About two and a half years ago Jonny and I had coffee with cult members. I actually spoke about that coffee meeting in a message, and it still sticks with me as a fascinating and odd meeting. Did you know that when we were meeting with those cult members, we were actually having coffee with followers of an antichrist. Not THE anti-Christ, but an antichrist nonetheless. They belonged to a cult called the World Mission Society Church of God and they believe that Christ, when He came the first time was in the form of Jesus, but that He has already come a second time and it was in the form of a man named Ahn Sahng-hong from South Korea. They believe that this man, as well as his wife, Zahng Gil-jah, who they also call the Bride of Christ, are God.
As we’re going to see today through our passage at the end of 1 John 2, this man, and his wife are in fact antichrists. In setting themselves up as Christ and the Bride of Christ, but also God, they deny the truth about who God really is and who Christ really is. I would even go so far as to say that not only are they antichrists, but their followers are as well, if they have been presented with the truth of the Bible and still deny the real Christ and the real Father God.
Then I ran across this a few weeks ago as well, and I included a slide with pictures. Basically, this “church”, is calling themselves “The True Body of Christ Restored”, and claim that Satan has corrupted everyone, all churches, all believers, everyone until now with their church. And, for just $1 a month, you can gain peace, wisdom, and Heaven! I can’t make this stuff up! This is a tactic that has been around since shortly after Jesus ascended into Heaven. It’s a form of gnosticism, and it was one of the things that prompted John to write down what we’re going to read this morning.
Now, I was slightly tempted to give these people a measly $1 because I was very curious to know what it was that they were selling. I didn’t, but here’s what I do know about this cult: gnosticism claims that there is secret or hidden knowledge that is required to bring salvation to a person. So this cult, by claiming that you have to have their secret knowledge in order to truly be saved and gain Heaven, tells me that they are denying Christ by denying that He died to save all of humanity from their sins and we can be saved simply by accepting His sacrificial act on the cross and the forgiveness of sins by faith. They are a cult of antichrists.
Let’s look at 1 John 2:18-28, “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 evident 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 except 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, see that what you heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. 27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him. 28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.” (NASB)
Let’s talk about these “last days” or the “last hour” as John calls it. The last hour and the last days are the same, so you might have different terms depending on your translation, but they’re the same thing. I want us to understand what the last days are. Jewish tradition thought of time as being in two ages: this present age, and the age to come. The age to come is the coming fullness of the Kingdom of God, when He sets everything right and restores creation to its original design and purpose. This age is…everything else. In the Bible, we find two transitions that will move us from “this age” to the “age to come”. The first of those transitions is the “last days” and then will come the “day of the Lord”, and then “this age” will be over and it will be the “age to come”. So, in your bulletin, you have this progression: this age—>last days—>Day of the Lord—>age to come. I want you to circle the first three: this age, last days, and Day of the Lord. Though the last days and the Day of the Lord signify that this age is ending and the age to come is coming, those “days” are still part of this age.
John says that we are in these last days, or last hour. Here are marks of the last days from other passages in the New Testament that talk about the last days, so that we know for sure that we are indeed in the last days. Acts 2:17 says, “‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, And your young men will see visions, And your old men will have dreams;’” The first mark of the last days is that the Spirit is poured out on all. We understand this to mean that in the last days, the Spirit of God is available to all who are God’s people, all those who have accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. This wasn’t always the case. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God wasn’t given to all God’s people, but only to certain people for a specific time and purpose, like the prophet Samuel, or Elijah, or Samson the judge. But now, after Christ, the Spirit of God is given to all believers.
The second mark of the last days is found in Hebrews 1:2, “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world.” When CHRIST speaks to us, which we know happens through the Bible, His Word, then we know we are in the last days.
And the third mark that tells us we’re in the last days is in 1 Peter 1:20, “For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you…” We know we are in the last days because Christ has appeared to us the first time. All of the Old Testament revealed that the Christ would one day come, and that He would usher in the age to come, the future Kingdom of God, so now that He has come the first time, we are in the last days.
Glance back at 1 John 2:18, that in the last days we expect that THE antichrist is coming, but that even now many antichrists have already come. Jesus said this, from Mark 13:22, “for false christs and false prophets will arise, and will provide signs and wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect.” Before THE antichrist comes, there will many others that share the same character, spirit, and even goals as the antichrist.
Jesus said in this verse from Mark that one of those goals is to deceive, to mislead, and if possible, to even mislead those who are God’s people, believers. This is the main goal of any antichrist, to deceive, to lead astray. The gnostics did this by leading people away from the simple truth that only faith placed in Christ’s forgiveness of sins can save you, and instead pointing them toward secret knowledge that had to be attained through secret means.
