Will the Real Jesus Please Stand

Earlier this week I placed a quote from Dr. Adrian Rogers who said, "What you do with Jesus will determine what Jesus does with you." At first glace, it seems to be a little harsh. After all, that's not the Jesus that our culture knows for the most part. Instead, we have embraced a wimpy feminized Jesus. We are  rarely, if ever, introduced to the Jesus who had rough and calloused carpenters hands and who went into the temple with righteous fire in his eyes, started pitching tables, and accused them of being a bunch of thieves.

I believe this is partly the result of the modern church's attempt to placate a self-proclaimed "tolerant" culture that no longer wants to be faced with absolute truth. They don't want to be told anything emphatically. Thus, an over-emphasizes on the grace of God, and a virtual dismissal of the justice of God. They teach on heaven all day long, but never touch the subject of hell lest they appear to be coming on too strongly or someone gets offended.

Make no mistake about it, it is always easier to deliver good news to people rather than bad. In my current position at the university, I speak with students everyday about their academic successes and failures. Oh, it's easy and uplifting to all to let a student know how well they are doing in their studies. On the other hand, it can be quite difficult to lay out the bad and the ugly in that same conversation, but it must be done. For me not to do so would be totally unfair to the student. If I know where the road that he or she is on is headed, I have an obligation to tell them them the truth. 

However, when it comes to spiritual things, why is that Christians and the the church as a whole shy away from speaking truth? Could it be that we are afraid of being accused of being intolerant and judgmental. I believe so. The left is using this tactic to elbow the church away from the table. They want us to shut up and will do everything in their power to make us look like intolerant bigots, and hatemongers if we refuse to do so (e.g., Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty). Ravi Zacharias said it best the other day when he said, "This is the new America of tolerance, another vacuous word defined by relativists whose only absolutes are the denial of any other reality except their own." 

I think that we need to be reminded that it was our Lord who said in Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. He was merely stating fact. The words "many" and "few" in those verses meant then exactly what they mean today.

Eternal Life - 1 John 2:25-26

v.25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

What a promise God has promised those who stay faithful to what they have learned. Please remember that in the previous verses he was talking about remembering what they had been taught in regards to who Jesus Christ was in spite of what many where saying around them. Jesus Christ claimed to be God incarnate and the apostles taught the same. To deny the deity of Christ is to deny salvation (vv.22-23).

People will be quick to jump at this point and ask, "So, does that mean that people can lose their salvation?" Personally, I don't believe the Bible teaches that for a minute, and those who do simply do not have a grasp on the Scriptures. My point is that we are very quick to accuse people of losing their salvation when in fact they never had it to start with. If a person denies the deity of Christ, they never had saving faith.

v.26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

Again, John is writing this epistle in response to the false teachers of the day who where teaching contrariwise and leading many away from the truth. Folks, those deceivers are still with us today. As a matter of fact, a group of them called Jehovah's Witnesses may just show up on your door one Saturday morning. They do not have the truth and are trying to lead others away from the truth. John speaks of these guys when he says in II John 7-11 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.  (8)  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.  (9)  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  (10)  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:  (11)  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Lord, Liar, or Lunatic - 1 John 2:24

v.24 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.

In the context of this verse, the truth has to do with who Jesus Christ was and claimed to be. The Gnostics were already gaining a foothold in the church with a false teaching that Jesus did not really come in the literal flesh, but was actually a phantom. This teaching was propagated best by one named Arius and it eventually became known as the Arian Heresy. He eventually came to the conclusion that Jesus was not God, but a creation of God just like us. Sadly, this same teaching is the foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and Jehovah's Witnesses today. The Mormons say that Jesus is actually the brother of Lucifer (the Devil) and the Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus is actually Michael the Archangel. Either way, they both deny the deity of Jesus Christ and have left the truth.

Sadly, so many do the same thing today in the church. They come in long enough to hear the truth and then get lured away into error. They start out well, but then they take a detour. It is a big deal who you believe Jesus is. Was He just a great man or God Incarnate? It's no small issue. As a matter of fact, it is the none other than the difference between Heaven and Hell. Jesus said in John 8:24, I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. In this verse, Jesus is invoking the name of God, "I am" (the word "he" is not in the original text). He is claiming to be the same God that said to Moses in Exodus 3:14 after he asked him His name, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

The choice is ours to make. Jesus asks the same question of us today that He asked of Peter almost two thousand years ago in Luke 9:20, But whom say ye that I am? Josh McDowell says that each of us has to answer that question one way or the other. He is either Lord, Liar, or Lunatic to each of us. Who is He to you?

