Who is Antichrist? Can he be identified with certainty? What is his work? What danger does he present?
Where is he to be found? Turn with me, if you will, to
1 John chapter 2. And I believe you will find the
answer to those questions. The title of my message tonight
is taken from our text, It is the Last Time. It is the last
time. First John chapter 2, verse 18. Little children, it is the last
time. Now, you ought to underscore
that. Not many folks understand it. It is the last time. But aren't we looking for another
time? No, it is the last time. Isn't there another dispensation
to come? No, it is the last time. Isn't there another age to come?
No, it is the last time. This is the last stroke of time,
the last tick of the clock. After this, the end. It is the
last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist
shall come, you've heard that Antichrist shall come, even now
are there many Antichrist, whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they
were not of us, for if they had been of us, They would no doubt
have continued with us. But they went out that they might
be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an
unction from the Holy One. Some went out. Some forsook the
people of God, the family of God, the Christ of God, and the
gospel of God. They went out from us because
they were not all of us. But you, you who are gods, you
who are born of God and taught of God, you have an unction from
the Holy One and ye know all things. Here John teaches us,
God the Holy Spirit teaches us by the Apostle John that the
end time is identified by a general opposition to the Lord Jesus
Christ in the religious world. The end time is identified by
a general opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ in the religious
world. Not just in the secular world,
in the religious world. Not just in the social world,
in the religious world. Not just in the bars and brothels,
in churches and Sunday schools. A general opposition to Christ
and his gospel is that by which the last time is identified. Now hold your Bibles open here
at 1 John 2, verses 18, 19, and 20. And I want to show you four
things in these three verses that I believe are of tremendous
importance. First, God the Holy Spirit tells
us by his servant John that this present gospel age is the last
time. You see that, don't you? Little
children, it is the last time. Now, I can't stress this sufficiently
for you. We, every few months or years,
have some exciting thing to happen in the world. And some preacher
or group of preachers or group of churches decide, this is it. This is the sign the Lord's coming.
And you remember back when everybody was scared to death for it to
turn midnight on January 1st, the year 2000. Oh, it's going to be a mess. This is it. This is it. I know preachers.
who went all over the world giving seminars and selling books. This
is it. This is it. This is the end.
And I've looked for some of them. You know what they did? They
hit them all. And the next time something comes up, this is it.
This is it. The other thing was leading up
to this. We were right the first time, but it was leading up to
this. And they make a prediction. This is the end. This is the
end. This is the end. John says it's right here. This
is the end. It's identified by an opposition
to Christ and his gospel in the religious world. It is the last
time. We live in perilous times. Those perilous times that our
Lord Jesus and his apostles, his servants, Peter and James
and John and Jude, all identified as difficult times. Paul said,
these are perilous times, perilous times, dangerous times that must
come. We're told repeatedly that they
must come. And all of those things that
had been foretold as characteristic of these perilous times are here
upon us today. Here, John tells us plainly that
the biblical warnings of the Antichrist must not be understood
as something that's only future. John was the last of the apostles. He wrote four of the last five
books in order in which they were written that you have in
the scriptures. John wrote the Gospel of John and then first
and second and third John and then the book of Jude written
by Jude then the book of Revelation so John by Inspiration is wrapping
up the volume of Holy Scripture He is wrapping up the whole message
of God and he begins to wrap it up with this warning with
regard to Antichrist and is telling us Antichrist is here right now
Antichrist is here right now Now, that doesn't mean we don't
look for Antichrist in this hour. He's telling us Antichrist is
already here. When our Lord Jesus walked upon
the earth, he told us, many will say, lo, here is Christ and there
is Christ. And when the time came for the Lord Jesus to be
manifest about that time, there were many who claimed to be Christ. And our Lord warned us to avoid
those. And generally, when we think about Antichrist, we think
about another Christ. Most people think about Antichrist
and say it's going to be some monstrous man. What the movies
make about him was what's always called movies. Damien was a monstrous
man out there in the future. You're going to take over the
world and destroy things. You're going to use credit cards. I've heard all I've been around
long enough. I've heard just about every rumor
there is about Antichrist. You you can't you can't dare,
dare use your credit cards. You're going to have everybody
paying by credit card. Nobody pay cash anymore. That's
that's Antichrist. No, no, that's not it. That's
not it Antichrist is more than a man Antichrist is a system
of religion throughout this last time the last time began when
our Lord Jesus came into this world on an errand of mercy to
save his people from their sins and And it continues throughout
this gospel age in which our Lord is saving His people from
their sins. And it will come to its end when
the last sinner chosen and redeemed by Christ has been called by
God's grace. God is long-suffering. He's not willing that any of
us, any of His elect, should perish, but that all should come
to repentance and the knowledge of the truth. And when that last
sinner has been called by grace and taught of God, comes to Christ
by faith, by the power of God's Spirit in saving grace, Christ
is coming. And when Christ comes, then cometh
the end. He will set judgment in the earth.
