is the greatest 'l'l·hich could bo_ ut~ere<.t '.' Who is. the liar,'~ etc. (d ,i,d,<T-r,1r)? Henci• tile topic presented to the liom1let1c expositor. 'l'op1c-1'he lie of antichrist the grea.tesC fa7s~haod possible. J i'IRAT IS THAT WRICH ANTICHRIST DENIF.S? The several references to antichrist ind,cate that the main, if not the sole, mischief of an1ichrist lies in denial. It is not unf~equently so. To deny, _or,_ if th~t be too daring an <'!fort, to call in question, Divine test-1mony and even first principles, 1s the favourite method of the father of lies. It is an e.asy way of seeking to unsettle and beguile unsfable souls, to cast doubt on every- thing. ~!1d as if be himself did not know the difference between a spirit of inquiry and a spmt of doubt, one of our foremost men of ECience halt laid it down as an axiom that the first step in science is to doubt everything ! The evil one knows too well that it is much quicker work to throw down than to build up. And hence he tries this easy way of ruining souls by attempting to overthrow all that is sacred in their religious beli~fs. ~s ~e could not 1,re_vail ~ainst_ the King when he met him in single combat, he aims his aeadly blow at Ins sub,1ects, m order to seduce them from their loyalty by casting doubts upon and even denying the Christ. This denial, not without motive, gathers round the Son of God. If ~e lose him, all is lost that is peculiar to our faith, as we shall presently see. The demal of Jesus as the Christ may take one or more of four forms. 1. The denial of Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed of the Father.1 In this respect the minds of the Jews (among others) are blinded to this day. 2. The denial of Jesus as combining the Divine and human natures in one person: accordina- to the Gnostic theory that the Christ descended upon the man Jesus at his baptism~ and left him before his Passion (see Westcott, in Zoe.). 3. The denial of Jesus as the eternal Son of the Father, and the consequent denial of the Incarnation. All the present systems of nn belief are at one on this point; though "neither so does their witness agree together" in aught save the denial. 4. The denial of Jesus as the Lord of his Church enthroned in heaven. 'l'he latest result of theology is affirmed to be, inter alia, "that the Christ holds no office whatever." The same in substance, the denial changes its forms. IT. WHAT DOES THIS DE::S"IAL INVOLVE? Many errors are not only serious in them- selves, bnt are even more so on account of others which tbey drag along with them (cf. 1 Cor. xv.). We have remarked that if we lose our Christ, we lose all. So, indeed, the apostle himself argues. "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same bath not the Father;" i.e. as Westcott aptly puts it," He bath not the Son, whom he rejects, nor yet the Father, whom he professes to regard." According to this denial: 1. '!'here is no Fatherhood and Sonship in the Divine Nature. 2. God is not the Father as Christ represented him (see 'Speaker's Commentary' on ver. 23). 3. '\Ve have no personal revelation of God, nor any message of love from the eternal throne. 4. We have no redemption. 5. We have no Saviour and no salvation. 6. We have no Head of humanity with living and regenerative power to quicken the dead mass of souls. We may have from one source or other, to some extent, a revelation of law, order, and duty; but we have no disclosure of any power or provision to quicken to obedience to the Law, observance of the order or fulfilment of the duty. 2 III. ON WHAT GBOUNDB IS sucII A DE~IAL MADE? Broadly and generally this denial comes either of a misguided intellect or a depraved heart. It may be made in the name of philosophy or of science (in both cases falsely so called). The Christ comes as Hevealer and Redeemer. Antichrist denies both the revelation and the redemption, either on the ground (1) that we know nothing beyond phenomena, and that the infinite and eternal are absolutely and hopelessly beyond our reach; or (2) that humanity is working itself right by a method of evolution, in the struggle for ~xistence casting off the weak and worthless, and letting only the fittest survive,-that thus no redemp1ive force ab extra is needed, the vis medicatrix is within humanity; or (3) that nothing at all of the supernatural cau be entertained for a moment. 1 For a brief indication of the forms which this denial now o.ssumes, see Dr. Et!ersheim'a
• Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,' Preface, p. xii. • "That morality has a basis in human society, that nature ha.a a religion, surely makes the death of the soul when left to itself all the mo!'e appalling. It IDt'ans that, between ihem, nature and morality provide all for virtue-except tho life to live it" (Drummond, 'Na.tum.I Low in the Spiritual World,' 5th edit., p. 168), cu. II. 1-29.J THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF JOHN. 45