The Antichrists Among Us
People in the United States worship many gods today and call many of them, Jesus. Some accept Him as a prophet but deny His Deity. They accept Him as the Son of Man but deny that He is the only begotten Son of God. They believe in their own definition of Him but refute what He said about Himself. This is one spirit of antichrist that is in the world. This is the Jesus of modern times who first appeared on the scene through the Modernists who viewed scripture as beneath the authority of man and subject to his interpretation. They believe that interpretation must change with the times and thereby, maintain truth that remains relative to modern man. This is the jesus of a god created by man to serve the will of man.
There is yet another jesus who is the jesus of wealth, health, and prosperity. These people don't deny the Deity of Christ but still view Him as one who serves their physical needs in this world. Truly, their god is their belly and they only follow that which promises to fill their insatiable hunger for what this present world has to offer. Their desires have enabled them to create a magic jesus to heal their flesh and give them the wealth of material possessions that they dream of. They don't understand that all that is material is vanishing and nothing that our eyes are locked upon in our desire for them is eternal. This magic jesus gives his followers momentary happiness but in him there is no joy as there is no eternal life in that which is material.
The third jesus, who is fast becoming prevalent today, is the new age jesus. He is god tailored to the individual. The god of personal choosing that tolerates all views except those who really believe Jesus as being the person Whom He says He is. All views are tolerated as long as those who voice them don't take their beliefs too seriously and actually believe they are literally true. The new age jesus is relative truth, man's way, and living the life of doing one's own thing. The new age jesus seeks unity of religion and moral license. His followers have their reward now for they are of the world and are perishing.
The final Antichrist is the most insidious and it is of this spirit that the final and most powerful Antichrist will arise. This jesus is known as the Son of God but not acknowleged as the Son of Man. This is the Gnostic jesus, he who is of spirit only and not able to indwell flesh as his followers perceive spirit to be good and all that is material to be evil. Gnosticism is an ancient Greek philosophy that was morphed with Christ early in church history. Some of their gospels (written as late as 300 years after the death of Christ, with new gospels being written presently) even teach that jesus did not come in the flesh but instead borrowed a body of flesh to die on the cross for sin while he remained outside observing. They deny the resurrected body of Christ as being flesh glorified by the Spirit. They deny the new Adam, Jesus Who is the Son of God and the Son of Man. They deny that believers in Jesus will also receive glorified bodies, bodies of flesh glorified by the Spirit of God and made eternal. They teach that upon death those who are the elect of the spirit that guides them (believing themselves elite among men) will become spirit only and ascend into heaven. They deny the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom and Christ's 1,000 year rule of righteousness on Earth; a time when God will tabernacle Himself among all men and fulfill the prophecies given to the Jews. Rather than teaching, as the Bible teaches, that the church is grafted into the people of God through faith in Christ, they teach that the church has replaced the Jews as the children of God and that the Kingdom is spiritual only. They twist the teachings of Paul which many have difficulty understanding and they do so to their own detriment. Gnostic's were called Nicoliatans by Jesus in Revelation 2:6. He commended the church at Ephesus for hating their works and stated that He hated their works also.
Gnostic's don't form their own churches but instead, they infiltrate bodies of believers. They often appear angelic, even as angels of Light. They are very hard to discern from true believers in the true Jesus and they guard the truth of their beliefs while also seeking to draw others in unawares. The Internet is made for their agenda as it allows them to make their way into homes to take advantage of people who have been hurt in their faith and are isolated and alone. They look for broken Christians. Those who have been hurt by life circumstances and currently doubt the purposes of God in their life. They especially seek out those who have been hurt by the church and discarded by mainstream Christianity. They seek out the spiritually gullible who have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible and can be easily swayed from the truth. They use charm and manipulation to gain the favor of those they are leading into deception. The Internet is chock full of their prophecies and hyper spiritual writings.
The Gnostic deception creates a strong delusion that is so subtle and convincing as to be powerful enough to deceive even God's elect if they were not guarded by Jesus. It is not possible for them to fully deceive those who belong to the true Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. However, Satan can use them to make us ineffective in our Christian service by bringing us under the oppression of the evil spirit they channel. Every false jesus has this power but it is the Gnostic jesus that will deceive the entire world. It is to him that all other antichrist spirits will give their allegiance. Therefore, test all the spirits, even those that are pleasing and seem to be only Light. Test them according to the Holy Spirit within you and according to the Bible. Do not allow anyone to talk you into discarding the Scriptures as the authority for faith in Christ. Do not bite into the delusion that will someday, devour the world. Put your trust in Christ alone and no other.
