1 John 2:18 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: (but) 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. 

Introduction

John begins this section by pointing out to his readers what time it is. According to John it is “the last time!” It is “the last hour!” What is “the last hour?” What does it mean? “The last hour” is the same as “the last days” or “the end times!” It is a term that simply refers to the present age in which we live. It covers the period between the first and the second comings of Jesus Christ. It began when Jesus Christ came the first time and will end when He comes the second time. The apostle Peter spoke about it as he quoted Joel 2:28-32 in the book of Acts chapter 2, verses 16-17, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:”

The Apostle Paul warns us about the last days in his letters to Timothy.

1 Timothy 4:1-3 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Brothers and sisters, we are in the last days and in these last days the church of Jesus Christ is facing great danger. The end times will be a time of tremendous crisis for the believers in Jesus Christ. As the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ draws near, the intensity of danger that we will face as Christians will only continue to increase. One of the dangers that we will face in these last days is that the spirit of the antichrist will become more and more active.

Let’s read our text again, 1 John 2:18 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. Here, John points out that the end times will be characterized by the appearing of the antichrists. Our Lord speaks about this in Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Then He goes on to say in verse 24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” In the last days there will be growing numbers of false Christs and false teachers and deceivers in the world.

John mentions that there is an antichrist who is coming. The word “antichrist” is only used by John in the New Testament. The prefix “anti” can mean “against Christ” or it can mean “instead of Christ.” Satan is both against Christ and he is substituting counterfeits “Christs.” Satan is fighting Christ and His eternal truth, and he is substituting counterfeits for the reality that is found only in Jesus Christ. But there is an antichrist that shall come just before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. He is called the man of sin, the son of perdition. John calls him “the beast” in the book of Revelation.

But notice in verse 18b, John talks of many antichrists or other antichrists that have come. “Even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” Who are these? Who are these antichrists? These are the false teachers. These are the false prophets. These are the false preachers who are troubling John’s congregations, because their false doctrines distorted the truth and oppose the person of Christ. And anyone who distorts the truth is an antichrist, an enemy of Christ. And so, John is talking about these false professors, these false teachers. This is why the apostle John is very concerned and reminds his readers that in these last days there will be growing number of “antichrists,” false teachers who will seek to deceive true believers. Because we are living in the last days, we Christians must be careful and watchful in our service to God and in what we believe.

Who are these antichrists? What characterizes these antichrists? How do we identify them? John identifies them for us in this section. John gives us three marks of false teachers who are controlled by the spirit of the antichrist, namely, they desert the church, they deny Christ, and they deceive the Christians.

I – They Desert the Church

As John reminds them of the coming antichrist, he pointed out that even now there are many antichrists. Understand that John is not talking about atheists here. He is not talking about lost people outside the church. He is talking about false professors and false teachers who have made their way into the church that he ministered to. He is talking about “church members” but who were never really a part of the true church because they never really experienced the new birth. Like Judas Iscariot, there are those who appear to be true followers of Jesus Christ but in the end turn out to be antichrists.

One of the characteristics of these people is that they desert the church.

1 John 2:19 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.

These people who used to be present and active in the church have now left the church and gone their own way. Some of those are people who may have even been on fire for the Lord for a year or two but then drop out somewhere along the way and are never seen again. Things have not changed since. As one pastor complains, “our church membership roll is full of deserters.” There are many who used to go to church and whose names may still be on our roll, but they have not been to church in years. They went AWOL and have never been seen again, not because of the pandemic or lockdown but because they were not truly part of God’s family. John is not speaking about Christians who are leaving one biblical church to join another biblical church. These people were not changing church, but they were getting away from the church. They left the church for good.

Reading our text again, John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.” John says one of the reasons why they left the church is because they never really belong with them. In other words, they never really knew the Lord. They have never been born again. Their defection from the church gives evidence that they were false and spurious believers. Their leaving the church shows the state of their hearts—lost and never experienced the grace of God. Hiebert says it this way, “Outwardly they had been members of the church, but inwardly they never shared the inner spiritual fellowship of the group.”

John goes on to say, “for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.” What John is saying is that if they had been truly saved, they would have continued in the faith. Their leaving the church proved they lacked a saving faith in Jesus Christ, that they never truly knew Him in the first place.

II – They Deny Christ

1 John 2:20 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: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Here John says that one of the marks of counterfeit Christians, false professors and false teachers is that they deny Jesus is the Christ. The great confession that sets the Christian faith apart from every other faith is this, Jesus is the Christ and that He is Son of God come in the flesh. But there are people today as in John’s days who deny that Jesus Christ was God incarnate, God in the flesh.

One of the marks in the age that you and in live will be that there will be those who will abandon their faith and the faith. In the end times, more and more people will leave the church and will reject who the Bible says Jesus Christ is. They will deny the incarnation of Christ. They will deny the deity of Christ. They will deny the relationship of Christ to His Father (2:21ff).

