Memory Verse for the Week of 1/3/2010: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13.
Today’s Passage: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome (the people who do not confess Christ a.k.a. antichrists), because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” I John 4:4-6 NKJV.
Though I did not begin this lesson with the plan to discuss dark themes, the passages I researched for another lesson led me to discuss this topic instead. Perhaps it is needed in your life or perhaps I needed to review it for my own life. Either way, I pray that you find something helpful and comforting by the lessons learned from the topic. Those of you with children and grandchildren might well need to review these things based on the themes of much of the teen and young adult entertainment provided by the world today.
Our passage today gives us great hope and freedom of the fear of the unknown if we consider what the Spirit of God through John is teaching us. In this age of obsession with all things dark such as vampires, “black magic”, Wicca, witches and other worldly creatures that draw interest through their portrayal as heroes in games, movies and books, the idea of an Antichrist can be mysterious and terrifying. Many of us can recall Damien as the devious son of Satan in the old Gregory Peck classic The Omen. The vision of 666 appearing as Damien’s hair was cut could be unsettling. Who would dare want to raise the son of Satan that was coming to the earth as “The Antichrist”?
Yet these concepts are straight from Hollywood and are not founded on Biblical teachings of our true enemies. If we allow modern culture to mold our view of religious concepts, we will be very confused as the rest of the world seems to be. What really is an antichrist? Is it a monstrous being that will come and destroy the world? Will it lead many astray into slavery? Will it be marked with the numbers 666?
I suggest to you that if this is the sign you seek, you will miss Satan’s web of deceit in the ordinary things of life. In our passage, John describes the Antichrist as “every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” I John 4:2-3.
Further, “who is the liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that confesses the Son hath the Father also". I John 2:22-23. And in II John 1:7: “For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
From these passages, we can conclude the following:
1. Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is an antichrist.
2. The antichrist was already in the world during John’s writing.
3. Everyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is an antichrist.
4. Whoever denies Christ also must deny the Father because they are one; therefore, an antichrist rejects God as well whether they admit it or not.
5. People have gone out into the world in order to deceive, refusing to confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. These are deceivers and antichrists.
Does this sound like a huge mythological being that we will encounter? Not per John. The antichrist is anyone who denies Christ, rejects Him and/or deceives others into rejecting Christ. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and we are his children if we do not stand up for the truth. The truth is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, is one with God and came down to this earth in a human form to live among us. He died, was buried and was raised to life again. He returned to heaven’s glory and we will share in that glory if we receive His Word and believe it, repent of our sins, confess Him to others, put on Christ in baptism (Galatians 3:27), worship Him as instructed and live faithfully to the end according to His commandments. Once we have become a Christian as instructed by the Lord, we can experience a constant renewal and cleansing of our sins through repentance (a change of mind and action), confession and seeking forgiveness. God’s Word is truth! There is no other name by which we can be saved than Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
We should have no consuming fears of the dark things of the world because God is in control. No matter what happens to us, we can look to Him for our peace and comfort. The next lesson, Lord willing, will further demonstrate the need for us to trust and hope in God for the world is full of evil but God has wonderful things planned for us if we remain faithful to Him until the end. If the Lord permits, we will study examples of those who experienced great trials yet did not lose heart. They kept the faith in the midst of dire circumstances.
I pray that this lesson helps you to realize that although our fight is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), it is also not a battle between us and the forces of darkness alone. There are no horror scene battles where we are physically fighting demonic forces with merely a crucifix as a weapon. Our battle is fought against the evil that is in the world by standing up for what is right, refusing to give into worldly lusts and desires and walking in the light as Jesus walks in the light. Our battle has already been won by Jesus when He arose from the grave and overcame death and sin. Our battles are fought by remaining on the Lord’s side and by using the Christian Sword (the Word of God) just as Jesus did when confronted by Satan while in the wilderness (Matthew 4). Every temptation offered by the devil was rejected by Jesus by His quotation of the Word of God. We win against the forces of evil by quoting Scripture because these are our words of life. Paul informed the Romans that the things written before in the Bible (the Old Testament) “were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” Romans 15:4. There is no hope without knowledge of the Word of God because this is the only method that God chose in which to inform man of his sin and to offer the gracious gift of salvation. Our obedience to God is required in order for us to receive this gift from God, not that we will ever deserve it but this is the manner in which God provides it. Therefore, we must know what we must do to be saved and to defeat the powers of darkness and this knowledge can only come from the Bible.
How do we overcome Satan and those around us who would seek to tear us away from our God? Study, meditate, pray and be ready to give an answer (Joshua 1:8, I Timothy 4:15, I Peter 3:15). Be able to quote God instead of relying on our own reason. Our conscience, if trained in the Word of God, can be a great warning tool for alerting us of wrong but if our conscience is our only guide, we will fail. God has provided the answers in the Bible and only the Bible is God’s Truth revealed to man. We would not consider entering a swordfight without a sword so why would we attempt to battle Satan and His followers without God’s Word?
Let us work this week on studying and meditating on God’s Word so that we can recognize those who would deceive us with words that sound pleasing but are not found in God’s Word. Let us be like the wonderful Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out if these things were so” Acts 17:11. Please, as always, if something I have written is not found in Scripture or if you have a concern about something I mistyped, please let me know as soon as possible. I, like you, am merely a Christian who wishes to study and grow more in the knowledge of my Lord Jesus through meditation on His Word. Your suggestions and comments are welcome and needed.
God bless you this week! May you find great joy in the fact that God has not left us alone in this world to battle the evil one. Jesus has already attained the victory; the church has been established to encourage one another to keep fighting and we will win the fight if we remain on Jesus’ side until our time on earth is done. May you be encouraged by these words today.
