*The sermon recorder didn’t work on this Sunday. Below is an approximate manuscript of the sermon.
One of the things you learn early in your life is your address. In case there was an emergency or you got lost, it was important to be able to identify where you lived. You learn to say it and write it and it gets seared into your brain. You might not have lived in your childhood home for 50 years at this point, but I bet you could rattle it off if I asked as if you drove from there today! Knowing where you live places you and your existence in important ways.
As Christians, we should not only have a firm grasp on where we live but also WHEN we live. Like our childhood address, we also drill into our minds from a young age things like our birthday and birth year and other important dates. As Christians, when I say we need to know WHEN we live, I don’t mean February 8th, 2026; I’m referring to where we are in the grand scope of human history and even more specifically, redemptive history (the big story and account of God’s saving work in the world). If the whole history of the world past, present, and future, is one big history of redemption, where are we in that history?
One question that I’ve gotten before, and I know pastors get on a fairly regular basis, is related to this exact thing: Do you think we’re living in the last days? Usually, what we associate with the “last days” is the last sliver of time right before Jesus returns. But when we look at the perspective on this question from the writers of the New Testament, we notice something interesting: the writers of the New Testament clearly believed that they were living in the last days (or what John calls in our passage today, the “last hour”). Hebrews 1 for instance, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” John just says it simply and clearly to begin our passage today, “Children, it is the last hour.” Where are we (WHEN are we) in the grand history of redemption? We are (and John was even almost two millennia ago) in the last hour!
How can that be?! I understand how we, almost two thousand years later, could be living in the last hour, but how could John be living in the last hour? The real question we should be asking is, “What is the last hour?” The last hour (and last days) refers more to a quality of a period of time than the quantity of a period of time. It’s telling us what KIND of time we’re living in more than HOW LONG that time is.
Maybe an illustration would help here. In seminary, when I would go to campus, I would often have 12-hour or even 13-hour days of lectures. I would have only three classes, but the last lecture of the day might be four hours long! If I said, “I’m in the last class of the day,” that wouldn’t give a whole lot of precision about how much longer I had left. I could have four hours still left in the day or 10 minutes. The “last class” referred to a period of time that had a certain quality to it defined by the fact that I didn’t have any classes afterward whether I had 4 hours or 10 minutes left in that period of time. It referred to a quality of a whole period of time instead of the little sliver of time at the end of that period. Applying that to the idea of the “last days” or “last hour”, we usually think those terms always mean the little sliver of time right before Jesus returns when instead we should think of the whole period of time where the only major event remaining in history is the return of Jesus! It is the whole final period of redemptive history between Jesus death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven and his return to judge the living and the dead.
And, according to the New Testament, there are certain qualities or marks to this period of history. The mark of the “last hour” that John emphasizes in our passage is the presence of antichrists. Verse 18, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.”
That prompts another question that pastors get sometimes, “Who is the Antichrist?” This really sermon you’ve all been waiting for I’m sure! Oooo… our pastor is talking about the last hour and the Antichrist today!!! I hate to disappoint, but if you were hoping I would get into deciphering geo-political clues to speculate about the identity of the Antichrist or the date of Jesus’ return, you’re not going to get the answers you want. But, I do think you’ll get the answers you actually need! Are we living in the last days? Well, yes, but so was John. Who is the Antichrist? Well, actually, John doesn’t tell us.
John is the only biblical author to use the word “antichrist”, and he only uses it in 1 John and 2 John. And, though he doesn’t deny the possibility of some singular, future figure, notice that John’s actual emphasis isn’t on that singular Antichrist off in the future but on plural “antichrists” in the present! If you’re spending your time trying to figure out who the Antichrist, the Bible would actually tell you instead to be more focused on the many antichrists that are already in the world!
