Volume 50   Number 1                                                         January 2008

The Apostle John wrote many scriptures having to do with acknowledging Jesus Christ as God’s own Son who came to this earth in the flesh and did extraordinary things to prove it. John 20:30-31 tells us, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 21:25 says, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” I John 2:22-23 says, “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the anti-Christ—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” II John 1:7 says, “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 anti-Christ.”

We don’t have to be an anti-Christ to disown Jesus. We can be a lukewarm Christian as described in Revelation 3:14- 22. It’s easy to acknowledge Jesus Christ when we are around our Church Family, but what are we like around those who don’t embrace Christianity?

In Matthew 10:17-42, Jesus explains to his disciples that persecution is going to be a part of their lives. In verses 32-33 Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”