WARNING AGAINST ANTICHRISTS THE SPIRIT OF DECEPTION:18 NOVEMBER 2023 Grace and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord be with you who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came in the flesh and was crucified and on the 3rd day God raised him from the dead and now he lives forever and ever: Amen. This is the gospel that we preach and entrusted to us by God that those who believe in Jesus Christ will be raised to life just as Christ was raised to life and will live together with Christ for eternity. And by faith in Jesus Christ, we are declared with power to be children of God. Children born of the Spirit of God, the promised Holy Spirit, who dwells in those who believe in Jesus Christ. And now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known but what we know is that when Christ appears, we will be like him and will see him as he is and live with him for eternity. And we are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to take us to heaven as God our Father has promised us. And we know that all his promises are true and trustworthy because he is God. But beware of the antichrist, the spirit of deception. And this is the warning given to the children of God. Just as it is written, "Dear children, this is the last hour and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour" (1 John 2:18) Dear brothers, the coming of the antichrist is a sign given to us by the Father so that we may know that the time of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is near. These are they who oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ and all it's truths and they introduce their own teachings based on deception to lead the people astray away from their Creator. And you have seen them, the work of the devil whose servants have inflitrated the Church. These are false brothers who are motivated by greed and selfish ambitions and the Word of God is not in them. Just as it is written, "The Spirit clearly says that in the later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" (1 Timothy 4:1) They gather people together and promise them salvation yet they are agents of satan bent on destroying, stealing and killing the sheep. They decieve people prophesying about them by the visions given them from the pit of hell. Demons speak to them but they do not know and are led astray. They lie about them and decieve the people by the spirits of demons but claim that God has spoken and yet God has not spoken to them and has not sent them. In this way, the people of God are decieved and led astray to worship idols and the spirits of demons. And someone may ask: Who is a liar? "It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist. He denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2: 22-23) (John 8:42-47) Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, anyone who does not believe that Jesus is the Saviour, has denied the Son of God. And whoever does not acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, does not know God and has no relationship with God. In rejecting the Son, he has rejected God. And therefore, no one can come to God apart from through the Son because he who has accepted the Son has accepted God. So then, if they speak about God and they deny Jesus Christ the Son of God, they do not know God. Instead, they are the antichrists bent on deception because only in Christ Jesus we come to know God. Jesus Christ reveals the Father. Someone may ask: How do we identify them? Good. You will know them by their fruits. The way they conduct themselves and their way of life. Can a righteous man live a sinful life? Can a mango tree bear bananas? Those who serve Christ should walk as Christ did in righteousness yet suffering for doing good. But they live a sinful life yet claim to be servants of God. And our people love it that way for as long as a spirit in them can prophesy to them and promise them houses, cars, wives, husbands, wealth and good life. They are from this world and they speak from the viewpoint of this world and the world listens to them. But we are from God and we speak by the Holy Spirit as men sent from God and those on the side of the truth listens to us. The reason they do not listen to us is because they have not known God. "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning" (1 John 3:7-9) (John 8:42-47) "But, every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world" (1 John 4:3) "Many decievers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deciever 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 both the Father and the Son" (2 John 1:7-9) The coming of the antichrist is in line with false brothers who decieve the people of God through their teachings which to the unstable will appear true yet to the descerning everything are lies based on error and deception motivated by greed and selfish gains. Just as it is written, "Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put out with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry" (2 Timothy 4:1-5) Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, the scripture foresaw that in the last days of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, many people will turn away from the faith that saves them and will love to be told what their evil hearts desires. So, they run away from the truth of God and gather around themselves great teachers who tell them what their evil hearts want to hear. That they will drive nice cars, that they would own houses in leafy surburbs of the town and that they would marry 'beautiful wives' and 'handsome husbands'. That they are destined to be rich and become famous in this world. They love it this way. But, what does the scripture say, "What does it profit a man if he owns the whole world and yet forfeit his life" But, they love to hear this. But what does this have to do with their salvation? Is not salvation a thing of the heart? That they turn away from their sins and seek Jesus Christ and recieve from God eternal life. Is this not what we preach that all people should turn away from sins and recieve Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and believe in him for the salvation of their souls. That Christ died and was raised to life and that those who believe in him will be raised to life just as he was and live with him for eternity. This is true and trustworthy gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. The forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the Cross. And that those who have rejected Jesus Christ remain in their sins and will face eternal punishment in the lake of fire when he