“This is how we know it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18-25)

“This is how we know it is the last hour.”

[1 John 2:18-25]

You, too, may have heard the term “the end of the world.” A teenager said he was offended by a conversation with his mom and dad. After that, he texted his friend ‘c” and ‘b’. Do you know what those two alphabets means? They mean ‘crazy’ and ‘bullshit’. That’s what the teenager sent the text message to his friend. It is an unimaginable age (the state and condition of the world as seen in people's daily life, customs, etc.), and there is no choice but to say, ‘The end of the world really is the end of the world!’ (Internet) Even among us Christians, it seems that we often say, ‘It's really the end of the world!’ In particular, ‘Looking at the way the world is going, it’s really the end of the world. We seem to say that the time has come for Jesus to come. When we say so, “the end of the world” assumes that the second coming of Jesus is almost near (Internet).

Do you actually think that the second coming of Jesus is almost near? To ask otherwise, do you now believe in “the last days”? Personally, when I think of the word “the last days”, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 comes to mind: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” If we look at these verses, there are 19 signs that will appear in the last days: (1) People will be lovers of themselves, (2) Lovers of money, (3) Boastful, (4) Proud, (5) Abusive, (6) Disobedient to their parents, (7) Ungrateful, (8) Unholy, (9) Without love, (10) Unforgiving, (11) Slanderous, (12) Without self-control, (13) Brutal, (14) Not lovers of the good, (15) Treacherous, (16) Rash, (17) Conceited, (18) Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, and (19) Having a form of godliness but denying its power. And when I think of these 19 signs that will appear in the last days, I mainly thought of three things: “People will be lovers of themselves,” “lovers of money,” and “Disobedient to their parents.” I don't think it can be denied that the 19 signs of the last days are already appearing. In fact, how many of us are living in a form of godliness, denying the power of godliness? Are we now unholy, without self-control and lovers of pleasure? Aren't we proud, arrogant, and boastful now? Aren't we without love, ungrateful, and unforgiving? Aren’t we not lovers of the good, treacherous and rash? I think the time that we are living in is the last days and the second coming of Jesus is almost near. I saw an article on the Internet that summarized the signs of Jesus' second coming into 5 points based on the Bible in their own way: (1) The gospel is preached to all peoples, (2) The full number of Jews enters and fills the church, (3) Apostasy occurs among those who believed in the gospel and churches, (4) People of lawlessness appear and aggravate confusion, (5) Earthquakes and wars occur all over the world and the Great Tribulation this will happen (Internet).

In 1 John 2:18, the Apostle John said: “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” In this verse, the Apostle John said two things to himself or to the Christians who received his letter:

First, the Apostle John said about “the last hour.”

Looking back at 1 John 2:18, the Apostle John mentioned “the last hour” twice as “this is the last hour” and “it is the last hour” to the Christians to who received his letter. Here, “the last hour” that the Apostle John was talking about refers to “the last days” that we mainly think about and speak of. Then, I think if that time when the Apostle John wrote this letter of 1 John in the first century A.D. was already “the last hour,” the time that we are living in is about 2,000 years later, we can be confused about “the last days.” The Bible says that the last days or the last hours began when Jesus first came to this world. Look at 1 Peter 1:20 – “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” And the Bible Hebrews 1:1-2a says: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son ….” What does it mean? It means that in the Old Covenant Age, which is the Old Testament, God continued to speak the revelation of God’s salvation through prophets, but in the New Covenant Age, the New Testament, God finally sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth, and in these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son Jesus (Internet). In this way, with Jesus, these last days have begun, and the end times will end when Jesus comes back to the world. In other words, the end times begin when Jesus came into this world and will end when Jesus returns. Therefore, in 1 John 2:18, “the last hour” spoken of by the Apostle John in 1 John 2:18 refers to the period between the first and second coming of Jesus. Then why did the Apostle John speak twice about “the last hours” to the Christian recipients of his letter in 1 John 2:18? The reason is precisely because of “the antichrist”. This is the second thing the Apostle John said in verse 18.

Second, the Apostle John said about “the antichrist.”