And who are these antichrists? Well, their name tells us. They are ANTI – CHRIST. They are opposed to Christ. But to be even more specific, they are anti – Christ in that they put forward counterfeit Christs, a false Christ. This is the real danger of antichrists, not that they openly oppose Jesus, but that they claim to be on Jesus’ side while undermining faith in Jesus by teaching a false Jesus. Verse 19 even tells us that these antichrists were, at least for a time, part of the church! They were once in the church but proved to not truly belong to the church or Christ by leaving the church. It is possible to belong visibly to God’s people while never truly being “of” God’s people (belonging truly and inwardly). These antichrists were probably even former teachers, former elders and pastors, who were now leading people astray. People look for the spirit of the antichrist in powerful political figures when we should really be paying more attention to false teachers to profess the name of Christ but teach a Jesus of their own making!
Brothers and sisters, know WHEN you live! You live in the last hours meaning that there are antichrists in the world; false teachers who will seek to lead you astray. If you’re taking notes, write this down. Here is the situation: It is the last hour, meaning there are antichrists in the world. This then should prompt in us the question: So, what should we do? This is what John will tell us through the rest of our passage.
One thing he will not tell us to do is panic! For some reason, Christians can get all frantic and panicky when you them they’re living in the last days and there are antichrists. Please, Christian, do not panic, but DO think soberly and seriously. John tells us what it is we should do in this last hour: First, remember your anointing from Jesus!
Remember Your Anointing from Jesus!
John doesn’t just remind them of the presence of antichrists, he reminds them of something that is true of them as Christians. Verse 20, “But YOU have been anointed by the Holy One (that is, Jesus Christ).” He’s clearly contrasting them with the antichrists with those two first words, “But you…” But the contrast is made even clearer with the word he chose to refer to the Christians. They have been “anointed.” The Greek word for anointed here is “χρίσμα/chrisma”, which is from the same root as “Christ” or “Χριστος/Christos” which means “Anointed One.” So you have “Christ/Χριστος” the Anointed One, “antichrist/αντιχριστος” those against the Anointed One”, and Christians who have been “anointed/χρισμα” by the Anointed One.
The very idea of the word “Christian” is that we are united to Christ and even that we share in his anointing. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts so well, I am a called a Christian “Because I am a member of Christ by faith and thus share in his anointing, so that I may as prophet confess his name, as priest present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to him, and as king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in this life, over all creatures.”
In this passage this is important for Christians to remember because it reminds us first that we who truly confess Christ and not antichrists, are truly connected to Christ. But the second, and major purpose of this reminder is for Christians to remember that the one who was himself Anointed by the Holy Spirit has now anointed us with the Holy Spirit so that we might have true knowledge. Notice the connection between anointing and knowledge/truth in this passage. Verses 20-21, “But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” Also verse 27, “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” One of the gifts that Christ has given us is the Holy Spirit and one of the works of the Holy Spirit in us is to help us to understand truth and discern truth from lies. This is what Jesus spoke about when he promised the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel. John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 16:13 – “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
This doesn’t mean we don’t need pastors and teachers or the Bible because we have the Spirit. It means that the Spirit is the one who enables us to understand Scripture when it is read and taught and to also discern what is true and false. False teachers might try to assert their authority or claim that they have some special knowledge that other believers don’t have access to. Don’t listen to them! All believers have the Holy Spirit, not just some select elite. Let us remember our anointing from Jesus!
Abide in the Truth About Jesus!
So, first, remember your anointing from Jesus. Second, abide in the truth about Jesus! In the case of the antichrists in John’s day, what was the lie they taught and what was the truth Christians needed to abide in? It was all about the question: “Who is Jesus?” And believe me, this has never stopped being THE QUESTION at the center of everything! And it is one of the most important questions you will ever answer!
