Intro story-African man claims to be Jesus
He claims to be Jesus Christ
He says he is the only one that can talk to God himself
Performing miracles(water into tea)
His community is convinced its true
So they secretly planned to crucify him on easter so he could rise again
When he found out he was scared a sought police protection
The man went into hiding and hasn’t been seen since
There will always be people claiming to be Christ
Jesus said it Himself
Church I want to make it clear tonight
You will know when Jesus returns
It wont be a secret
He’s not coming back as a man
Jesus says it will be like lightning that is visible from the east to the west
Revelation says every eye will see Him
Paul tells us He will be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with powerful angels
You wont be surprised
Its not going to be some secret code you need to crack
Or a person that you must discern
He will be bold when He returns with all of His Glory
You will know
1 John 2:18-29
18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the[a] 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[b] 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.
Let Truth Abide in You
24 Therefore 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. 25 And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to [c]deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you [d]will abide in Him.
The Children of God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that [e]when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
John wrote Little children, it is the last hour;
Sometimes people think that when he says little children that he is referring to baby Christians, or new believers
In context of the letter john is referring to Christians in general
Young, old, new, and mature believers
He means children of God
I wanted to explain it for the more seasoned Christians in this room so you don’t just check out
John says the last hour
I want you to understand that we have been in the last days and hour since Pentecost
It’s referred to throughout the new testament
It will be the last hour until Jesus returns
But don’t stay comfortable
There is still work to do and the world will only get worse
John goes on to write
and as you have heard that the[a] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
I’m going to be on this verse for a portion of the sermon tonight
Because I want you to truly understand the difference between the Antichrist
And little “a” antichrists
A lot of teachers and pastors use the word antichrist liberally when speaking about end times prophecy
But it actually only occurs a few times and only in John’s writing
The word in Greek means antichristo translating to “adversary to the Messiah”
Its mention in 1 john 2:18 and 22, 4:3, and 2 john 7
There are other apocalyptic writings of this person spoken of but not referred to by the same name
In Daniel it refers to him as the “ruler to come” 9:26
Who will set up in the temple “an abomination that causes desolation” 9:27
Jesus also spoke about the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15
He is referred to the man of lawlessness by Paul who will proclaim to be God “2 Thessalonians 2:3-4”
And in revelation 13 it refers to him as the beast and causes unbelievers to worship him
Primarily when people speak about the Antichrist they are referring to Revelation
But Revelation 13 describes two figures
One of them is the beast rising out of the seas
Revelation 13:1
Then [a]I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having [b]seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
This beast that rises out of the sea is a government system
It will be a one world government
Similar to the roman empire or when Nero reigned
People actually thought that he was the antichrist
He was just a form of antichrist little “a”
Not the antichrist
Out of this government system the Antichrist will be raised up
The other is the beast rising out of the earth
Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
The 2 beasts are connected
There will also be a false prophet
The false prophet will point people towards the antichrist to worship him
Both the false prophet and the antichrist are connected to the dragon who is Satan
Satan has called the false prophet and the antichrist to help do his evil work
Some teachers call this the “unholy trinity”
That is because Satan is a deceiver and will come mimicking God
2 Thessalonians 2:9
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
You might be thinking, how will people be deceived?
The antichrist is going to look good
He will be someone that the people love and adore
People will be attracted to him because he comes deceiving causing people to think he is good
He will promise peace and happiness
That is how the world will be convinced
If we look at Hitler, He was times magazine person of the year in 1938
He looked good until he rolled out his evil scheme
Same with the Antichrist
If you aren’t in your word it will be very easy to be deceived by him
Now that you have a brief understanding of the Antichrist we will move on
John states in this scripture
“even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
During this time there were factions of people within the church that were breaking off from true doctrine
John is referring to these people as little “a” antichrists
They were false teachers that were trying to deceive the church
In fact he says many have come
Just like in johns time, we ourselves still see many antichrist trying to draw people away from Christ
Like the man in my intro story
There have been many, and will probably more that have claimed to be Christ
Just off the top of my head, in my lifetime I can think of about 10 that I have heard of
This is going to happen until Christ returns
Its nothing new
That is because even though the Antichrist may not be among us and certainly wasn’t when john wrote this
There is an antichrist spirit on this earth
1 john 4:3
and every spirit that does not confess [a]that Jesus [b]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.
