1 John 2:18-19

1 John 2:18-19

Children, it is the last hour.  And just as you all heard that an antichrist comes – and now many antichrists have become – from this I know that it is the last hour.  They went out of us, but they were not out of us.  For if they were out of us they would have remained with us; but rather in order that they should be made plain that they are not out of us.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We need to be careful to read John’s expression “the last hour” carefully.  Some people read that as if to imply that John is saying that the end of the world is near.  If John meant that, he was clearly wrong because almost 2,000 years have gone by since he wrote those words and the world is still continuing onward!  I believe John is speaking in a more figurative sense.  God’s plan of salvation is complete.  There is nothing more that God has to reveal because Jesus Christ has done all that was left.  God’s Messiah has come – and the world, His own people, even – have rejected Him.  But since salvation has been made possible to the whole world, then we are in the last hour.  Christ can return at any time; we are not waiting for God to do anything more.  But as to when Christ returns, it could be tomorrow or a thousand years from now.  We will still be in the last hour because God has completed the work that He intended to do from the beginning.

What is the danger of interpreting the expression “the last hour” as meaning that Christ’s return is absolutely imminent?  How can interpreting it that way be used by people to illustrate that the Bible has error?  What does it mean to you to know that we live in an age when God’s work is complete and we are in the last hour of waiting for God regardless of when Christ should return?

Second Thought:

There is another highly charged word in this passage: antichrist.  Make sure that you read John’s words carefully.  John says that “an antichrist” is coming and “many antichrists” have already come.  So many people hear the word antichrist and immediately assume that the speaker is talking about the last days of the world before Christ returns.  While yes, I do believe that there will be an antichrist that leads the world away from God – as spoken of in the book of Revelation – that is not how John is using the word here in this passage.  The prefix anti- in the Greek can mean “opposed” or “in place of.”  Thus, John is warning his people here to watch out for those in world who would either oppose the work of Christ or those who would lift themselves up into the place of Christ.  I believe that the Antichrist – the great and final human opponent to God – with both oppose God and lift himself up in place of Christ.  But the truth is that there are many antichrists.  Anyone that opposes God and leads us away from God is an antichrist.  Anyone that lifts themselves up as the focus instead of turning us to focus on God is an antichrist.  Not the Antichrist, mind you.  But they are an antichrist.  And in this we can see the truth of John’s words.  The world is full of antichrists.  Many antichrists have come.  Our world is full of people who seek to oppose God or seek to lift themselves up in place of God.

Who are the antichrists in your life?  When and where are you most likely to have your focus shifted off of God and His work?

Third Thought:

After speaking of these two concepts, John spends the rest of the verses speaking about the “people who have gone out from us.”  As A.E. Brooke puts it, this is John’s way of saying that “external membership is no proof of inward union.”  Just because a person goes to church does not mean that they have union with God.  Just because a person knows God’s Word doesn’t mean that they are humble before God and submitted to Him.  After all, does anyone know God’s Word better than Satan himself?  Yet Satan is in no way humble and submitted before God!  The Apostle Paul says this a different way when in Romans 9:6 he says, “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.”  John is encouraging us to be careful when evaluating people and missions and causes and places and the like.  Just because something is pretty, just because something has a cross in its logo, just because an organization is made up of church-goers, just because someone can talk smoothly and quote scripture – none of these things guarantee that faith is within and that it is genuine.  We must always look past things like credentials and training and outward appearances.  We must look within and judge the inner character.

How easy is it to be deceived by outward appearances?  Why is it so easy for us to be deceived?  How do you personally look for deeper faith in people, missions, or causes?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 John 2:20-25