Look at 1 John 2:18 – “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” The Apostle John told the recipients of his letter that they too had heard that the antichrist was coming, saying that “even now many antichrists have come.” That is, when the Apostle John wrote this letter of 1 John, he told the recipients of the letter that as they had already heard, many antichrists had already appeared. Here we have to think about three things:

When we think about what the Apostle John said in 1 John 2:18, “this is the last hour” and then “even now many antichrists have come,” the Apostle John wrote this letter in the first century, the age of the apostles, after Jesus died, rose and ascended into heaven, and said that that was the last hour, and that many antichrists had already appeared at that time. That being said, when we mainly say “the antichrist”, we seem to think that the antichrist will appear in this age when the second coming of Jesus is nearer. However, today's Bible is the fact that the antichrists had already appeared in the first century A.D. when the New Testament was written.

The Apostle John mentioned “the antichrist” twice in 1 John 2:18. Once he said “the antichrist” in the singular, but the other time he said “the antichrists” in the plural. This tells us that the Apostle John, when he first used the singular word “the antichrist,” he was referring to a particular person prophesied in the Bible, while when he used the plural word “the antichrists,” he was referring to those who deceived Christians who believed in Jesus in the days of the Apostle John as “the antichrists” (many individuals). Those who deceive Christians who believe in Jesus here are, for example, “false teachers” and “deceivers” (MacArthur).

Then, who are the “the antichrist” and “the antichrists” that the Apostle John spoke of in 1 John 2:18? The Bible 1 John 2:18-25 tells us two things:

First, look at 1 John 2:19 – “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” When the Apostle John said that the antichrists “went out from us, but they did not really belong to us,” it means that the antichrists were formerly believers in Jesus Christ, like the apostle John or the recipients of the letter to 1 John, but no longer believe in Jesus Christ. It refers to those who have departed from Jesus and from the believers. Therefore, the Apostle John said that the antichrists “did not really belong to us,” because they no longer belong to Jesus Christ. When I meditated on this word, I thought of ‘the false prophets’. The reason is because even though God didn’t send the false prophets, they prophesied lies in His name (Jere. 14:14; 28:15). Another thing that comes to mind is “Satan”. What we learned growing up in the church is that Satan was originally an angel, but because of his pride in trying to become like God, he sinned against God and fell, and became Satan. So it was learned that Satan was a fallen angel who was cast out by God and came down into the world, and the Bible verse that is the basis of that doctrine was known as “Lucifer” when translated into Latin for “a morning star” in Isaiah 14:12 (Internet). It is said that this Lucifer fell to the ground. This Satan and the false prophets don’t belong to God, nor are they sent by God, just as the antichrist didn’t belong to the Apostle John or the recipient Christians to the letter of 1 John.

Then the antichrist is spoken of in 1 John 2:22 – “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.” If we look at this verse, the Bible says that the antichrist is one who denies God the Father and the Son Jesus. And verse 23 says, “No one who denies the Son has the Father.” Isn't it obvious to say that those who deny Jesus, the Son of God, don’t have the Father? If we look again at verse 22, the Bible says that the antichrist is one who denies that the Jesus is the Christ. Such a person, the antichrist, is said to be “a liar.” The Apostle John also said this about the antichrist in 1 John 4:3 – “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” The Bible says that the spirit of the antichrist is the spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus and that this spirit of antichrist doesn’t belong to God. However, this spirit of antichrist already existed in the world in the first century AD when the Apostle John was writing the letter of 1 John. And this spirit of the antichrist is still here. In other words, the spirit of the antichrist is from the first coming of Jesus to the second coming in the last days (the end times). Thus, after the Apostle John spoke about the antichrist and the spirit of antichrist in 1 John 2:22 and 4:3, he mentioned the antichrist again in 2 John 1:7 – “Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” In this verse, the Apostle John speaks twice about ‘deceiver(s)’. And the deceiver that he refers to is the one who don’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. In other words, the deceiver is the one who denies the incarnation of Jesus Christ. And the one who denies the incarnation of Jesus Christ is the antichrist.

Considering these verses written by the Apostle John, the antichrist that the Apostle John spoke of is the liar and the deceiver who doesn’t acknowledge Jesus, but denies that Jesus is the Christ, denies Jesus Christ came in the flesh (incarnation), and denies the Father God. To sum it up in one word, the antichrist is one who denies Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The antichrist who thus denies Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not have the Father God (v. 23).

