What Are Those Sirens For? to Sound a Warning?

THE ANTICHRIST

1 John 2:18-29

This past Tuesday the city sounded the sirens…those of you who live here in town…how many of you heard those sirens?

·  What are those sirens for? To sound a warning?

·  How many of us, when those sirens go off for real, how many of us pay attention to those sirens? How many of us take those sirens seriously?

·  Is there a potential danger if you ignore those sirens?

·  Who sounds that warning?

Here in our kitchen…in the small room where the hot water heater is…there is an electrical panel in there…and it has a warning sign on it.

·  What is the purpose of that warning sign?

·  To keep you from getting seriously hurt.

·  How many of us would ignore that warning sign?

I am going sit this right here…and if I say, “Don’t touch this because if you do there will be serious consequences”…what have I just done?

·  I have sounded a warning, right?

We understand a warning don’t we…and if we ignore a warning it can have serious consequences, right?

Well, that is what verses 18-19 are…they are a warning!

·  But they are not a warning about physical consequences…like sirens are, or a danger sign is…or touching this is.

·  This warning by John is a warning of spiritual consequences.

·  And unfortunately…many of those that John extended this warning to…did not listen.

·  And this warning still exists today…the word of God is living…and this very same warning exists today…and tragically…a vast majority of people do not listen.

·  Let’s look at this and see what John has to say.

Vs. 18: Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.

·  First of all notice that John speaks to the “Children.”

·  Back up in verses 12-14 John wrote to three different groups; the children, the young men, and the fathers…and he isn’t referring to their age.

·  He is referring to their spiritual chronology…their spiritual maturity…the fathers being first generations Christians…the young men being second generation…and the children being new converts.

So here in vs. 18 John is referring to those who are new converts…because the new converts are the weakest in their faith…they are babies in Christ…they are the most susceptible…they are the ones who are in the most danger here.

So John says, “Children, it is the last hour”…and if you look at the end of the verse John says it again, “We know that it is the last hour.”

·  Now initially when you look at this statement it sounds like an eschatological statement…and “end of time statement.”

·  But that is not the way that John uses the term “hour.”

·  John uses the term “hour” to speak of a transitional period…a period that brings about a great transition.

·  Look at John 2:4: And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come."

o  There will come a time but the moment is not yet.

John 5:27 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live.

John 5:28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice,

John 7:6 Jesus therefore said to them, "My time is not yet at hand, but your time is always opportune.

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Several times John in his writing John uses the word “hour” but he doesn’t use it in the context of “end of time”…he uses it to refer to a period of traumatic change.

·  Things are about to change!

·  So this is a warning about a change that is take place…a warning that John is sounding to try and prevent what is about to happen.

·  Go back to 1 John 2:18 and look at what is about to happen.

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.

John says, “Just as you heard that antichrist is coming…”

·  Where did they hear this?

·  Look at:

Matt 7:15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Acts 20:30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

2 Thess 2:3 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

Rev 2:2 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;

These Christians knew that these “antichrist”…these false prophets…these deceivers were coming.

·  From the Day of Pentecost the apostles have been bearing witness of Christ…and they have had their opponents.

·  But basically the gospel has had free involvement with the minds of people…people were eager to hear the “good news” of Jesus.

·  But now, here come the “perverters” the false prophets.

·  And now there is going to be a traumatic change!

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.

·  John says, “You heard they were coming…well now they are here.”

·  This isn’t talking about the “end of time”…this is talking about what was happening at the time.

·  These “antichrist”….these people who were “against Christ”…come along with their influence…

·  And John sounds this warning and he says, “You heard they were coming…well guess what…they are here.”

·  And church history shows that tragically…the majority of these Christians didn’t listen…and the church was led into centuries of apostasy.

How many of you have heard of a man named Origen?

·  He is considered to be one of the second century fathers of the church…he was recognized for his supposed spiritual insights.

·  He was Gnostic to the core…he was one of the great contributors to Catholic thought…and was instrumental in leading the church astray.

How many of you have heard of Augustine…Vociferous…Ignaceous…Clement of Alexandria…Clement of Rome…Epolatous…Athanaceous…Nastorious...all of the anti-nicean fathers…all of these were more Gnostic in their theology than they were Biblical.

·  And because of their influence…and their teachings…the church that we read about in the NT was all but non-existent…

·  And then finally in the reformation movement…when the Gutenburg Press was invented and the Bible was printed…people began to read for themselves and they realized that the Universal Church and its doctrines didn’t match up with what the scriptures said…

·  So they began to make some changes…they began to reform the church…thus the “Reformation Movement”…and from this movement most of the religious groups you see get their existence.

·  But there was a problem…they only reformed the Catholic church…they kept many of its doctrines and practices.

But then in the late 1600 some people said, “Let’s don’t reform the Catholic church…lets restore the Lord’s church”…and they went back to the Bible and studied the design of the church…and began to replicate what the Bible said…and that is what was known as the “Restoration Movement.”

·  And even though today we have Bibles…and we can know what God’s design of the church is…the majority of people who call themselves Christians…are still ignoring the warning that John sounds here in 1 John 2: 18…and they are still following after the teachings of the “antichrist.”

·  Brethren…there are many false prophets out there.

Look at vs. 18 again: Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen;

·  When John says “many antichrists have risen”…he isn’t talking so much about numbers as he is about the many different currents of antichristian Gnosticism.

·  There were the Ascetics, Docetics, Cerenthians, the Monastics, the Denialists, the Apollonarians, The Essenes, the Libertines…these brethren that John is writing to were facing all these different influences…much like we are today.

So, who are the antichrist?

·  We know that John is writing this because of the influence the Gnostics were having on these Christians…but if we didn’t have the background information about the Gnostics there is still enough information listed here by John to know who they are.

·  Now, many of the popular theologians have speculated about who the antichrist were or are: Hitler; Ayatollah; European Market; N.R.A…it all depends on which way the political winds are blowing at the time.

·  Some say that the antichrist have not even come yet.

That is not what John says…lets look at who they are.

·  Vs. 18…they are already here…and there are many

Look at verse 19. John says, “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, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.

·  These antichrist came from the outside and “were not really a part of us”…they never really accepted the truth…they never had fellowship because they never knew God.

·  IF they would have known God they would have remained.

·  But they went out…”in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.”

·  The church didn’t lose anything when these people left because the church never had them in the first place.

·  They came in secretly as though they were spies…they were false brethren.

·  That tells us that not everyone who goes to church on Sunday is a Christian.

·  The point is, these antichrist were sectarian…they came in to cause division.

Look down at verse 22: Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

·  They deny that Jesus is the Messiah…they want to break Jesus O.T. roots.

·  They want to deny deity…His Father/Son relationship.

·  John says they are “liars.”

And look at verse 23: Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

·  They have no fellowship with the Father.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

·  They are missionary.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

·  They consider themselves to be “spirit” people…illuminated…esoteric knowledge.

·  They are false prophets.

1 John 4:5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

1 John 4:6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

·  The antichrist reject apostolic teaching.

That is who the antichrist are…they are here…they are many…they cause division…they deny Jesus as the Messiah…they deny His deity…they are liars…they are missionary…they consider themselves to be spirit people…they are false prophets…they are of the world…they reject apostolic teaching…

And look at 2 John 8 at what will happen if you listen to them: Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

This is a serious, serious warning.

·  Please, for the sake of your salvation, don’t ignore it.

·  The influence of these false prophets have and still is leading many people astray.

·  Don’t let that happen to you.