THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST: SPIRIT of the ANTICHRIST

1 John 2:18-27

King James Version (KJV)

18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

WORD RICHES

RECOGNIZE that the Devil brings about all separation and division in the body of Christ.

2:18-27 Another test of true fellowship with God is that of true belief. John distinguished between heretics and genuine believers. (vv. 18-21), describes the nature and result of the heresy (vv.22-23), and reminds his readers of the resources available to meet the heresy (vv. 24-27).

2: 18, 19 The last time was introduced by the First Coming of Christ (Acts 2:17; Heb. 1:1, 2; 1 Pet. 1:20). At the end of this period the one known as the antichrist will come (2 Thess. 2:3-9), but there are already many such persons at work in the world. John identifies other antichrists as the heretics (deceitful, destructive, devisive "believers") who withdraw from the church (v.19). Their withdrawal is evidence that they never really shared in the life and fellowship of the church.

2: 20, 21 In contrast to the false teachers who claimed superior knowledge, the

Christians possess and understanding of spiritual realities through the illumination ministry of the Holy Spirit.

2: 22, 23 This particular error of these heretics was a denial of the Incarnation, which created a gospel of mysticism and obstructed a true understanding of the Father and personal relationship with Him (John 14:7-11).

2: 24-27 Two things will protect the readers from falling victim to the seductive teachings of the heretics: 1.) constantly abiding in the truth concerning Christ, which we had received from the apostles; 2.) the anointing of the Holy Spirit, whose illuminating power will enable us to distinguish truth from error. To receive spiritual knowledge under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is to know truth in a way that human instruction cannot provide. The text is not an argument against the ministry of teaching (Rom. 12:7; Eph. 4:11), but an emphasis that only the Holy Spirit is able to bring revelation to the human heart (Eph. 1:17, 17,).

KINGDOM DYNAMICS

2:18 The Prophecies of Last Things. In this text, John describes the times in which he wrote as "the last time," evidencing that he, as vital Christians in every generation, but lived in immediate anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming and saw his era as one in which the present evidence seemed to argue that his was possibly the concluding generation. This is not an unhealthy attitude: Christ Jesus desires that people expectantly anticipate His return (Matt. 25:1-13; 2 Tim. 4:8).

John not only addresses the lateness of the hour of history as he views it; he also addresses the subject of the Antichrist, a commonly discussed theme when eschatology is studied. The spirit of antichrist, the Rapture of the church, the Great Tribulation, the restoration of national Israel, and the millennial reign of Christ on Earth are all among the many subjects the Bible describes as "last things." The Bible clearly says these things shall occur. However, it is not clear about the exact time; and in many cases it does not conclusively give the sequence or exact manner of the fulfillment of such events.

s Christians, we must not embrace any eschatology study. We hold to the teachings of the Holy Bible, in that it affirms these things:

· God is the Sovereign of the Universe and the God of History, which is His Story.

· As such, He knows the end from the beginning and at the end of history will have been verified as All-Wise and vindicated as All-Just.

· His Son, Jesus Christ, shall come to Earth again for His church (John 14:1-3;Acts 1:11; 1 Cor. 15-50-58; 1 Thess. 4-16, 17), and shall rule on Earth (Is. 9:7, 11:6-9; Rev. 20:1-6).

· There is a final judgment, with the reward of eternal life in heaven promised to the redeemed and the judgment of eternal loss in hell the portion of the unregenerate(Rev. 20:11-15; 21:22-22:5).