Now in verses one and two of
this passage, and we've looked at parts of this passage already,
but in verses one and two again, Paul reassures these believers
that those who are troubling them regarding the return of
the Lord are deceivers. He calls them deceivers in verse
three. Let no man deceive you. Now it's
one thing to look for the coming of our Lord and to hope in his
coming, say with John, even so come Lord Jesus. It's another
thing for somebody to say he's coming on this day and get everybody
all stirred up and deceive people into thinking that's gonna happen
and cause them to do stupid things. That's another thing and leave
it to false religion to take something like the glorious return
of our Lord Jesus Christ and turn it into something that they
can manipulate people with. That's religion all over. They
take something precious and wonderful and turn it into a way to scare
people into doing stupid things for their own gain. Not only
is it a denial of the truth of Christ who plainly stated, no
man knoweth. What's unclear about that? No
man knoweth when his return will be. But here's the tragedy of
that kind of thing. People love to hear, they have
itching ears for that kind of stuff, don't they? If you talk
about big flying scorpions and the four horsemen of the apocalypse
as some physical, you know, literal thing and you scare people, you
know, with the fact that he's coming, you bribe people with
heaven and extort them with hell. Scare them. with threats. So it's not only
a denial of what Christ said to say this type of thing, but
so many people are accepts, obsessed, and you're feeding them what
they want to hear rather than the bread of life, rather than
the truth of Christ. It's a substitute, not in a true
sense, but in a terrible tragic sense, It's a substitute for
the truth. People don't want to hear the
doctrine of Christ. They want to hear sensational
things like that. Like all the great things that
are going to happen and look for signs and wonders. You know,
that's what they wanted out of the Lord himself. Do a miracle.
We want to see a miracle. That's not the gospel. That's
not what people need. The miracle of grace is what
people need. The miracle of a wretched rebel
turning into a loving son of God. That's the miracle that
people need, which is only pictured. His power was shown in the doing
of physical miracles, but also the gospel was preached that
way. Here's what happens spiritually, and here's who does it. Here's
who has the power to make it happen. So instead of looking
to the person, they look to the sensationalism. It was just a
magic show to them. And so many people are obsessed
with when, what, how? You know, the scriptures make
a clear statement that's not hard to understand, and then
people wanna go beyond that. How? How does that, you know?
Why would God do that? That's not the gospel. Answering
those questions won't help you. The question is who? If you ever
find out who, and all of the other forms of question. Why,
what, when, how? They'll be obvious. If the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners, then the what is that sinners are saved. If the Lord Jesus Christ is the
one that's coming, then the when is whenever He pleases. And that's
not just being smart aleck. Being who he is, what we want
doesn't matter. It's what he has purposed. I would love for him to come
back today, but I must acknowledge because of who he is, that his
win is better than my win. You see how it's who? In every
case, it's who. That's how all false doctrine
is too. Straining at a gnat and swallowing
a camel, our Lord said, obsessing over the meaning of this word
or that word or this scripture taken out of context when every
word of scripture points to Christ, who, that's how all false doctrine
is. Take a single verse out of its
context and form an entire religion around it. whether it's John
3.16 or some other scripture. They form an entire religion
around that, taking it out of its context and so misunderstanding
what it says. And yet everything they say goes
back to that. Understanding the word of God.
I want to make this as clear as I can. If a man comes to understand
and know the word of God, it will not make him argue with
people. It will not make him debate issues. It will not make him take a stance
on certain doctrinal points and look down on others who haven't. Understanding the Word of God
will not make a man fashion a list of vital doctrines. Understanding
the Word of God will make a man love, follow, serve, embrace,
bow to, believe on, and trust, and witness to the Lord Jesus
Christ. In kindness, in love, considering
himself, not when he is coming, but who
he is, And we talk about what Christ
accomplished on Calvary, but even the what of what he did
on Calvary is what it is because of who he is. People talk about
the what happened on Calvary. If you don't know who he is,
then you don't know what happened. He is coming because he redeemed
all of his elect. That's why he's coming. He redeemed
his sheep, he redeemed those that the Father gave him, John
17, on Calvary, and he promised them that having secured a place
for them in his presence forever, by the sacrifice of himself,
that he would come again and receive them unto himself, that
where he is, there they may be also. It's him, him, him. And that's why I told you last
time, I believe, I honestly don't care when he comes. In the sense
that even if I could pick the day myself, I wouldn't do it.
I wouldn't do it. How am I gonna improve on his
purpose? Christ purposed all of it. He
purchased our place. And he is the point and the purpose
of it all. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me and you'll find rest. Don't find rest in looking
at signs and wonders. Learn of him and find rest. Learning
of when had caused these believers unrest. Paul had to reassure
them. He had to comfort them. He had
to calm them down over when because they took their eyes off of who?
