"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple!" Luke 14:33
True and False Christianity! (4 differences) False Christianity include those who believe that they are also true Christians. Obviously. However, "Being Renewed, Regenerated, Made Alive, Born-Again" are more than just words to a true Christian. They come from being touched and changed/renewed by God, and receiving Spirit and Life.
Such "supernatural" occurences cannot be explained or received intellectually, except by the word of God. They can only be known and understood on a personal basis as the Spirit of God gives never-before-known "life" to the one who receives His word. This is what God does when one Hears and Believes the word of God speaking to them personally, and receives it. One can hear the Bible speak of New Life, but only the one who has received it understands it. It cannot be understood until and unless one is Born-Again.
Example: When my wife of 20 plus years, Suzanne, (30 plus years ago) heard Jesus speaking the word of God to her heart through a human instrument, saying to her: "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy ladened and I will give you rest", she knew it was being spoken to her. Unbeknown to her at the time, it was exactly what she needed to hear. She had all-along been silently crying out, thinking that all was impossible, when she heard His call, laid hold of it and brought it into her heart. The calling was filled with hope, and spoken just to her in the impossible and miserable situation she was in. All she did was to simply hear it, believe it and receive it. It was just for her!
When she woke up the next morning she knew that she wasn't the same! At the time all she knew was that there was a "change" in her, and that this "change" in her was full of perfect peace and wonderful joy. She could not explain what happened to her then, only that it most certainly did. That "change" (from her death in Adam to her life in Christ) stayed with her all of her life. It was this "change" that gave her a voracious hunger to eat and study God's word and want to be around people who had been "changed" like herself, having a similar experience.
Now those who haven't been "touched" or haven't had any "change" done to them have no idea what I am talking about here. To them everything that I have been saying is but "Foolishness"(1 Cor.1:18), and I understand why.
This is what the false Christian does - they take the word of God and try and FORCE IT to FIT their way of thinking. All they have done however is to take and "Intellectualize" or "spiritualize" the word of God and its offering of Free Grace in order to make it conform to THEIR image and purpose in what THEY want it to do FOR them.
Yet the "faith" that cometh by hearing the word of God results in "doing what pleases God" simply because a "Changed" person is involved. It does not come by doing that which results in ones hearing what it wants to hear! Yet that is exactly what they Try and Do to it. A perfect example of this is seen in the different offerings made between Cain and Able in Genesis 4:3-5.
What they call "faith" is not the Hebrews 11:1 kind of God-given faith of the born again Christian at all, but more of a "faith in faith" type of thing. Their "Faith" is more important to them than is "God". It is a spurious faith, one that will gladly take Jesus as Savior all the while rejecting Him by not bowing and obeying Him as Lord and King.
Somehow they have come to believe that they do not have to obey Him, and consider such a demand to be a... "work". "And", they say, "as everyone knows we are saved by Grace and not by works!" [Little do they realize that this is NOT a work based on the flesh (i.e. on what WE do) but a "change" or a "working of Grace, of God" (i.e. on what GOD does).] Therefore, they live as though they are saved, yet in works (not having the Spirit) they deny Him. They have no interest in proving their faith by their works, nor think that it's necessary to work out their faith while adhearing to His every word.
In the following example are 4 reasons showing why false professors are false professors...
1. They want Christ, yes, but NOT without exception!
They want Jesus to save them IN their sins, yes, but not deliver them FROM their sins. In other words, they don't want change! They like themselves just the way they are! They certainly don't want to go to hell, but they want to go on sinning and kept being forgiven, over and over again. That is the extent of their so-called "faith" - using God to suit "their" purposes. Many even use Romans 7:15 as their crutch and excuse to sin because they say they can't help it! [The truth is, they cannot! Not having the Spirit; and therefore remaining unchanged spiritually, they are powerless to stop sinning, proving that sin has the rule over them. Rom.6:17-18]
Matthew 13:44-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.The treasure and the pearl is "Christ"! It is not His Saviorship, nor His Lordship - it is ALL "Christ" - it is ALL of Him in every way, or else it is none of Him! There are no exceptions! This means that IF they want Christ they have to take what comes with Him as well. In this case you can't have/eat the cake (of His Grace) without also having the bitter-sweet frosting (Obeying His words) as well [and you cannot obey His words without having the Spirit - and you will not have the Spirit until you freely receive His words, intent on believing everything He says].
