v.18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Here we see the urgency of salvation because it is the last hour. Paul and the writer of Hebrews speak to this urgency as well when they say I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) and While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation (Heb 3:15).
Why the urgency? Let’s be honest, not one of us knows what tomorrow holds for ourselves, let alone someone else. Jesus spoke to this in the parable of the Rich Fool when he said in Luke 12:16-26 The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: (17) And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? (18) And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (21) So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (22) And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. (23) The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. (24) Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? (25) And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? (26) If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? James further drives home the point when he said in James 4:13-15 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that very stupidly said, “Sin now. Pray later.” My friends, the problem is that you don’t know if you will have a “later”. The biggest lie of the devil is tomorrow. The driver of that car had bought that lie!
Antichrist
John also reminds us in this verse that we can know that we are in the last days because of the demonic work of the Antichrist. Notice the description of these “antichrists”: (1) they have a faulty understanding of Jesus Christ and are liars (v. 22; 4:3), (2) they have no relationship with the Father (v. 23), and (3) they are deceivers (2 John 7). Now bear in mind that these references refer to men who had left the church (v.19) and were now aggressively promoting the heretical doctrine that Jesus was not the Christ (4:1).
Here we see the urgency of salvation because it is the last hour. Paul and the writer of Hebrews speak to this urgency as well when they say I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) and While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation (Heb 3:15).
Why the urgency? Let’s be honest, not one of us knows what tomorrow holds for ourselves, let alone someone else. Jesus spoke to this in the parable of the Rich Fool when he said in Luke 12:16-26 The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: (17) And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? (18) And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (21) So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (22) And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. (23) The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. (24) Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? (25) And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? (26) If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? James further drives home the point when he said in James 4:13-15 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: (14) Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (15) For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that very stupidly said, “Sin now. Pray later.” My friends, the problem is that you don’t know if you will have a “later”. The biggest lie of the devil is tomorrow. The driver of that car had bought that lie!
Antichrist
John also reminds us in this verse that we can know that we are in the last days because of the demonic work of the Antichrist. Notice the description of these “antichrists”: (1) they have a faulty understanding of Jesus Christ and are liars (v. 22; 4:3), (2) they have no relationship with the Father (v. 23), and (3) they are deceivers (2 John 7). Now bear in mind that these references refer to men who had left the church (v.19) and were now aggressively promoting the heretical doctrine that Jesus was not the Christ (4:1).
Yes, there are many today who say that Jesus was not who he claimed to be. Some of those in our area include Mormons and Jehovah’s False Witnesses. Make no mistake, my friend that Jesus claimed to be one and the same with the Father. He made no bones about that. As a matter of fact, they killed him for blasphemy in claiming to be God. The deity of Christ is found from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Compare these verses: John 1:1-5, 14; I John 4:1-2. Also, notice Peter’s response in Matthew 16:13-16 when he responded to Jesus when he asked Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (14) And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. (15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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