In this way, the Apostle John speaks of “the last hour” and “the antichrist” in 1 John 2:18, and then he speaks to the recipients of his letter, 1 John, in four ways:

First, the Apostle John said to the recipients of his letter 1 John, ‘Since you have an anointing from the Holy One, all of you know the truth.’

Look at 1 John 2:20 – “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” What do you think is the mark of a true Christian? In other words, what is the hypothetical evidence that we are Christians? Francis Schaeffer, in his book “The Mark of the Christian,” says that the world will know that we are Christians only when we love one another. In other words, the hypothetical evidence that we are Christians is that we love God with all our heart, strength, mind, and soul, and our neighbor as ourselves, according to the twofold commandment of Jesus. The Bible not only says that by loving one another we can show that we are of Jesus Christ, but it also says that it is a sign that God sent Jesus Christ. In particular, in John 17:21, Jesus said, “… May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” and it means that only when we are all one in the Lord will the world believe that God has sent Jesus Christ (Internet).

In 1 John 2:20, the Apostle John speaks of who the true Christian is in contrast to the antichrist. In other words, he speaks of one characteristic mark of the true Christian. The distinctive mark of the true Christian is that he knows the truth by having the anointing from the Holy God. This reminds me of Romans 5:5 – “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” When we came to believe in Jesus Christ by the grace of God, God gave us the Holy Spirit and poured out His love into our hearts. The true Christian is one who has received the Holy Spirit from God. And the Apostle John said that the true Christian who has received the Holy Spirit knows the truth, Here, what does “the truth” mean? In verses 18-19, which are close to the word of 1 John 2:20, “the truth” that the Apostle John said seems to refer to the truth that “this is the last hour” and that “many antichrists have come” (v. 18). And the true Christian knows that many of the antichrists who appeared in the last hour don’t belong to Jesus Christ, nor do they belong to Christians (v. 19). If we think of “the truth” based on the broader context of 1 John 2:1-17, I think it means that we know the righteous Jesus Christ, the Advocate and the propitiation for our sins (vv. 1-2). And since the true Christian, who truly knows Jesus Christ, keeps the commandments of Jesus (vv. 3-5) and loves his brother (v. 10) so that the love of God is truly perfected in him (v. 5). The true Christian also knows the Father God and overcomes the devil because the powerful word of God dwells in him (vv. 13-14). And he doesn’t love the world or the things in the world (v. 15). Rather, he only does the will of God (v. 17). Broadly speaking, in 1 John 2:20, the truth that the true Christian receives and knows by the Holy Spirit refers to all that the Holy Spirit teaches him (v. 27). Look at verse 27: “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things ….” So what is the “all thing” that the Holy Spirit teaches us? If we look at the Gospel of John written by the Apostle John, we can understand it a little. Look at John 14:26 – “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” If we look at this word, all things that the Holy Spirit teaches us is all that Jesus told His disciples.

We who believe in Jesus have received the Holy Spirit from the Holy God. The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, teaches us everything that that Jesus said. I hope and pray that all of us will humbly learn and obey all the words of Jesus taught by the Holy Spirit.

Second, the Apostle John said to the recipients of his letter 1 John, ‘You know the truth.’

Look at 1 John 2:21 – “I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.” The second mark of the true Christian, the hypothetical evidence that we are Christians, is that we know the truth. Personally, when I think of the word “the truth,” two Bible verses from the Gospel of John come to mind. One is John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The other one is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” If we relate these two Bible verses, it is that Jesus is the truth, and knowing Jesus who is the truth will set us free. As we have already meditated on, one of the four the light and the darkness spoken of in the Apostle John is that the truth is the light and the lie is the darkness. If the Apostle John applies the phrase “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all” in 1 John 1:5, it means that God is the truth and that in God who is the truth there is no lie that is the darkness. Then, since we, as the children of God, have fellowship with God (v. 6), we must walk in the light as God is the Light (v. 7). And when we walk in the light, we walk in the truth (v. 6). That is, the true Christian not only knows the truth, but he also practices the truth. Look at 3 John 1:4 – “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” And to practice the truth in this way means that the truth is in us (1 Jn. 18) [But the devil cannot stand in the truth, because the truth is not in him (Jn. 8:44)]. And if the truth is in us, we don’t lie while walking in the darkness. The reason is because he who knows the truth and practice the truth knows that the lie doesn’t come from the truth (1 Jn. 2:21). When the Apostle John said to the Christians who received the letter of 1 John, 'You know the truth,' he was saying that they were keeping the commandments of the Lord. Look at 1 John 2:4 – “The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” If we meditate on this word differently, it means that the disciples of Jesus whose truth is in them are not liars because they keep the Lord's commandments (v. 4). Not only that, but those who keep the commandments of the Lord know that the love of God is truly perfected in him, and by this they know that they are in the Lord (v. 5).

