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Jesus said: “Watch
out for false prophets.
They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
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“Dear children,
the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and
already many such antichrists have appeared. From this, we know that the last
hour has come. These people left our churches, but they never really belonged
with us; otherwise, they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us. But you are not like that, for the Holy One
has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. So I am writing to you
not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference
between truth and lies”
(1 John 2:18-21,
NLT).
The Apostle John is making a few startling comments here: First, there is “the
Antichrist” who is coming; and second, many “antichrists”
have already come! Don’t be confused. Let me try my best to clarify what is
being written.
We might begin by asking
what “the Antichrist” is. The
term refers either to a person who opposes Christ (is “anti” Christ) or to a
person who tries to take the place of Christ (“anti” also means “instead of”).
Thus anyone who is against Jesus Christ, anyone who teaches false doctrine
about Christ, and anyone who tries to take Christ’s place by claiming to be a new savior or messiah or redeemer, is an “antichrist.”
Earlier, Jesus had warned about the coming of “false
Christs and false prophets” who will do everything they can – even
performing miracles and temporary healings – to deceive the Christians and lead
them away from the true Christian faith (read Matthew 24:24). Some would even
claim to be Christ himself (read Mark 13:6). These people can be called
antichrists. John also says that some of the false teachers or antichrists had
voluntarily “left our churches,” they
were defectors. They “proved that
they did not belong with us.” Good! They were the counterfeit
Christians, those who looked and sounded like Christians but turned out not to
be so.
People throughout history
tried unsuccessfully to identify who this “the Antichrist”
figure is. Some thought it was Nero. Later, some people thought the antichrist
was Napoleon, then Adolph Hitler, or more recently, Barack Obama and even the
Vatican Pope! But all of these thoughts proved to be wrong. To me, what we can
learn from this is not to spend our energies (and Internet data to watch
YouTube videos about this issue) to identify one Antichrist who is going to
bring about the end of history and the return of authentic Christ. Instead, we
should be aware of people and groups who in their own ways – whether quite
directly or more subtly – try to convince people that they alone have all of
“the truth,” “special knowledge,” and that they have a “special” relationship
God which no one else can have. Let me tell you: All of us have access to
knowledge of the truth – we can, I’m convinced, understand the essentials of
faith.
God makes it clear in His
Word that we can all know enough about our faith to be saved and live as
believers. No matter know smart or dumb we may feel we are; no matter how many
Bible verses we have memorized or how many details of Bible history we know, we
can know enough to be God’s children; and that’s what really counts (but this
is not an excuse to not read and study the Bible). The Scriptures remind us
that we don’t need any “new truth,” that we have been told and know enough to
help us “know the difference between truth
and lies”; to know “what is right”
(2 Timothy 3:16). In other words, we have enough light to show us where to walk
– if we choose to use it.
Imagine you have a
flashlight in your hand as you walk down a dark, spooky street at night. If you
don’t turn on the flashlight you won’t get the light you need to walk, but if
you take advantage of the flashlight you will have enough light to show you the
way and where to go. You have enough light (or knowledge or “the truth”) to tell you what to believe
and do. Don’t look for “new” truth as it was being proclaimed by false teachers
and prophets [In summary, there are 7 lies in the church today: 1) Overemphasis
of prosperity, 2) exaggerated view of grace; 3) antinomianism; 4) deification
of man; 5) challenging the authority of the Word; 6) rejecting the existing of
actual hell; and 7) universal reconciliation] Stand firm. God “has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the
truth” (1 John 2:20). Amen.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