John starts with the lie of the antichrists first. Starting in verse 22, “Who is the lar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” These false teachers separated Jesus and the Christ. They divided a human Jesus from the divine Christ. They were fine saying Jesus was human and Christ was divine, but not that Jesus was the Christ. This is the teaching of Docetism—Jesus was simply a man that the divine Christ entered for a while during his ministry but left him before his crucifixion. They denied what he confessed from the Athanasian Creed today “that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man equally.” They denied what we celebrate at Christmas, that God the Son took to himself true humanity, being conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary.
And we need to see that this isn’t a small denial as if they were just getting some minor detail of Christianity wrong. John continues in verse 22 by saying that they are the antichrist and are not just denying the Son, but denying the Father! And he says in verse 23, “No one who denies the Son has the Father.” Here’s the simple hard truth: If you deny that Jesus really was God come in human flesh, you do not know God and you are not a Christian. Whether it is a church or denomination that is willing to deny that Jesus was really God instead insisting he was a good, moral teacher, or whether it is one of the cults in our day who state that Jesus was created by God and isn’t the eternal God, we need to be willing to state unequivocally with John, “This is not Christianity and they do not know God.”
The truth of Christianity hinges on Jesus and our salvation depends completely on Jesus! As Jesus himself said in John 14, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But when we do come to God through Jesus, the Son, we are given a wonderful promise in verse 23, “Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.”
And so, we are called to abide in the truth; to remain in the truth; to hold fast to our good confession. Verse 24, “Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.” And when we have the Son and the Father, what is our promise? Verse 25, “And this is the promise he made to us—eternal life.” It is the last hour; antichrists have come; abide in the truth!
Abide in Jesus While Awaiting His Return!
And then lastly, abide in Jesus while awaiting his return. In verses 26-27, which I’ve already mentioned in our first point, John reminds us again of our anointing. But he draws us then to a final application at the end of verse 27 into verse 28—“abide in him.” Here we’re called to not only abide (or remain) in the true teaching about Jesus, but to abide in Jesus himself—to take hold of him in faith and to hold fast to him.
And we are called to abide in him with our eyes fixed forward to his return. John began the passage, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” But now he brings that whole thought to a close by reminding us that there is a much more significant arrival that is on the way giving us an intentional parallel to verse 18 in verse 28, “And now, little children, abide in him (in Christ), so that when HE appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.” Yes, living in the last hour means that antichrist have come and will come. But living in the last hour also means that we have one grand event on our horizon which ought to occupy our gaze and the longing of our hearts—the coming of Christ! Whatever hardships, sufferings, or opposition Jesus’ people may face in this age, we have a sure hope that Jesus Christ, the victor, is returning!
And guess what, if you belong to Jesus, his return is good news; the best news! Again, as he tells us in verse 28, if we abide in Christ, “when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
When you contemplate the return of Jesus, what does it spark within you? I think sometimes it can be like a far worse version of the dread we feel when we’re going to the dentist for an appointment and we know that we have a cavity and we haven’t been flossing as much as we should. We dread not just having someone poke around in our mouth, but we dread our bad habits being brought to light. We might fear the return of Jesus knowing that he brings everything to light. He knows our hearts and our minds. He sees our secret faults. He knows our sin better than we do! So we might dread, or we might think we will shrink back from him when he returns instead of delighting in his presence. And the truth is that, apart from faith in him and his saving work, his return isn’t good news and it does mean the bringing to light and the punishing of our sin.
But John tells us that we can have confidence when he returns and not shrink back from him when we abide in him. How can that be? Because Jesus, the God-man, is our Savior! We can long for his return and not dread it because if Jesus is your Savior, not one of your sins remains to condemn you and not one drop of judgment remains for you because Jesus has borne it all FOR you! He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows so that we might have peace with God and that not only the guilt of our sin, but also its shame might be conquered! He has taken our sin, and given us his perfection, so that when we stand before him we stand, despite all our sin, as righteous and forgiven. Do you know this peace? It is found in Jesus alone!
Despite all the fears and challenges of our age, let us abide in Christ, redeemed in him, reconciled to the Father; and let us look with longing for the day of his return!