The Holy Spirit teaches us all things and reminds us of everything Jesus said (Jn. 14:26). Not only that, the Spirit of truth guides us into all truth. Look at John 16:13 – “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” The Holy Spirit guides us into “all truth.” We must walk in all truth under the guidance of this Holy Spirit. When we become doers of the truth according to the commandments we have received from the Lord, the Lord will see and be very pleased (Cf.: 2 Jn. 1:4).

Third, the Apostle John said to the recipients of his letter 1 John, ‘Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.’

Look at 1 John 2:24 – “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.” What can we do to make the word of God we hear our own? One of the Psalms that I cannot forget while meditating on the entire Psalm is Psalms 119:56 – “This has become mine, That I observe Your precepts.” The more I meditate on this word, the more I learn that like the psalmist, who kept the Lord's laws and thus the words became his own, I also must keep the word of God so that I may live a life of faith where the word of God becomes personified. Also, as I meditate on this word, I have learned 3 lessons from the context of Psalms 119:56:

The first lesson is that the psalmist did not forget the promise the Lord had given him.

Look at Psalms 119:49 – “Remember the word to Your servant, ….” The reason the psalmist prayed to God in this way was because the Lord gave him hope through the word of His promise (v. 49). As I meditated on this word, I was reminded of Abraham in Romans 4:18. He was able to hope and believe against all hope because he remembered the word of God's promise and was fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised (v. 21). In other words, the promised word-driven life is the secret to living a life that is personified by the word of God and the secret to having the word of God to be my possession.

The second lesson is that the psalmist was comforted by the word of God.

Look at Psalms 119:50 – “This is my comfort in my affliction, ….” In a state where no one can comfort us in our affliction, and we have no choice but to refuse anyone's comfort, we need to cry out with tears in solitude in order to seek the comfort of the Lord. At that time, the Lord will comfort us with His word of promise. For me, John 6:1-15, the promise of two fish and five breads miracle is the greatest comfort. When I fall down and become discouraged, when no one can help me, or when I am in a spiritual state where I have no choice but to refuse anyone's comfort, the word of promise of John 6:1-15 restores my soul (Ps. 119:50) and raises me up so that I am living thus far. The reason the psalmist lived with His word of promise comforting him was because he experienced revival that saved him. When we live a life of experiencing spiritual revival with such a word of God, our obedience to His word cannot but be my possession.

The third lesson is that the psalmist lived a life that didn’t leave the word of God.

Look at Psalms 119:51 – “… Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.” Although the proud mocked the psalmist bitterly, he didn’t depart from the law of the Lord. When I think of this principle, the words of John 6:68 come to mind. When the Lord's teaching was so difficult that many of His disciples left him and never walked with Him again (Jn. 6:66). So Jesus asked the Twelve, “"You do not want to leave too, do you?” (v. 67) Then Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” (v. 68). How amazing is this confession? Many of Christians are leaving the Lord and His Church because the word of the Lord is so difficult and unbelievable. Because we cannot taste the Lord's word of eternal life like Apostle Peter, we are listening to Satan's instantaneous fake 'gospel' rather than hearing the gospel of Christ, which gives eternal life. It seems that even the pastors and members of the church are proclaiming and listening to the 'words of this life' rather than the words of eternal life. However, the psalmist didn’t leave the word of the Lord's promise, no matter what the situation was, no matter what anyone said. He didn't even listen to anything else. The reason is because the word of promise of the Lord gave him hope when he had no hope and revived him with comfort in his troubles.

