September 17
________________________________________WARNING ABOUT ANTICHRISTS
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. 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. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 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. 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. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 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 2:18-24
________________________________________
In this account, John warns us of the last hour when antichrists will appear. The antichrists are those who deny the Son of God. They are the counterfeits. They pretend to belong but since they do not acknowledge the Son, they are liars and do not have the truth in them. This letter is written to those who believe that Christ is the Son of God. Abiding in Jesus is a true manifestation of those who belong to God Himself. Liars are those who operates against the kingdom of God. This is a reproach to those who confess the Father and the Son are one. They need to watch out for those wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to enter and steal the sheep from the Shepherd. Their purpose is to steal, kill and destroy those who are entering the narrow path to God’s kingdom.
Isn’t this admonition already clearly happening in our world today? Churches are full of false teachers misleading people. Many people who are in power are all usurping their positions to propagate evil and control. Many counterfeits are running world systems so they can generate more wickedness in this world. They are all serving Satan, who is the ruler of this world. They lie in order to get what they want.
Those who are faithful on the other hand and abide in the Son and the Father will have everlasting life. The promise of God to all those who love Him is that they are going to have a room in His house.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• What are the signs that the end of days is coming?