Children, it is the
last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many
antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.[1]
Today I
want to focus on the phrase, “…you have
heard that antichrist is coming…” The question that comes to mind right
away is, in what way had the church heard that antichrist was coming? I did a
concordance search and the only use of the term comes up in John’s epistles. So,
when John says that the church had already heard about antichrist coming, he
must mean that he is using a summary title to refer to broader descriptions
already given. Whatever they had already heard can be summarized as “antichrist”.
How, then, did the church hear that antichrist is coming?
Shortly
before his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus had been telling his disciples
what kinds of things would happen in the future. He was speaking to men who
still believed that he was going to establish an earthly kingdom of the
character and magnitude and effect of David’s kingdom of old. However, Jesus was
planning something far different than the disciples could imagine, and wanted
them to understand the true nature of the end times. He was not about to set
Israel free from Rome, or establish David’s kingdom in the way they had heard
about it from the past.
Instead,
he was going to surrender himself to death, humbling himself even to death on
the cross.[2] He
was going to be buried in a rich man’s tomb, just as the prophet had spoken.[3] He
was going to rise from the dead, and ascend back to the Father, leaving us the
Holy to abide with us until his return.
What
would it be like while Jesus was gone? Would the church so receive the Holy Spirit
that we would bring the world to have peace with God? Would the church be that
spiritual kingdom that overcame every other kingdom? Would the church take over
every place that the gospel was preached as sinners responded eagerly to the
good news? Would the world become the better place everyone wanted where even
the environment was restored to its Edenic appearance?
Jesus’ answer
to all of the above, and any similar questions wondering if the church would
make the world a happy, peaceful, secure place to live was, “Absolutely not!”[4]
Life in the kingdom of heaven would be all about “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,”[5]
while life in the world would be all about sin and wickedness thriving and
flourishing like bad bacteria on an untreated wound.[6] As
Paul explained to Timothy, “Indeed, all
who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil
people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being
deceived.”[7]That
is what things would look like for the church living in the foreign land of the
world while waiting for our groom to come and take us to the home he has
prepared for us.[8]
When Jesus
was preparing his disciples for his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension
into heaven, he had told them, “For many
will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many
astray.”[9]
This fits John’s description of the church hearing that antichrist is coming. Anyone
who said they were coming in his name when they were really coming in their own
name was against Christ. Those who claimed that they were the Christ were
against the true and only Christ. Those who would lead people astray, away from
the true Christ, were anti-Christ, and anti-people! John was clearly not
speaking empty words when he reminded his spiritual children that they had
already heard that antichrist was coming.
In that
same discourse with his disciples, Jesus continued, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he
is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform
great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”[10]Again,
if anyone claimed that they had found the Christ, they were speaking against
Christ, since Christ would come in such a way that there would be no need for
anyone to tell someone else that it had happened. It would be like lightning
flashing from the east to the west,[11]and
like vultures spotting a corpse in the desert.[12]
Everyone would see when Jesus returned, and anyone who claimed otherwise was
against him.
It
would also be characteristic of the last hour that there would be false christs
and false prophets performing all kinds of great signs and wonders with the
deliberate aim of leading people astray. This is a very clear description of
people doing things that are against Christ. John’s summary label of “antichrist”
fits all these people, and every way that such people and ministries would rise
up against Jesus Christ, the only true Savior of the world.
In
practical terms, this is telling the church that we will not win the world over
with sound doctrine, good science, flawless teaching on prophecy and
fulfillment, or anything else we can think of that has brought us to a growing
love relationship with God. We are to picture the triumphant, conquering church
going into a world that is filled with the work of the antichrist. As the red
dragon entered the Garden of Eden to deceive the first of God’s highest
creation, so he continues to work in the world to steal, kill, and destroy
whoever will receive his mark.[13]
It is
interesting that, when Jesus was explaining these things to his disciples, he
said, “See, I have told you beforehand.”[14]
This certainly fits John’s later claim that the church had already heard that
antichrist is coming. John knew that he had heard it prior to Jesus’
crucifixion, and that these things had been passed on to the church as the
apostles taught what Jesus had given them.
The
Apostle Paul had also given the church a very distinctive description of the
antichrist that would come. He wrote to the Thessalonian believers:
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless
the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of
destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or
object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming
himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told
you these things?[15]
Again,
we have a description of someone who will come into the world in an antichrist
way, and Paul reminding the Thessalonians that he had spoken to them about
these things during his visit. This is further clarification of the ways the
believers had been told that antichrist was coming.
As
always, there is much more that could be said about this. The main thing is
that the church is to see itself living in that last hour before midnight,
fully aware that the world will be characterized by people who are against
Christ. Evolutionists will think they win scientific debates; atheists will
believe they have explained away the God of the Bible; every other religion
will present itself as a better way of dealing with life than what God has
offered us through his Son.
The
context of all these warnings about the antichrist, no matter what expression
of the antichrist worldview we experience, is that we press on as the conquering
church that is given the power of the Holy Spirit to be Jesus’ witnesses until
midnight. When Jesus comes, every antichrist knee will bow before Jesus, and
every antichrist tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
the one who sits on the throne.[16] Those
who are for Christ will enter into the joy of our Savior forever, while those
who are against him into eternal darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing
of teeth.[17]
All
these things give us what we need to be faithful to Jesus Christ no matter what
antichrist things are going on around us. So, begin your day with time alone
with God in his word and prayer. Whatever he teaches you, put it into practice.
God will bless obedient faith no matter what things look like in that last hour
before midnight.
From my
heart,
Monte
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~
in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright ©
2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
[1]
I John 2:18
[2]
Philippians 2:8
[3]
Isaiah 53:9
[4]
My summary, not a direct quote!
[5]
Romans 14:17
[6]
Romans 1:18-32; II Timothy 3:1-9
[7]
II Timothy 3:12-13
[8]
John 14:1-3
[9]
Matthew 24:5
[10]
Matthew 24:23-24
[11]
Matthew 24:27
[12]
Matthew 24:28
[13]
John 10:10; Revelation 13-14 introduces us to the mark of the beast, which is
people willingly aligning themselves with Satan’s work in the world.
[14]
Matthew 24:25
[15]
II Thessalonians 2:3-5
[16]
Philippians 2:9-11
[17]
Matthew 25
No comments:
Post a Comment