Truth or lies by Sandy Simpson

1 John
Study 4
by Sandy Simpson

Truth or Lies?
1 John 2:18-25

In this lesson we finally get to the heart of both the key to understanding 1 John and a main reason he wrote this letter. We have seen so far that John has been talking about how God views things as opposed to men. Men tend to rationalize things so that they can leave room for sin. God sees things as light or darkness, obedience ort disobedience, as serving the Father or serving the world, and in this lesson as truth or lies. There is no gray area in-between. False teachers, those who lay error alongside truth and secretly introduce destructive heresies, always try to make lies sound like truth.

1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

John warns the believers, as he would warn his own children, that we are living in the last hour. The history of the earth is basically divided up into approximately three eras: the first 2000 years are the Ancient World before the flood, the second 2000 years are the time of the establishment of the nation of Israel and God’s covenant with Abraham, and the last 2000 years are the times of the Gentiles who have the gift of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of sin if they will believe on Him. John lived to see the beginning of the end times. John had no way of knowing how long this end times would last, but he was correct in stating that those he wrote to were living in the last hour. This is why we, at the end of the last hour, are very close to the return of Christ. The early church had been taught that an Antichrist was coming by Paul.

2 Thess. 2:1-4 ¶ Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

You must realize that there are people today who claim this prophecy took place in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed. But this cannot be so because a number of things in this prophecy did not happen yet. In the NIV is uses the word “rebellion” and says it must come first. This is not an accurate translation. The word is actually “apostasia” meaning a falling away, defection, and apostasy. There was no falling away in 70 AD but there is today. The church is being corrupted by false teachings and people are following after false teachers, false prophets and false Christs or antichrists. Antichrist actually is “antichristos” which means the adversary of the Messiah or a false Christ, a pretended Messiah, who sets himself up instead of Christ, proclaiming that he is Christ. Another thing that did not fully happen was that no one set themselves up in God’s temple claiming to be God in 70 AD. This is because if Titus, who led the Roman army to destroy Jerusalem, had claimed to be God he would have been executed because only the Caesars of Rome could claim to be God. Some Bible scholars claim that Nero was the Antichrist but Nero died in 68 AD before Jerusalem was destroyed and never stood in the temple declaring Himself to be God. Vespesian was actually Caesar in 70 AD and his son, Titus, led the army to destroy Jerusalem. So it is impossible that this verse was fulfilled in 70 AD as Titus could not claim to be God and Vespasian never stood in the temple in Jerusalem making this claim.

But John states that though there is an Antichrist coming in “the last hour” there are many other antichrists that will come first. These are all types of the Antichrist to come in the last hour. Today we have many antichrists, those who claim to be little gods, little Messiahs, even the “I AM”. Here are some quotes from well-known “Christian” televangelists and cultists saying we are God.

.“You don’t have a god in you, you are one,” (Kenneth Copeland, The Force of Love (Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987), audiotape #02-0028, side 1.)

“I am a little messiah walking on earth,..... You are a little god on earth running around (Benny Hinn Praise-a-Thon TBN, Nov. 6 1990)

“We are the essence of God, His on-going incarnation in the world” Bishop Earl Paulk, Held In The Heavens (Atlanta: K Dimension Publishers, 1985, p. p. 125.)

.“God and man are one. Man is incarnate God.”(Sung Myung Moon of the Moonies, Christianity in Crises p.5)

“The Fullness of the Godhead dwells in me ... God has planned for me to be Christ's image on the earth” (Morris Cerullo from the Video MANIFEST SONS OF GOD).

.“The believer is called Christ…That’s who we are; we’re Christ!” (Kenneth M. Hagin, Zoe: The God-Kind of Life (Tulsa, OK: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc., 1989), 35-36, 41.)