2 John 1:7-11 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
There is yet another jesus who is the jesus of wealth, health, and prosperity. These people don't deny the Deity of Christ but still view Him as one who serves their physical needs in this world. Truly, their god is their belly and they only follow that which promises to fill their insatiable hunger for what this present world has to offer. Their desires have enabled them to create a magic jesus to heal their flesh and give them the wealth of material possessions that they dream of. They don't understand that all that is material is vanishing and nothing that our eyes are locked upon in our desire for them is eternal. This magic jesus gives his followers momentary happiness but in him there is no joy as there is no eternal life in that which is material.
The third jesus, who is fast becoming prevalent today, is the new age jesus. He is god tailored to the individual. The god of personal choosing that tolerates all views except those who really believe Jesus as being the person Whom He says He is. All views are tolerated as long as those who voice them don't take their beliefs too seriously and actually believe they are literally true. The new age jesus is relative truth, man's way, and living the life of doing one's own thing. The new age jesus seeks unity of religion and moral license. His followers have their reward now for they are of the world and are perishing.
The final Antichrist is the most insidious and it is of this spirit that the final and most powerful Antichrist will arise. This jesus is known as the Son of God but not acknowleged as the Son of Man. This is the Gnostic jesus, he who is of spirit only and not able to indwell flesh as his followers perceive spirit to be good and all that is material to be evil. Gnosticism is an ancient Greek philosophy that was morphed with Christ early in church history. Some of their gospels (written as late as 300 years after the death of Christ, with new gospels being written presently) even teach that jesus did not come in the flesh but instead borrowed a body of flesh to die on the cross for sin while he remained outside observing. They deny the resurrected body of Christ as being flesh glorified by the Spirit. They deny the new Adam, Jesus Who is the Son of God and the Son of Man. They deny that believers in Jesus will also receive glorified bodies, bodies of flesh glorified by the Spirit of God and made eternal. They teach that upon death those who are the elect of the spirit that guides them (believing themselves elite among men) will become spirit only and ascend into heaven. They deny the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom and Christ's 1,000 year rule of righteousness on Earth; a time when God will tabernacle Himself among all men and fulfill the prophecies given to the Jews. Rather than teaching, as the Bible teaches, that the church is grafted into the people of God through faith in Christ, they teach that the church has replaced the Jews as the children of God and that the Kingdom is spiritual only. They twist the teachings of Paul which many have difficulty understanding and they do so to their own detriment. Gnostic's were called Nicoliatans by Jesus in Revelation 2:6. He commended the church at Ephesus for hating their works and stated that He hated their works also.
Gnostic's don't form their own churches but instead, they infiltrate bodies of believers. They often appear angelic, even as angels of Light. They are very hard to discern from true believers in the true Jesus and they guard the truth of their beliefs while also seeking to draw others in unawares. The Internet is made for their agenda as it allows them to make their way into homes to take advantage of people who have been hurt in their faith and are isolated and alone. They look for broken Christians. Those who have been hurt by life circumstances and currently doubt the purposes of God in their life. They especially seek out those who have been hurt by the church and discarded by mainstream Christianity. They seek out the spiritually gullible who have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible and can be easily swayed from the truth. They use charm and manipulation to gain the favor of those they are leading into deception. The Internet is chock full of their prophecies and hyper spiritual writings.
The Gnostic deception creates a strong delusion that is so subtle and convincing as to be powerful enough to deceive even God's elect if they were not guarded by Jesus. It is not possible for them to fully deceive those who belong to the true Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. However, Satan can use them to make us ineffective in our Christian service by bringing us under the oppression of the evil spirit they channel. Every false jesus has this power but it is the Gnostic jesus that will deceive the entire world. It is to him that all other antichrist spirits will give their allegiance. Therefore, test all the spirits, even those that are pleasing and seem to be only Light. Test them according to the Holy Spirit within you and according to the Bible. Do not allow anyone to talk you into discarding the Scriptures as the authority for faith in Christ. Do not bite into the delusion that will someday, devour the world. Put your trust in Christ alone and no other.
2 John 1:7-11 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.
10 Comments:
Joyindestructible,
That post is powerful, and desperately needed as the coming of the Lord is nigh. I have become more complacent and more trusting, which makes me vulnerable. Thanks for the wake-up and beware call. I wish discerning true believers was as simple as: “Will the true believers in the sacrificial Lamb of God, Jesus the Messiah please stand up!” I also know that God tells us through James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” And Hosea 14: 9 “Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” As well, Proverbs 18: 15 “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.”
These posts always bring me back to searching God’s Word, which seems, each time to bring clarity and etch His Words a little deeper into to my heart.
I thank God for you, and your faith becoming His works.
Scot,
We can never truly know the condition of another's heart but we can learn to discern the spirits of the time we live in. He even knows our hearts better than we ourselves know them. It is our spirit testifying with His Spirit that enables us to know our own condition before Him. We can hide nothing from Him and even though others can hide their true selves from us they can't hide anything from God either. Vulnerability is better than unfounded suspicion. It is best if we put all of our trust in God and not so much in one another. We need to forgive and love others but if we put trust in them, they will, at some point, let us down. Likewise, if anyone should put their trust in me, I will, at some point, let them down. Trusting in Jesus is the only surety we have.