2. They want Christ, yes, but NOT as He is set forth in the Scriptures, as Prophet, Priest and King!
Christ is the Only Mediator between God and man. He is the Mediator in all three of His offices as Prophet, Priest and King....
As our Priest, through His death He procures our pardon and peace by His sacrifice on the cross, as well as through His resurrection and ascention where He intercedes for His sheep (John 17:9-10).
As our Prophet He is our Wisdom, Teacher and Counselor in all things. (1 Cor.1:24; John 14:15)
As our King He is our ruler and Lord. (1 Tim.6:15)
The spurious believer will gladly take Him as their Priest, yes, but reject Him as their Prophet and King. They do not want Him to instruct them, nor do they want Him to rule over them! Little do they want to realize that they are not saved by one of His offices, but by Him alone as He is in ALL of His offices!
3. They want Christ, yes, but they are Unwilling to sit and count the costs involved!
So rather than take Him in deeply instead they take Him shallowly at best (Matt.13:20-21). There is no root in them; because of their shallow commitment, and they soon loose sight of Him and His word at the first sign of trouble because of the word. These same people never acknowledge that there is an "inconvenience" in following Christ. (And for them there isn't any!)
As every true follower of Christ knows, the Christian life isn't always "happy, happy, happy" all the time. Much of the time there is testing, and struggle, and a personal war going on between the lusts of the flesh and the Spirit of God. When Jesus says: "Follow Me", not only does He empower the man who sat down and weighed the costs to do just that, but that man, after sitting down and weighing the costs, gets up, sells all he owns or does whatever is necessary to follow Christ (Luke 14:25-33).
In Luke 9:57 a would-be follower said, "Lord, I will follow you wherever you may go!" To him Jesus said (in verse 58), "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head". Jesus was being frank and honest with that man at the outset. He tells everyone bluntly that in order to follow Him they first need to deny themselves (and not Him) and take up their cross (i.e. take up His cause and not theirs) - (Luke 9:23).
As in the case of the rich young ruler (Matt.19:21) what Jesus tells us He does so KNOWING what we deem to be "most precious" in our lives. He makes it not only personal but HARD. So "Hard" that without Him it is nigh IMPOSSIBLE to do!!! We cannot do it in the flesh - but with God all things are possible!
This is an invitation - an R.S.V.P. - that we are to bring and return to Him. It is called "our faith", and is not some "Second Work" of Grace. And the only way to bring it is to follow Him (i.e. keep and obey His words).
True faith - true Christianity takes Christ along with all the many and temporary (in this life) inconveniences that do follow. If we let anything - anything at all stand between Christ and ourselves then we are not worthy of Him! Either we have decided to go and come all the way with and to Jesus (receiving Him and His teachings), come hell or high water, or else we can forget it!
4. They want Christ, yes, but not so Personally that their hearts and minds are changed!
A good example of this is found in Acts 8 with Simon Magus. He claimed to believe and was even baptized, but there was no change in him, no operation of faith. "God knows!" Simon wanted what the Apostles had but he wanted it without being washed and changed inwardly first. People like Simon Magus today are plentiful and want to become Christians, yes, but for "selfish" reasons like "Power, Greed, the Manipualtion of others, and/or to gain a false sense of security".
The faith that saves is operative, real and alive, has substance, contains the conviction of Truth, which purifies the heart and renews the mind!
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IT WILL COST YOU... EVERYTHING! Right off the bat I am here to tell you that IF you intend to become a Christian (i.e. a follower, a disciple of Christ), then it's going to cost you... EVERYTHING!!!