.“We were created to be gods over the earth, but remember to spell it with a little “g.” (Charles Capps, Image of You (Harrison House, 1985), p. 34.)

speaking of Adam “I’m training a god of the earth. I got to teach him to do what I do.”(Creflo Dollar, Our equality with God through righteousness 1/21/2001)

“Trust God. Or if you wish, trust yourself, for Thou Art God.” (Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 3, Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1998; p. 350)

.“I am the Christ of God.” (Charles Fillmore, Statements for the Realization of the Son of God Christian Healing)

“The divine name from Exod. 3:14, “I Am who I Am,” is appropriated by Jesus who shows us how to embrace our own divinity. The Cosmic Christ is the “I am” in every creature” (The Coming of the Cosmic Christ by Matthew Fox p.154)

“Within all men sits a God. That God is your true Self“ (Maitreya, Messages, p. 110)

So we know that this is the last hour, the last era, of the world because many antichrists have already come and one final Antichrist is coming. The antichrists, those who went out from the true church because they were rejected as heretics by true believers, started back in the first century.

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.

Those who deny one or more of the core doctrines of the Christian Faith are those who have departed from the Faith. The fact is that they never really believed the same things we believed, they only pretended to. Unfortunately today, because Christians are not rejecting heretics as they did in the first century, we now have antichrists that have full access to the churches and this is why we are in a time of falling away. Those who are true believers remain with true believers. Those who are not depart from the core doctrines of the Faith and then try to get people to follow them. Beware of those who proselytize or try to get Christians out of their current fellowship into another. False teachers like Benny Hinn and all others on TV are simply trying to get followers to themselves, thus going against God’s established way of having local churches.

1 John 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.

This is an extremely important point, just as important as it was in the first century. We have to realize that we already have the Anointing of Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit. We already know Him. Beware of false prophets and false Christs who come along and claim that you don’t have the anointing but that they can lay their hands on you and give you an anointing. There is only one Anointing, that God gives that when you a born again. Those who come along and claim to be able to impart an anointing are those who have departed from the Faith. This is how you can test them. Yet many Christians are deceived by the claims of a transferable impartation of some kind of anointing today and then end up following false teachers. If you follow a false prophet or false teacher, you will end up where they are going.

Jeremiah 27:15 ’I have not sent them,’ declares the LORD. ’They are prophesying lies in my name. Therefore, I will banish you and you will perish, both you and the prophets who prophesy to you.’"

1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

This is a key to understanding the book of 1 John. Christians know the truth, so why would they follow false teachers? Christians ought to know, because they already have the indwelling Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth, that there is no such thing as truth that has lies in it. To God there is only truth. Yet today people think they can listen to and believe in half-truths filled with lies and still have a relationship with God. But if you have the indwelling Holy Spirit because you are born again, lies should cause you repulsion. They should make you sick in your spirit and conscience. No true believer can sit and listen to lies coming from alleged “Christians” on TV or in their church and not have to confront those lies. Lies need to be challenged and unrepentant liars need to be rejected. We need to stay away from and not listen to those who lay error alongside truth.

2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them— bringing swift destruction on themselves.

One sure way to test if a person is a false teacher is to see if they are denying the Lord in some way.

1 John 2:22 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.
1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

There are many liars today who deny the Jesus is the Christ in some way. There are two criteria for exposing an antichrist here. (1) They deny Jesus is the Christ and (2) they deny the Father and the Son. Many cults and false religions today deny Jesus is the Christ. Judaism, Hinduism, Islam (Jesus is only a prophet), Buddhism, Bahai, all religions except for Christianity. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox affirm this in their creeds but teach that Jesus is put to death again each time they celebrate the Eucharist which denies that Jesus Christ is 100% man, having died once for all, in His glorified resurrection body seated at the right hand of God. Cults also reject Jesus Christ such as Jehovah Witness (Jesus is Michael), Mormon (Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, anyone could attain to be as Jesus was), old Worldwide Church Of God, Christian Science (Jesus is only an "anointed" human and demonstrated "Christ consciousness" as a human only), Christadelphians, any Gnostic groups (Jesus spirit only), Scientology, Inglesia Ni Christo (Christ is a man only), Unitarians, Unity (Jesus is the best manifestation of the Divine Mind). But, by what they teach about Christ, many people who pretend to be true believers also reject Jesus Christ. Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, and many others teach that Jesus just an anointed man only during all or part of His life on earth, that He died spiritually on the cross, and that physical death did not provide salvation. Any teachers who treat Jesus like a vending machine for health and wealth deny that Jesus Christ is Lord and any prophets who see false visions of Jesus proven by Scriptural model are teaching another Jesus. When Third Wave teachers chant "More Jesus", Jesus is treated as a substance instead of a person. Their alleged visions of Jesus often redefine the scriptural picture of Jesus. Kenneth Copeland denigrates Jesus' death and he has even taught that Jesus is brother of Satan as do the Mormons. I saw this on a video tape recently where Copeland was doing a play where he was playing Jesus and another man was playing Satan. At the end where Jesus is supposed to destroy Satan, Copeland as Jesus hugs the man playing Satan and calls him his brother.