I'm glad that my posts are a blessing to you but I am even more blessed to hear you say that they cause you to search the scriptures. Those are the true Words that have to power to change us when they are coupled in us with faith.
Excellent post as always, Pam.
I really like how you summed up the New Age Jesus: All views are tolerated as long as those who voice them don't take their beliefs too seriously and actually believe they are literally true. The new age jesus is relative truth, man's way, and living the life of doing one's own thing. The new age jesus seeks unity of religion and moral license. His followers have their reward now for they are of the world and are perishing.
Powerful, Pam.
Reminds me of something C.S. Lewis said,
"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic -- on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
Someone I look up to, Art Katz, the late atheist Jewish intellectual turned Messiah-follower, often spoke against this kind of moral license, this kind of unity religion thinking. He once said something equally profound, equally powerful,
Have you heard of pluralism? The whole modern western world is pluralistic. That is to say, "many paths to God." There's no single truth.
Jesus made a remarkable statement: "If you see me, you see the Father, I and the Father are one. No man comes to the Father but by me. If any man comes any other way, that man is a thief and a robber." You guys realize what a scandal the gospel is? You realize how abrasive the gospel is? Do you realize that God has chose the foolish things? That there's nothing about the gospel that's intellectually credible? God has given us something calculatingly foolish, compared to the wisdom of the world. The world that is pluralistic and likes to consider many paths to truth has got to contend with a gospel that insists upon itself, and the Jesus of that gospel, as the only truth. It is uncompromising in its insistence. It is absolute in its expression. And the very question of absoluteness and singularity itself runs right across the whole tenet and grain of the modern world. You understand that? Do you understand how pluralistic the whole mindset of the world is, how many options -- I don't know's, the maybe's, the grey's, who's to say's -- and into that whole mucky world of vagaries, and choices, and nuances, comes one statement out of the heart of God: "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me."
If I hear anything from my Jewish kinsmen in conversations I have been involved with my people, invariably they bring up, "What about the other people of the world? What about Buddhists, what about Muslims, what about Hindus? Don't they have a religion, isn't it a world faith? Aren't there redemptive elements in these religions? And you feel a blush coming up to the roots of your being, when you have to insist and say, "No, these are satanic deceptions and false alternatives that lead unto death." To insist on the singularity of the gospel, to insist on the absoluteness of it: this is not just an issue of religion, it's hitting the world head-on in a confrontation of wisdoms, of moral systems, of mentalities.
I firmly believe the last days will see an increase in pluralism and religious unity -- discard what you believe in favor of greater harmony among cultures and religions.
For that is what the secular world, foolish in its own desires and short-sighted ends, wishes to see. And you can't argue against it, or you're a bigot. Jesus is the only way to God, you say? Then you're a bigot and will be shunned and mocked.
I believe that's what we're gonna see going forward from the secular world.
Hi Judah,
It's great to see you here and thank you for the compliment. I do value and respect your opinion.
The new age jesus is the jesus of my generation. He is for the intellectual and the profane. He is wishy washy and has no boundaries. His roots are in Babylon and can claim some very influential followers, including Hitler. He has been called many names throug the ages but he utters the same lie, "You can be like God..."
Every false jesus is created around one characteristic of the true Jesus that is blown out of proportion. People treat Jesus as a grab bag that they can take whatever they like from and use for their own means. Some claim His Diety and exclude His humanity. Others focus only upon His humanity and deny His Diety. Very few accept Him as the Son of God and the Son of Man.
It is the most incidious false jesus who denies the humanity of the true Jesus. He has been present among believers in the true Jesus from the beginning. These are the Gnostics and they are able to blend easily as their hyper-spiritual approach can cause them to appear as angels of Light. It is only after knowing them for sometime that one can find that they don't believe in the historical Jesus at all as they believe that God is Spirit and could not have and would not have been housed in flesh. Their false gospels are causing a great deal of confusion today and many people who read them are taking in tainted knowledge while thinking that it is another revelation from God. The portion of scripture that I quoted from 2John used to seem strange to me but now I know how relevant that warning and also Jesus' admonition concerning the Nicoliatans is so important for us who are alive at this time.
Having said all of this and in consideration of what you have added, I think in the end the new age jesus and the Gnostic jesus will blend themselves into the two main forms of religion that have dominated the world before, the Catholics and the Muslims. The one who unites these two religions and also gains the trust of the Jews is the one we must be wary of. I have always thought that there must have been no darker time to be alive as when the Catholics and Ottomans held the world in their death grip. Now I know that the darkness will be greatly increase when they control the world in unison rather than being at enmity with one another.
