Those Antichrists

"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. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things."

I John 2:18-20

 We know that John indeed ministered directly to his intended readers, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them for many years, thus he loved them as a father loves his children. Yet, John knew that he was the last apostle still living on this planet and that the apostolic era was coming to a close. His congregation and the church as a whole had long been fighting against heresy but he reminds them that there are those who hate Christ and will use any tactic, even those which seem pleasant and true, to confuse the work of the church and try to destroy the name of Jesus Christ. 

These verses are not standalone verses that can just be ripped from their context for us to completely understand all that is being said. Prior to this warning about the antichrists, John had reminded them why he had written to them and instructed the church to not love the world nor the things in it. Contextually speaking, John is warning them that these antichrists are those who were allied with the Church, who for a while worked among the believers but discontinued. It is important to note also that these antichrists did not necessarily abandon religion and become the "scum" of society. Rather, they quite simply denied the full attributes of Christ by denying either his full deity, full humanity, resurrection, atoning work, etc. Praise God, though, that His people have an unction from the Holy One to know all things pertaining to salvation.

Where does this leave us who are nearly two thousand years removed from John's original audience? Obviously the world still turns in the hand of Almighty God and nothing is greater than He, so please don't let your eschatological view, whatever it may be, ruin the meat in these verses. There are those among us who seek to destroy the name of Christ, who preach a different gospel other than the true one given in the Holy Scriptures.  They sometimes seem to be a part of the church but their works reveal them for who they really belong to. Many buy their books, watch their TV broadcasts, listen to their speeches on the radio, and even flock to their assemblies because of their charm or their appeal to the flesh. They subtly deny Christ and unfortunately many Christians bring these false gospels into their homes by either being ignorant of the heresies or relaxed in the fight against them.  Are you loving the things of this world to which many of these false gospels appeal? Have you let yourself get caught up in craze of the newest idea even though it does not match scripture? God provides His children with an unction to know the truth apart from heresy. I pray you do not ignore it nor rebel against it.

Consider also: Acts 15:1-29; Galatians 1:6-9