"Then if any to you should say, Lo, here is the anointed, or there, believe not, for many false anointed ones shall be raised... and shall give signs and great wonders, so as to deceive if possible even the chosen." Matthew 24:23-24 Emphatic Diaglott
This passage of scripture should be applied without hesitation, discrimination, or fear to all Christian ministries who make efforts to build up followings around themselves and to build denominational type churches. Every informed brother in sonship should be aware that at this very moment there are MANY Christian ministers claiming to be specially ANOINTED for this hour.
These leaders have many good causes that they work at, using their anointing to gather hundreds of followers to support their ministry, as some Christian ministers count their followers in millions. Many of these are false prophets presenting false ideas about God’s plans to deceive the majority out of their hard earned money by their sincere but crafty claims. Full well did Peter say:
"There were false prophets also among the people as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not." II Peter 2:1-3
Notice that Peter gives us GLARING CLUES that unmistakably identify a false Christian ministry working in pernicious ways: THROUGH COVETOUSNESS SHALL THEY WITH FEIGNED WORDS MAKE MERCHANDISE OF YOU. THEIR need of YOUR money is always an evident motivation in every meeting, every article, and every letter they write. They need money for this, money for that, money for missions, money for the destitute, money for their broadcast, money for their new tent, money for their buildings. With a thousand plausible good projects, they make merchandise of the gullible people of God who blindly support their cause.
You can hear preachers tell how God revealed to them a certain amount of money is needed from tonight’s service and the skilled ones usually get it. This has become commonplace, but it is just FEIGNED WORDS by which false teachers make merchandise of God’s trusting people. God would have us all TURN AWAY FROM SUCH.
The inspired writer John continues:
“Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” I John 2:22-23
But what does he mean here when he speaks of denying the Father and the Son?
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antiChrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world.” I John 4:1-3
John declared the antichrist was already come into the world. It was anyone who denies that God’s Christ was in Jesus who had also already come. Christ Jesus had by then also come into many people's fleshly life by the spirit. John says the proper test for being in the right spirit IS BY CONFESSING (voicing the faith of it FROM THE HEART) CHRIST HAS COME INTO THE FLESH OF JESUS.
We are also to confess faith that He is coming now within us in the same manner, starting by quickening our spirit. We should grow to know the spirit of Christ better and identify clearly the spirit of antiChrist in our own confession. We can knowingly test the true spirit of those who are put before us as leaders.
Christ has come by the spirit to raise us, wash us, and teach us by the water of His Word. He comes to allow us to actually fellowship with God as being our Father. We are learning to gather unto His presence in a spiritual manner, to know the quickening life where His peace and mercy abides freely within. We are all challenged to recognize the coming of Christ Jesus within our inner spiritual being.
Many Christians confess that Jesus Christ was a man, born of a virgin, that He came in the world as a babe in Bethlehem. They even conduct parades around the world presenting His image hanging crucified on a cross. Millions of people in other religions and varied cults around the world will admit the same historical facts about Jesus.Yet, few know the truth of His coming BY THE SPIRIT, for the profound truth is found knowing Him AS HE IS, now, by the spirit.
He is coming into our life now to reign over our fleshly life until God dwells within, when our spirit is established in righteousness. The popular religionists miss the fact that the risen Christ is now actually coming by the spirit into the mortal bodies of His followers! When He does, it changes them from blind followers of fleshly ways to followers of the spirit of righteousness.
"But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:11 NASB
Jesus has come again within the members of His body who are destined to be made alive in their whole man, in a lasting and inseparable way that will never depart from them!
“And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is [now ]come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist... you are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” I John 4:3-4
Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ IS come in the flesh is antichrist! It is something instead of the anointing of God. It can be very clear, it has to be! We are of God when He is greater in us than the former spirit of the world. He gives us the right spirit because greater is He than that which IS IN US. He is greater than that which IS IN the world!
The record of Paul states he preached not himself, but Christ Jesus as the Lord. Paul added that we all should have a shining treasure in our hearts:
“But this treasure [Christ] we have in earthen vessels…” II Corinthians 4:7
On another occasion, Paul writes to the Galatians and calls them his little children:
“...of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you…” Galatians 4:19
The formation of Christ within us will make us possessors of a stature of truth. It is the granting of our inheritance that gives us relationship with our heavenly Father. The coming of the spirit of Christ within our spirit forms the treasure of Christ within. Answering the call to sonship grants the coming of the Son into our spirit right now to grow into a measure of His newness.
We have followed Him outside every camp of man to grow more perfectly into the image He reveals within. Jesus is not a babe in Christ! His substance is both ageless and deathless. He is the ACTUAL SUBSTANCE of God’s life in the highest heaven. Jesus Christ has come into this human frame to perform His mighty works, forming a union with God and the flesh that we are. The glorious reality of Jesus is that HE NOW IS COMING IN MANY SONS BY THE SPIRIT.
