A lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Today's topic is the revelation of the Antichrist. You've heard of the Antichrist, haven't you? It seems that many people are fascinated by trying to identify the Antichrist either in history or in the present day or the projection of the future of who might be the Antichrist in the making. There is no limit to the number of people that can be nominated for this eminent post, the Antichrist.

And do you know that there's only one Bible author that speaks of the Antichrist? Only one. His name is John. He was young, probably the youngest, we're not for sure, of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that was the closest to him, emotionally, and he is also the only one of the 12 that lived into old age and died a natural death, although he was persecuted on the Isle of Patmos.

John writes about the Antichrist, and he's the only one who does so. Let me read what he says. In his first letter, he writes in chapter two, what we call chapter two, in verse 18, children, or little children, it is the last hour as you've heard that Antichrist is coming. So now many Antichrist have come. Notice the first is singular and then plural. You've heard of the Antichrist. There are many Antichrist have come. TheWe refore, we know that it is the last hour.

Interesting phrase, were approximately 2,000 years since John wrote his letter. And he says that many antichrists have come and that's how he knew it was the last hour. Now, he has to have in mind Jesus' own teaching concerning the Antichrist that he has heard him give. It's recorded to us in the Synoptics, that is, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All of them mention Jesus' discourse on the Mount of Olives.

Let me refresh your memory about that by turning to Matthew chapter 24. And here we have the Lord Jesus Christ himself speaking about what we call the end times. But you know, Matthew 24, Luke 21, and Mark 13 is a little tricky. It is talking about the last times, but when did the last times begin? See, that's the question. When did the last times begin?

Here's what Jesus says, what opens the discussion. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, that's Jesus. As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, right after he and his disciples had left the temple, and there'd been a big confrontation in the temple. His disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?

And Jesus answered them, see that no one leads you astray for many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ. And they will lead many astray. And you'll hear wars and rumors of wars, and see that you're not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For kingdom will rise against nation, and nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there'll be famines and earthquakes in various places, and all of these are but the beginning of the birth pangs.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you'll be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. So, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house. And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days,

Pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. And if these days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, look, here's the Christ, or there he is, do not believe it. A false Christ and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray a possible, even the elect. See, I've told you ahead. I've told you beforehand.

So, if they say to you, look, he's in the wilderness, do not go out. If they say, look, he's in the room, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the son of man, wherever the corpse is, There the vultures will gather.

Now, I can't go into an exposition of all of this chapter at this point, but I do want to point out that it's Jesus himself that speaks about false Christ. And that's what John has referenced to in his epistle. When he says, you know, that there is, we've heard that an antichrist is coming. that Antichrist is coming. So now, many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour.

Now, my point here is that in our fascination about trying to identify the Antichrist, we may actually bypass the message that Christ is giving. And what is the Antichrist? You see, according to John, The Antichrist is not so much a particular political or military figure that takes over the world. That may or may not be something that Paul talks about in Thessalonians. But John is concerned about the theological identity of the Antichrist.

You know, I could have asked you the question, who's your favorite nomination of the Antichrist? Well, you go through the centuries. Probably the favorite nomination in the early centuries of the church would be the Emperor Nero. Everyone was pretty convinced that he was Antichrist. And then, if you go to the 20th century, probably the primary nomination would be Adolf Hitler of Germany. who was, in many respects, like an Antichrist, or at least a man, not of lawlessness, but he was a dictator who took over everything and installed himself in the churches as a figure to be reverenced and the Nazi flag to be flown.

All seem to be seeming candidates. And, you know, in every century, every election cycle, it appears we nominate someone that might be either running for president or has become president and say, oh, he's a nominee of the Antichrist. Here's the truth of the matter. We don't know about the man of lawlessness. and if he is or is not an Antichrist. He's definitely an anti-God figure in 2 Thessalonians. But John is concerned about the theological identity of the Antichrist. And he uses the term in the plural, not the singular. He mentions the singular, but he's concerned about the plural. And he says, we know this is the last hour. The last hour, now that's an intriguing word, Was John expecting that Jesus might break through any moment? I don't know, but I sort of doubt it. He is looking for the coming of the Lord, but he's not setting him on a timetable, because you see, God's timetable and man's timetable are never the same. The day of the Lord will come in accordance with God's own decree, and in the course of history, it will come after there has been worldwide evangelization

I did not say Christianization, I said evangelization. That is the gospel going forth throughout the world. Not that the world has become Christianized. That is never the goal of scripture. The goal is for Jesus Christ to come back personally in the body of his ascension, the same body in which he was crucified, the same body in which he was raised from the dead, the same body that ascended into heaven, that is the body, that is the Lord Jesus Christ who will descend from heaven and will once again plant his feet on planted earth on the Mount of Olives.

Who, according to John, are these antichrists? What he says about them, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. So he's talking about people that were associated with the assembly of believers. That is, we call them the church. Now, whether they were intimately involved in the church as being a part and parcel of the church, or they were on the fringes, that is candidates, hanging around, we're not certain, but whatever they were, as they came to learn more about the truth of the nature of Jesus Christ and his work, they went out. Why? Because they did not believe the story about Christ Jesus. They rejected who he is presented as being in the Bible.

See, here's what John says about the Antichrist. I wrote to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it. So, he's not doubting the people he's writing to. He's wanting to confirm them in the truth they already know. And what is the truth? Well, he says it in the negative. Who is the liar? The liar is he who denies that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus, Yeshua, is the Messiah. This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. He's saying that if you want to know God, you must go through Jesus Christ. And the one who denies that Jesus is the unique Son of God does not know God. He does not have the Father. To have Christ and to know the Father in and through Christ is to possess, to be in the receipt of eternal life.

In what we call the fourth chapter of his first epistle, John writes, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they're from God. For many false prophets have gone into the world. And many of those false prophets you see have come to talk about Christ and to identify or to deny Christ. And they come by usually some kind of angelic revelation. People claim to have met an angel who told them the truth. But the truth that that angel tells them is to deny Christ, to deny that Jesus is the Christ, that he is the unique son of God, that he is both humanity and deity in one person. And thus you have Islam, which is a denial of Christ. It's a denial of the Trinity, of the true nature of God and of Christ. And Islam could not exist if Christianity did not exist prior to it, because the whole religion is built on the negative, in a denial of who the true God is and who Jesus Christ really is. But there are other nominations where angels are involved, giving a false message, false prophets,

But here's what John says, by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

You don't need to spend your time trying to find out and identify who the Antichrists are. The Antichrists are all around us. They're those who deny the unique incarnation. That is, that the Word, the Son, who had existed eternally with the Father, has put on human flesh. He became a human being without giving up any of his deity. And this, the man Christ Jesus, is the only mediator between God and man. And those who deny that they have the spirit of antichrist.