It is a spirit that deceives
That is already on this earth trying to work against God
Based on the text we have already discerned that false teachers and prophets are antichrists
But what if I was to tell you it doesn’t end there
1 john 2:22
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 the antichrist rests upon anyone that who denies that Jesus is God in the flesh
These are regular people living ordinary lives
They aren’t necessarily tied into the false teachers
But yet they have the antichrist spirit upon them
2 john 7
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.
John is saying anyone who denies Christ, who denies the Father and Son, every spirit that does not confess Jesus Christ, or His coming return in the flesh is an antichrist
These are people often unknowingly working against God
They may seem “good” to you
Maybe they have a great living style, honest, trustworthy, and likeable
According to john if they don’t confess Christ, they are a deceiver and antichrist
Because of this antichrist spirit many will be deceived
Even with the church
As john wrote in
1 john 2:19
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.
They allowed the antichrist spirit to deceive them and pull them from the church
We still see this now in the church
And it happens often
Story-person from warehouse
They worshipped God hands raised
They were at all of our events
People spent countless hours pouring into them
They were with us for a few years
One day they just up and left
Started leaning very liberal
To this day I still occasionally see them make comments on FVC’s posts
Saying I used to go to this church but they are wrong
They speak directly against us still
10 years later
I’m not even sure if they even stepped foot in our new building
The part that’s the saddest, they denounced Christ
This is the antichrist spirit
They are now little “a” anitichrists
They are deceiving or at least trying to deceive people away from Jesus Christ
They went out from us, but they were not of us
Normal people, with normal lives
That is why it is very important to stay grounded in the truth of Gods word
So you can discern whether someone is trying to deceive you
One thing ive noticed in my time 15 years in ministry is that usually the people are deceived by the ones they spend the most time with
Sure people can be led astray by false teachers
But from my experience, people are led astray by the people that they surround themselves with
Story- old friend-deceived by girlfriend
Be careful who you allow into your life and to speak into it
The antichrist spirit is lurking and constantly working through people to deceive you
This happens so often in the church
People confess Christ, get their life on track
They are embedded with the truth
Then that person comes into their life
It seems that no matter the warnings that have been given
They still fall to these people around them
Guard your heart
Spend time with people that are of the faith and diligent to the work of the Lord
The reason they can be deceived is because the spirit of the antichrist is working against them
They aren’t staying grounded
Give no room for the enemy in your life
1 john 2:26-27
These things I have written to you concerning those who try to [c]deceive you. 27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you [d]will abide in Him.
Now this scripture is not saying that you don’t need a teacher at all
That’s for the “we are the church crowd”
Sit under biblical teaching
You don’t always automatically know everything when the anointing of the Holy Spirit is in you
But what the Holy Spirit will do is give you the ability to discern whether someone is in the truth
Or if they have a deceiving spirit
Trust the Holy Spirits judgement, not your own
How do we apply this to our lives so that we will not be tempted by deception?
1 John 2:28-29
And now, little children, abide in Him, that [e]when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
If you are born of Him then you must practice righteousness
We must stay true to the foundation that we have learned
Do not get distracted by the events going on in the world or the people around you
Use discernment and proper judgement through the Holy Spirit
Story-A dark hallway
All I needed to do was turn on a light
Instead because of my own preconceived idea I ran right into the door
I was wondering in the dark in an unknown location
Now I have a painful reminder to leave the light on
1 john 1:5-7
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
We need to continue to practice the truth of Gods word at all times
Don’t let your guard down for even one minute
Sit under good sound doctrine and biblical teaching
Be careful who you listen to online
There are so many deceivers with their short 30 second clips
It might sound good
But a lot of these guys teach heresy
Even though it seems good to the ears
Its not always Gods good
Read your word and do what it says
The times that we live in we must continue in our biblical practices
The world is only going to get worse
Stay grounded lest you be deceived by the antichrist spirit
Johns letter may seem to talk a lot about antichrist and being deceived
But the true intent of this letter was for encouragement to the church
To the believers standing firm and abiding in Christ
I will end with this scripture so that you may also leave here today encouraged
1 john 5:13
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [a]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
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