⁴ Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist will come, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. 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, so that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist will come, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour.

Notice! Antichrists had already come when John was alive. Notice! The last hour, (or time), had already come when John was alive, as Peter confirmed speaking at Pentecost. The antichrists were Christians who did not have the patience to stay on the cross in order to die to their selfish nature; instead they wanted to teach and preach, so they separated themselves to form new sects; as Johns says in the next verse: "They went out from us.,"

Between 1650-1700 Christianity, (Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, et al.), pointed to this scripture and claimed the Quakers were the antichrists to appear in the last times, (yet 2000 years ago John said antichrists had appeared, and it is the last time). Further, Christianity also claimed the early Quakers were the false prophets in Jesus' warning: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." Mat 7:15. From the Word of the Lord within: "The Christians feared the early Quakers, just as the Jews feared Jesus." Why? Because in a few short years, entire Christian churches were emptied of listeners to preachers repeating the words of the Bible, to become listeners of Christ in Quaker silent meetings. Christianity of England imprisoned over fifteen thousand Quakers; over 869 Quakers died in prison; others died from Christian mobs attacking them in their silent meetings; and tens of thousands Quakers had their property plundered. They were punished for refusing to swear as forbidden by Jesus' and James' commands, not taking off their hats in court, traveling on the Sabbath, holding meetings not in accordance with the Episcopal liturgy, and refusing to pay tithes to their neighborhood Christian sect, (even when they did not attend that sect). The Bible-believing Puritans of America imprisoned the Quakers, brutally whipped them, cut off their ears, and hung four of them, including one woman. The beast was given power to overcome the saints, Rev 13:7. Yet the Quakers never harmed anyone, and prayed for their persecutors, even as they died. Do sheep kill wolves? No, wolves kill sheep; and so the wolves of Christianity killed the sheep of Christ just as Jesus predicted: Yes, the time is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is doing a service to God. John 16:2. Christianity had become, and still is, the Whore of Babylon, drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When the true church of Christ comes out of the wilderness to be seen and heard again, Christianity will point to this scripture and scream "antichrist has appeared." Further, they will claim the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Satan in sheep's clothing. When it happens, remember sheep don't attack wolves, and antichrists had appeared in the end time 2000 years ago. Christianity is Babylon masquerading as Christianity, and the Whore of Babylon will thirst for the saints' blood again as Penington ably describes in this small excerpt from his outstanding writing, Babylon the Great :

"This whorish spirit scents the spirit of the Lord; she knows it will soon be her death, if she cannot make it [the Lord's Spirit] appear odious, and suppress it; therefore she hunts this spirit, she hunts the life and power of what she herself professes, (especially if it appear vigorous and strong in any); she seeks advantages against the servants of the living God, representing them to the earthly powers as persons of dangerous principles and bad practices, inventing all manner of what can be called evil against them, and spreading it among the people, that the truth may start up nowhere in the earth, but everywhere is knocked down by the violence of the multitude, or by the sword of the offended magistrate. Now what is the matter of all this great noise and fury? Why this: A lamb is risen up in the innocence; the pure harmless spirit is appearing in the earth; the true life, (which discovers the hypocrisy, and dead forms and ways of the whorish spirit), is breaking forth; therefore she makes a great outcry: "Awake, people! awake! The church is in danger. Arise, magistrates! Magistracy and ministry will go down, if this lamb-like spirit is allowed." No, no; these shall stand, but Babylon shall fall, and her mystery of iniquity is discovered, and her deceivableness of unrighteousness made manifest; and the true life and spirit shall arise and take possession of the hearts of people, and make them a clean and fit habitation for God. People who are subject to the true life and spirit, shall feel it and enjoy it; even though the merchants of Babylon say, "men shall never be made clean while they live, but must still have a body of sin and death hanging about them." But how can anyone put on Christ, who have not put off the body of sin? Shall those who are made kings and priests to God here on earth, minister in their filthy garments?"

Christianity will again persecute the true church of Christ; but this time, when the persecutions cease, the saints will be avenged, Babylon falls, all sin is be purged from the earth, and (from the Word of the Lord within:) "the saints will spread and populate the entire face of the earth."

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, so that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. From George Fox's writing on False Teachers and Preachers in Christianity.

John said, concerning the antichrists and false prophets, ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us,’ namely, the church of Christ; ‘but they went out from us, that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.’ And so now many such have gone out from the church of Christ, that they might be made manifest that they were not of us; but the church of Christ, in the apostles' days and now, have an unction and anointing from the Holy One in them, which proceeds from the Father and the son; and the church of Christ does not need any man to teach them, but as the same anointing teaches them; and as it teaches them, they will continue in the son, and in the Father, from where this anointing comes, by which the church of Christ knows all things. Yes, [they would know] those that would seduce them from this anointing. Yes, [they would know] the antichrists, and deceivers, and false prophets that go out from the church, who are not of the church, though they may have the form of godliness, fair speeches, and good words, but deny the power of it. From such the church of Christ is to turn away, who know the power of words with the unction, and the spirit of Christ who can try their spirits, that have the spirit of discerning whether they are of God, and so they are not to believe nor follow every spirit, but try them first as to what they believe in, and what they follow. This was the practice of the church of Christ in the apostles' days, which ought to be the same now in the church of Christ; by which anointing they continue in the Father and the son, as before said, and in "it they have fellowship with the Father and his son Jesus Christ." Amen.

George Fox also wrote the below:

"If the high priest Jesus Christ is owned, then all the priests are put to an end, which were true types and figures of him; for he who holds up priests which receive tithes according to the law, denies Jesus Christ come in the flesh. But whoever loves the light that he has given them, witness Jesus Christ to have come in the (their) flesh. These deny all the priests that receive tithes; for the receiving of tithes was in a time passed. Although Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedeck, who was a figure, when Jesus Christ the everlasting priest was come, he put an end to all figures; and you who hold up the figures, deny Christ has come in the [their] flesh."*

* Paul made such a confession that Jesus Christ had come into his flesh [after he had been crucified], when he wrote: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." Gal 2:20

Following George Fox's logic, to not confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh, (thus to be antiChrist), is to profess or support any false doctrine or unlawful practice. Who continues swearing, or tithing, or killing false prophets and unbelievers, or continues taking an eye for an eye, or building temples, or observing sabbaths, or having multiple wives, or forbidding certain foods, or observing certain days, or celebration of Jewish feasts; such person denies Jesus Christ as Lord and Master, denies Him come in the (their) flesh (to rule them), and therefore is antiChrist. It is not what you say you are, but what you do that makes you a Christian or not; from the Word of the Lord within: "Remember, every person who sins denies Him as Lord and Master;" and if you are still sinning while upholding any false practice of the false church, your conduct denies Him to have come in your flesh to be your ruler and king that orders all your words and all your deeds; and so you are an antiChrist.

Exception: If you are a Jew that practiced the Mosaic Law, in regard to foods and days, and have turned to Christianity, you are permitted, (not required), to continue that practice until you have received faith from the Spirit that a portion of the law should not govern you, (as did Peter); for if you think it is a sin to violate any aspect of the law, you are condemned if you violate it.

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