Wednesday, August 24, 2016, 6:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Your Lord is With You.” Speak, Lord,
your words to my heart. I read 1 John
2:18-29 (ESV).
The Antichrist
(v. 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.
The last hour really began,
either when Jesus appeared on the scene, or after his death and resurrection
and ascension into heaven. These are the last days in which we now live, but
they were the last days when John penned these words, too. In other words, we
are living in the Messianic era. We are living in the time of God’s grace, in
which he gave us his Son to die on a cross for our sins so that we could be
delivered from slavery to sin, and so we could be set free to now walk in his
righteousness and holiness. It is a time, too, in which we are watching and
waiting for our Lord’s return, but a time, as well, in which we are being shown
current signs of the coming of the rule of the antichrist (or beast) on the
earth.
Although there will be a
final antichrist, we learn here that many antichrists have come. The prefix “anti”
means literally “against, opposing, or rival.” The antichrist is hostile toward
God/Jesus. So, this antichrist is not only in opposition to Christ, but he is
his competitor, i.e. he wants to take the place of Christ in the hearts of
people. There are prophecies written about this final antichrist in both the
Old and the New Testaments.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Commentary said: “He probably answers to
"the little horn having the eyes of a man, and speaking great things"
(Da 7:8, 20); "the man of sin, son of perdition" (2Th 2:3); "the
beast ascending out of the bottomless pit" (Re 11:7; 17:8), or rather,
"the false prophet," the same as "the second beast coming up out
of the earth" (Re 13:11-18; 16:13)”. http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb/1_john/2.htm).
Subtle Persuasion (vv. 19-27)
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. But you have been anointed
by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 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. 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. No one who denies the Son has
the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 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. And this is the
promise that he made to us—eternal life.
I write these things to you about those who are trying
to deceive you. 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.
As far as these antichrists having
gone out from among the followers of Christ, and their going being a sign that
they were not Christ’s true followers, but antichrists, we should not be too
quick to judge. In today’s institutional church, which is not the body of
Christ, but a business of human-making, there are people who come and go for
various reasons. Many people who are true followers of Christ are deserting the
institutional church on the basis of the passage in Revelation 18:4-5, where it
says we are to come out of Babylon, the great prostitute. And, they are doing
so on the basis of the fact that the institutional church is man-made, not
God-made, and that it is in bed with the government, at least here in America.
Another thought on that
subject is we read in scripture where there are wolves in sheep’s clothing
among us. So, many of these antichrists haven’t left the gatherings of the
church at all, but they pretend to be followers of Christ for the purpose to
deceive and to win people over to them. Many of them confess outwardly that
they are believers in Jesus Christ, so denying Christ is not necessarily that
obvious, but is more subtle, I believe. They deny him, rather, by their
lifestyles and by their dubious statements, which are intended to confuse, to
deceive, to manipulate and to deter people from pure devotion to Jesus Christ.
They are destroying the church from within (See: John 10). And, many naïve people
are falling prey to their deception.
So, we need to know the truth
so that we don’t fall prey to these liars and deceivers, who by their cunning
and craftiness in deceitful scheming are able to persuade even Christians to
abandon the gospel as taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles, in favor of a
diluted gospel absent of the cross of Christ in people’s lives. We need to be
in the Word daily, studying it, learning what it says, and obeying it. And,
then we need to be sharing the truth with others so that they, too, are not
deceived.
What Jesus and his NT
apostles taught us with regard to our salvation (the whole counsel of God)
needs to remain in us. If it does, then we will also remain in Jesus and in the
Father, and we will receive what was promised – eternal life with God.
We need to not be so naïve and
gullible to believe everything preachers, politicians and newscasters tell us,
for there are many liars and deceivers among them who want nothing more than to
convince us of a gospel other than the one taught by Jesus and his NT apostles.
They will disguise it as the gospel of Jesus through manipulations and twisting
of scripture, but truly the object is to bring all people of all faiths into
unity with one another, so that we all are brought together under the auspices
of a one-world faith.
These liars and deceivers
also want us to believe their made-up stories in order to bring us under the
rule of the beast, i.e. a one-world-order. But, they can’t be trusted. Left and
right don’t exist in American politics. They are all one, answering to the same
wealthy and powerful people who run the world. Our leaders are just puppets of
the New World Order. Our constitution only exists on paper. News stories may
have elements of truth in them, but many are fabricated or are twisted. Our
government leaders are not the saviors of the world. First they create the
chaos, and then they go in to other nations, and their own, in order to take
over these nations for the One World Order. Their words cannot be trusted, I
guarantee you!
Abide in Him
(vv. 28-29)
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when
he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his
coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who
practices righteousness has been born of him.
If we are going to survive
this onslaught of lies, deceptions and manipulations of truth, and the
persecution which is headed our way as a direct result of these deceitful
schemes, then we must remain steadfast in our faith. We can’t play games, waste
time, and think life is just one big party. We are not here on this earth to
entertain and to be entertained. God has us here to glorify him in all that we
do and are and say. He has us here to be his witnesses to a world who needs the
Savior. We need to be sober-minded about our relationships with Christ. We must
take his word seriously, and walk in it, and no longer walk in the ways of this
sinful world. We need to be those who practice righteousness, not of our own
making, but that of Christ, living in us and living his life out through us for
the glory of God. Then, we will be able to fight off Satan’s evil schemes
against us.
Your Lord is With You
An Original Work / August 14, 2016
Based off Various Scriptures
Fear not for your Lord is with you.
He will not leave you, nor will He
abandon you.
When you walk through valleys of life’s
rough ways,
You must fear no evil, for God is near.
Be of courage, then, and be not
dismayed,
For your Lord is with you throughout
your days.
Fear not for your Lord is with you.
He will not leave you, nor will He
abandon you.
Trust Him with your life and witness.
He’ll go before you, and He will
prepare the way.
The Lord is our helper, so we’ll not
fear.
He will strengthen us. He sees all our
tears.
Do not be afraid, but to God do pray,
And the peace of God will be yours
today.
Trust Him with your life and witness.
He’ll go before you, and He will
prepare the way.
My God, He is my Rock and my Shield
And the Horn of my salvation, whom I
praise.
He reached down from heaven and rescued
me;
Drew me out of waters so deep I’d sink.
My God turned my darkness into His
light;
Opened up my blinded eyes, gave me
sight.
My God, He is my Rock and my Shield
And the Horn of my salvation, whom I
praise.
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