He will destroy this present world and make all things new. This is the last time. We then,
we then as workers together with God, beseech you also that you
receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I've heard
thee in an accepted time, in the day of salvation have I succored
thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. There will be no other. There
will be no other. Men and women who would be saved
must be saved in this day while God sends the gospel of his grace
into the world. Soon the time will come when
no grace will be found. When the Lord Jesus comes the
second time, no mercy will be extended. No grace will be found. When Christ sits in judgment,
no grace will be extended. No mercy will be found. Grace
comes only in this day of grace in the gospel day of our Lord
Jesus Christ All right. Here's the second thing First
John tells us this is the last time second. He tells us that
in this last time many Antichrist many false prophets and false
religious teachers will arise Denying the doctrine of Christ
look at verse 18 Little children, it is the last time, and ye have
heard that Antichrist shall come. Even now are there many Antichrists,
whereby we know that it is the last time. John sounds a word
of alarm. He tells the people of God, we
who are God's little children in this world, these men and
women who are harmless, inoffensive and tender. He tells us we live
in a world opposed to God, our Savior, a world opposed to the
Lord Jesus Christ, a world full of cruelty and envy and malice
toward God and toward his people. We're the children of God living
in a world of hostility against God, his gospel, and his house. The children of God in this world
live in these perilous circumstances. And therefore, John braces God's
little children against the offenses that must come, lest we be greatly
disturbed by them. Now, I want every one of you
to know the urgency of this day. I want every one of you to be
aware of the horrible darkness of the religion of this age.
I want you to be keenly aware of the subtlety of Satan and
the devices of that wicked one. But I don't want you afraid.
I don't want you to be uneasy with God's providence. heresies
must come. Turn back to first Corinthians
chapter 11. These last days are not days
to be feared by God's people, but days in which we ought to
serve God with fervency and urgency. These last days, like every day
before these days are ordered of God. Everything comes to pass
in these last days Exactly as God has purposed from eternity.
Look in first Corinthians 11 19 For there must be also heresies
among you You see that There must be heresies
among you. Here's the reason that They which
are approved may be made manifest among you. The heresies come. And you can mark this down, all
heresy. There are lots of various things,
doctrines where we have differences with folks. But all heresies,
every damning heresy is at its heart a denial of the eternal
Godhead of the man, Christ Jesus. All heresy. At its heart is denial
of the eternal Godhead of the man, Christ Jesus. It is a denial
that Jesus is the Christ and that he's come in the flesh.
It is a denial of the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the last time, John says,
and these heresies are here. They're here now and they will
only increase with time. And by these things, those who
are approved of God are made manifest. Our Lord said the deception. Of that day. So great that if
it were possible. The very elect of God would be
deceived. Oh, how thankful I am, he said,
if it were possible. But it's not possible. It's not
possible. God's elect shall not fall for
Satan's lie. God's elect shall not follow
the false Christ. God's elect shall not follow
the road of heresy. God's elect will not embrace
that which is a denial of the Godhead of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Not God's elect. Not God's elect.
heresies must come by which those who are approved of God are manifest
among you and others They go out from among you Because they
never were part of you They they chase after the lie of the devil
They they follow Antichrist because they were never among you. They
were never among you We're told in Revelation chapter 20 that
Satan who has been bound all these years since the Lord Jesus
bound him shall be loosed for a little season at the end of
this age, during this last time. So that he will, he who once
deceived the nations will be turned loose by God to deceive
the nations again. Our forefathers. We like to brag
about our family tree or like to think we've got some reason
to. Our forefathers were barbarian heathen. The real smart ones
were just idolaters. Read Greek mythology sometime.
