From the ministry archive
The Last Days and the Nature of God
"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. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you" (I Jn. 2:18-26). Okay, I'm going ultra simplistic today, with a really plain focus on the bare foundation of the truth of the Gospel. First let's understand that to be an 'antichrist' is as seriously bad as it gets. What the word 'antichrist' really means is 'instead of Christ.' In other words an antichrist doctrine turns Jesus Christ into someone that he is NOT, and also disallows for him to be who he in fact IS. Anyone who is doing this is literally defecating on the love of God that sent Jesus to this world to suffer and die for the sins of all mankind, as well as on his agonizing death itself. John makes it very clear that anyone who does NOT confess and believe that the man Jesus who was born of Mary in Bethlehem, is THE Christ, is an antichrist. There were, as the apostle stated, already in his day "many antichrists" who were seeking to undermine "the faith that was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3). That is why Jude exhorted the believers he wrote to, to "earnestly contend for the faith," in the same verse as quoted. Jude also went on to say that these men were by their teachings "denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1:4). So just how were they doing that? Exactly the way John said, by "denying that Jesus is THE Christ." Note that Jude said they were denying both God the Father, AND the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's like John said, those who "deny the Son, the same hath not the Father." So again, the whole 'antichrist' agenda is about turning Jesus into someone other than who he is, which is both the Lord and the only begotten Son of God. The fact that there were already many antichrists troubling the early believers was the reason for such verses of scripture as the following: "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:8,9). This passage was actually an exhortation to people who were already in Christ to continue in the basic hub of the faith, which is that Jesus is the Lord, and that he died and rose to take our sins away. You may note that the apostle clearly said that this word of truth had already been in the hearts and mouths of the people that he was writing to. The misguided efforts of modern Christian evangelism to use the verbal expression of this passage of scripture as some kind of methodology of being born again, really obscures the truth that it was actually a passage of scripture that was intended to protect already born again believers against the antichrists of their day. Another passage that is exactly like that one was also written to people who were already in Christ, as were all of the new testament epistles: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Cor. 15:1-4). The remainder of that long chapter shows very clearly that the apostle Paul was dealing with a group of people that were being seduced into a teaching that Christ did not actually raise from the dead. So again, if Jesus didn't raise from the dead, then he is still dead, and he cannot be the Christ or the Lord of heaven and earth. That of course means he is someone other than who the Bible portrays him as, and someone other than who we have believed in.
If those things are the case then our faith is, as Paul said in that same chapter, 'in vain.' So who do you figure is behind that conspiracy? Yeah, the king antichrist himself, Satan, who comes "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (Jn. 10:10). The truth is, until we realize what this passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians 15 is really about, as well as Romans 10:8,9; those passages really appear to be rather mundane, as in, "Okay, but everybody knows that." But the antichrists that John wrote of were being successful in their endeavors to subvert the basic faith of the saints in their day, and we have seen that all of the writers of the new testament were warning the people against these "false teachers" as Peter called them: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (II Pet. 2:1). You can see that Peter's report was the same as well, even defining the doctrines of these anitchrists as "damnable heresies." All heresies are not 'damnable,' though all heresies are erroneous teachings about Jesus and his Gospel. But a "damanble heresy" is one that results in the damnation of those who teach them, as well as those who embrace them. A damnable heresy is one that turns the Lord Jesus Christ completely into someone other than who he is, and thereby "denies the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ," as Jude stated. Accepting a damnable heresy is the same thing as blaspheming the holy Ghost, which is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, and thus the 'damnable' aspect of that kind of heresy (Mat. 12:31,32; I Jn. 5:16). The man Jesus who was born of Mary in Jerusalem, was and is the only begotten Son of God who came from heaven. He also died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, and he rose again on the third day; and now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven, making intercession for all who will trust him with their lives. He is also coming again from heaven visibly on a white horse with the armies of heaven with him, and he will then destroy the wicked of the earth and reign with his chosen saints for a thousand years (Rev. 19:11-21; Rev. 20:1-4). Any teaching that turns him into anything that omits any of those things is antichrist, and any teaching that eliminates ALL of those things is totally a "damnable heresy."
The antichrists that John spoke of continued on and several centuries later produced the false prophet Mohammed, who invented the evil religion of Islam. Islam is the model of antichrist religion and doctrine, as it turns Jesus Christ altogethr into someone other that who he is. It's interesting to note that Jesus is actually the focal point of Islam, but for the exact purpose of diminishing him to be just another of the old testament prophets. Islam actually lavishes Jesus with respect, as well as his mother Mary; but only to the purpose of masquerading him as someone who is NOT the only begotten Son of God, and who is NOT the Lord of heaven and earth, and who did NOT die on the cross of Calvary, and who did NOT raise from the dead! Islam even teaches that Jesus ascended to heaven and will return one day as well. But his second coming according to Islam will NOT be the visible and mighty coming from heaven with the armies of heaven with him, to destroy the wicked. He will just kind of 'show up' in the earth one day and SAY he came from heaven. In reality the 'Jesus' of Islam is actually the 'false prophet' of the book of Revelation, and Jesus told us this while he was yet here: "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" (Mat. 24:24). Yes, Jesus puts this into the plural tense, but you can take it to the bank that he was talking about THE false prophet that John wrote of in Revelation: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast" (Rev. 13:11,13,14). I need to add at this point that ONLY someone who has believed on Jesus unto being baptized BY Jesus with the holy Ghost, can actually blaspheme the holy Ghost through embracing a 'damnable heresy' such as Islam or what is known as 'Jehovah's Witnesses,' which also denies the bodily resurrection of Christ as well as his visible second coming. Reason being that apart from that experience of faith, one is NOT in Christ and has not been born again, and therefore cannot in effect betray Christ (I Cor. 12:13; II Cor. 5:17).
The scripture plainly confirms these things to be true, even as I have set forth: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Heb. 6:4-6). And again: "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (II Pet. 2:20-22). So while this kind of thing is the worst of news for someone who HAS been born again, and turned to a damnable heresy; it is also good news for someone who is a Jehovah's Witness or Islamic, or some other damnable heresy, that wants to be converted to the faith of Christ. Seeing they had never committed their lives to Christ to begin with, they had not been in the position to betray him either; though they had been partakers of an antichrist religion. You may remember that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was one of the twelve apostles of Christ, and was very close to him. That is the only way Jesus COULD be betrayed, meaning by someone who was seen as a friend and companion. So hopefully this article has helped us to see passages like Romans 10:8-10 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 in a more emphatic manner, and to understand that it is a huge thing to our faith to actively maintain the belief and confession that Jesus of Nazareth was and is indeed the only begotten Son of God who died for our sins, rose on the third day, is the Lord of heaven and earth by the Father; and is "coming [again] in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Mat. 24:30). That should hold us over for the moment. God bless.
Both of my sons, @[100002740056304:2048:Benjamin Hale] and @[1582418500:2048:Elisha Hale] are to be credited for their studies and input into this massively powerful and saving truth.
