There is a looming crisis coming to the Church. In the last and evil days there is to be a rise in counterfeit Christianity. See 2 Timothy 3:1 & 1 Timothy 4. It will be perilous times with people departing from the faith. What do counterfeit Christians do?

1 – They attack Christ (vs. 18)

• The person of the Antichrist (vs. 18). He is mentioned throughout the Bible. See John 5:43 & 2 Thessalonians 2 for example. The Antichrist will be a great man who appeals to many with his words and wisdom. He will energised by Satan himself.
• The principle of the antichrist. There are many antichrists. There was some in the days of John and there are some today. See 1 John 4:1-3. The spirit of antichrist will prevail in the world. It is a spirit that rejects Jesus Christ and it is also in the Church. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ. There are not many ways. There is only one way to get to Heaven. See John 14:6. The spirit of antichrist denies this one way or adds other conditions to it.

2 – They abandon the Church (vs. 19-22)

• They desert the fellowship of the Church – They also want to take others with them. They desert the Church because they were not part of it in the first place. Membership of a church does not guarantee salvation. You need to be cleaned up on the inside. See 2 Peter 2:22. You can clean up a pig on the outside but he will go back to the mud if given a chance.
• They deny the faith (vs. 22) – You cannot be saved by denying Christ. There are pillars that cannot be denied. The virgin birth, the sinless life, vicarious death, resurrection and ascension to heaven of Jesus Christ.

3 – They assault the Christian (vs. 23-28)

There are people who are simply against Jesus Christ. We can insulate ourselves from their assault.

• The authority of the Scriptures (vs. 24) – You have heard the Word of God. We need to have it abiding in our heart. The Bible will build our character. It won’t be built up by a Maths book. It will instruct you in the wisdom of God. It will block the snares of the Devil. It will lift you up above all the difficulties and trials in your life. It will energise you so that you can serve God correctly.
• The anointing of the Spirit (vs. 20, 27) – Christ is the “Anointed One”. The Holy Spirit anoints us with power. A lot of us have the power but we just don’t know it. If you are saved then you have the anointing. God does give special anointing for special purposes. You don’t know all things because you have the anointing. You do know the difference between truth and error. The Spirit and God’s Word will tell you what is not right. We all need Bible teaching and the Spirit of God to teach us what is right.
• The abiding of the Son – Let God to do His work in you. If you go away from God’s will He will start working on you. He will start breaking up your fascination with the world. He will get your prayer life right. We need confidence in God’s power. We will exalt our heavenly Father. We get off the throne of our lives and put Jesus Christ on the throne. He is Lord! There is no need to wait for heaven to start exalting Him!

Categories: 1 John