We need to see it, know it, and confess it to be of the right spirit.
“…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…” II John 7
Many of the deceived acknowledge the historical facts of Jesus being here 2000 years ago, but they do not recognize Him as having returned in spirit WITHIN a people. The deceived speak much of Jesus being in some far off heaven somewhere, coming again someday in the future. In so doing, they unknowingly reject the manifestation of Christ today. He IS COME in the flesh of His many membered body, not to condone our fleshly ways, but to rule as Lord over all our unrighteousness until death is destroyed off us. Who can see and know His presence right now?
The word “antichrist” is a compound word made up of the preposition “anti” and the Greek word for Christ which is “Christos”. “Anti” means “instead of” and “Christos” means “anointed”, and, by extension, “anointing”. Our Lord Jesus Christ is THE ANOINTED, but Christ in us is also THE ANOINTING, as the apostle John affirms:
“But you have an unction from the Holy One ... the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him.” I John 2:20,27
The Christ within, or THE ANOINTING, is such a generous abundance of profuse riches, full of wisdom and understanding, that overflows with bestowals of grace and abilities of God. There is no need for a hierarchy of men to add any teaching about it in hopes of adding to such an anointing. There is a great truth here that churches that are man-dominated systems do not have. The CHRIST IS SUFFICIENT! The ANOINTING IS SUFFICIENT! Nothing else is needed to quicken, support, or guide the truly anointed work done by Christ.
In personal application, if one’s spirit does not openly confess that Christ has come in their flesh, they are of an antichrist spirit. The confession of our SPIRIT is a much stronger confession than the confession of our religious mindsets mouthing by head knowledge the truth of one’s state. One’s SPIRITUAL confession bespeaks of the expression arising from our INNER STATE OF BEING, not merely a rote of our mind. When our SPIRIT confesses that Christ has come within us, it is confessing being alive to Christ in our spirit.
Now in living the nitty-gritty of everyday life, under the pressures of daily circumstances which test our spiritual condition, we might say one thing with our mouth, for it sounds so sweet in fellowship, but in our inner life it gets bitter to bear if Christ is not ruling within where He desires. Many do mouth confessions about sweet goodness without knowing the presence of Christ’s cleansing fires and discipline of sonship conformity to His image.
Still, He is coming presently within our spirit. We are being transformed within to have the full form of Christ grant our hope of gaining God's glory. The spirit of man is an antichrist seated in the carnal, selfish nature of religious men. The spirit of antiChrist is not confessing that Christ is come. The apostle Paul in speaking of his own experience as he found two parts of his being waging warfare to dominate his life.
This same Paul stated the Christ life, the new man, had been begotten within his selfish dead life from Adam. Of this new man, the inward man, Paul declares:
“I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind.” Romans 7:22-23
Paul describes here what all Pentecostal heavens find of ourselves, at times still under the dominion of the law of death, “under the SIN that dwells IN MY MEMBERS.” We still find ourselves operating with TWO parts opposed one to the other! We delight in Christ having come into our flesh, yet Christ always opposes the fleshly nature of each of us, causing a bitter battle within! TWO opposite laws are trying to control us from within. TWO kingdoms are seeking our attention with internal warfare!
Jesus Christ is coming to conquer what opposes Him. We are continually praying to see what He has promised, praying He will continually be coming to us, conquering all the members within us that oppose Him and that right quickly! Knowing about this great battle that is working in us believers, the wise apostle Paul spoke, saying:
“Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight after the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Romans 7:20-23
Thank God that one cannot successfully disregard the Lord's anointing. There is a NEWNESS of Christ maturing within those who believe. This shall of itself OVERTHROW THE OLD WAYS OF DEATH, and DESTROY THEM. It has been a long war, like the war between the house of Saul (flesh) and the house of David (the Lord’s anointed):
“David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker…” II Samuel 3:1
We know the spirit of antichrist is working ALREADY IN THE MAJORITY OF CHRISTIAN HEAVENS. We find it deeply rooted in the heart of every religious effort. One does not need to gaze through the telescope of past history or divine the things of the future to discover this antichrist. You will find the spirit of man spewing out wrong thoughts within your own mind if you look closely enough.
We need better understanding of how deeply Christ must purge us. We need to see how, in white-hot refining with pulverizing crushings of self and embarrassing strippings, He is repeatedly processing us. We are to be faithful and relentless in bearing the SUFFERINGS that Christ brings in our lives to slay our insidious MAN OF SIN, the SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST, who sits stubbornly showing that he is GOD of this temple.
