Our message today is Antichrist
with a little A. Antichrist with a little A. Don't put no capital A in front
of that. Usually with the subject of Antichrist,
either in discussion or in teaching or in preaching, Usually there
is an overwhelming negativism, as if we didn't have the answer.
Well, Christ is the answer. He is our answer. The word Antichrist
occurs only in the epistles of John, which were written years
after John had written the book of the Revelation. the victory
song of Christ and his church. That key verse, Revelation 11,
15, the kingdoms of this world are become, and that's past tense. The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. When did that
happen? When he came here and conquered
Satan and sin and death and the grave. He said after the resurrection,
just before he ascended, this is one of the last things he
said, all power, meaning authority, is given me in heaven and in
earth. He's conquered. He's conquered. Christ our Lord. So that book
has already been written. That story has already been delivered
to the saints. that Christ wins and his people
win. But then in these epistles of
John, he uses this word Antichrist. He's the only one that uses the
word. So we'll read about three verses here. First John chapter
four, verses one through three. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
But try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every
spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist. whereof ye have heard that it
should come, and even now already is it in the world." I heard a statement on Monday
of this past week at a funeral, and I'm going to quit saying
I'm not being critical when I'm being critical. That's a lie,
isn't it? I'll say I'm not being critical,
and then I'll be critical. Well, here's the statement made
by this preacher at the funeral. We can choose to believe that
God is sovereign. Well, if he's not, there's no
value in you choosing to believe that he is. And if he is sovereign, it makes
no difference whether you choose to believe it or not. He's still
sovereign. In all clearness, that statement
was saying that God is whatever you decide He is. He is nothing unless you decide
He's something. I want to tell you that mindset is not so far away as you might
think and not so scarce as you might
think. But it's blasphemy. In verse
three, we have the word Antichrist. This is one of the five occurrences
of that word in the Bible, all in the epistles of John. Three
of them in chapter two, twice in verse 18, and again in verse
22. Then the fourth occurrence here
in chapter four in verse three, where we just read, And then
the last occurrence in 2 John in chapter, I mean, 2 John verse
7. Such a great deception has swept
over the professing religious Christian world concerning Antichrist. A deception that these scriptures
using the word do not teach at all. And I know most of you have heard
this. Supposedly, Antichrist, or they'll say the Antichrist,
which is inappropriate. Antichrist, they'll say, is a
powerful, political, religious leader, a man who is Satan incarnate,
That's to come on the scene and surface in this world with power immediately after the so-called
rapture of the church. Well, now in John's five uses
of the word Antichrist, and he's the only one who used the word,
he coined the word, it is not in any of those five preceded
by the definite article In other words, the phrase the Antichrist
is not in the Bible. Nor in any of the five is it
capitalized with a capital A, signifying a title or a proper
name. So that's why we're calling this
message Antichrist with a little a. The word Antichrist is not
a noun signifying an object or a person. It is an adjective,
a descriptive word. Anti-Christ. And the text here in 1 John 4,
1-3 tells us clearly that Antichrist is descriptive of a spirit. The prefix anti- means against. So and anti-Christ spirit is
any spirit that's against Christ. Now, looking at verse 1, John
begins this chapter with a word of endearment, as he often does,
beloved, beloved. He is not writing to people he
don't care about. He is writing by divine inspiration
to all saints and every generation. The message is for us. And he
begins with this word, beloved, not this beloved of him, but
beloved of God. And then he says, believe not
every spirit. There are spirits. Sweet, but
deceptive. Sounds good, but deceptive. Feels good, but deceptive. Contrary to God's Word, appears
good, appears right, but are lying spirits, anti-God, anti-Christ
spirits. So John is talking to saints,
to the people of God, and he's speaking in the realm of of religion,
of worship, of who God is. And I've often heard men use
this passage right here about trying the spirits. He is not
talking about you flipping a coin to get an answer. He is not talking
about making a decision of whether to trade cars or or whether to
do this or do that, whether to go to ballgame or not. No, he's
talking about our persuasion, our thoughts about our worship
of Jesus Christ. And John says here, there's some
spirits you should not believe that'll mislead you, that are
deceptive. So he says, believe not every
spirit. And I know people often say,
well, we just have different beliefs. No, we have different
gods. To worship a god contrary to
what this Bible says he is and who this Bible says he is, is
to worship a false god. To place the success and the
victory of Jesus Christ on the basis of the human will and what
men do with him is to worship a false Christ in a spirit of
antichrist. So John says, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. You say, well, how do I do that?
