This Sunday we’ll be examining 1 John 2:18-19
John is going to warn us very emphatically about false leaders who are opposing the young church. He uses strong language to describe them. Liars and antichrists. Antichrist is a provocative word, isn’t it? What do we usually associate the name with? It may surprise us where that word is found in the Bible…and where it isn’t. The main concept of the word is “anti-messiah” – opposing or undermining the truth of Jesus as Messiah while appearing to represent or replace him.
John has specific people in mind when he uses this term. He’s talking about false leaders who are attempting to derail the faith of the young believers in the churches he planted.
How does John describe their deception in v19 and 22? How would we translate to our present day church…what would we need to be wary of when it comes to the teachers we listen to?
John also encourages us that we don’t have to fear or bother about false teachers much – we have some specific provisions given to us by God to preserve us on our journey. V20,21,24, 28,29 all describe specific ways in which God has given us what we need to stay the course when being opposed by deception. How would you word what John says in these verses?
Well…it will be a challenging study (be prepared to think), but I believe a very encouraging one as well. Hope to see you then!
WONDERWHAT 
What about one that professes belief in Christ, but stresses obedience to the commandments? Their belief is that God cannot accept man’s love, rather, one must learn ‘correctly’ how to love God, and this can only obtained through denunciation of “idols” supposedly present within ALL mainstream churches. Pretty much, for the last month, I have addressed the points of I John and shared Jesus’ response to “What is the greatest commandment?” Love being the pivotal debate here. This person has totally excluded themselves from the body as a whole citing the scripture to “come out from them and be separate from them”. They stress that there are other steps one must do to be acceptable to God. In spite of trying to illuminate the wonderful simplicity of God’s Word, and the concepts of grace, love, trust, and righteousness that only comes through Christ’s gift on the cross, I am getting nowhere. I have challenged them in ways to love their neighbor, go to a church and be a friend to someone lonely, regardless of their theology, yet they still see only the need to perfect God’s love through a special ‘insight”of how to love fully via God’s love through them. The whole point of tangible acts of love to our brothers in Christ, seems to be missed. I approached how they are negating the Holy Spirits gift of teaching and the trust that Christ will complete His good work in us, and, by their thinking, they are adding new commandments onto the back of those once burdened by the old life. I am not concerned that their teaching will in anyway sway me, but it is so heavy and I’ve waded in it so long, my heart wearies of the debate.
So I pray for them, and vacillate a little with self-imposed guilt as the emails keep coming.
For a current, live version, of a false prophet see: http://www.cegenglish.com.
http://youtu.be/H8WIEHTX7AE JB
José Luis de Jesús
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
José Luis de Jesús
José Luis de Jesús at a CEG meeting
José Luis de Jesús at a CEG meeting (November 2008).
Born José Luis de Jesús Miranda
April 27, 1946
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died August 8, 2013 (aged 67)[1]
Sugarland, Texas[1][2]
Nationality American
Other names The Antichrist
Jesochristo Hombre
Melchizedek
Father/Dad/Daddy[3]
Occupation Pastor
Organization Growing in Grace International
Known for Eschatological preaching, founding religious sect
Salary $228,000 (in 2007) [4]
Religion Creciendo en Gracia
(Growing in Grace)
Criminal charge
Petty Theft,[3] DUI
Criminal penalty
Incarceration – 9 Months [5]
Spouse(s) Josefina Torres (Divorced),
Nydia Vélez (Divorced)
Children Four daughters, one son[6]
Website
http://www.cegenglish.com
José Luis de Jesús Miranda (April 22, 1946 – August 8, 2013)[1][2] was the leader of the Creciendo en Gracia sect, based in Miami, Florida. He claimed to be both the returned phase of Jesus Christ and the Antichrist; he was known for making statements that opposed the precepts of the Roman Catholic Church but that followed his interpretation of the Bible.[7] He was previously known as el Jesucristo Hombre (which translates, roughly, to “the Jesus-Christ Man”) but shortly after his death his followers granted him the title of Melchizedek because, as stated by his official site, he “attained his new and final name which means king of justice and king of peace”.[8][9]