"Many False Prophets" and False Jesus
I was jogging yesterday and passed a man who shouted out to me with stern face, “that wouldn’t work “. He was referring to my alternative mask covering. I had folded my baseball cap to cover my nose and mouth as I passed people on the track which has lots of room for social distancing. I did not respond to his comment.
On my way back, I met the same man as he was going the opposite direction. I had previously decided that if I saw him again, I would say thank you for his comment. I did and said thank you; that I appreciate. He stopped and we ended up talking for more 30 minutes.
Upon hearing his initial comment about my alternative mask, a bit of anger had welled up in me to say, who are you, a mask police? But as we both stopped and talked, I explained that I feel suffocated jogging and wearing a mask. I also found out that he was very worried and petrified about protecting himself; and shared how he had confronted many others for not wearing masks.
My heart went out for him and I encouraged him to trust God while all of us do what we can to keep safe. We talked about many other things and he confessed that he had not been nice to a young woman of color at Chipotle whose mask was sliding up and down while waiting on customers. Please pray for my new friend Steve whom I would be seeing from time to time on the trail. Please pray that God will open his heart to trust God and that he will put his faith in Christ. Steve needs the love of God to deliver him from extreme fear of dying.
Steve is in his early sixties like me. Yes, we can still relate/talk as people of different races and backgrounds when we yield to humility, shun pride and love one another. I had to swallow my pride. I thank God for the Spirit’s enablement. I could have easily had the “mask meltdown” you see in the news. LOL. Of course I wear face mask and recommend it.
So, what’s that got to do with false gospel, false Jesus and false prophets? Yes, we must discern, and rebuke any false prophets in our midst; and reject any false Jesus and false gospels that deny the deity and humanity of Christ. However, we must not miss humanity and forget that Christ became flesh in order to save us from our sins. Jesus had to be human to feel what we feel and to die the death we deserve as messed up sinners. Christ came for my new friend Steve regardless of his facade of toughness and hiding in his insecurity.
Let’s hear from Apostle John as he warns us of many false prophets and false Jesus , 1 John 4:1-6:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
Christ is 100% God who chose to be 100% human at the same time (John 1). The distortion of this truth is the battle that has been fought from the early church and still raging. Apostle John is warning his audience and now warning us in today’s study about the spirit of the antichrist.
Yes we must not yield on this position of Christ’s deity and humanity. If He is not God, then He could not have been a perfect human which He is. There is no Salvation if Christ is not perfect God and perfect human at the same time. “Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God”.
We all have responsibility to discern false teachers and false Gospel. We are told to “test [every] spirit”. How? By comparing what we hear to the word of God because Scripture interprets Scripture. We have been given the spirit of discernment (1 Cor. 12:10); we must tests and judge the spirits according to scriptures such as 1 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, and 2 Peter 1:20-21.
We have the Spirit of God living in us (1 John 3:24), therefore we can’t be afraid of the false teachers “because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Jesus also warned us of false prophets in Matthew 7:15. They appear in “sheep clothing” and propagate 95% truth and 5% lies. On one hand, the Jehovah Witness, Mormons and the Muslims all deny that Jesus is God. Others accept that Jesus is God but deny that He actually became human. All are lies and liars. They manifest in various forms; they have the form of godliness and deny the power of God to save (2 Timothy 3:5-7).
Have you checked out the doctrines of your local church/congregation to insure it lines up with Scriptures? “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits“. Check out the fruits of lifestyles and speeches of teachers/speakers you listen to. Oh, there are many false prophets and false Jesus and false doctrines out there. Please call me out or any other when what we say does not line up with Scripture. There is a “spirit of truth and spirit of error”. There is a spirit behind false teachers and it is the spirit of the devil.
At the same time, we must be doers of the Word and continue to love one another and others like my new friend Steve. We must reflect the grace of Jesus as we call out people in this “cancel culture”. Let’s engage people instead of outright write-off. Let’s take advantage of insults and hatred as a platform to proclaim and live out the Christ in us, the “hope of glory”.
Thank you Lord, for your Holy Spirit that lives in me. Lord, please save me from false prophets. Please continue to enable me to proclaim you, the TRUTH and may your grace and love flow through me to all. Amen.
Be the Jesus in human flesh that others can feel and be touched today. Amen.
Comments