The serpent spirit whispered to the branches of Eve’s mind on that fateful day in Eden:
“God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil…” Genesis 3:5
The deceitfulness of the serpent did not rest in a complete untruth. God had revealed the majesty and glory of His eternal purpose in that hour when He proclaimed the wonderful fiat:
“Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26
In a degree then, the serpent had used partial truth when stating, “You shall be as God,” but what the serpent failed to reveal was the ESSENCE of the whole truth. That truth is that INDEPENDENT OF GOD, mankind can NEVER be of the divine nature. This should have been a self-evident truth, but Eve failed to see how deceived she was by taking this form of knowing partial truth as a DOCTRINE separate from the divine life God gives.
Eve was separated FROM God by partaking of some knowledge of what she could become by some EXTERNAL MEANS, something she accomplished FOR HERSELF, rather than leaning in TOTAL DEPENDENCE on God. This is the spirit of SELF-ASPIRATION, SELF-REALIZATION, SELF- EXALTATION and SELF-PROMOTION. This is what bid her to partake of the tree of knowing good and evil. She was consequently brought to ruin, cheated out of the very thing she sought.
The crafty old serpent still whispers from the branches of our own religious — and yet carnal — minds: “JOIN THAT CHURCH, BAPTISE THIS WAY, OBSERVE THIS RITUAL, REPEAT THESE WORDS, BE SUBMITTED TO THIS MAN’s MINISTRY, WORK AT THIS PROGRAM, USE THIS NAME FOR GOD — AND YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED AND YOU WILL BE AS GOD!”
Perfection by knowing good formulas and rules promises perfect union in a few easy lessons! And still good Christian men cannot discern the SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST in its subtle SUBSTITUTION that is INSTEAD of Christ. Jesus is coming within His followers by the spirit to establish true riches of intimate fellowship and vital union with God the Father:
“I fear unless by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.” II Corinthians 11:3-4
ANOTHER Jesus, ANOTHER SPIRIT, ANOTHER GOSPEL, ANOTHER ANTICHRIST. There were many teaching such ANOTHERs even in the days of John and Paul, and there are more so now!
There came a day in the ministry of Jesus when:
“As He spoke, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him: and He went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto Him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Fools! did not He, that made that which is without make that which is within also?” Luke 11:37-40).
That Pharisee was finding fault with Him because He did not conform to one of their ceremonial customs of cleanliness. This was not just a simple matter - this washing was a symbol of righteousness that was on the OUTSIDE. Seems like the whole church world worships God by focusing on THINGS on the OUTSIDE, the religious things of attending church, of dress codes, giving offerings, living a lifestyle that appears holy and right in the eyes of others.
That outward worship is what Christ coming into our inside delivers us from when we grow beyond baby states. There is deliverance now for believing Christian men and women as the Word is written upon our heart by the Spirit. The Word exposes Christ to our inner spiritual man. Jesus is coming to our inner spiritual man! It has BEGUN for us, with the uncovering of every fleshly thing hidden WITHIN us that He is coming to conquer. Ah, everyone who is experienced in this can say RIGHT NOW, JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN MY FLESH!
The SPIRIT OF RELIGIOUS PEOPLE seek to chain us to past faults or a future prison house because of their static creeds and empty religious observances. The Spirit of Jesus Christ, however, comes within our spirit to set us FREE, to be cleansed, made whole, without blemish before Him in love. We are freed as a joint heir with Christ as members of His body, of His flesh and His bones, placed as a living stone as the habitation of God through the Spirit.
God in ages yet unborn will govern the entire universe in righteousness in order to dislodge the spirit of antichrist from us all. Jesus Christ IS now come in the fleshly life of believers. Your flesh, my flesh — He comes to be Lord in our spirit first, so that our spirit is alive with the faith of Jesus Christ. The spirit working in antichrist systems delights to serve God OUTWARDLY with great pomp and show, with gaudy robes and fancy ceremonies. But the antiChrist spirit will not abdicates the throne in the inner life so CHRIST MAY COME BY SPIRIT TO REIGN SUPREME INWARDLY.
Christians should not be deceived by the spirit of antichrist, the INSTEAD OF CHRIST spirit. Instead we are to be quickened to know the Spirit of Christ’s dealings with our inner spirit man until we no longer hide from honesty as He exposes our religious man to be destroyed. The brightness of Jesus Christ's appearing within does cleanse and wash us to present us WITHOUT SPOT OR WRINKLE.
God has another feast, the third FEAST OF TABERNACLES, wherein God’s people shall conquer the inner battle, end sorrow and heal the pain, wiping away every tear, with a glorious Feast called the MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB. He shall feed truth to His people as never before as we who believe shall put on Christ, for we shall not all sleep, but we all shall be CHANGED.