You think religion is bad? Now read some Greek mythology
and watch and see how your forefathers taught their sons and daughters
to worship the gods. Why? Because God sent the light
of the gospel just to Abraham and his seed. And he left everybody
else to figure out God for themselves. He left everybody else to their
own imaginations until he sent darkness to Israel and sent the
gospel to the nations of the world so that Satan was bound
and the eyes of the men and women chosen of God in the four corners
of the earth are open to see the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But in the end
of these days, God tells us in Revelation 20 that Satan will
be turned loose with all the fury of hell again to deceive
the nations of the world because they would not receive the love
of the truth. And now, people who claim to worship God,
I know folks in sovereign grace churches, let alone the synagogues
of Satan. I know folks, I know folks I
preach to, they get the paper first thing they want to read
is their horoscope. That's nothing but witchcraft. Oh, I don't take
you seriously, why you read it then? Folks are interested in the occult,
and they'd really like to go to a palm reader, but just be
embarrassed to let you see them go. That's just witchcraft. But the
fact is the whole religious world around us has been turned over
to the sorcery of hell. So that men worship themselves
rather than God and they're taught to do so. And the gods that men
claim to worship have no similarity to the Lord Jesus Christ and
the revelation of the triune God in him. It is the last time. That is to say this gospel age
is the end of the history of mankind. Daniel's prophecy had
already been fulfilled. The time of Jacob's trouble ended
when our Lord Jesus accomplished redemption for us as we saw Sunday
morning. And the time of Jacob's trouble
ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and of Judaism as a
system of religion being overturned by the accomplishment of our
redeemer. The dawning of the new day. Already
begun the new creation had begun the new covenant was now established
the kingdom of heaven had come The Messiah has been revealed
and John says this is the last time This is the last time this
is the end of time Now, let me show you some scriptures turn
back to Joel chapter 2 put your hand or Bible mark here in first
John to turn back the book of Joel I Want you to see this and see
clearly I know most of you have at least been influenced by dispensational
theology, the heresy of dispensational doctrine. When I was in Bible
college, our theology textbook was a Schofield reference Bible.
And if you didn't own a Schofield Bible, you just didn't really
have a Bible. And everybody was influenced
by that nonsense of the dispensations Mr. Schofield and others had
invented and drew charts about. But this is what God says. God,
who at sundry time and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last
days by his Son. Now how do we know that these
are the last days? Because what Peter said took
place on the day of Pentecost. He says this is the fulfillment
of what Joel spoke of in Joel chapter 2. Look at it. Joel 2
verse 1. Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and
sound an alarm in my holy mountain Let all the inhabitants of the
land tremble for the day of the Lord cometh for it cometh for
it is nigh at hand He's talking about now the coming of Christ
the Messiah not his coming in his first advent But his coming
as a result of his first advent in saving grace and mercy look
at verse 2 or verse 38 28 rather chapter 2 of Joel and And it shall come to pass we
blow this gospel trumpet and that it comes to pass afterward
That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh Remember that's
what that's just what Peter said happened. He said your boys y'all
remember what Joel said this is it This is what you've seen
and heard And your old men shall dream dreams, and your young
men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and
upon the handmaidens in those days will I pour out my spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood
and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible
day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. Whoever, Jew or Gentile, man
or woman, bond or free, rich or poor, learned or unlearned,
whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Read
on. In the mountain of Zion in Jerusalem
shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said in the remnant
whom the Lord shall call. Look at chapter 3 of Joel, verse
16. Joel 3, 16. The Lord also shall
roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the
heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope
of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. The
Lord roars out of Zion. His word is preached from his
churches and he causes his people to come to Christ, our Redeemer.