However, this should not cause us to despair but to look up because our redemption is very near! Come, Lord Jesus!
Pam
You know, Pam, I almost wrote what I've been feeling deep inside me: that the Roman Catholic Church will make moves towards unifying religions and morality.
I wanted to write this before in my previous post, but I didn't say it for fear of offense, especially considering it is only my speculation, and also knowing full well there are many Roman Catholics who really do love the Lord.
Seeing what you just wrote, I had to speak up in agreement. This movement in the world to bring a unity of religion together will be encouraged, if not led, by the Roman Catholic Church.
A nice post. The sentence which grabbed me the most was surprisingly the first one, "People in the United States worship many gods today and call many of them, Jesus." How true! I also liked how you categorised spirits of the anti-christ as misinterpretations of Jesus, rather than some physical figure (usually from an ethnic minority) who will rise up from europe and enslave the world.
A couple of things that confused me, though. Why is the gnostic Jesus the strongest antichrist? I may be wrong but I didn't know that there has been a recent resurgence in an ultra-spiritual interpretation of the person of Jesus, let alone gnosticism itself.
Your description of the modernists Jesus was good, but I think the same theme can also be applied to many preachers which do openly confess the divinity of Jesus. What I mean is that the way people "believe that interpretation must change with the times and thereby, maintain truth that remains relative to modern man. This is the jesus of a god created by man to serve the will of man."
I'm thinking of the conservative Jesus, who has been used throughout history (usually with some obscure bible verse) to defend cultural practices that we now view as abhorrent (slavery, racism, segregation, etc.). In this way, Jesus is used as a tool for people with a political or social axe to grind. The bible is read in a way that fits their own ends and opinions.
In my opinion, the biggest anti-christ that exists today is that very same Jesus. The language used to refer to him is often very complimentary; they sing praises to his name, they mention that he is responsible for every spiritual gift that they have, they confess him to be the son of God. However, while doing this they also completely ignore his words, his actions, and his way of being, and instead express a philosophy/theology/political message which is the complete opposite of what Jesus directly preached on. A wolf in sheep's clothing!
Anyway, you used a nice metaphor here and it was interesting to read.
Timothy,
We could probably go on forever naming the antichrists among us. John said there were many and if there were already many in his day, I'm sure they are multiplied many times over now.
The Gnostic gospels are very popular now and many people think they are reading missing books of the Bible but what they are reading are gospels of another Jesus. For example, the lost gospel of Peter was written not by Peter himself but someone 300 years later who was in a sense channeling Peter. There are people who buy into what they read without realising what they are reading. Others do realise what they are and not only promote them but also write new gospels. I believe this is the false Jesus that will be the ultimate Antichrist at the end of the age of Grace because few people are aware that a hyperdiefied Christ is wrong. People get upset when the diety of Jesus is denied but few are even aware of or notice those who deny His humanity. I think this will cause him to be easily accepted by many. Especially when he will have all the right answers politically and also be able to work signs and wonders. I also think that because the Gnostics have been linked to Christianity since the beginning that a mystic jesus is already firmly intrenched (sp?) in mainstream demoninations.
I really enjoyed your comment and your own observations of the fake jesus's that people worship today. I guess we could add the commercial jesus too since he brings in the big bucks for so many televangelists. This really could go on and on.
Judah,
I missed your latest comment, sorry.
Did you know that the new Pope has said that Catholics will be praying to Alah within 100 years? Strange comment but I know they are working at unifying these religions.
I don't know if you know about Javier Solana but He is a Catholic who has received the Cross of Isabela (the cross of the Inquisition)and he is also a New Age thinker. He is a big wig in the EU and is the architec of the EU. He is the main person involved in talks with Iran. You can read about him at his own websight or on the EU websight. Your jaw will drop all the way down to your knees if you don't already know about him.
Yes there are Catholics who love the Lord but the Catholic Church has a long history that should not be ignored. Islam has a history that is much the same.
Pam,
It's interesting that you know of people who are reading the gnostic gospels without any historical context. They are very interesting texts to read, but only of any value when you approach them with the proper preknowledge (i.e. when they were written, who they were likely to have been written by, what setting they were written in, did the author have a theological agenda). Likewise, I wish more people would examine the canonised gospels from a historical perspective before making conclusions based on it.
I think you're right in that the human side of Jesus is more readily subordinated than the spiritual side. Oh and yes, the commercial Jesus would definentely be in my top 10 anti-christ list. My experiences with him have been disturbing enough to warrant frequent mentions in blog posts.
Humanism is really the predominant view in our culture and I think that few people get past God in the context of themselves let alone, take the time to place the Bible in historical context. That is if they take the time to read the Bible at all. It's no wonder that most of them simple create 'a jesus that suits me and my present need' and never progress beyond that point spiritually.
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