You weren't expecting that? Perhaps because you've been taught all your life to believe that you can keep and have The Best Of Both Worlds by something that YOU are doing FOR God???
Perhaps you're doing it because you were always taught to believe that because Jesus paid the full price of entry into the kingdom for you therefore it will cost you nothing in return???I love this part -- "Anyone who truly knows Christ, who He is and what He has done, has and will willingly, eagerly and even gladly forsake all in order to become His disciple." (Read that part again!)
You see, the truth is that He really has broken down the barrier that had always seperated us from God, by the sacrifice of Himself!!! HOWEVER (and this is BIG) it won't do any of us any good until and unless we come and appropriate it for ourselves; by repenting of our sins against God, bowing low and coming to Him in recognition of Who He is and What He's done to break down that barrier and receive His FREE Gift of reconciliation.
In other words, until we come to Him who is high and lifted up, and appropriate for ourselves just who He is and what He has done (His Part) by us laying it down (Our Part), then we cannot be a part of it! What good is it to be a part of the world instead? A world that seems to honor Him an hour a week while dishonoring Him the remaing 167 hours.
Now the Good News is that He has come and He has broken down the barrier that had always seperated us from God. He has made a way to eternal life - He is The Way! All we have to do is reach out and appropriate Him.
And the bad news? There is none! Those who come to Him for salvation by appropriating what He has done, will gladly and most readily be willing to give up everything they once valued in order to receive His FREE Gift of eternal life, realizing that nothing can compare!We need to have our hearts unfettered as well as both hands empty in order to reach out and receive the eternal life that He has won and is now offering. With man this is impossible to do (because he is flesh and blood) - and only by our crying out to God to help us can it be done! We MUST be born again!
Allow me to demonstrate what I mean through the use of a few Scriptures...
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:37-39Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1 Corinthians 15:50
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 3:6-7I can't explain it, I only know that it works like this: "Once the Lord knows that you (with His help) have given Him your heart and everything in it for the sake of gaining Christ, then He in turn will pour into you the Holy Spirit who then cleanses it (i.e. 'changes it') in order to receive 'The One You Seek with all your heart'."
This may happen over a period of time depending upon you (usually less than a few years), or it may happen right away (God knows the heart). It will happen when you hear (i.e. Understand) and receive in your heart the word of God speaking to YOU personally. The rest depends on you and your intent to obey and follow in how deeply you take it in and let it grow!
The CHANGE in you will be Total and Complete when All things will become NEW! You will have gone from night to day, from Death to Life in one smooth operation upon the revelation of Him! However long it takes (and I repeat, this should never be longer than a moment or a few years at most) for US to sit down and weight the costs and FINISH what God had begun in us in fear and trembling (Ph.2:12)...
I say "Finish" because -
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
We love him, because he first loved us. 1 John 4:17-19As for sitting down and weighing the costs -- it is to see if YOU have what it takes to Finish the job you started....
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 14:26-35Did you listen??? Did you hear how the Lord says that it is far more important to Finish the work that God had begun in us? You see what it means to come only "half-way" and stop!? This is the work of "Perfect Love" that I speak of here! The work that God began requires our simple and individual cooperation in order to complete it in us and for us as well. I speak here of the New Man In Christ!
Using our Old Man of the Flesh to do the works of God (as they think they are doing in the world) is impossible, and downright evil! Our Old Man MUST be destroyed! Seeking to further our own glory, our own righteousness, our own self-worth, love, aggrandizement, even seeking to come out of it alive in our own strength, MUST be put to death! We absolutely MUST be Born Again!
Once the flesh (our old man) has been crucified (i.e. nailed to its cross) and set aside, THEN we will be able to live as the sons of God (because God the Holy Spirit will live in us), and we will find in us (our new man) the strength and righteousness needed to Cooperate with the Lord, and greatly desire to see Him alone glorified... by our new-found love in return!