Let me tell you a true story that I heard. It’s about a 17-year-old high school student who was required to write an essay on a religious subject. He chose the subject on the believer’s union with Christ according to the gospel of John. Here is a what he wrote in his essay, “Our heart, our reason, our history, and the work of Christ convince us that without Him we are doomed by God and only Jesus Christ can save us.” These words reveal a very wise and very intelligent 17-year-old teenager. These are the words of one who had been baptized in a Lutheran church at the age of 6 and confirmed at the age of 16. The name of the young man who wrote these words was Karl Marx. And just 9 years after he wrote these words, he had abandoned any Christian commitment he had made at one time. As we know he became one of the most influential atheists of history. His ideas would spread throughout the Soviet Union and the communist world. 

In the last days, there will be a growing number of people who will abandon their faith. Also there are a great number of people today who say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” A lot of people live by this philosophy which essentially says, “sincerity is the main thing; truth doesn’t matter.” But that kind of philosophy in life is impractical. You cannot live out that philosophy. You can sincerely drink poison, believing that it is medicine, but it will kill you just the same. You can sincerely believe something but if it’s not true it will not help you in the Day of Judgement. The apostle John is very concerned as to what we believe in the last days. Because what we believe matters! It does make a difference what a person believes.

1 John 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. This is why it matters what a person believes, specially about Jesus Christ. Because the Bible says, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:” In other words, every person, no exceptions, who denies Jesus Christ, does not know God the Father and therefore is not a child of God. They have no personal relationship with God the Father!

Kistemaker writes, “If there is no Son, there is no Father. In his epistle, John teaches that the Father and Son are intimately related (1Jn 1:2, 3; 2:1, 23, 24; 4:3, 14, 15; 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 20). John reveals the heart of the gospel: God the Father has sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem sinners. If a person rejects Jesus Christ, he also rejects God the Father and nullifies the message of the gospel of Christ. Such a person, writes John, is the antichrist.”

III – They Deceive the Christians

1 John 2:24 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.

Here, John issues a warning against those who would try to seduce the Christians. Seduce means to lead astray. That is the purpose of the devil for us Christians—to lead us astray, to lead us into error. Our Lord calls Satan the father of lies. In the book of Revelation, he is described as one who deceives the whole world. Satan is a deceiver and no wonder he disguises himself as an angel of light. The purpose of the devil for us Christians is to lead us astray, how? By false doctrines. So, here, John expresses his concern. What is John’s concern? John’s concern is for those who are not content to simply embrace error, but those who try to bring others along with them in their error. John’s concern is that the Christians that he is writing to could be deceived by false teachers.

There are many false teachers in John’s day that are seeking to deceive the believers and to lead them away from Christ and His pure Gospel. What is so sad about these false teachers, is that they came not from outside but from inside the church. Those who used to be part of their congregation but have went out and deserted the church, denied Christ, and now seeking to draw Christians away from Christ. Not only have they embraced errors, but they are also now seeking to bring others with them to embrace errors as well.

Times have not changed! There are many false teachers and false religion today. In fact, many of the cults of our day are filled with people who were once on the inside of the church of Jesus Christ. For example, the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, came from within the Presbyterian Church, the founder of the Mormon Church, was disillusioned with all churches and so he began his own, the founder of the Heaven’s Gate Cult, was the son of a Presbyterian minister, the founder of Iglesia ni Cristo, was once a Methodist Episcopal Church, entered the Methodist seminary, and became a pastor for a while. In John’s words, many of these founders went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us.

Understand that John is not saying his readers have already been led astray from the truth, but he is writing this epistle to warn them and to reinforce them with truth that will help them to stand strong in the last days. We will talk more about this in our next lesson.

Closing Thoughts

Just as the apostle John pointed out to his readers what time it is, I would like to do the same. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is the last time! It is the last hour! We are living in an age where the spirit of antichrist is increasingly active. It is a perilous time because many will desert the church, deny Christ, and deceive the Christians. Because we are living in the last days, we who are Christians must be sober and be vigilant. Take Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” Christians be careful and watchful unto your doctrine and your practice. Know what you believe and why you believe. We must remember the parable of the wise and foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 and live in a careful and watchful manner. Your faithfulness is a testimony to your love and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Your faithfulness is a testimony to the value and importance you place on your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Now, let me speak to those who are lost this morning. Please understand that what you believe matters. What you believe about Jesus Christ matters. The great question for you today is, “Who is Jesus Christ to you? Is Jesus Christ just an example, just a good man, just a good teacher, just a wonderful miracle worker, our is Jesus Christ God come in the flesh?” What you believe about Jesus Christ will determine where you will spend eternity. I pray that you will take the apostle Paul’s words and invitation in Romans 10:9-13 seriously:

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11: For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12: For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13:  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

AMEN!