Well, turning the TV off would help. I wouldn't try it with
that going. How do I try the spirits? Well,
in this same verse, he links it with false doctrine, false
teaching, contrary to the Bible. And he says, because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Now in verse 2, he says,
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Hereby means by this. Here's how to know if the persuasive
spirit that you're dealing with is of God. Here it is. Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come into flesh is of God. You say, now that sounds simple
enough. But now, wait a minute. This is not referring to you
just believing that there was a man named Jesus of Nazareth
that lived somewhere back yonder in history. Most people believe
that. In this verse, it's not just
every spirit that confesses that Jesus has come, but it's every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come. You say, well,
what difference does that make? Well, this title, the Christ,
means the anointed one of God, the one and only, God himself. manifest in human flesh. Emmanuel, God with us. Back in chapter 2 and verse 22,
he said it like this, 1 John 2, 22, who is a liar, but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. Not denies that a man named Jesus
lived and walked the shores of Galilee and the sands in Palestine. And many people believe that.
Yes, he lived. He was a good teacher. And he's
kind of on the level with other great men that have lived, but
no. John says who is a liar, but
he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed of God,
God in flesh. He is antichrist that denies
it, that denieth the father and the son. The literal rendering
is that denieth the father and the son are one. And of course,
that's exactly what Christ himself said in the gospel of John chapter
10 and verse 30, I and my father are one. If you've seen me, you've
seen the father. I am God. All of these folks that are talking
about Jesus on the one hand, but they're not talking about
God when they're talking about Jesus. That's wrong. That's messed up. Now, this text, it encompasses
not just the fact that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
that he is God, Emmanuel, God with us, but it involves and
includes the whole purpose of his coming to accomplish the
redemption which he had purposed in eternity past. Verse 3 again
here said, chapter 4, and every spirit that confesseth not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that
spirit of Antichrist. The words here, that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. not has come, but is come, is
once and forever come. It takes in the whole of the
gospel, why he came in the flesh. So what John is really saying
is that every spirit that does not confess and agree with the
whole truth of the gospel is an Antichrist spirit. and against
Christ's spirit. There is no neutral position. Matthew 12, verse 30, our Lord
said, He that is not with me is against me. He that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. I want to say this morning, this
country, and I'm not talking about the USA overall. When I say this country, we're
talking about right around this Mountain country right here where
we live right here. We're in the Bible belt where
not many people believes the Bible Right here in our country
right here in our area right here in our neighborhoods right
here in our churches We are eat up with religion based on feelings
Traditions Prejudices morality all these things have
their place we got all kind of religion based
on these things and at the same time rejects the purity of the gospel and
the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ now let me just make some
statements about that any spirit which denies that men by nature
are spiritually dead with no feeling toward and desire for
God is an Antichrist spirit. I've had men tell me through
the years that no sinner is so dead he can't come to Christ. But God's Word says he is. Why do you think there's multitudes
that's a lot more intelligent than some of us are, that make provisions and make
plans and securities for everything imaginable, financial-wise, health-wise,
but they have no interest whatsoever in their eternal welfare. They're dead, that's why. Dead. You tell me what you had to do
with your physical birth, and that's exactly what you have
to do with spiritual birth. If you are born again, you did
not help out in the delivery room. You were of no assistance. The
Gospel of John chapter 1 verse 13. We were born. Born again
he's talking about. Not of blood. Nationality has
nothing to do with it. Nor of the will of flesh. You
didn't have nothing to do with it. Nor of the will of man. Nobody talked you into it. But
of God. Now today's religious world tries
to convert sinners as if all they need is a little persuasion. Or as old preacher Rothbard once
said, as if all they need is just a little shove in the right
direction. Just a little push. No, dead sinners need life. need
a resurrection, need a quickening. And by nature, we were dead in
trespasses and in sins. What happened? What happened?