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6
We are NOT a bunch of Zombies! Neither before nor after we come to the Lord! God will do nothing if we resist Him and don't want Him to reign over us. He; unlike the devil, seeks our love freely and without coercion of any kind. That's why He is God - and that's why He is Love! The moment we are ready to love Him back of our own free will by doing what He says {This is My Son, hear Him! Mark 9:7}, is the day that we along with Paul, can say...
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
Only until we come and lay it all down at His feet - Only until we come and bow before Him in recognition of Who He is and thank Him for what He's done - Only until we see and understand Him for Who He truly is: most precious and worthy of all - and Only until the old (with its old Adamic life) has passed away and all things have become made anew, can we call ourselves... Christians! Not one minute before!
This can take a moment - a year - or never! The choice is up to each one of us according to the value we place upon our treasures and what they are. Are we ready to see what a Treasure we have in Jesus and give Him our all, our undivided attention, our whole heart and soul?
Pay attention to all that is being said here...
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Luke 18:22-30This speaks of our being saved! The rich, young ruler (who was asked to depart with or give away that which was dearest to his heart) couldn't and wouldn't pay that price! His great wealth meant too much for him. He thought that by his obeying the commandments was all that was necessary to inherit eternal life.
Here the treasure to end all treasures stood right in front of him, yet he couldn't bear to part with that which was most dear and precious to him in order to reach out and touch true, eternal riches, and be saved!Paul reached out!!! He saw! In order to win Christ he emptied his heart of All his earthly possessions to make room for The Treasure!!! He made the right choice, and in fact considered all that was once most dear and precious to him as.... dung!
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, Philippians 3:7-8You see, dear reader, Jesus Christ died instead of us that we may be forgiven of our sins. (and most people, go no farther than believing in this DEAD Jesus). But the truth is that He has been resurrected, and for His followers He lives instead of us for our deliverance from sin. (A Christian is SAVED = both forgiven of sin and delivered from it!)
So we have TWO substitutions: One outside of us on the Cross who secures our forgiveness, and One inside of us who, through the revelation of Him, secures our victory over sin.And what about you, dear reader? What about you? Have you been forgiven AND delivered???
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The Negative and Positive aspects of Jesus' teaching! Jesus lays out what our being sanctified/joined to Him through the truth means. This is the negative aspect of His teaching --
Luke 14:26-28 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?We have a choice! When that choice to come and love Him fully is made, it soley hinges on the "IF" word (below) and then (if we do Love Him more than life itself), only then can we know and receive the positive aspect of His teaching --
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, "IF" a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
The "IF" word is what our heart hinges on in whether we love Him enough or not to do as He says! This prooves that IF we are to go on with Him then it depends on the power of our love for Him and His word that decides whether or not we will receive the positive aspect of His teaching. God knows, but we don't... not until we decide to come fully to Him.
So, in order to receive the positive aspect of His teaching, one must first fully comply with the negative aspect of it! Those who do comply become sanctified through the truth. Thus they become clean and washed through (by complying to, agreeing with, and abiding in) the words/teachings/doctrines/commandments that Jesus has spoken to them...
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3.
Simply put, how can anyone dare to call Jesus Lord who does not keep His word by obeying what He says???
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
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Family Persecution! Matthew 10:32. Whosoever will confess me before men, To confess Christ before men does not mean that someone must first accept some particular creed, but to publicly acknowledge the Lord, and to live before men as his servant.
To confess Him before men means -
#1. A confession of faith in him with lips that speak what they know and believe From The Heart. This is the kind of confession that Peter made, Matthew 16:16, and also the eunuch in Acts 8:37, a confession of faith made by acknowledging who Christ is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. Paul describes this confession in Romans. 10:10.
#2. An acknowledgment of Christ by obedience to Him through giving the life to his service. Confession is a demonstration of faith, (1) by public acknowledgment, and (2) by an obedient life, through receiving the revelation of who He is. Therefore a mere verbal acknowledgment of Christ is not enough if the life is a denial, for then it shows that the acknowledgment was a lie. The two must correspond.
him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Christ sitting on the throne of judgment promises to acknowledge as his own faithful brother every one who has thus acknowledged him before men.33. But whosoever shall deny me before men, The Jews denied him when they rejected him as Messiah. All who refuse to receive him as their Lord deny him still. The disciple who, through the cares of the world, turns away from Christian life (i.e. following Christ), denies him as well.
