How's Your Witness?
How’s Your Witness?
1 John 2:18-27
A friend invited me to join a particular Facebook page. She thought it was interesting and wanted to participate. I didn’t respond right away, but one of their posts caught my eye. They were comparing John 4:42 in the King James Version and the English Standard Version. The complaint was that the ESV left out the words “the Christ”. The relevant phrase reads, KJV, “(we) know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” The ESV, and the NIV, by the way, render it, “we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” Before I responded, I wanted to check the Greek to see what it actually says. “The Christ” is not in the Greek. The ESV didn’t leave something out; the KJV added something in, perhaps thinking to clarify. So I responded.
And I got a questionaire to answer before I could post. Would I stick solely to the KJV. No. You know I use the Greek and several translations, and I’m not going to be saddled with a single translation. Then, would I affirm a “premillennial, pretribulation Rapture.” You’ve heard me preach. Again, the answer is, no. And I’m not going to try to debate those people. So, anyway, I’m not joining the group. By the way, my friend answered the same as I did. She was also rejected. Seems they’re not really interested in debate, but only in confirmation of their preconceptions. They’re not interested in growth, but only in maintenance.
Now, I tell you that to lead into this: A lot of people are not just interested in, but anxious about, the second coming of Christ. They want calendars and they want dates. They want it all neatly arranged so they can recognize the events as they occur. And I’ve noticed a whole lot of end time anxiety on social media. It doesn’t take long to find someone claiming some event or series of events are the fulfillment of prophecy. “You can see it happening in real time,” they proclaim.
That’s where John begins this section. Dear children, this is the last hour. Now, before we get too far, let’s just note for the record that the apostles really believed that Jesus would return in their lifetime. Peter refers to the last days in his letters. When the writer to the Hebrews encourages Christians to gather, Hebrews 10:25, it is in order to encourage one another — and all the more so as you see the Day approaching. In these last days, we need encouragement. So stick together. Paul discusses end times and resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. When the angel told them in Acts 1 that they would see Jesus come just as they had seen him go, they believed it would happen within their own lifetimes. The reason they began to write the gospels was to preserve the story for the next generations, because they themselves began to understand that Jesus’ return wasn’t going to happen in their lifetime – as they had expected. And each succeeding generation has thought that Christ would return in their own lifetime. It’s no different today. Many believe that we are in the last days. We could be.
Part of our end times angst is the identity of the Antichrist. All my life, I’ve heard people trying to name some politician as the antichrist. When I wrote The Revelation: A Vision of Jesus, I discovered that a lot of people interpret the Beast as the Antichrist, and correlate the two. But no “antichrist” appears anywhere in The Revelation. Not by that title. In fact, the word itself only appears five times in the Bible, and only in John’s little letters – four times in 1 John and one in 2 John. Three of those references are in our text this morning. So let’s deal with that right away.
... and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. In fact, John adds, This is how we know it is the last hour. But what does he mean? Notice, first of all that John says, many antichrists have come. In John’s mind, antichrist is not one diabolical enemy of Christ and Christians. There is not AN Antichrist. There are many. So John must mean something different. And indeed he does, as he explains in verse 22 – Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – denying the Father and the Son. Quickly, for clarity, Christ (Cristovϛ – Christos) is the Greek way of saying Messiah, the Anointed One of God. Denying that Jesus is the Messiah makes one an antichrist. 2 John 7 clarifies further: I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. We’ll come to it later in the series, but 1 John 4:3 says, every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
That’s everything in the entire Bible about the antichrist. It is not a single person, but it is the spirit of deception that causes people to deny that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Christ. Anyone who denies the incarnation of Christ, that the Word became flesh, or who denies that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah, is antichrist. There are many, and you probably even know a few. You may have friends, family members, co-workers, or neighbors who are antichrist, who are opposed to Jesus.
And many of them were once part of a Christian congregation. John says, they went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. They worshiped alongside us, but at some point they threw up their hands and walked away. They sang our songs, read our Scriptures, listened to our sermons – and opposed us all along the way. Then they took their criticism public. If they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. It pains me every time someone leaves the church. I’ve taken is personally and grieved over every single person who walked away. What I saw, too was that many who left didn’t just leave this congregation; they left the church altogether. I took that personally, too, as if somehow I was responsible for their loss of faith. But John says, no, it’s not you. They didn’t really belong. They’d never really surrendered to Christ, which is what makes it so easy for them to criticize Jesus, or to emasculate and feminize Jesus, and then to criticize and condemn those who follow Jesus and take his teaching seriously. They didn’t walk away from me; they walked away from Jesus.