There is also another way to tell an antichrist false teacher. That is if they deny the Trinity, denying the Father and the Son. False religions that do not believe in the Trinity are Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Bahai, all religions except for Christianity, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox. Yet Catholicism is close to confusing the Trinity by adding Mary as co-redemptrix with Christ, and is already teaching this concept in their prayers, novenas, Catechism and with paintings showing Mary as part of the Godhead. Cults would include Jehovah Witness (denial of the person of the Holy Spirit as "God's active force"), Mormon (God is an "exalted man" with a body), old Worldwide Church Of God, Christian Science (Trinity suggests "polytheism"), Inglesia Ni Christo (Christ is a man only), Scientology, Unification Church (Trinity is man, woman and God; Jesus married the Holy Spirit), United Pentecostal Church & Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (Non Trinity, Jesus only), Unitarians, Unity (God is not a being but a force), United Church of Jesus Christ, many Apostolic Churches and any churches descending from William Branham and Azusa Street "Oneness" Pentecostals (Trinity is a doctrine of demons, Jesus only). But there are also those who claim to be true Christians today such as Benny Hinn who at one time claimed that God is a nine part God. Some of them may claim to believe in the Trinity but you have to see what the actually teach. When the Spirit is treated as a substance both Deity and personality is denied. When God is "on call" Deity is compromised and God is blasphemed. Many of the manifestations in Hinn and other Third Wave meetings lower man to beastly or sub-human levels. The Spirit's actions always raise man to the character of Christ. Thus, to call these manifestations the work of the Spirit is a (not "the") blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

We need to especially be aware that many false teachers are saying today that Muslims worship the same God as Christians. But that is impossible because the Koran says:

They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them. Quran [005.073]

"Say He is God, the One and Only God, the, Eternal, Absolute. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him!" Qur'an [112:1-4]

It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is. Quran [019.035]

The Koran is clear that Islam teaches that God has no Son. They go on to say that Jesus Christ was only a prophet, and not even as great as Mohammed, and that Christ was not really crucified. You can be sure that “Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.”

1 John 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
1 John 2:25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

To combat this apostasy that has come on the world, because many antichrists have gone out, we need to abide or stay in the teachings that we have heard from Jesus Christ and the Apostles. That means we stick with what the Bible teaches. When some new teaching comes along that does not square with the Bible, we reject that teaching and admonish those teaching it to stop. If they do not repent and stop we are to avoid them also, warning others. How important is this type of discernment and abiding? If biblical teaching abides in us then we abide in the Son and in the Father. Does it matter what you believe? Can you mix truth with lies? Not according to God. God has promised us that if we continue believing what we have been taught by Jesus Christ, the Apostles and prophets in the Bible, we will have eternal life. Oh, but I thought I only had to believe in Jesus Christ to have eternal life? Of course! But what if someone comes along and corrupts your belief system and you end up believing something else?

2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

So, contrary to what many Third Wave heretics teach today, doctrine does matter. What you believe has everything to do with whether or not you will have eternal life. The Bible is clear, though many today do not want to hear: we must abide in Christ to have Christ, and thus have eternal life.