024 Kernels of Wheat – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

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Show Notes by Jim Kerwin for Kernels of Wheat Podcast Episode 024 – Antichrist: In the Pew Next to You?

In the pew next to you?

Review of Last Episode

• Evolution of teaching about antichrist, from the Apostle John and Polycarp up through modern dispensationalism
• A brief overview of some of the more famous people “conclusively proven” to be antichrist
• Hints and highlights from passages of 1 John so far
• A look at the page from Strong’s Concordance which shows that all five references to antichrist appear only in three verses in 1 John and one verse in 2 John — never in a prophetic passage.
• According to Greek scholars, the preposition and prefix anti- never has the meaning of against in New Testament writings; it always means in the place of, instead of.

Going Through the Relevant Details about Antichrist in 1 John & 2 John

1. Note the passage on “the world” again in 1 John 2:15-17, as this will play into the identities of the antichrists.
2. 1 John 2:18—
   1. First mention of antichrist in the Bible
   2. John says that they are here now, that is, in 90 A.D.
   3. John, in a matter-of-fact manner, says that “many antichrists have appeared”.
   4. It isn’t “the last hour” that brings the antichrist; rather it is the existence of many antichrists that proves that we are in the last hour.
   5. Antichrist doesn’t appear to be the same thing as false christs (pseudocristoi) in the Gospels:
      • See Matthew 24:23-26 and the parallel passage in Mark 13:19-23.
      • Note the distinctive about false christs: they “show great signs and wonders.” John mentions nothing about this in the verses about his antichrists.
3. Looking at clues and asking questions in 1 John 2:19—
   1. Confirming that there are many antichrists, John refers to them as “they” SIX times in this verse.
   2. “They went out from us”—Who is the “us” from which the antichrists went out? Pay attention to the context of the epistle, and John’s stated purpose for writing it:
      • “That you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)
   3. Whether your translation says that “they” should have “remained” or “continued” with us, the verb is meno—to abide or remain. We studied this word in /k20: Do You Have Indoor Plumbing? And what is that in which we’re expected to abide / remain / continue? The chrisma, the anointing inside—Jesus the Anointed living inside. (We studied the anointing in /k19: What We Don’t Know About “The Anointing”.)
4. In verses 20-27, John sets up a dynamic balance
   1. Between “us” and “they”
   2. Between “you” and “they”
   3. Between antichrist and the anointing within.
5. Review of the chri- root of Christ, Christian, anointing (that is, chrisma), anoint (that is, chrio), and antichristos:
   1. Chrisma — the anointing (and the Anointed One) within; only mentioned in 1 John 2:20 & 2:27; the anointing within teaches you of all things.
   2. Christos — the Anionted One
   3. A Christian is one who lives by the life and leading of Christ, the Anointed One within (in the person of the Holy Spirit).
   4. Anti as used in the Greek New Testament always means in the place of, instead of.
   5. Ultimately, then, those who are antichrists are effectively trying to live the Christian life by some means other than the life of the Christ, the Anointed One, within.  True Christians are those who abide in the inner anointing, in the inner fellowship which God imparts in the New Birth.
6. In 1 John 4:1-6 and 2 John 7, we deal with another aspect — Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, coming “in the flesh,” something which antichrists either blatantly or experientially deny.
   1. More than just a doctrinal statement or a defense against Gnosticism or Docetism (see /k18 — An Unhappy Heresy).
   2. Has Jesus, the Anointed One, come to dwell in your flesh?  Is He making you righteous, holy, Christ-like?  Or do you offer to all and sundry your excuses for why you continue in sin and sinning, continue in your love for the world?  Is your Christian experience a real one, based on intimate fellowship with Christ within; or do you have something in the place of, instead of God’s communion with God’s chrisma within?

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