasphemous name. He's empowered by the dragon and he makes war against the saints and is worshipped by the marveling world. So all of these figures, the little horn, the man of lawlessness, the beast, they all seem to fit the same profile and so are usually assumed to be the same person, the one that John here calls the Antichrist. So, many powerful men who have opposed Christ and his church during its 2,000 year history have been called the Antichrist. from the Roman Emperor Nero to the Renaissance Pope Leo X, on to Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Mikhail Gorbachev, and most recently by some, Barack Obama and Bill Gates. So seeing so many candidates, some have proposed that all such men are, in a sense, the Antichrist. Others have suggested that the Antichrist is not a person at all, but an ideology or something like secular humanism. And for my part, I don't see anyone or anything past or present who perfectly fits the profile of the Antichrist. So I think that he whom the church in the first century had heard was coming is still to come and will come sometime nearer to the second coming of Jesus Christ on the day of the Lord, in my opinion. But whoever the Antichrist was or is or will be, Expect a false Christ on the greatest ever to appear upon the stage of world history. And expect that he will manifest himself in these two ways. First, in the blasphemous denial that Jesus is the Christ. And secondly, in his great success in persuading the world that it is he himself who is actually the anointed one, their savior, who has come. Third question. Why does John call the Gnostic teachers antichrists? We know what antichrist means, some sense of who the antichrist is, but John then calls these Gnostic teachers antichrists, plural. And here John is clear. It is because Gnostic teaching denied that Jesus was the Christ and did come in the flesh, that he calls them Antichrist. You see that here in 1 John 2, 22. 4.3, 2 John 7, I already read those passages to you. If you go back and look at them, that's what John means. So little is known about the Gnosticism of the first century. More is known about Gnosticism in the second century. And this is what we know. The Gnostics did not deny that there was a Christ. That wasn't their position. Oh, there is no Christ. Rather, they taught that the Christ was a lesser God. who had come into the world as a savior to share with men the secret knowledge of another God, the supreme God who dwelt in the faraway realm of light. And some Gnostics taught that the Christ only appeared to be a man, this man, Jesus of Nazareth. That was a heresy known as docetism. But others taught that the Christ spoke through the man, Jesus of Nazareth, but was not himself Jesus of Nazareth. Either way. The effect of Gnostic error was to deny that the Christ had died on the cross and shed his blood for our sins. So that whatever salvation was to the Gnostics, it had nothing to do with the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Now remember, the Apostle John was with Peter at Caesarea Philippi. and heard Peter's confession and agreed with it. He was with his Lord Jesus, not only at the Last Supper, but also at Galgotha. So John understands who Jesus is, that the Son of Man is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And John understands why to preach the gospel of God is to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So John calls the Gnostics Antichrist, not in that they themselves claimed to be Christ or that they denied that there was a Christ, but that they denied that Jesus was the Christ. An error which is fatal to saving faith in Jesus Christ. For why would you believe in him if he is not the Christ? Again, you go back to Paul on the weaker brother in Romans 14. For someone in the church to think wrongly that the God of the cross of Jesus Christ does not want you to eat pork is one thing. But for someone in the church to deny that the salvation of God is through the cross of Jesus Christ is another thing altogether. An antichrist then is someone who is speaking not by the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Antichrist speaks through that man. And that brings us to the fourth question, which is, what is the last hour? And why does John conclude that the coming of this Antichrist means that it is the last hour? Again, to review the first three questions, Antichrist means against and instead of Jesus as the Christ. The Antichrist is this figure that we see by different names, who is sort of the ultimate false Christ, we think, still to come. John calls these Gnostic teachers Antichrists, in that they're teaching they denied that Jesus was the Christ, suggesting, perhaps, another still to come. And then, fourthly, the question is, so what is the last hour? And why does John conclude that the coming of these antichrists, the Gnostics, means that it is the last hour? So 1 John 2.18 is the only use of this phrase, the last hour. But there are similar phrases used elsewhere by the apostles, particularly the last days and the last times. So if these phrases are all synonymous, as it appears that they are, then references to the last days and the last times in the New Testament can help us to understand what John means by the last hour. That's my theory anyways. So we compare references to the last days and the last times, we find that sometimes these phrases are used by the apostles to refer to the times in which They were living in the first century, as John's reference to the last hour does here. It is the last hour, he says. Examples of this would be Acts 2.17, not long after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Peter declares that Pentecost was the sign of the inauguration of the last days. as foretold by the prophet Joel. The last days are now upon us, is what Peter declares there. Another is Hebrew chapter 1 verse 2. Again, the last days are identified with the time of Christ's first appearing. The apostle says, their God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. And finally, 1 Peter 1.20, Peter likewise taught the first century church, and quote, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead." So these are all examples of the Apostles referring to the times in which they were living and Jesus Christ having come as the last time. But there are other references in the Apostles' writings to the last days and the last times which seem to look to the future, events in a time still to come, especially what Paul calls in 2 Thessalonians the apostasy, or the falling away. So 2 Timothy 3.1, for example, Paul foresees and warns the first century church, quote, he says, but know this, that in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, etc. Second Peter 3.3, likewise, Peter anticipates that, quote, scoffers will come in the last days. walking according to their own lust and saying, where is the promise of Christ coming? Notice the future