And the children of Israel are made to have hope in him. Rex
read it just a little bit ago Christ in you the hope of glory
made partakers now of Jesus Christ our Lord This passage here in
verse 18 in 1st John 2 Has some of a connection John Gill suggesting
I think rightly so That this is a reference to the end of
the apostolic age when John says it is the last time we live in
this day of charismatic Tom foolery and it
is Tom foolery as folks who claim to have a word from God Don't
you find it strange? It's always about your money
They've got a word from God got a vision but gonna do something
good for you if you'll send me somebody send me some money And
folks follow up folks follow that they claim to be able to
heal people Be able to heal folks and they claim to be able to
speak in tongues like the apostles did. Now, by making such claims,
claiming apostolic authority, Bill, that means if I have apostolic
authority and this message I've gotten by study, the Lord gave
it to me in a special revelation, then if I have apostolic authority
and God's given me a fresh revelation from himself, then what I'm preaching
to you is of equal authority with the word of God you hold
in your hand. That's the reason these fellows
claim it, because they want to pervert the word of God and make
you accept their word instead of God's word. No, the close
of scripture comes with the writing of the last apostle revelation
by the Apostle John. The last apostle died. And they've
been no more since him. They've been no more. Well, how
come the apostles didn't continue? Because the apostles were chosen
for that age and that age alone in which we needed their special
anointing to show us that this is the Christ and God identifies
the Christ by his followers, those apostles who had power
to cast out devils and who had power to give sight to the blind
and had power to raise the dead. Now, you go find me some charismatic
fool who wants to go down here and raise the dead down at the
mortuary, and I'll go watch it. Until then, I'm telling you,
it's a bunch of hooey. That's all it is. There's nothing
about God in it. Well, how dare you say that?
Because there's nothing about God in it. There's nothing about
God in it. Don't you respect them? No! No! We have no business respecting
that which is false when it attacks God our Savior. Hold it in contempt,
not in respect. More than that, there are no
signs to be fulfilled before Christ comes again. It is the
last time. People say, well, this must be
a sign of the times. I wish you'd find me one in the
book. Find me one. Well, folks are eating and drinking
and marrying and giving in marriage. I believe our Lord said that's
what they were doing in Noah's day. Eating and drinking and marrying
and giving in marriage. Let's see. Brother Cody Groover
is going to be here to preach for you Sunday morning. Do you
know why he came to town? He's in town because he's got
a son who's fixing to get married. And while he's here, he's going
to be eaten, and his son's going to be eaten, and his wife and
his daughter and his family are going to be eaten, and they'll be drinking.
I don't have any idea what. It might be coke and it might
be a glass of wine, but they're going to be eating and drinking,
and they're going to marry and give in marriage, because that's
the way men live in this world. What's that mean then? Just that.
When Christ comes again, men will be living on the earth just
exactly as they were in Noah's day, just exactly as they always
have, living in the pursuit of carnal pleasure. That's how folks
live in this world. That's how they live. Well, but
what about Jerusalem? Well, you try making a sign out
of something over there. Because I'm going to tell you
what, every few years the sign is going to change. One of the
first things I remember hearing somebody say when I was converted,
I was 17 years old. Did you know they've already
got the stones in the harbor in Jerusalem to build that temple
again? Now, you've heard that all your
life, haven't you? Why? That's why they haven't
built it. God's not interested in building another temple in
Jerusalem. God's building his temple out of living stones.
He's not interested in setting up a kingdom in Jerusalem. He's
building his kingdom out of chosen sinners. Christ Jesus is our
king and he rules. But what is antichrist then?
Antichrist is Christ's adversary. Antichrist is one who is adversary
to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not talking about some superhuman
being. The old writers used to think
the Pope was Antichrist. I do too. He's Antichrist. There's no question about that. I'm not sorry to report truth.
The Pope is Antichrist. There's just no question about
that. If you think that fellow walking around with a Brother
Tim James said it called Jesus Lollipop is Jesus on a stick.