And he put their eyes right back on him, on the Lord Jesus Christ. The moment we take our eyes off
of the person of Christ crucified, we will sink like Simon Peter
into the sea. And the only remedy to that is
Lord save me. Somebody doing something for
me Lord save me not me saying that but him doing that that's
the remedy Lord save me lest I be soon removed from the simplicity
that's in Christ. I seek Look at verses 3 & 4 again The man this man of sin spoken
of in verse three, the son of perdition. I wanna talk about
that for a minute. We didn't say last time, listen
to this now. This person is a symbol, this
man, singular, is a symbol of all anti-Christ religion. Now you think about that with
me. In Revelation 19, one, let me read this to you. Listen carefully
to the language here. Revelation 19, one. After these
things, I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying,
hallelujah, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the
Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments. One of the
things that they attributed unto God in glorifying his holy name
perfectly in glory is salvation. But then they proceed to glorify
God for something else. For saving sinners, yes, but
also for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the
earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his
servants at her hand. And again, they said, hallelujah. Hallelujah for that too. and
her smoke rose up forever and ever. Reference is made to her
fornication, her hand, her smoke, but this is not a single woman.
This is not a particular woman. I believe she's referred to as
Jezebel in another place in Revelation, but it's not literally her. This
is not, and neither is Antichrist a single man. It's the same principle
here. John said in 1 John 2.18 that
even now there are many antichrists. So that dispels the idea that
it's a single man. Again, he's personified. False
religion is personified, just like in the great whore in Revelation.
It's not a woman. It says her, her, her. That's
not a specific single woman. It's false religion. It's false
religion. It's all who exalt themselves.
And this is key to it because you'll identify it right before
your eyes this way. You can think of this in future
terms and all that and say, oh, this great beast is gonna rise
up and this and that. Or you can see the reality of
scripture and see this right before your eyes. What characterizes
this beast? What characterizes Antichrist?
He sits in the temple of God. He boasts himself to be God.
He usurps the throne of God. That's false religion to a T. It's not God's will, it's your
will. It's not up to God, it's up to you. It's not God's decision,
it wouldn't be fair for God to decide, you have to decide. What is that? What is that? It's exalting yourself above
God. Everything's up to you. That
makes you God. It's a lie, but so many millions
of people believe that lie. In chapter 4.3 of 1 John, he
wrote of the spirit of Antichrist that is even now in the world,
even now. Again, religion talks about this
as some future antichrist. It's gonna look right in front
of your face. It's all around you. It's in
the world even now, John said. And certainly we can say that.
Look at what defines this antichrist. Let's look closer at it. He opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God. And that what is called, the
phrase what is called means to say or to speak. So I don't know
enough about Greek grammar to know whether that's saying that
this Antichrist opposes all that God said, or that he opposes
all that speak for God, or that he opposes all that is consistent,
that is said, which is consistent with who God actually is. If you knew the grammar of the
Greek a little bit better, you could probably discern that,
but all three are scriptural. All three are the truth. And
it's all the same thing. What God says is what we say
or else don't listen to us. What we say is consistent with
the character of God or else don't listen to us. This is what
God said and what God has revealed concerns himself in the person
of his son The Lord Jesus Christ. It's all the same thing. And
to exalt yourself above God. You can't do that in actuality.
God has no rivals in the true sense of the word. But in your
heart, as a matter of presumption, your assertion is that you're
above God. That's the condemnation here.