An Anointing – 1 John 2:20-23

v.20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

After discussing antichrists in the church, this verse now turns to the true Christians. The word know here comes from a Greek word that means to know by intuition. In other words, we simply know some things intuitively because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. John further drives home this point in v.27 when he says, But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Our Lord spoke to this in John 16:13-14 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (14) He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Paul also spoke of this ability to know in I Corinthians 2:9-12 when he said, But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (10) But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (12) Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (13) Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The Truth

v.21 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.

As a result of this ability to know, John says that they should be able to discern the lies that were already creeping into the first century church about who Jesus was. Gnosticism was gaining a foothold in the church at the time of this writing. For example, the Gnostics initially taught that Jesus was a phantom when He lived on the earth and didn’t have a body of flesh, but it was later developed by a man named Arias who taught that Jesus was not really God, but a created being. Arias taught that Jesus was not really God, but a created being. This heresy later became the basis for the Watchtower Society or Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Who is a Liar?

vv.22-23 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.  (23)  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Strong language! To deny that Jesus is the Christ is to deny the Father and that makes one antichrist. All of the “isms” and cults today have one thing in common. They deny the deity of Jesus Christ. The Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus is one and the same with Michael the Archangel and the Mormons say that He is the older brother of Satan.

Antichrists in the Church - 1 John 2:19

v.19 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. 

The bottom line is that there are some who profess to be Christians, go to church, take the Lord’s Supper, get baptized, go through all of the motions, but are not truly Christians. The proof is that they left, because if they had been of us, they would no doubt continued with us. 

Of these people Peter says in II Peter 2:21-22 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. (22) 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. 

J. Vernon McGee said, “You can wash a pig, put a little bow around his neck, polish his toes, brush his teeth, and take him into your home, but it’s still a pig!  In the end, it will go right back to the mud hole it came from.”

This even happened in Jesus’ ministry with Judas. He seemingly walked like, talked like, and looked like a true disciple on the outside, but of him Jesus said in John 6:64, there are some of you that believe not…Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

Last Hour Deception - 1 John 2:18

v.18 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. 

Here we see the urgency of salvation because it is the last hour. Paul and the writer of Hebrews speak to this urgency as well when they say I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2) and While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation (Heb 3:15).

Why the urgency?  Let’s be honest, not one of us knows what tomorrow holds for ourselves, let alone someone else. Jesus spoke to this in the parable of the Rich Fool when he said in Luke 12:16-26 The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: (17) And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? (18) And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. (19) And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (20) But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (21) So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (22) And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. (23) The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. (24) Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? (25) And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? (26) If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? James further drives home the point when he said in James 4:13-15 Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  (14)  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  (15)  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that very stupidly said, “Sin now.  Pray later.”  My friends, the problem is that you don’t know if you will have a “later”. The biggest lie of the devil is tomorrow. The driver of that car had bought that lie! 

Antichrist 
John also reminds us in this verse that we can know that we are in the last days because of the demonic work of the Antichrist. Notice the description of these “antichrists”: (1) they have a faulty understanding of Jesus Christ and are liars (v. 22; 4:3), (2) they have no relationship with the Father (v. 23), and (3) they are deceivers (2 John 7). Now bear in mind that these references refer to men who had left the church (v.19) and were now aggressively promoting the heretical doctrine that Jesus was not the Christ (4:1).

Yes, there are many today who say that Jesus was not who he claimed to be. Some of those in our area include Mormons and Jehovah’s False Witnesses. Make no mistake, my friend that Jesus claimed to be one and the same with the Father. He made no bones about that. As a matter of fact, they killed him for blasphemy in claiming to be God. The deity of Christ is found from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. Compare these verses: John 1:1-5, 14; I John 4:1-2. Also, notice Peter’s response in Matthew 16:13-16 when he responded to Jesus when he asked Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (14) And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. (15) He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.