comes to judge the world. Yet this is the generation of lawlessness since they have forsaken the law of God, the law of Love, of faith in God, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, mercy and self control. The antichrist is the man of lawlessness. And, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) "For such men are false apostles, decietful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) Yes, "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry but others out of good will. The later do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambitions not sincerely" (Phillippians 1:15-18) Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, watch out that you will not be decieved by these cunning false brothers. You here them preach Christ but not sincerely yet out of envy and jealousy and they speak as if they are his servants but are not, and all this to satisfy their greed and evil desires. Be alert and be on the lookout for these false brothers. They are already in the world and have founded their own churches and claim to have been sent by God and yet are not. Be alert as children of God loved by God and called to be saints. (Revelation 2:2) The Lord Jesus Christ while in the body on this earth before he acsended to heaven, spoke about these false brothers when he said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers" (Matthew 7:15-23) This calls for wisdom on the part of the saints of God. It is not about miracles, prophecy or the driving out of demons but the spirit behind all this. Which spirit is doing this? Is not the evil one in his own magic arts does these things? But if we do all this by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you. Be wise and live by the Spirit of God for discernment to be able to judge which spirit is behind all this. The righteous shall live by faith not by sight. Do not believe what you see with your fleshly eyes but ask God that your eyes of faith may be opened to see clearly in the Spirit. Life is in the Spirit not the physical. Do not take pride in what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. The Word of God is Spirit and where the Spirit of God is there is freedom. "Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:17-18) "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord" (Jude 1:4) "Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men, "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all ungodly of the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way and of the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 1:14-15) For it is written, "In the last days, there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men who divide you who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit" (Jude 1:17-18) Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, for one to be a christian, he must be led by the Spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can serve God. God is Spirit and those who worship him must do so in the Holy Spirit and in Christ Jesus the Son of God. But many today have rejected the Holy Spirit and do their own things through feelings and the knowledge of this world but claim to have been sent by God. They study the Bible, the Word of God on their own without the Spirit of God and teach and preach by the knowledge of this world. Yet they do not believe what they teach and preach. The Word of God is not lodged in their hearts. Their hearts are empty of the Word of God and only speak from the mouth. What kind of christians are they? And we ask: How do you worship God without the Spirit of God and without the Word of God in your heart? (John 5:39-44) Christianity is about a heart that believes God. A heart that is full of faith and the grace of God. Your heart is your spirit. Relationship with God is Spirit to spirit. The Spirit of God to the spirit of man that is Christianity. That is how we relate with God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.(John 4:23-24) But how do you worship God without the Spirit of God? Brothers and sisters, be wise in everything you do. Do not believe everything but test the spirit to check whether it is the Spirit of God speaking to you because many false prophets have gone out into the world to decieve those who are perishing. Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy! False pretense and deception. "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt, snatch others from the fire and save them" (Jude 1:20-22) For Judgment is drawing near and Christ is coming and will not delay. For God said, "The great Day of the LORD is near ,near and coming quickly....... I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD's wrath. In the fire of his jealousy, the whole world will be consumed. For he will make a sudden end of all who live in the earth" (Zephaniah 1:14-18) Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, we have spoken about this now and again and many are still without knowledge and lack understanding. They say in their hearts, "It has been like this from the beginning and where is this coming you speak about?" And we tell you that God is patient with you not wanting you to perish but to come to repentance and be saved. Because if you die today and you have not received Jesus Christ, you die in your sins and you miss eternal life. Salvation is now in this life. What if today is your last day on earth, are you ready to meet Jesus? Yet only those who are born again will meet him. What about you: Is Christ with you? Live your life as if today is your last day on earth, in righteousness and holiness, then you will make it to heaven. This is true and trustworthy. Seek Jesus before the distress of the world begins. And, "Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give it's light, the stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and all the nations of the earth will mourn . They will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens to the other" (Matthew 24:29-31) (Ezekiel 7:1-27) (Zephaniah 1:14-18) "Look, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be: Amen" (Revelation 1:7) Come, Lord Jesus. And may the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us forever and ever: Amen Let's pray Holy Father, have mercy on me a sinner. Do not leave me behind but remember me in your mercy when the righteous in Christ are gathered to you on the last day. Righteous Father, do not bring Judgment on your servant but give your servant the grace to serve you until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ name I pray: Amen
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