A deaf but pious English lady visiting a country town in Scotland
went to church with an ear trumpet. It was a new device then, and
the elders of the church had never seen one, and they viewed it with
great suspicion. After consultation one of them walked over to her
and waging his finger at her warningly said, "One toot and ye're
out." This, of course, was a warning that was unneeded.
Not so the warning a man received in New York. He was
walking down fourth Ave. and stopped on a temporary bridge to
watch some work being done on the subway. A worker told him to
move on, for he was in danger of being hurt. He said he had a right
to be on a public street, and he refused to move. A few moments
later he was struck on the head by a piece of metal and was severely
hurt. He sued for damages, and the courts decision is of real
interest. The court agreed with him that he had a perfect right to
stay where he was. However, since he was warned of the danger of
doing so, it is presumed that he accepted the risk involved, and,
therefore, could not collect damages. The contractor had no right to
remove him by force, and so had fully done its duty when it gave
warning. Here was a warning that was needed, but was unheeded,
and so was of no effect in preventing what it was meant to prevent.
To be forewarned is not to be forearmed if the warning is ignored.
In Scripture there are no warnings but those that are needed, and
so we ought to make sure that we give heed to every one of them.
Our study of I John has brought us to a warning concerning
antichrist, or antichrists. John only mentions the anti-Christ, but
his warning covers his numerous predecessors which he calls
antichrists. The thing that impresses me about this passage is the
fact that John is judging who these antichrists are, and he lays down
a standard by which Christians of all time can judge the antichrists
of their day. From a superficial point of view this would be contrary
to the words of Christ that we judge not. These words of Christ are
so often quoted and given such an absurd application that I wanted
to call your attention to the fact that there are clear areas where
they do not apply. This saying comes up all the time in
conversations where the character and conduct of persons are being
discussed. Even non-Christians quote it to throw up a smoke screen
to avoid being examined.
Nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that Christ meant
for us to suspend our critical and moral faculties, and refuse to
determine the worthiness of any man's character and conduct. Such
an application of the words of Christ would lead to the neglect of all
the warnings of Scripture to beware of false prophets. It would
make John's warning and advice both wrong and worthless. Not
applying the truth of the Bible to life is a common problem, but to
give it an absurd application is even worse. A boy said to his father,
"Dad, did you go to Sunday School when you were a boy?" Dad
said, "Why yes son I always went to Sunday School." The son
replied, "Well then, I think then I'll quit, it isn't doing me any good
either." Lack of application of what one learns leads to no good, but
an absurd application of what one learns can lead to definite harm.
Therefore, let us give heed to these words of warning by John, and
recognize that some things we must judge. The first thing we must
judge is-
I. THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.
In 3:1 John says it is the last time, and we know it by the signs we
see. All of the New Testament authors indicate that Christians will
be able to know when the end is near, for there will be signs. In
Matt. 24 the disciples asked Jesus what the sign of His coming will
be, and of the end of the world. They assume there would be signs of
the end of history. Jesus told them not to be alarmed at false
messiahs, wars, and rumors of wars, nations rising against nations,
famines, and earthquakes in various places, for all of these are to
characterize all of history and not just the end. Many have perverted
the clear words of Christ and quoted these things as signs
of the end, but Jesus says they are only the beginning of sufferings.
Jesus goes on to say there will be much tribulation for the church to
go through, and there will be a great falling away, and many false
prophets, but the church will still succeed in taking the Gospel to all
nations, and then will come the end.
Paul later explains more concerning this falling away, and the
man of lawlessness who will arise before the end. John, now later
yet, adds some more details to the picture. He says to the Christians
of his day that they have heard that antichrist would come. He does
not say that he has come, but he says that there are so many
antichrists already that it is a sign of nearing the end. We will
consider the problem this raises in a moment. I want to pause here
and draw a conclusion that I feel is inescapable and important for
our whole understanding of the doctrine of last things. The
Christian who studies the Word of God will be able to see signs of
the approaching end of the world. Christians have made many false
judgments, and given many erroneous applications of the signs of
the end, but, nevertheless, the whole New Testament justifies us in
believing we will be able to know when the end is near. To deny this
and say we will have no idea is to make a large portion of the New
Testament meaningless. Everything the New Testament says about
signs is worthless if we cannot judge the signs of the times.
