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Text of the page (random words):
blaiklock declared nothing is so damaging in the study of nt prophecy as to imagine that the eternal god who stands above and outside of time is bound by the clocks and calendars of men the nt writers who describe the start of the last days are already looking forward to its consummation it s clear that the last days will themselves have last days the latter a period of terrible moral and spiritual decadence 2 tim 3 1ff 2 pet 3 3ff the last times will have also have a last time when the ungodly will arise and our eternal inheritance as believers will be revealed 1 pet 1 5 jam 5 3 the last day of the last days will culminate in christ raising the dead and judging a rebellious world jn ch 6 11 12 the word antichrist occurs in the scriptures only in john s three letters 1 jn 2 18 22 4 3 2 jn 7 but the concept is found elsewhere e g the ot prophet daniel ch s 11 12 speaks of the abomination that makes desolate partly fulfilled when greek king antiochus epiphanes desecrated the jerusalem temple in c 168 bc and then repeated in 70 ad by roman emperor titus below john writes that although antichrist is coming according to the teaching of the apostles so now many antichrists have come apparently these many antichrists are forerunners of the chief antichrist still to come jesus himself warned his disciples of false christs pseudechristoi mk 13 mt 24 and of one to come aping christ himself whose teaching would fundamentally oppose his person and mission i e he would come as the great counterfeit and opposer of christ 2 thess 2 3 4 the lawless one the many antichrists who have already come are identified by john as human teachers 2 19 they no doubt included the many false prophets of 4 1 these had left the congregations under john s oversight having failed to to impress the church leaders of each assembly excommunicating themselves in my own house church experience of 20 years flaky believers have always left on their own it s hard to hide in a smaller group the apostle distinguishes sharply between those who have left and those who remain by their defection they have given clear evidence of their true character behind their secession was the divine purpose of unmasking the spurious and protecting the flock v 19 sheds light on two important doctrines a the perseverance of the saints b the nature of the ecclesia jesus said those who endure to the end shall be saved mk 13 13 we also have to distinguish between the visible church and the invisible church god intends his ecclesia to be visibly manifest in local worship witnessing fellowships baptisms observable love etc dr john stott 1921 2011 claimed in his day that perhaps most visible church members are also members of the invisible church the mystical body of christ but some i would venture many are not they share our earthly company but not our heavenly birth only on the final day of separation will the wheat and the tares be completely revealed 1 jn 2 22 23 teaches us the nature and effect of heresy the false teaching of those who had left the body is now revealed it is a denial that jesus is the christ jn 4 2 3 and 2 jn 7 make clear that the theological heresy john is combating amounts to a denial that jesus christ is come in the flesh the ancient antichrists gnostics taught that jesus was born and died a man that the christ was within jesus only during his public ministry descending on him at his baptism and leaving him before the cross they denied that the man jesus and the eternal son were are the same person possessing two perfect natures human and divine i o w they denied the whole incarnation what shall be said of him who denies that jesus is the christ he she is the liar par excellence v 22 denying both the father and the son these heretics theology is not just defective but diabolical the fundamental doctrinal test of the professing christian concerns his her view of the person of jesus whether they are unitarians or new agers denying the lordship of jesus they are not true believers many strange cults which have popular appeal today can easily be discerned and repudiated by this test as postmodern examples i would include free masonry my father was one i know the terrible confusion it brought him and our family thank god he renounced masonry before he passed i would also include new agers like the ever popular oprah winfrey and her counselor richard rohr of enneagram and panentheism universalism fame talk about mask wearers in high places on religious pluralism cf tokunboh adeyemo s feature in the africa bible commentary p 1532 another subtle antichrist today imho is the exploding hebrew roots movement with some 120 known ministry groups in south africa mainly in gauteng and the western cape a friend of mine who defected from our house church declared jesus is the son of god but not god hr groups in my country claim jesus is merely the gateway to torah life contrast jn 14 6 in new zealand there is ian clayton s highly gnostic courts of heaven movement he openly accepts people bowing to him financial investments are involved his followers across the globe being virtually unteachable another example andrew strom a mainline pentecostal from new zealand has published documentaries proving how the hindu kundalini spirit which destroyed the toronto airport vineyard congregation years ago reportedly has infiltrated infiltrate bethel church s children s ministry chief champion in the us today south african businessman rodney howard browne manifestations include uncontrollable laughter and bodily contortions how do we safeguard ourselves the ecclesia against this backdrop cf 2 24 27 a cling to the word we received from the beginning let what you heard from the beginning abide in you if what you heard from the beginning abides in you then you will abide in the son and in the father and this is what he has promised us eternal life i e cling to the good news of christ the apostolic teaching the original message preached this doesn t happen automatically believers must shun the traditions of men and pursue the apostles primitive teachings outlined in the new testament b cling to the anointing chrisma we received from jesus through the holy spirit ultimately the spirit is our absolutely adequate teacher he illuminates god s word for us cf previous blog really knowing the truth question have you grasped this inwardly and experientially do you get it the christian fathers like chrysostom generally believed in a personal antichrist politically the most likely candidate was nero who legend held would reappear in resurrected form to continue his terrible reign the reformers equated the antichrist with the papacy wycliffe 1360 ad luther and calvin it s my strong conviction that in these days we also have to take into account the terrible blinding and corrupting power of systems both in the secular and spiritual world here i think of the global institutionalized church of which i was a part for 38 years such institutionalization includes protestant evangelical denominations 40 000 eastern orthodoxy cf gavin ortlund youtube and roman catholicism decades ago i read david yallop s in god s name 1984 an investigation of the sudden death of pope john paul 1 it became a times best seller bantom books laying bare the total corruption of the vatican bank and catholicism s general administration infiltrated by mafia bosses free masonry eliminating all who get in the way the book is absolutely