Got a McCain with a picture of Jesus on there. He walking around
in his Masonic order uniform and does this kind of nonsense
and worships Mary. If you think Christ is in that, you've been sorely deluded, sorely
deluded, but the Pope's not the only antichrist. Everything about
papacy is opposed to the gospel of Christ. And everything about
Antichrist is opposed to the gospel of Christ. Turn over to
2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. John tells us about this Antichrist
and he tells us that Antichrist is known by a terrible apostasy. Look at this. They went out from
us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest. They were not all of us. Now
Paul identifies this apostasy. Second Thessalonians 2 verse
1. We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and by our gathering together unto him that you be not soon
shaken in your mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word
nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Somebody had written to the Thessalonians and Paul said the Lord's coming
right away. Let no man deceive you by any
means for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first, the words apostasy. And that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. It sets up an opposition to Christ. If you care to listen to the
trash, turn on radio preacher, go on the internet, turn on the
television and listen to preachers. Listen to what goes on in the
churches, watch the programs. What's happening? Merle, all
over the world, men are worshiping man as though he were God. Men ascribe to man powers belonging
only to God. Men ascribe to man power over
God. Men ascribe to man the ability
to change God, to stop God, or to let God. Let go and let God. Doesn't that sound sweet? Let
go and let God. What are you going to let God
do? What are you going to let God
do? What a fool you are to imagine
you're going to let God do something. No, God may let you do something
by ordaining it and performing it, but you can't breathe without
Him. God doesn't need you. God doesn't
perform at your beck and call. You perform at God's beck and
call. If you don't, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 5, remember ye not that
when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now you
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. That's what John
said. Antichrist is already here. Only he who now letteth will
let until he be taken out of the way. He who now restrains
him will continue to restrain him until he's taken out of the
way. Then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with
the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after
the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." What? You mean Antichrist and
his servants have power and signs and lying wonders? That's what
it says. and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish. The deceivableness of unrighteousness,
Paul describes in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 as being that which
is proclaimed by ministers of righteousness. Messengers of
Satan who are transformed into ministers of righteousness. They
come preaching up your righteousness, not Christ. They come talking
about your good deeds, not Christ. They come talk about what you
ought to do, must do, not what Christ has done. They're ministers
of righteousness, but it's really the deceivableness of unrighteousness. Read on. Because they receive not the
love of the truth. Read the book and said, no, I
won't believe that. Heard the gospel, said, no, I
won't have that. Were persuaded by men, said,
no, we will not believe that. They received not the love of
the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, here's
the reason why. God shall send them a strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. And you won't talk them
out of it. that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
But don't stop there. But we're bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren beloved of God, because God had
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. In the midst of this reprobate
age, God yet has a people who must and shall be called by his
grace, and those who are his own shall follow Christ and walk
in the light as he is in the light. The apostate doctrine
of Antichrist is clear. They deny the glorious person
of Christ, the efficacy of our Lord's redeeming work, They deny
his mediatorial offices, the efficacy of Christ in those offices.
They deny the power of Christ, our God. They deny that Jesus
Christ is indeed God Almighty, God over all and blessed forever. In this last time, John tells
us many will depart from the faith of the gospel, that go
out from us. because they were not others.
John's purpose in writing these things is to assure God's church
that God's purpose is being accomplished, to assure God's people that God
still rules even when things appear most dark and these perilous
times come when men oppose God and make it known in the very
house of God their opposition to Him. These men who creep in
unawares, denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. These men who subvert the gospel
of Christ. These men who would take the
heart out of the gospel and rob God of His glory, making salvation
and eternal life altogether that which man determines by his own
will and his own work. Paul calls it will-worship. And
it's high time we start speaking as Paul did. But these things are heralds of something better.
Now is your salvation nearer than when you believed. Listen to this. To you who are
troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints and admired of all them that believe. We know
these things, this apostasy as it increases, is only an announcement
of the nearness of the coming of our Redeemer. Behold, he cometh. Behold, he cometh soon, he shall
appear. But where's the promise of his
coming, the scoffers say? He'd been gone for 2,000 years. And folks have been saying he's
coming for those 2,000 years. He is. He is. I'm often gone from my wife,
have been over the years. whole lot more than three days.
Sometimes I've been gone much two weeks and I'll see her since
we've been married. And, uh, I would have been awfully
disappointed if she, because I was gone eight, nine, 10, 11,
14 days. Well, he's not coming back. I
I've been terribly disappointed. That'd been the case. She fully
expected me to return at the appointed time. Our Lord Jesus
has only been gone for two days. He's just been gone for two days.
