The Antichrist Identified

THE ANTICHRIST IDENTIFIED

Warsaw Christian Church, Richard Bowman, Pastor

Text: 1 John 2:18-22: Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

When I was about five years old, I remember it was about a week before Christmas. There was a knock on the door. My mother answered the door, and a deep voice spoke: “I am Santa Claus. I am checking every home to see if the children have been good. Have Bobby and Dickey been good boys this year?” My mother responded that we had been good boys. I was relieved. Santa would leave me some toys. After I learned there was no Santa, I realized that the Santa at the front door was my Dad!

We always looked forward to Christmas once each year. There is another creature coming who is not a myth like Santa. Many think he will only arrive at the end of the age. He is referred to in The Bible as the Antichrist. John tells us exactly who this person is. He is not a person from a Tim Lahey novel. John says he was present in the first century. He says, “many antichrists have come” (1 John 2:18). John states he is living in the final hour. The last days have come, and the antichrist has also arrived. Sometimes, we think of “the last days” as coming in the future. John says he is living in the last days.

The word “antichrist” means “against Christ.” (Greek, antichristos). We are familiar with the Greek prefix “anti.” An antitank gun is a gun used against a tank. An antibiotic is a drug that fights off sickness. An antidote is a remedy that counteracts poison, among other things. An antichrist is a person who, directly or indirectly, works against Christ.

It is clear that when John thinks of antichrist, he does not think of an evil dictator that appears at the end of the age. John knows that many deserve the title of antichrist. They are numerous. John writes, "Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world”. Antichrist is not simply a person. He is a person with specific characteristics. He was present in John’s Day and every age since. He has two characteristics. He stands against Christ and is a liar (1 John 2:22).

In a word, antichrist is a present reality in our world. He has even infiltrated the church. John’s point is clear. We are not to only look for a final antichrist. Yes, there will be a final manifestation of the Antichrist, but he has operated in every age. Even within the church, some stand against Christ despite bearing the name “Christian.” In John’s day, a sect known as “The Gnostics” had infiltrated the church. They redefined Christianity. They eliminated the death of Jesus as the basis for our salvation. They denied that Jesus was God in the flesh. They replaced the apostolic teaching with gnostic words and ideas. The ancient church recognized the Gnostics as heretics. Those who promoted their ideas were driven out of the church (vs. 19).

True Christians embrace Jesus as God’s true Messiah. Jesus is God in the flesh, an idea which every antichrist denies. True Christianity embraces Jesus as the Savior, the Son of the living God. A faithful Christian worships God through Jesus, finds forgiveness of sins through Jesus, speaks freely and often of Jesus, sings of Jesus, loves Jesus above everything and everyone, serves Jesus, longs for the return of Jesus, and rejoices in the prospect of spending eternity with Jesus.

We first come to Jesus through the words of the Bible. We do not resist that word but open our minds and hearts to it. We come to believe in the One revealed in the pages of Scripture. We decide to trust in Jesus, but something else is going on. When we trust in Jesus, we are born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity, comes to abide with us. Because of His presence, our faith in Jesus becomes almost unshakeable. When we drift away from Jesus, God’s Spirit begins to pull us back. As long as we do not resist the Holy Spirit, we are secure in the arms of Jesus.