But you ... I always liked those words. Paul does it when he described for the Corinthians the former way of life, reminding them, And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor 6:11). To the Thessalonians, But you are not in the dark. It’s not always good, but often enough that I look forward to it. While warning the church about the spirit of antichrist, John writes, But you have an anointing from the Holy One and all of you know the truth. You are people of faith, and you are here from the truth. You have the Spirit of God on your lives.
... all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. What has John said about antichrist? It is a spirit of deception. They are liars who deny the truth. John, if he were speaking in person, would be looking them in the eye – “You know. You aren’t among the deceived. You recognize the lie. I don’t have to tell you because you already know. I’m just here to encourage you. You haven’t got it wrong.”
The world around is noisy. They are shouting at us, telling us we’re wrong. They are proclaiming other messiahs, other prophets, other gods, other spirits, other ideologies. It can be confusing. When some seminary graduate, some preacher, some theologian starts reinterpreting the Scripture, they’re relying on their authority, their education, their degree, to convince you of their lies. Have you noticed that some of the stupidest ideas have come from university professors? Some of the most subversive preaching comes with a clerical collar? They play word games, redefining or twisting words to mean something different. Or they try to box you into a corner.
One of the most devious is the argument from silence: Jesus didn’t say anything about abortion or homosexuality – as if that makes those thing okay. If they didn’t concern him, why should they concern us? But we don’t know what Jesus didn’t say; we only know some of what he did say. And there may be important reasons why Jesus didn’t address certain concerns. The argument from silence is as false as the argument from authority. For two years, we were told to trust the science, trust the experts, as they took our freedom away. God made us rational beings for a reason. Because you are recipients of the truth of Christ, and because you know the truth, you are well-equipped to recognize lies and deceit. But you have to exercise your capacity for rational thought.
As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life. This is the same warning Jesus issued in Luke 21:8, “Watch out that you are not deceived” by the many who come claiming to be the messiah. It’s the same warning Paul issued regarding those who try to make sexual sin acceptable, Do not be deceived, such people will not inherit eternal life (1 Cor 6:9). Paul warned the Galatians about people trying to pervert the gospel of Christ (Gal 1:6-9). John is warning the church, warning Christians, to stay close to Christ, to stay in the Word of God. Use it for a shield for your faith against the forces of deception.
I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. John does not name them, other than to refer to them as antichrist. The church today needs to take a stronger stance against those who are trying to lead you astray. In over 40 years of study of world religions, I am astonished (with Paul) that so many Christians are willing to accept them as valid paths to God. They aren’t. Virtually every world religion tries in some way to accommodate Jesus. But they make him an avatar, a prophet – usually a lesser prophet than their own – an enlightened man, a great moral teacher. They deny his virgin birth. They deny that he is God. They may accept that Jesus is a son of God, but no more so than any of us. They deny that he is the Creator who has taken on flesh. They deny the testimony of Scripture, the fulfillment of prophecy, the claims of Jesus himself that make him, in C. S. Lewis’ words, Lord, liar, or lunatic. They deny his miracles. Some deny his death. Almost all of them deny his resurrection. They preach a different Jesus than the one we find in the Bible. Mormon teaches a Jesus that is brother to Satan. Islam teaches a Jesus that didn’t die, but was assumed into heaven with neither death nor resurrection. They claim to love Jesus, just so long as Jesus doesn’t eclipse Mohammed. Culture teaches a soft, effeminate Jesus who “just loves everybody”. They make their Jesus fit some political agenda, from immigration to transgenderism to abortion advocate. And you hear it from politicians, pundits, and preachers. We must learn to measure their version of Jesus with the Only Begotten Son of God, who is the very character of God come in the flesh. We must learn to see through the lies and deceit.
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit— just as it has taught you, remain in him. Here John is referring to Jesus’ words in John 14:26: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” The Holy Spirit does not act only as a conscience to help us know right from wrong, he is also the conscience that teaches us and reminds us of Jesus’ words. He is the truth-teller. He always points us to Jesus – the real Jesus.
In a sense, there is a tiny bit of scolding here – you shouldn’t need me to remind you. You know the truth. If you’ve forgotten, listen to the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the anointing is to keep us in the truth, to keep us on the right track, and to help us avoid being deceived. The Holy Spirit does not only equip us and empower us for ministry, but he also acts as an internal policeman in the sense that he helps us stay close to Jesus. He is our Guide. He is our Guardrail.
John ends with the key, and it’s something he heard from Jesus: remain in him. Jesus said, repeatedly, “Remain in me and I will remain in you” (John 15:4-7). That word “remain” does not must mean stay. It means “live here.” Make this your home. Move in and put down roots. This is where you belong, and so long as you have your roots deep into Christ, you will be hard to deceive. But you gotta stay. You gotta stay where the truth is, where Jesus is.