In my examples, the World Mission Society Church of God deceives people by claiming that there is a second Christ and that his wife is Mother God. This denies the truth about who Christ truly is and who God truly is. John wrote to warn all Christians, that there will be many, maybe even some that come from the church, that seem like they have the right message, but ultimately will prove to be antichrists that deny the truth about Christ in some way. And, as John points out in verse 23, “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.” A denial of the Son, Christ, is also a denial of the Father.
And the reason that antichrists and THE antichrist have this same goal in common, to deceive mankind by denying Christ and the Father, is because they all share the same spirit. See, Christians, we are baptized by the Spirit of God, we are sealed by His Spirit for our salvation. His Spirit is actually given to us to live in us and to guide us and teach us. There is another spirit though, and it is the spirit of the world. We saw last week through 1 John 2:15-17 that the ruler of this world is Satan, and the spirit of the world is Satan. We are told in Scripture that he is the father of lies and his job is to deceive, which is why we can know that all those who deny Christ and the Father are guided by Satan, even if they don’t know it.
Again, John’s warning is for all Christians, including us. Beware of people denying Christ, they are guided by the spirit of the world, Satan, and are intent on deceiving whomever they can. And, John wants us to be aware that such people may even come from within the church. John says that such people have come from “us”, meaning the church. I’m sure you probably don’t have to think for very long to think of people, presently and in the recent past who have come from within Christianity yet whose actions and words eventually showed that they denied Christ in some way, and therefore denied the Father.
How can we tell who these people are who may still be masquerading as Christians but in fact are antichrists? Luke 9:49-50 says this, “John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for the one who is not against you is for you.” Antichrists trying to deceive and deny Christ will be against us, the church. They will find some way to undermine the traditions of the church, the values of the church, the message of the church, the unity of the church, etc.
In Luke 11:23 Jesus says, “The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.” Antichrists will also, naturally, be against Christ. Though they may look like a believer, their actions and words will prove that they are against Christ.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13 also adds that such a person, if continuing to try to be in the church, will willfully continue sinning in the CHURCH. They will refuse to be held accountable for their sin, or refuse to even admit that their sin is sin. These persons, we are warned to stay far away from.
We have some help with this though, which is really great! Remember that we are anointed with the Spirit. Christ is the Anointed One, that’s what Christ means, is Anointed One. As He is the one who sent the Spirit to dwell in each believer, we become anointed with the Spirit of God, just as Christ is the Anointed One.
As I said before, those who deny Christ are anointed with the spirit of this world, and so the Spirit of God that is given to each believer helps to protect us from the lies and denials that the world makes about Christ. How does He do this? John says this in verses 27-28 of today’s passage, “And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him. 28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.”
His anointing on us is of His Spirit. We are anointed with His Spirit, and verse 27 says that this anointing of the Spirit teaches us about all things. One of the best ways the Spirit protects us is through teaching us about His truth. He teaches us the truth about the Son and the Father, and He teaches us the truth about who we are. He teaches us the truth about how the world is and the way it works, and He this truth protects us from lies.
Just as the disciples learned from Jesus through His Words spoken to them, we also learn from Christ through His Word spoken to us. We read the Bible and we read His Words spoken throughout this age and the Spirit uses the truth we learn through the WORD and He protects us through it. His Words speak truth to us and make us aware of good and evil and how to choose the things of the light and of God, and not the things of this world.
The Spirit and His teachings and Christ and His Word protect us from being deceived by the denials of Christ and the truths of His Kingdom. So all this got me thinking, and I’ll leave you with this one thought and you can find your three questions for the week in your bulletins so I won’t read them today. You have heard the truth about Christ Jesus, you have heard that He died to offer you the forgiveness of your sins. You have heard that all you have to do to gain eternal life with God is to accept Christ as the Savior of your soul, and the Lord of your life, to believe and put your faith and trust in Him. You have heard that He wants to have a special friendship with you because He loves you. You have heard that if you want to have that friendship with Him, you believe and then you walk in the light and you turn away from the actions of the darkness. You have heard that you must love. You have heard that others will try to deceive you, but that the Spirit will protect you through His Word. This is the truth and you have heard it. Will you now deny the truth about Christ by not living by it?
1. Growing Up with God: What do John 15:1-8, Romans 6:3-10, and 1 John 2:28 say about why it is important to remain in Christ? How is it a denial of Christ if you do not remain in Him after you have come to know the truth?
2. Growing Deeper with the Body: If it is God’s Spirit that speaks to us and teaches us through Christ’s Words, what does Ephesians 4:11-13 say about the role of pastors, teachers, preachers, and evangelists in the church?
3. Go Out: Do you see ways those in the world around you deny Christ with their choices? How will you encourage a pre-Christian this week to make a choice that would bring them closer to a relationship with Christ?