tense and the verbs. In Jude 18, recalling the teaching of Christ's apostles, Jude says, quote, but you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own lust. All right, so here is how I think of this. I think of, as I try to, think like an apostle. I think of the last days with a capital L, and then I think of the last days with a lowercase l. Just as in verse 18, you have the Antichrist with a capital A, and then you have Antichrist with a lowercase a. So the last days with a capital L is yet future. This is the time when the falling away occurs, and the Antichrist, or the man of lawlessness, is revealed prior to Jesus Christ's second coming on the day of the Lord. Paul's words, 2 Thessalonians 2, 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. who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." What is Paul referring to there? I would say the last days, with a capital L. But last days with a lowercase l would then describe the period of world history which began with Christ's first coming and doesn't end until Christ's second coming. So this is the New Testament era or the age of the church. And John here indicates that throughout this period, first coming to the second coming of Christ's church, which the apostles was, in a sense, the last days, that the church could expect many antichrists, like these first century Gnostics, teachers rising up in the church who deny that Jesus is the Christ and that salvation is through his cross. Think about it this way. Only after the Christ had been revealed as Jesus can you have antichrists. That is, men denying that Jesus is the Christ, proposing instead that someone or someone else is the Christ. This is the basis of John's reasoning in verse 19. It makes sense of it. Seeing that these Gnostics who left our church are antichrists, then we know where we are on the timeline of history. This is the last hour. These are the last days. They have begun. It means that henceforth, until Christ's second coming, the church will need to be on her guard against false teachers like these. Not just erring brethren, but Christ-denying, faith-killing heretics. And I'm next. The big point, I think, is this. When is the time for the Church to be on her guard against antichrists and their heretical errors? I'm saying not just the first century and the time before Jerusalem's fall, and I'm saying not just during the falling away at the world's end, whenever that might be, but I'm saying now is the time. has been and is now the time that the Church has to be on her guard against Antichrists, whether the Antichrist has come now or not. And not only should we expect these Antichrists to be rising from within the Church right now, but we also should anticipate, as here, that we will not at first recognize them as Antichrists, which they are. The next verses, 20 and following, John identifies two things that the church has in its defense against Antichrist. The Spirit's anointing and those truths that Christians know. The Word and the Spirit, it's a great performed theme. So we're gonna save the discussion of those things until next week. But this is where I wanna end. I wanna look again at John. the apostle of love, as the exemplar of pastoral love in the midst of this kind of theological controversy in the Church. In this letter, in this epistle, John declares that God is love. and that in this is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. There is no greater manifestation of the love of that God who is love than the manifestation of that love in the death of his son upon the cross. And John in this epistle, the same epistle, further identifies brotherly love among Christians as one of the two great marks of Christ's true church in the world. Along with faith in Jesus Christ, love for the brethren is essential in this church. So truly, John is the apostle of love. I think it's important to see that and to recognize that. So notice that when men, formerly embraced as Christian brothers by these churches, began for some reason to deny that Jesus is the Christ and persist in teaching that heresy, John, the apostle of love, is ready to declare that the church has been wrong about these men. At this point, to deny that they are or ever were Christian brothers at all, to approve of their excommunication, and even denounce them as antichrists. And that is still John acting the part of the apostle of love. And the times in which we are living may call for love like that. This is what pastoral love in Christ's church looks like in moments like this. It is discerning because it needs to be discerning. And when it has discerned and to Christ admits, the gloves come off. And that love rises fiercely to the defense of the beloved. And as this is Holy Scripture, friends, we may be assured that Christ himself stands approvingly over this man, John, who once sat with him at the Last Supper. And Jesus says to John, as he once said to Peter, John, do you love me? Then guard my sheep. So the exhortation is this. When the spirit of Antichrist manifests itself in the church, a thing which we might expect at any time, these being the last times in which we live, then let us not have or be swayed by any of these calls for unconditional Christian peace and brotherly love at all costs. For whereas such appeals make good sense in some situations, such as Romans 14, they do not make sense in all situations, in crises like these, where the gospel is threatened by heresies that deny Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and therefore are fatal to our Christian hopes. Shall we pray? But Lord our God, as we acknowledge our own vulnerability as a church in the world, we thank you for all the ways that you protect us and grant unto us, Lord, the grace of perseverance. It is you, our almighty God, who by your almighty power uphold us by faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last times. And we thank you, Lord, that part of the way that you do this, that protects us and uphold us, is by teaching us, teaching us to be discerning and how to discern wolves in sheep's clothing, that we would not be taken in by their subtlety and their lies. And so, Lord, we pray today for pastors like John, who will be so discerning, and who, Lord, will not shrink from the challenge of the time if heresies and heretics like this should arise in the churches in our days. We pray for congregations who would who would recognize the love in these pastors, even as they denounce those who were once called brethren as antichrists. This is serious stuff, Lord God, many ways in which we might stumble and get it wrong, and yet so important to the protection of Christ's sheep and the preservation of our gospel hopes. And so, Lord God, as we find ourselves here in this place in John's first epistle, May we take this to heart and learn these lessons and be prepared to use them well if the time should come. All this we pray in Jesus name. Amen.