Him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven. Those who receive him will be received; those who reject him will be rejected; those who confess him will be confessed, and those who deny him, denied.34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; Christ has to conquer peace by first overcoming the evil that stands in the way of peace! Therefore, to preach the gospel of purity and peace always stirs up the opposition of the evil doer. Evil has to be put down before peace (especially peace with God) can prevail. Hence, while the great end that Christ proposes is peace, the immediate result of his coming, and of the preaching of the gospel, was opposition and bloodshed.
I came not to send peace, but a sword. The sword that Christ speaks of is the sword of the Spirit! We are to use this sword to expose the evil to the word of God, while those who fight against the church use carnal swords (which says that evil and peace can and do exist togther) to oppose the truth.35. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. This, "Family Variance", caused by the Savior was not the object of His coming, but the effect of it. The conversion of individual members of the family would cause variance (enmity) to exist against all those who were not converted. In nearly all quarrels, except those about religion, the members of the same family stand together, but in religious feuds; when standing for the truth or for error, the family circle is often broken and its parts clearly arrayed against each other.
36. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. This has been verified thousands of times. Many a convert has been turned out of home and/or banished by kindred, because he had confessed Christ.
(It was a "faithful" servant who betrayed William Tyndale to his death. It was the trusted disciple, Judas, who sold his Lord. The long and tragic history of the inquisitions, massacres, and bloody disturbances which have attended the efforts of the faithful to honor and serve the Christ afford countless examples fulfilling the Saviour's words. Even in modern times, every form of discrimination, partiality, bias, preferment, and rejection have been exercised against Christians, not merely by the world of strangers but by closest friends, relatives, and members of the family.)37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (cf Luke 14:26) The Lord does not require us to love these less, but him more. Love for him must become the dominant principle of life.
38. And he that taketh not his cross, Luke adds, daily; not once, but all the time. The cross is the pain of the self-denial required. The cross is the symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful family separation and death. Christ obeyed God, and carried out his work of the salvation of men, though it required him to die upon the cross in order to do it. And ever since, the cross has stood as the emblem, not of suffering, but of suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel.
And followeth after me, To follow Christ is to take him for our master, our teacher, our example, our Lord; to believe his doctrines, to uphold his cause, to obey his precepts, and to do it though it leads to heaven by the way of the cross.
Is not worthy of me. (cf Luke 14:27) Anything less than this is not worthy of having Him!
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Beware of accepting a False Gospel! Matthew 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
What can we glean from these scriptures? Obviously, Deception! But what else?
There are two meanings we see here. One deals with the Present, while the other deals with the Future.Concerning the Present....
1 John 2:18-19 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.Let's find out where this spirit of antichrist comes from, and what causes people; who haven't received the Annointing of God, to want to disassociate themselves from those who do? Example....
1 John 2:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
Now that's a pretty bold statement that John just made, however, he was inspired to say and teach that by the Holy Spirit.
There's also this statement of his that needs to be reckoned with as well....1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
We see here that John is speaking of the same event taking place. The Unction and the Anointing are one and the same! This is the knowledge of God, the hidden knowledge that comes to us only by way of the Holy Spirit. This is the Annointing, and the Unction that John speaks of!
What John speaks of is 'spiritual truth' (i.e. 'of the Spirit'), therefore his words can only be spiritually known and discerned by every true Christian who has had a revelation of Christ and therefore has the kind of spiritual discernment and hearing needed to know the difference between that which comes from God (and heed it) and that which does not (and flee it).