The same goes for all of the false doctrine of Antichrist,
such as God loves everybody. Who are you to say who God loves
and who he don't? God said, I love Jacob and I
hate Esau. Who are you to pervert that or
overrule that? God can't do that. I get tired
of people saying that, that God can't do, It wouldn't be fair. You know, God can't bring a hurricane
and kill thousands of people. That's Satan. God can't do that. Quit saying what God can and
can't do. And listen to what he says he
does. He says, I kill and I make alive. He says, shall there be
evil in a city and the Lord has not done it? He's the first cause
of everything. That's not evil sin-wise, but
that something bad happens. Who did that? Was it Job or,
I forget, I think it was Job that said in the scriptures,
if it's not God that did it in the book of Job, if it's not
God that did it, then who did it? And where was God when they
did it? That's a couple of good questions, isn't it? God can't love one and hate the
other. God can't justify the ungodly. What does the scripture
say about that? He justified the ungodly. Don't
say he can't do that. All of this, and you know, Christ
died for everybody to give everybody a chance. Where does it say that
in the word of God? He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep and they shall never perish. That didn't sound like
he gave you a shot. Sounds like he saved somebody,
doesn't it? Sounds a lot like that. Just say this prayer and
you're saved. Who are you to say that? I absolve
you of your sins. Exalting themselves above God. That's false religion. It's antichrist,
freewill, man-centered religion. It's in the world even now. Don't
look to some, don't make a big chart up here with a big dragon
at the end of it. It's in the world even now. It's
as plain as the nose on your face. Don't miss it. But also don't be discouraged
by that. And this is according to the
purpose of the Lord. It's opposed to and exalts itself
above God. Opposed to it because God said
otherwise. God said the opposite. And in
doing that, you exalt yourself above God. You say, don't listen
to what God said, listen to what we say. Who does that remind
you of? A certain serpent maybe? It's opposed to all that God
said, what he said in his word, what is spoken by those who speak
for God and all that is spoken that is consistent with who God
is. That's anti-Christ. So let me
be plain. The modern Baptist church is
anti-Christ. The Catholic church is anti-Christ. All false religion is Antichrist. If you don't want to be called
out as Antichrist, then don't associate yourselves who are
defined by their Antichrist false religion. That word Catholic,
church, that means something. And what it means is you're Antichrist. That's what it means. So I wouldn't
associate myself with it if it offends you to be called
Antichrist, because that's what you are. If you're, by definition,
part of that false religion that worships Mary and all the saints
along with Christ, because it's opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ,
God said there's one God and one mediator between God and
man, the man Christ Jesus, not Mary, not anybody else. If you
rob the Lord Jesus of his glory, you will pay eternally for that. They forgive sins on the basis
of something you can do. You can count enough beads to
make your sin go away. That's blasphemy. If you're named
by that, you're antichrist. It's that simple. God said salvation is according
to his will, his decision, his choosing, his power, his discretion,
whom I will, that's God's discretion. I'll have mercy on whom I will.
He said that man can do nothing, John 15, five. He said that you
cannot come to Christ, John 6, 44. That God's got to draw you. You're not coming on your own.
That in the manner, here's what he says, what God says, in the
manner of spiritual life, it is the spirit that quickeneth,
In the flesh profiteth nothing, John 6, 63. And he says that
with men, salvation is impossible. Impossible. He gave the rich young ruler
a simple choice. It's you or me. It's your stuff
or me. It's your gods or God. And he made the same decision
that every man in history and will in the future ever make. That's why our Lord said, with
men, it's impossible. And all those who say the opposite
of that are by definition opposed to all that is called God. One of the things that makes
God God is that he does whatever he pleases. To say that God cannot
do anything unless man lets him is anti-Christ. It's opposed
to what's called God. That's what you say when your
hope is that people will come down an aisle. When what you're
trying to do is get people to come down an aisle and make a
decision, You say that God can't do anything unless you let him.
That's what you say. When your hope is, on the other
side of the coin, is that God will reveal himself to sinners
and save them, you preach who he actually is and what he did for sinners,
being who he is, what he accomplished on Calvary. not what sinners
need to do for Christ. If your object is to rack up
numbers and put bigger numbers this week than we had last week,
and how many decisions were made, and how many people are gonna
come down the aisle and make a show of religion, then you
will say, it's up to you. If your hope lies in another
quarter, as Spurgeon said, He said, my hope is not that you'll
do something for Christ. He said, my hope lies in another
quarter. My hope is that God will do something for you. If
that's your desire, then you'll say it's up to him. You'll preach
the one who it is up to. And as the gospel does, you'll
call upon sinners to bow to his will. and come to Him and trust
Him as your righteousness and your sin offering. Those who
presume and say, believe that it is their will, their choice,
their decision that must ratify and make effectual God's eternal
purposes have exalted themselves above God. They fashion an idol that they
call God And you know him by what they say about him. They
describe their God in no uncertain terms. You know what he looks
like, what he's like? He wants to, oh, he wants to
so bad. He sure would like to, he wishes,
he offers, he tries, he tried, he's done the best he can do. Does that sound like the God
of the Bible to you? Who doeth according to his will and the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and
none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? You
can't stop him and you can't even question him. You don't
have the right to even question him. Hence Romans nine that we'll
look into tonight. Who are you to reply against
God? Who are you to take issue with
what God's done? Shall the thing formed? Say to
him that formed it. Why? To God? Are you gonna say
why? To God Almighty? They fashioned
this idol, and he wants to, he tries, he's done all he can.
That's anti-Christ. Look at verses six and seven.