Now we must consider what seems to be an embarrassing
problem arising out of John's dogmatic assertion that it was obvious
1900 years ago that it was the last hour of history. John had good
reason to believe the end was near in his day, for except for the fact
that the antichrist himself had not yet appeared, the other signs
seemed to be almost fully fulfilled. The great falling away due to the
Gnostic heresy seemed to fulfill Paul's first sign, and sinse the
known world then was practically all reached with the Gospel, it
would appear that Christ's major sign was also fulfilled.
When John wrote at the end of the first century, it looked as if the last
hour was at hand, for all that was left was for the man of sin to
appear. Many, especially of those who are liberal, just say that John
had good reason to believe it was the last hour, but it turned out he
was wrong for antichrist did not appear.
Others say that John is referring to the fall of Jerusalem in
70A.D. and that it was the last hour for Judaism. This is highly
improbable, for there is not the slightest hint that would lead the
reader to get this meaning. If John meant this, he could not have
done a better job of being obscure. If this were true, it would solve
the problem, but not convincingly. Bengal, the conservative Greek
scholar, solves the problem by an even less likely interpretation. He
says John is referring to the last hour of his life. He was old and the
end was near for him, and he knew it. It is hard to see any
connection with the text in this interpretation. The fact of many
antichrists is what caused John to know it was the last hour, and not
his feeling that he was not long for this world.
The most obvious interpretation is to recognize that John is only
speaking in the common Christian language of his day. Christians
looked at time as being in 3 ages: The former age, the present evil
age, and the age to come. The present age is the last age of history
as we know it. It is an age that is passing away. The age to come
has already broken into the present age, and runs parallel with it.
We who know Christ already partake of the things to come such as
eternal life. It has already begun, and we are rescued from the
darkness of this present evil age and are made citizens of the
kingdom of light. This concept leads the New Testament authors to
refer to this age as the last. It does not mean it will end soon, but
that it is passing away, and will give way completely to the age to
come. For the Christian then, it is always in the last days.
The book of Hebrews begins by referring to the former days, when
God spoke by prophets in various ways "but in these last days
he has spoken to us by His Son." When Jesus came into history that
was the beginning of the end. The last days began, and Peter at
Pentecost said that what was taking place there was the fulfillment
of the prophecy of Joel that in the last days God would pour out his
Spirit upon all flesh. The coming of the Holy Spirit was another sign
of the last days. In other words, from the Jews point of view in the
Old Testament there was only the present age and the age to
come-the last age. That last age began with the coming of the
Messiah to establish His kingdom. The present church age is the last
age. God has no other plan. He has given His final and fullest
revelation in His Son, and when these last days are over, eternity
begins.
John was simply saying that we are seeing the signs clearer than
ever that these are the last days, and the end is near. That history
has gone on yet for nearly 2000 years does not show that John was
in error. It only emphasizes the long suffering of God. John also
wrote by God's inspiration the book of Revelation, and told of
multitudes of things yet should happen in these last days before the
end. The fact that John could sense the real possibility of the end
being right around the corner explains why the book of Revelation
can be interpreted in so many ways. It can be so interpreted to be
nearly all fulfilled in the first century, as the preterists do, or as
being fulfilled in every century, as the historicists do, or as being
fulfilled at the literal last hour, as the futurists do.
The book of Revelation is obviously calculated to keep the church
aware that the end is always near for every generation of Christians.
John could sincerely believe that the last hour was near and be
correct, for it always is, yet God can continue to be longsuffering,
and we can only go by the revealed signs in judging if the end is at
hand. In a sense the apostolic age was a type of the history of the
church to the end. All the signs were fulfilled on what they thought
was a universal level. We know now it was not, but know now that
the whole world is involved, and when we see the signs fulfilled
again on a truly universal scale, we will know it is the last of the last
days.
Let us be cautious in applying this truth, and not depart from
Scripture principles, and start finding signs that are irrelevant. A
poet has done a fine job in giving us a sense of the urgency that is to
characterize us, but he misses completely the real signs of the end.
There are worries in the air, filling men with hope and fear;
There are signals everywhere that the end is drawing near,
There are warnings to prepare, for the King will soon be here.
Troublelous times are gathering around, the days of lawlessness
and crime.
Mighty earthquakes shake the ground, war clouds rise in every clime,
While there comes a solemn sound, we are near the end of time.
His conclusion is correct, but not his reasons for thinking so.
Earthquakes and trouble have nothing to do with the signs of the
end. The reaching of the whole world with the Gospel and the rise
of anti-Christ are the signs we are to watch for.