Note in 1 John 2:19 that John says that those (who did not have the Unction/Anointing/Spirit) left us. They departed our company and no longer remained with us. What does this tell us? Think about it! It tells us that they were made known to us and they left us. How do you suppose they were made known to us? It is because we preached and stand for the word just like Jesus did. "Thy will be done on earth", is an everyday occurance that we preach, and not just a part time or once in a lifetime commitment. Those who leave are those who disagree (with Jesus' words).
What the spirit of antichrist does is to preach and to present a DIFFERENT Christ to the world. Basically, a Jesus that they can live with. A Christ who only came to die so that we may live -- and not a Christ who came to die and to live in order that we and all that we treasure might die with Him and live through Him as well. What the world is after (and what the spirit of antichrist provides them with) is a Christ who is easy going -- overlooks sin -- is easy to live with and get along with than the real One.
They're looking for a (forgiving and mild) Christ (rather than an all-powerful and a serious One) who will let them continue to remain alive and love the world while living with their Old Man and in sin, so long as they hurt him a little each day (to make him a 'better' person), and by all means keep them away from hearing the real meaning of the cross, one where they too need to be crucified with Christ in order to live in Him.
So, this Jesus of theirs is an Invented Christ, one made for those who love the world and refuse to be crucified with Christ, not wanting to repent of (turn away from) their sins so that they may come to Him For life... and for Life, by remaining in His words in having His words remaining/alive in them.
Over the centuries there have been untold thousands of professing Christians and those who call themselves Christian ministers who have preached Christ. They have all professed to be His prophets, teachers and ministers, and therefore they say they represent Him. They have said that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. All well and good -- But they have withheld Christ's gospel....
(For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many)
They enter the church by stating that they are Christians who have Christ in them, but their real purpose (unknowingly to them) is to deceive us with lies! They preach a false Christ by giving us a false or partially true Gospel, one that mentions nothing about the costs of our following Christ, nor of our having to be put to death with Him first. They don't preach the way through the Narrow Gate, and they usually preach a Gospel void of holiness, repentance, or one that says Jesus wasn't God, or that He was the only God, or that He didn't come in the flesh, or that His sacrifice was only for a chosen few instead of the many, or any number of lies.
The reason they preach lies is simple -- it is because they don't know Him! If they did then they wouldn't be preaching it. It's a two way street! It's not only the false minister or prophet who is preaching a false Gospel by giving them only partial truths, but it is the people themselves who accept what these self proclaimed ministers are saying as well.
I am here to tell you until you have been dealt the love of God in receiving the Holy Spirit in Power to enable you to live for as well as die for God, then you cannot understand where I'm coming from or where I'm going. It's the same way with all to whom all things are made new who receive the Power of the Spirit and are able to live the Christian life. Without this miracle happening to us personally, all else is of the antichrist! If salvation doesn't lead us to have Him personally, then it's all for naught! Without our being CHANGED into new creatures, all else doesn't matter!
Concerning the Future....
Matthew 24:23-26 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold, I have told you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.Out of the midst of the apostacy the antichrist will come and be revealed. The words of Paul say that all of this will happen after the apostacy and after the antichrist is revealed (2 Thes. 2:1-3).
2 Thessalonians 2:8-9 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,Thus the vast majority of religious people today have been deceived by false gospels given through the spirit of antichrist! Tomorrow it will be the antichrist himself who will be deceiving them. Remember too, that a deceived person does not know he is deceived (2 Thes. 2:10-12). Otherwise he would not be deceived in the first place. Millions today have been deceived into accepting a partial gospel containing a partial Christ, believe it or not!
Please don't think this too farfetched. It's not. Let's face it, if they knew who Jesus was, they wouldn't have killed Him! Before we go let me give you something else to think about concerning the appearing of antichrist and the mark. Did you ever think that those who take the mark don't do so out of fear, but do so in the hopes of avoiding the cross altogether thus being able to live forever in their sins? Who can make war with him??? (Rev. 13:3-4) Think about it....
Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Below are those who have NOT been deceived by accepting a False Gospel....
1 John 2:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1 John 3:9-10a Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: ....1 John 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
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...strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and FEW there be that find it. Matt 7:14