Did we decide to turn our life around? No. No. Ephesians 2, 1, and you hath
he quickened. That's how it happened. Who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. When you became conscious that
you needed God and wanted God, it's because He had already come
and put that in your heart. The devil sure didn't put it
there. You didn't put it there. So what am I saying? Apart from
the initiative of God the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, every
child of Adam is content to live in this world, maybe play religion
a little or maybe not, but content to live in this world and plunge
headlong toward hell until they arrive in hell. John 6.44, Christ
said, No man can come unto me. Why? Because he is spiritually
dead. No man can come unto me except
the Father which hath sent me. Draw him, put life in him, put
movement in him. Not just won't come, but can't
come. No man can come. Now any religious
teaching and attitude and spirit in denial of this fundamental
fact is an anti-Christ spirit. against Christ. First, excuse
me, the gospel of John 521, for as the father raises up the dead
and quickeneth them, even so the son quickeneth whom he will. So any denial of a needed resurrection,
denial of a needed quickening, denial of the unregenerate being
spiritually dead, Denial of the absolute necessity of God's initiative. Any such spirit of denial is
denial of God's word and is certainly an antichrist spirit. Secondly, any spirit suggesting or approving or persuading people
toward a works salvation is an anti-Christ spirit. I've heard many preachers say,
if you'll quit your sinning, God will save you. Well, if you can quit your sinning,
you don't need saving. I mean, sin's the only charge
God has against us. If you can get rid of that, you're
fixed. Quit your sinning and God will
save you. They've got the cart before the horse. But I tell you this, when God
quickens you, changes your heart, you won't quit sinning. Wish
you could quit sinning. But what I'm saying is any emotional
upheaval, soul-stirring spirit, persuading people to quit sinning
so that God will do something for you is an Antichrist spirit. If you can do it yourself, you
don't need Him. And if you try to do it yourself,
you're against Him. People make such statements,
and I hear it very often talking to people. People want to impress
the preacher. I don't know why they want to
impress me. I don't give a rip. You know, I'm not impressed.
But people say this stuff like this to me. I try to live by
the Ten Commandments. Well, good for you. I never got
to first base with it. Hope you do better than I did. Or then I've had them say to
me, I'm just hoping that my good will outweigh my bad. It'll never
happen. It'll never happen. Things like that. Well, let me move on. Any spirit
that denies what the Bible says Christ came to do is an antichrist
spirit. Matthew 121, the angel of the
Lord said to Joseph, Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
which means Savior. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sins. Not a people that's not yet his.
But His people, that's what the Bible says, His people before
He was born, His people given Him by the Father before He created
the world. I get so tired of hearing preaching
of a failing Christ that He came to do the best He
could for all He could. He came and died on the cross
with hopes of being able to save every man, woman, boy, and girl
in the whole world. But he's coming up way short,
don't you think? He's not doing nearly as good
a job as the devil is. There'll be a handful of people
in church today, 90,000 at the ball stadium, racetrack, wherever, in the mall. See, any such spirit of a defeated
Christ is Antichrist. It's the mindset of a Christ
that's powerless. The Bible teaches that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save His people from their sins. And Isaiah said, he shall not
fail to do just that. And he did it by his death on
the cross. You say, oh, I thought I was
saved when I walked down the aisle and made that profession.
No, if you're saved, God did it in Christ. Romans 5, 9, being
now justified by his blood. Do you have any of his blood? in a vial to bring down here
to the so-called altar? No. The altar is the place of
death. And Christ was our sacrifice
and shed His blood. And Paul said in this verse,
Romans 5, 9, being now justified by His blood. Say, well, my religion demands
of me that I do a lot of things to be more justified. No, you
can't be more justified than justified. Being now justified by His blood.
The next verse, Romans 5, 10, reconcile to God by His death. He did it. He did it. And we
say this often, Christ's death on the cross was not a potential
atonement for Adam's race, no. It was a positive atonement,
a definite atonement for all those for whom he died. Every
soul for whom Christ died is accepted with God and cannot perish. A few years ago, one night after
dark, after church service, I stood in the yard down here at Saluda
talking to Brother Hayes, Cece's dad, talking about these things. And he said, that is the truth.
That is the absolute truth. But he said, I hadn't heard it
in 40 years. God's people know this is true.
God's people know that Christ is the Savior. But most of them, all they've
had to listen to is some little sissified, you do this and you
do that, to try to get God to like you better than He does.