believable it has never really been refuted at the same time i believe in a victorious church against which the gates of hades will not prevail mt 16 18 i refuse to live and serve in some kind of end time pessimism for in christ we are already more than conquerors 4 comments really knowing the truth posted on may 22 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized for the last few months i ve been reading slowly through the first letter of john the apostle challenges the false knowing of gnosticism ancient and postmodern decades ago dr john stott 1921 2011 of all souls fame in london my wife and i were privileged to worship there ages ago characterized the 20th century as an epoch of fundamental insecurity how much more so today everything is changing nothing is stable new social and political patterns are evolving the very survival of civilization is in doubt under the threat of nuclear war even the christian church is filled with confusion and uncertainty against this background to read the epistles of john is to enter another world altogether whose marks are assurance knowledge confidence and boldness the predominant theme of these epistles is christian certainty gr ginoskein 15x to perceive eidenei 25x to know parresia confidence of attitude 4x christian certainty is two fold a objective certainty the historical verifiable life death resurrection of jesus of nazareth and b subjective certainty we have been born again of god into eternal life both are expounded by john needing attention in all ages on the historical certainty of christ as the embodiment of god s truth his followers as a result of the anointing they have received all know absolutely 2 19ff nrsv they went out from us but they did not belong to us by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us but you have been anointed by the holy one and all of you have knowledge i write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you know it and you know that no lie comes from the truth who is the liar but the one who denies that jesus is the christ this is the antichrist the one who denies the father and the son no one who denies the son has the father everyone who confesses the son has the father also i recall a house church friend who fell into the hebrew roots trap saying jesus is the son but he is not god we couldn t believe our ears v 26ff i write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you as for you the anointing that you received from him abides in you and so you do not need anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and not a lie abide in him so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming when we say we know the truth this doesn t mean we know all things some things god has not yet revealed e g 3 2 rather our knowing includes the truth about this world and its condition ourselves our duty and divine destiny above all we know the truth about the living god and his eternal son jesus christ we know both god and christ we know that the son of god has come and given us understanding 2 13 14 3 6 4 6 7 we know that the cause of christ s coming to this world was love 3 16 4 16 with the purpose of taking away our sins 3 5 the ground of our certainty about christ hasn t changed the fact that we read john s epistles written 95 100 ad in the 21st century rather than the 1st makes no difference the christian faith is still tethered to the historical christ event and the apostles witness to him we must abide make our home in these 2 jn 9 everyone who does not abide in the teaching of christ but goes beyond it does not have god whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son to advance beyond this teaching will inevitably lead us into error and ruin congregations are not to stray into novel doctrines but to recall what they have heard from the beginning 2 24 furthermore those who believe in the historical jesus jn 1 1 14 the word became flesh and 1 jn 1 1 4 the word of life based on the unique testimony of the apostolic eyewitnesses are granted the confirmatory witness of the spirit within this all brings the followers of jesus into a magnificent certainty and assurance about eternal life they possess a joyful divine quality of life now on earth and in the future rather than simply length of time in summary the kind of knowledge which is distinctively treated in john s letters is not merely objective outside of ourselves but also subjective inside of ourselves it concerns not only the truth about god and his christ but also our own christian relationship with god which the apostle describes by 4 favourite expressions a we know that we know him 2 3 b we know that we are in him and that he dwells in us 2 5 4 13 c we know that we are of god 5 18 19 d we know that we have passed from death to life and have his divine eternal life 3 14 5 13 i o w to be a believer in the language of the apostle john is to have been born of god to know him and to be in him enjoying that intimate and personal fellowship with him which is eternal life 5 20 of this heavenly birth and life giving relationship we have no doubt in fact john declares that his whole purpose in writing his first letter is that those who believe might also know 5 13 nb john s argument is double edged if he attempts to bring believers to the the knowledge that they have eternal life he is equally at pains to show that unbelievers have not they re eternally lost at this point it s worth adding pastor author aw tozer s 1897 1963 special insight into the above there is a difference between the intellectual knowledge of god and the spirit revealed knowledge modern orthodoxy has made a great blunder in the erroneous assumption that spiritual truths can be intellectually perceived until a man receives the illumination that inward enlightenment he will not have anything because bible study does not of itself lift the veil or penetrate it there is the christ whom only the holy spirit can reveal you may be convinced that he is the son of god and still never find him as the living person he is jesus christ must be revealed by the holy spirit no one knows the things of god but by the holy spirit the final flash that introduces your heart to jesus must be by that illumination of the holy spirit himself or it isn t done at all this is critically important dr martyn lloyd jones 1899 1981 welsh medical specialist and expository preacher of westminster chapel fame penned a marvelous book on the anointing and baptism of the holy spirit viz joy unspeakable 1 pet 1 8 nrsv leading to heavenly joy and power humbly i refer to my own baptism of the spirit and anointing to preach coincidental with my new birth believe it or not at the tender age of 14 born into a totally nominal christian family the lord encountered me one day with the reality of eph 2 8 10 on the way back from a corner store to buy bread never will i forget that day as i hastened home walking and leaping and praising god acts 3 8 i could mention a child s anointing of the spirit during the hebrides revival of 1949 52 there had been earnest prayers for awakening to god including those of 2 elderly sisters in their humble croft and 7 men in a barn poring over ps 24 the story goes that a resistant woman was invited to a croft meeting in her village it was so crowded she couldn t get in but it took just one glimpse through a window of a young child s radiant face to bring her to christ in my young adult years i was privile...
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