1 John 2:18-27

​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. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 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. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 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.

John speaks more of the last days in some of his coming epistles and in the book of Revelation.  John tells us that things are bad now and are only going to get worse in the last days.  Right now there are lots of people that we have already talked about during The Sermon on the Mount and 2nd Peter who deny that Jesus is the Christ, refuse to give glory to God and they act as if they speak for God when they don't and teach people false doctrines and errors, possibly even in an attempt to confuse "the elect."  The apostle John also wants to warn the church about these people, but wants to remind them this is part of the plan and it must happen, and it will help separate the true disciples from the false disciples as persecution usually does.  Those who are genuine might form underground churches like they did in Russia and China.  The state sought to kill believers, their families and anyone who aides them--even those who owned Bibles, no matter if they believed or not.  In such a situation, who would want to be a false disciple or a false prophet and risk being killed or "disappeared" as some would say as they would end up political prisoners of the state that might end up in secret prison and tortured to try to reveal the names of other Christians.

This is nothing new, because the Christians in the early Church were also facing such persecution, but John reminded them that God has anointed them--that shows He's giving them a purpose and a calling to a special office such as a prophet, priest, king, etc.  Some churches today even anoint their deacons and elders.  It is symbol of the Holy Spirit being poured out on them and equipping them for this role they have been called to.  As part of this calling, we have been given all knowledge through God's Word that we need to be successful in our mission and calling.

Satan is the father of lies and his followers speak their native language, even if it's half-truths and white lies.  He may even try and use Scripture to mislead people and achieve his ends like he tired to do in the temptation of Jesus, but it is up to us to recognize the counterfeit for what it is and realize that any religion or worldview that is based on our espouses lies cannot be of God and is therefore of the world and the devil.  One red line is any false religion that denies the Father or Son or says that Jesus was not the Christ.  We also know from the gospels that there were false teachers that tried to attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil and demons in order to confuse people.  Such people that deny God, refuse to accept His plan, and refuse to give glory and honor to the Father or the Son (remember the Spirit seeks to glorify the Son, and the Son seeks to glorify the Father), are not part of the true faith.

We need to rest and abide in the Father and the Son (see the teaching of Jesus about abiding in Him in John 15).  We must find our identity in God if we wish to have eternal life.  Those who find their identity in anyone or anything else are deceived, and those who teach try to teach others to rely on anything other than the Word of God, the Bible, even well-meaning teachers who make their own commentary and thoughts equal to that of the Word of God are in error. We must simply compare Scripture to Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit who lives within us to reveal the truth of what He has written if we are confused.  Be careful to not be disciples of a man and rely on what your pastor says or what your favorite Christian author (who sometimes are simply authors that use the name of Christ to sell books, but their message is in opposition to the principles of God's Word).  Does the author continue to point you back to the Word of God or to the words of men?  Does your pastor try to modernize the Word of God to make it fit into what is culturally acceptable today, or does he encourage use to let the Word of God change us and change our culture? John says that one of these is from the Spirit of God and the other is the spirit of antichrist that is at work in the world.  Be careful!