A thousand years with the Lord is just one day, isn't it? He's
been gone for two days. And at the appointed time, He
shall return. And He would have us looking
for Him. Looking for the coming of our
Lord Jesus, the blessed God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Our
only God, our only Savior, expecting Him to come. On the tiptoe of
faith, looking for Him all the time. Oh God, inspire my heart now,
until these eyes close in sleep tonight, to look with anticipation
for Christ to come. Oh, what a way to live. How I
wish, how I pray God would teach me to live in the immediate prospect
of Christ coming. When I wake in the morning, rather
than thinking first about coffee, let me think first about Him
coming. Rather than thinking first about what I've got to
do today, think first of Him coming and look for Him living
in the immediate prospect of His return. Now, let me show
you one more thing. Look at verse 20. Even in these most perilous times,
God's elect shall be preserved because you have an unction from
the Holy One and you know all things. An unction. The word is anointing. That anointing is God, the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that anointing
that was symbolized in the Old Testament by which the people
in the vessels of ministry were sanctified. God, the Holy Spirit
comes, gives us a new nature, makes us partakers of Christ
Jesus, sanctified in regeneration. The Holy Spirit. The anointing
was given to Christ so that he poured out his spirit on him
without measure, identifying him as the son of God. John the
Baptist said, I, I knew it because the one who sent me to baptize
said, said the one that you see the spirit of God descending
upon and abiding on him. That's my son. That's the Christ. And so God's people. are identified as God's sons
in this world when they are given the spirit of grace and made
to call upon God in faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. The anointing,
the unction, is that by which God's promises, his covenant
mercy, is sealed to us in Christ. So that we now, believing on
the Lord Jesus, Call on God as our father with a conscience
free of guilt, because the blood of Christ has purged away our
sins. Fully confident that every promise
of God and covenant mercy is ours in Christ Jesus. The auction
you have. This auction is from the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Holy One. Comes to us by the merit of his
blood and the merit of his righteousness. and it is a teaching unction.
So you know all things. Boy, that leaves me out because
there's not much I know. It doesn't mean you know all things as God
is omniscient and knows all things. No man knows all things. It doesn't
mean that you know all things about anything. It doesn't mean
that you know all things perfectly. What it does mean is that you
know everything you need to know for your soul's everlasting good.
You know everything you need to know to know the living God. You know all things. You know
all things. You know who Christ is and what
he accomplished. You know how God saves sinners
by the blood of his son. by grace alone. You know what
it is to believe on the Son of God because you've been taught
of God. And God teaches good. God teaches
good. You know all things. The words
might be translated. You have an unction from the
Holy One and you know all men. Back in Mark chapter 8. The Lord
touched that man's eyes a second time, and the scripture says
he saw all men clearly. Been a long, long time ago, Brother
Rex was reading that passage, and he made a comment. He said
he saw all men clearly. The man whose eyes the Lord has
opened sees all men clearly. He sees the first man clearly.
both in his creation and in his fall. And he sees the last man,
the Lord Jesus, clearly in his incarnation, in his accomplishments
and in his glory. And he sees the natural man himself
clearly in his depravity and corruption and death. And he
sees the new man clearly made new in Jesus Christ the Lord. You have an unction from the
Holy One. You who live in these days of
darkness know all things, so pay no attention to the nonsense.
Pay no attention to the nonsense. Don't chase after everything
in the world. Don't do it. You see, if I find
a passage of scripture here, Deuteronomy chapter 12. I believe
this is what I'm looking for. I get folks wanting me to read
this thing and read that thing and they want you to study this
thing and study that thing. Leave them alone. Just leave
them alone. Don't try to find out what everybody
believes. It won't do you any good. Don't
try to find out why. Somebody's talking to me just
recently. Been talking to me for two years
trying to send me a book on trying to tell me that Lazarus was the
beloved disciple. And I want to say I ain't interested. I
don't care. If the Lord wanted to know who
the beloved disciple was, he had told me. And if he wants
you to know something in this book, he told you. Look here
at Deuteronomy 12, verse 30. The Lord warns us about the nations
among whom we live. Take heed to thyself that thou
be not snared by following them, After that, they'd be destroyed
from before thee. And that thou inquire not after
their gods saying. Have you got it? Don't ask, how did these nations
serve their gods? Don't go ask them. How did these
nations serve their gods? Well, we need to know these things.
Why? Why? This is the result. Even so, will I do likewise. You follow them, you'll soon
fall for the ways of the idols, and you'll chase their lust,
just like other folks. But not if you're gods, because
you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. Amen.