No, He loves you or hates you and has from eternity, and you
ain't changing it. You're accepted with God in Christ,
or you're as certain for hell as if you were already there.
So I'll tell you this morning, looking to Christ is our only
hope. Our only hope. Well, let me give you one more.
I lost my watch. Boy, that's good. I lost my watch. Question. Was what Christ did
on the cross enough or must you add something to it? Now a lot of so-called Baptists
will say, oh, no, you don't have to add anything to it. We're
saved by grace. But the tenant then turn right
around and say, no, but you've got to. You've got to. You've
got to. You've got to. This, that, and the other world.
This, that, and the other. You don't want the world to know
that you're a shame to the Lord. And that's your part. You've
got to do it. If Christ is really the Savior,
you don't have a part. And if you're really in Him and
He's in you, you don't need to be hampered
about doing right. You're going to do right. Or you're going
to make mistakes. But Christ in you will take care
of you. Any spirit that teaches otherwise
is antichrist. Anything that is not of Christ
is antichrist. Everything not of God's spirit
is an anti-God spirit. Any spirit that works in you
and I that is not the spirit of Christ is antichrist. There's no neutral ground. Now listen to this. He alone
is for him. He alone is for him. All else
is against him. The world hates him. The devil
hates him. Religion hates him. Your sinful
flesh hates him. My flesh hates him. Antichrist
is every spirit other than the Spirit of God. So the hearts of the Lord's people
this morning, you and I, our hearts are spiritual battlefields
constantly. That's why we're so repeatedly
instructed in the New Testament about wrong spirits, about malice
and envy and jealousy. You say, oh, I don't have no
problem. You're a liar. You know better than that. Malice,
envy, jealousy, anger. We're warned about these things
repeatedly. That's why we're so exhorted
over and over to love one another, be kind one to another. esteeming
each better than yourselves. Oh my, this is important, this
is important. Antichrist spirits are our enemy
and on our trail, penetrate in our minds every moment we live
and breathe, day and night. Spirits of Antichrist. You see, even God's children,
even God's children. Satan is so deceptive, he would
destroy Christ's church. He would destroy this message. He would bring division between
the saints on this side and the saints on this side. He would
bring division between the saints and the pastor. And he'll use
good people to do it who won't even know they're being used. If you think I'm dumb enough
to think everybody here loves me, you're goofy. You know how I know that? Because
I don't love me. Christ in me loves who I am in
him. But my flesh don't love him. And your flesh don't love the
new creation in you. The flesh is at enmity with the
spirit. Romans 8 continues, continues. And I could tell you story after
story through the years, and so could some of you, of satanic
efforts to destroy the church. and satanic efforts to destroy
a family, and satanic efforts to destroy you as an individual. And it's not that any of us have
been smart enough to fight him off. That wasn't it. It's that
the grace of God has kept us, has kept us. Good people the devil uses. He
ain't going to bring no scalawag in here that nobody cares anything
about to try and convince people to tear things up. No. He's going
to use good people who don't even know they're being used. They think they're just fighting
for what they want. But no, no, you are either guided
by the Spirit of the Lord or by a spirit of Antichrist. This is serious business. Multitudes of religious folk
are moved by and motivated by a spirit thinking it's the Spirit
of God. But I want to tell you a little
secret. The Spirit of God agrees with
this book. The Spirit of God wrote this
book. The Spirit of God is the one that said men by nature are
dead in trespasses and sins. The Spirit of God is the one
that said salvation is of the Lord. The Spirit of God is the
one that said God chose his people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. The Spirit of God agrees with
this book. And there's a whole lot of people
believing an Armenian lie, free willism, work salvation, and
they think they're following Christ. They're following Satan
through an anti-Christ spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. You all know how serious and
how dangerous it is to think of going to a psychic, a palm reader, a witch. You wouldn't do that. You wouldn't
do that. But you do not realize. that to hobnob with religion
of any kind anywhere that contradicts the message
of God's sovereign grace is more dangerous than you go into a
palm reader. Because we're talking about the
Creator here. We're talking about God Almighty.
We're talking about the one that didn't take lightly of people
abusing his son and making light of what his son did and for whom he did it. Antichrist in his spirit and
every spirit other than the spirit of God. Thank you. Let's stand together.