And just let's read them. And now you know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity
doth already work only he who now leteth will let until he
be taken out of the way. He that withholdeth is mentioned
here. He who lets and don't let is
Christ. He who withholds and allows who
prevents and allows, he who controls all things and everybody is Christ,
the opposite of antichrist. Antichrist means no Christ, against
Christ. But the Lord is the one that
withholdeth. That word withholdeth means to,
let's see, where are we at here? He that withholdeth and he that
doth let, that's the same thing. To let here, when we say let,
I let something happen or let somebody do something, that means
I allow it to happen. The word let here means to stop
it from happening, which is interesting. But it doesn't matter because
the one who controls that, he allows or he don't. That's the
Son of God. That's Christ, not Antichrist. Religion says let Christ have
his way No, he may or may not let you
have your way, but you're not gonna let him do anything He's
not you're not gonna do that Christ is the one who lets and
the one who restrains It is Christ who restrains The
remainder of man's wrath, Psalm 76 10. The wrath of man, even
the wrath of man is gonna praise the Lord. He's gonna manipulate
everything, man's opposition and his cooperation. All of it's gonna praise the
Lord. And what don't, he's not gonna let it happen. Psalm 76
10. The throne is his, not sinful
man's. Not antichrist, sinners. And for now, we're gonna spend
more time in these first 12 verses, but for now, I just wanna notice
one more thing in this passage. Religion talks about anti-Christ
in terms of marks on people's foreheads and you can't buy anything
unless you have the mark in your forehead. Scorpions flying through
the air, and the War of Armageddon is a literal battle that's gonna
take place somewhere on a physical battlefield. We have the battlefield
described in our text. Here's the battlefield. The lines
of war are drawn in verses four and verse eight, where it says, "'Opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God.'" In other words,
that word called is to say, to speak. And then in verse eight,
"'And then shall that wicked be revealed, "'whom the Lord
shall consume with the spirit of his mouth.'" His word. That's where the battle lines
are drawn right there. It's the word of God. which is
opposed in order for man to be exalted above God. And the way
they oppose it is by what they say. They oppose Christ and exalt
themselves by what they say. And Christ is gonna vanquish
all enemies by the spirit of his mouth, the sword of his mouth,
the gospel. Now this does likely refer to
a time when the Lord will come back and the truth of his mouth
will vanquish all enemies in a final sense. But the truth,
the spirit of Christ's mouth goes forth even now in his gospel. Listen to, turn with me to 1
John 4. We'll be done, 1 John 4, 2. This is what we're saying now.
The battlefield is not on some, you know, physical war that's gonna come in the
future sometime. It's right now. It's right now. Even now, Antichrist, and even
now, the spirit of the mouth of the son of God, the word of
God, the gospel, is what destroys him. You're not going to defeat Satan
by being spiritual and knowing a lot and, you know, being good
to your mama. He's defeated by the truth, by
the gospel. 1 John 4, 2, hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth, that confesseth that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is of God and every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not
of God. It has to do with what you say.
And that word confess is not giving your testimony. That word
confess means to agree with. There's the truth of God. And then there's the lie of Satan,
which again, his mark is what? Man, man, man. It's up to man. Man's will is supreme. It's all
about man. All God wants has to do with,
everything revolves around man. It's Christ or you. Always has
been. And it has to do with what do
you say? You know what that woman of Canaan
did? When the Lord said, it wouldn't
be right for me to take the bread of life that is given for my
children, himself being that bread, and give it to a dog. And she said, that's the truth.
She confessed the Lord Jesus Christ right there. She said,
I agree with you. and multiplied millions across
this country, and I suppose the world, they hear the lie of Satan,
that it's all up to you. It all comes down to you. God's
done everything he can, but now it's up to you. God did his best,
but it's not enough without you. And how many people are saying
that's the truth? I agree with that. I agree with
that. This is why. You're either of
God or you're of Antichrist. This is that spirit of Antichrist. You see that? Last part of verse, middle of
verse three. Wherever you have heard that it should come, and
even now already, is it in the world? Now look, now he's talking
to believers. He's talking to the church when
he says this. 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.
They are of the world, therefore speak. There it is again. Speak they of the world and the
world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth
God heareth us. You see where the battle is being
fought? Speaking and hearing. That's
what this is. We don't half, and I say this
all the time, we don't half understand what's going on here. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit
of truth and the spirit of error, which right there in the middle
of verse three is called the spirit of antichrist. That's
what our text is talking about. You see the battle lines there?
And again, we're brought back as So often we are, if not always,
as we study the scripture, we're brought back to this right here. This is what God's doing in this
world. Here is where the battle is fought. You don't need to worry about
flying scorpions this morning. I wouldn't lose any sleep over
flying scorpions. Your enemy is a preacher. That's
who he is. Your enemy is anyone who denies,
opposes the truth of God and exalts themselves by their
free will and their sense of fairness and whatever you want
to call it. above God himself. A false witness of the false
gospel of freewill antichrist religion. That's your enemy.
Somebody that claims to be your friend and talks real sweet and
nice. And as you know, I say this is
the battle. I don't mean a battle in the
sense of the outcome being in question at all. It is a battle only in the sense
of there being great opposition and rivalry. But bless God, the outcome is
not in question as we just read. Then shall that wicked be revealed
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall
destroy, and here's the future part, with the brightness of
his coming. What a glorious day that will
be. Let's pray.