Heads Up!

Anytime you are near a baseball field you might hear someone yell, "Heads up!" This announcement means that you have a split second to look up and locate a sphere hurtling at you with the velocity of a bullet shot out of a rifle. Quickly, you must make a decision to dodge it or attempt to catch it. Someone is in danger when "Heads up" is heard.

As a pastor serving our Lord Jesus Christ, part of my job is to yell "Heads up!" to what is happening spiritually and historically in our day. Take a moment to read the Apostle John's words around 90 A.D.

1 John 2:18-23
"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

1 John 4:3
"but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

2 John 1:7
"Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist."

"Heads up" - John told us 2,000 years ago that we were in the last days. Then just where are we now? The spiritual showdown is near at hand. Now is the time to grow strong in the following areas:

• God's Spirit - Soak God into your pores
• God's Word - Soak God into your mind
• God's Love - Soak God into your heart

The church of Jesus is called to stand firm on both the humanity and deity of Jesus.

"Heads up" - Antichrists are everywhere. Be aware that those who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ is antichrist. Jesus is the anointed one sent from God to be our Savior. He was the sinless man, God in the flesh, who died to bring forgiveness to every person on earth who accepts the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. Paul stated in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

"Heads up" - The antichrist is coming. There is one man who will rise to power, be proclaimed as the savior of the world. He will be religious; pulling all religions into a one-world religion. He will create a one-world government. The only ones not accepted will be the true followers of Jesus. Those of us who are labeled as fanatics, even fools for beliefs such as:

• There is only one God, the creator of the universe. (Genesis 1:1)
• There is only one way to Heaven — through the blood of Jesus. (Acts 4:12)
• Jesus was born of a virgin. (Luke 1:34)
• Jesus rose from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
• Jesus is returning for His people. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
• Jesus is God in human form. (Colossians 1:15)

We as Christ followers will have to anchor ourselves to Jesus, His Word, and His people for surely tough days are ahead. Days of persecution, loss of jobs, imprisonment, perhaps even death. All of these persecutions are going on in one form or another in nearly every nation in the world. The days of soft American Christianity have come to an end. The weak or half-hearted will not survive. Dig deep, fellow followers of Jesus. The last days are upon us.

"Heads up!"