In 1 John 2:24, the Apostle John says, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you ….” What did the recipient Christians who received the letter of 1 John here “heard from the beginning”? Look at 1 John 1:1-2, which we have already meditated on: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” These verses tell us what the recipients of the letter of 1 John had heard from the beginning. It is the Word of life which was from the beginning, the Son Jesus Christ, who was with the Father God as eternal life, and had appeared to us. That is, what those Christians heard from the beginning was about Jesus Christ, and in a word, Jesus Christ and His gospel. The Apostle John exhorted the recipients of his letters to let Jesus Christ and His gospel dwell in them.

We must let Jesus Christ and His gospel dwell in us. How can we make Jesus Christ dwell in us? It reminds me of Jesus' parable of the vine in John 15. In the parable of the vine, Jesus said, “I am the vine, and you are the branches; if he abides in me and I in him, a man bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5). Also, He said that as the Father God abides in Jesus and Jesus in the Father God, we Christians as branches must abide in the Lord who is the vine in order to bear fruit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing (v. 5). Then the Lord said, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v. 7). Looking at these words, the way we can make Jesus dwell in us is to let the word of Jesus, that is, the gospel of Jesus, dwell in us. And in order for the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have heard to dwell in us, we must live a life worthy of His gospel (Phil. 1:27) and preach His gospel to the world (1 Cor. 1:7). When we let Jesus Christ and His gospel abide in us, the Bible 1 John 2:24 says that we will abide in Jesus the Son and in the Father God.

Fourth and last, the Apostle John said to the recipients of his letter 1 John, ‘What the Lord has promised us is eternal life.’

Look at 1 John 2:25 – “And this is what he promised us--even eternal life.” The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” And the Bible Romans 6:23 says, “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We who believe in Jesus Christ have eternal life, the free gift of God. So, what is eternal life? Look at John 17:3 – “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” I wrote, ‘We should live partly enjoying eternal life on this earth’ (July 8, 2019): ‘I believe that eternal life should not be enjoyed only in heaven, which is the coming world, but also in this world. In other words, eternal life is fully enjoyed in heaven, but must be enjoyed partially on this earth as well. How can we partly enjoy eternal life on this earth? When we live in the Lord (1 Jn. 2:6) and keep His word, so that God's love is perfected in us (v. 5), our hearts are filled with the joy of the Lord (Jn. 15:11). Eternal life is also partly possible on this earth.’ In 1 John 2:25, the Bible says that the Lord has promised us eternal life. This eternal life spoken of by the Apostle John refers to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the Word of life from the beginning in 1 John 1:1-2: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.” What the Lord has promised us who believe in Jesus is eternal life, and Jesus Christ is the eternal life.

Among the five words of assurance that I learned in my Bible study class in college, the assurance of salvation Bible verse comes to mind. That Bible verse is 1 John 5:11-12: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” The assurance of salvation we can have in this word is that (1) God has given us eternal life, (2) Eternal life is in Jesus, the Son of God, and (3) Those who have (believe in) Jesus have eternal life, but those who don’t have (believe in) Jesus have no life. If we believe in Jesus, God has given us the promised eternal life. Even the Apostle Paul was “once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (1 Tim. 1:13) and “sinners – of whom I am the worst” (v. 15), he received eternal life by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 16). No matter what terrible sinners you have in the past, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ like Paul did, you will have eternal life. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

This is the last hour. Now many antichrists have come. Many of these antichrists are liars and deceivers, not only denying that Jesus is the Christ, but also denying the Father God, denying the Son Jesus, and denying that Jesus came in the flesh (incarnation). Unlike these antichrists, true Christians have received the Holy Spirit from God and know all things. They know the truth of God. Also, they let the truth of God that they heard from the beginning to remain in them. That is, the true Christians have Jesus Christ abiding in them. And they have eternal life. I hope and pray that even in this last hour when many antichrists have appeared and proclaim a different Jesus, a different gospel through false pastors and false teachers, and make people to receive a different spirit, we who are true Christians who believe that Jesus is Christ, the Son of God, and in His incarnation will understand the truth and obey the word of God according to the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit. I hope and pray that as we all obey the twofold commandment of Jesus, may God's love will be perfected in us, so that our hearts will be filled with joy and will partly enjoy eternal life on this earth.

Wanting to live only for Jesus Christ and His gospel as I grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ in this last hour,

James Kim

(December 9, 2019, Believing that the Lord will protect His church from the antichrist and the antichrists)